The Ugliest Building in Stockholm is the US Embassy

I sold my car before leaving GA and moving to Stockholm and of course it couldn't be straight forward.  The bank had my car title in their possession and since I was moving so quickly, there wasn't any time for the check to clear and for the bank to send me my title to sign over to the new owners.  Ok, no problem.  Wells Fargo said that they would mail the new title straight to the new owners.  What they failed to mention is that I would need to designate a limited power of attorney, to allow the new owners to take the title over to the county tag office to register the vehicle.  This EASILY could've been done before I left GA but alas, we did not know it needed to be done.

So, the very responsible owners of the car sent me an email with links and all relevant information.  All I had to do was fill out this form and have it notarized at the US Embassy.  This however, wasn't as simple as one would think.  To get to the US Embassy, I had to take a bus.  Fortunately for me, if you are traveling with a stroller, you can ride the bus for free.  Score!  I love free bus rides!  Also, in Sweden, the bus is reliable and taken by almost everyone.  Stockholm has a great public transit infrastructure and everyone uses the bus and T-bana to get around.  OK -- so I hop on the bus near our house and Calvin and I are off to the US Embassy.  One hurdle down.

Once getting off (at the wrong stop), we found a bunch of Embassy-like buildings.  It was in a snowy tree-riddled windy little road.  I pass a really cute red brick cottage looking house -- it's the Italian Embassy.  Super cute!  Oh, I'm so excited to see what the US Embassy looks like.  Will it be a string of cute cottages on one property? Maybe it's a yellow house with white trim.  Maybe it's a red brick palatial mansion with a tiled roof.  My mind is racing and I pick up speed with the stroller.

a sneaky pic of some embassies -- aren't they cute?

not an embassy but it could be if a small country wanted it

I'm looking for the US flag as my marker.  Where is it?  None of these really cute houses have the US flag. Around the corner, there is a really ugly, utilitarian metal looking building on top of the hill and at the top of the flagpole is the American flag.  Waving proudly in the wind.  Yuck.  Really America?  Your embassy among all of these really cute buildings is the ugliest of them all?  Yes.  Because the US Embassy needs a perimeter protected by barbed wire, a metal detector/airport-like screening set up and at least a huge parking lot for the gazillion employees they have there. No mansion from the 1800s with charm and style could provide the security required in the ever so dangerous and threatening environment of Stockholm, Sweden.

ugly US Embassy

So, I stroll up to the embassy and there is a long line of about 9 people waiting quietly outside of the entrance.  I go to the end of the line and start organizing my paperwork.  They seem to be taking one person out of the line (and the cold) and asking them questions, etc.  No problem.  I have my appointment receipt and passport at the ready.  So we wait....and we wait...and we wait.  And I begin thinking that this is going to take a while.  I start tending to Calvin who just noticed that we weren't moving anymore and is vocalizing his displeasure.  The guard pokes his head out the door and says, "The woman with the baby!" -- Alