U.S.-Canadian Border Preclearance

It really was kind of odd going through Montréal to get to Atlanta.  The U.S.-Canadian border is the world's longest border between two countries.  Before the world changed on 9/11, coincidentally today is the 12th anniversary, it was possible to cross the border with just a driver's license.  Since June 2009, every traveler must have a passport in order to cross the border.

Since 1952, there has been a bilateral agreement between the USA and Canada to operate border preclearance facilities at various airports.  So you get to clear customs before you leave the country and don't have to deal with it when you arrive.  It sounded kind of neat but it wasn't exactly intuitive.

In Vienna, my bags were supposed to be checked all the way to Atlanta.  When we landed in Montréal, I had to fill out a Canadian customs arrival form and my passport was stamped "Canada Border Service Agency".  Note that this is not a normal Canadian entry stamp.

Then I had to pick up my bags and then recheck my bags to Atlanta.  After that, I then had to go through security again at border preclearance.  I presented my passport to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer.  He wanted to know where I was coming from, where I was going to and what had a brought.  From Czech Republic to Atlanta and I had "two bottles of wine and a bottle of vodka".  He scanned my passport and I was cleared.  I did think that it was odd that he didn't stamp my passport.

When we landed in Atlanta we arrived at the domestic terminal which makes sense because the entire flight was precleared.  But I still had to go to the international terminal to pick up my bags although I didn't have to go through immigration or security again.

This preclearance agreement is reciprocal so Canada has the option of having its own facilities at U.S. airports.  As of 2011, Canada has not exercised this right.       

Atlanta, Georgia

Even though I was born and raised in Southern California, and that I now live in ČR, I still consider Atlanta home.  Back in 1996, right before the Centennial Olympic Games, I went to Atlanta for a two-week vacation and never left.  I stayed there for 13 years before moving to Euroland.  

 
Atlanta is the capital and largest city in Georgia.  Georgia was the 4th of the original 13 colonies.  The metro Atlanta is the 9th most populated in the USA, with around 5.4 million people.  Over 5 million people - that's more than than half the population of ČR and more than the entire population of Slovakia.  Atlanta is also the unofficial capital of the South.

The Peach State

Before European settlers arrived in north Georgia, the area was inhabited by Creek and Cherokee Indians.  Atlanta was founded in 1847.  It was originally called Terminus because it was at the intersection of two railroad lines.  It was later renamed Marthasville in honor of the daughter of a former governor.

During the Civil War, Georgia fought for the Confederacy.  In 1864, the Union Army, under the command of General Sherman, laid a 4-month siege of the city known as the Battle of Atlanta.  After Atlanta surrendered, Sherman ordered the civilian population to evacuate and then burned the city to the ground.  Only churches and hospitals were spared.

The city rose from the ashes in a big way.  Today, the Atlanta economy is diverse and is the 6th largest in the country, as well as, the 15th largest in the world.


If you're not used to Atlanta then getting around can be interesting.  Peachtree Street is the city's main street.  People joke that half of the streets are named "Peachtree something or other".  There are 71 streets in Atlanta that have "Peachtree" in the name including: Peachtree Road, Peachtree Lane, Peachtree Circle, Peachtree Plaza, Peachtree Memorial Drive, North Peachtree Road, Peachtree Dunwoody Road, Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, and the list goes on and on. 

I love Atlanta!  I've always thought that it is a great place to live but never really thought of it as a tourist destination.  Even though it is home to the world's busiest airport. 


For people who have never been to Atlanta there really is a lot to see such as the Georgia Aquarium (the largest in the world), Stone Mountain, the Cyclorama, the Atlanta History Center, World of Coca-Cola, the Fernbank Museum, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, the High Museum of Art, the Fabulous Fox Theater, the Woodruff Arts Center, CNN, the Margaret Mitchell House, Piedmont Park, the Atlanta Botanical Garden, Centennial Olympic Park, Six Flags Over Georgia, Turner Field, Oakland Cemetery, Kennesaw Mountain, and the list goes on and on.  So maybe, it's more of a tourist city then I thought.

Steven is trying to be the perfect host and tour guide like he was when Claudia and Norbert visited Atlanta earlier this year.  The difference being that I don't need to go visit the Governor's Mansion or check out Phipps Plaza.  I'm all about just relaxing and hanging out with my best friend.  So far we've took a tour of the Oakland Cemetery which I had never done before and we've got a bit of shopping planned for later.  The only thing that I absolutely have to do is visit Georgia State University to pick up a notarized copy of my transcripts and then take them to the courthouse for an apostille in order to renew my Czech work permit next year.

Here's a short video I found out on YouTube that talks about a few of the Atlanta highlights.

Welcome Back to Atlanta

I'm back in America baby!!  And back home in the ATL.  So I guess it is a good place for my 600th blog post.

So I finally made it back home to Atlanta.  After 24 hours of traveling I made it back and Steven picked me up at the airport on Friday night.


I haven't seen Steven and Michael since our rendezvous in Paris last year.  On Saturday night they hosted a "Welcome Home" cocktail party at their home.  We had around 40 people over for one great evening.

It was wonderful getting to see so many friends.  Brian even flew up from Tampa, Florida for the festivities.

Unfortunately, not everyone was able to make it but I'll see how many other people I can catch up with while I'm here. 

Smart Traveler Enrollment Program

My trip back to the USA is finally here.  My taxi to the bus station will be here in about 6 hours.  I'm way too excited to sleep.  Plus, I'm still doing a bit of last minute packing.

If you've read this blog before then you know that I do quite a bit of traveling.  But this time I'm not doing part of my normal routine and it seem kind of weird not to.

Before I go on any trip I always log on to step.state.gov and register with the U.S. State Department.  I let the embassy/consulate in the country I'm visiting know my travel dates and where I'm staying.

The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) is a free service to U.S. citizens who are traveling in, or living in, a foreign country.  When you register your trip, the embassy or consulate will be able to better assist if there is an emergency, natural disaster, etc.  You will also be provided any relevant information about what is going on in your selected country.

For example, on my trip to Serbia, I was warned about a scheduled protest in Belgrade and advised to stay away from a specific part of town.  On my trip to Spain, I was warned about upcoming demonstrations and a planned general strike in Barcelona. 

I feel pretty safe in Europe but you just never know what can happen.  You can be sure that I let the U.S. Embassy in Moldova know what my travel plans were when I went to Transnistria.  According to the State Department, U.S. embassies and consulates help around 200,000 Americans who are victims of crime, accident or illness, or whose families and friends need to contact them in case of an emergency.  Better safe than sorry. 

The U.S. Embassy in Prague knows that I am living in Brno.  I've registered my contact information here and my emergency contacts' information back in the USA.  The embassy also sends me routine information about services provided and about embassy functions happening in Prague.

Note: I also received a warning from the U.S. Embassy in Athens warning me about the November 17th protest.

Nat's Not Going Away Party

I've mentioned a few times now that I'm getting over all of these going away parties.  And I am.  But here's a bit of good news.  Tonight was supposed to be a little send off for Natalie but it turned out to be her "not going away party".

Katka, Norbert & Claudia

She was able to convince her employer that, rather than move back to Edinburgh now, it makes more sense for her to remain in Brno for a while longer.  Not sure how long "a while longer" is but we'll take what we can get.  Probably at least until January or February.  Yeah!!  

Steluţa, Natalie & Christopher

And to make the going away thing a little better, Steluţa is back from Romania.  She decided not to stay in Bucharest and has already started working for a company here.

Maxim's Going Away Party

On of my colleagues, Maxim, decided to leave IBM to explore another opportunity elsewhere.  While I'm sorry to see him leave I do wish him all the luck in the world with his new job.



Since Max is Russian it only made since that for his going away party, a bunch of us all met up for dinner and drinks at a little local Russian restaurant.



There was plenty of typical Russian bar food which means lots of herring.  It was all really good, especially if you like herring.



What gets you in trouble is the vodka.  Now don't get me wrong, vodka is my spirit of choice but you just can't out drink Russians, Ukrainians or Moldovans.




When you drink vodka "Russian style" it means that they bring out little pitchers of vodka and put them on the table for you to help yourself.




It's a good thing that I was double-booked Friday night so I wasn't able to stay long.  Otherwise Saturday could have been a little rough.

New Hot Water Heater

My building got a a new hot water heater.  On the 24th a note was posted that there would be no hot water from 3 PM Tuesday until 3 PM Thursday.  Now, why on earth couldn't this happen during the three weeks that I'll be in the USA?

The new hot water heater

Well, when I got home on Tuesday my flat still had hot water.  But when I got home from work on Wednesday there was no more hot water.  It really was a lot of fun having to boil water in the kettle so that I could shave in the mornings.  Yeah, right. 

A friend said that it was no big deal.  I would just have to boil lots of water for the bath tub like people used to have to do.  That's great except that my flat doesn't have a bathtub.  There's just a shower.  By the way, those cold showers really sucked.  By this morning the hot water was back and I enjoyed my super long hot shower.

What GOD?

Several months ago I received an e-mail request from a graduate film student in Arizona.  She had seen the photos I posted on my blog about my trip to Auschwitz.  She asked if she could use my photos as part of a student project she was working on.  Of course!

Well a couple of weeks ago she sent me a copy of the final product.  Not only did one of my photos make the final cut but I even got mentioned in the credits at the end of the film.  The film, by the way, is a pretty moving piece.  It is called What GOD?  I hope that the group got an "A" for the film.

International Driver's Permit

My Georgia driver's license has expired and I had planned on renewing it when I go home to Atlanta next week.  However, I can't.  Since July 1, Georgia has enacted tough new rules which prevent me from getting a new license.  It's always been that you get your actual license within 10 minutes.  Now, the new licenses have some new security features and the driver's license is mailed to your home address.  I no longer have a house in Georgia because I sold it.  And now, in addition to showing valid state or federal ID, you must also present two recent utility, bank statement, etc., that has your current address.  There is no way that Georgia will mail me a new Georgia license to the Czech Republic.


So in order for me to drive in the USA, I needed to go with Plan B.  An International driving permit is recognized in +160 countries.  It is a little bigger than a passport and has my picture and states what type of vehicle I can operate.  It is printed in Czech, English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Turkish and Icelandic.

In order for an international permit to be valid you must carry it with your actual driver's license.  Also, it is not valid in the country of issue.  It only cost me 50 Kč ($2.65) and it is valid for one year.  I will only need this for the USA because my Czech driver's license is valid everywhere in Europe.

I'm actually a little bit nervous about driving in the USA.  Driving in Malta was the last time I was behind the wheel.  Let's hope I don't get too confused by all of the different rules.

Travel Health Insurance

I'm still getting ready for my trip back home.  I made sure that yesterday I sorted out some travel insurance.  I have great healthcare over here but my VZP card isn't going to work in the USA.

In 2010, in the USA, the average cost for a hospital stay was $14,662 while the average price for an emergency room visit was $1,327.

The travel insurance was very easy to get.  Yeah!  I did everything on line (and in Czech!).  For 27 days of coverage my premium is 2,088 Kč ($110.67).  I'm covered for the following:

Health Coverage
Medical expenses - 2M Kč ($106,000)
Dental expenses - 5,000 Kč ($265)

Liability insurance for damage
Health 2M Kč ($106,000)
Property - 1M Kč ($53,000)
Financial - 500,000 Kč ($26,500)

Accident insurance
Disability 200,000 Kč ($10,600)
Death 100,000 Kč ($5,300)

Insurance of personal belongings - 10,000 Kč ($530)

Hospitalization daily coverage 200 Kč ($10.60)

I'm sure that I won't need health care while in the USA.  But with the high cost of medical services there is just no way I can risk not having travel insurance.  Knock on wood that I won't need to use it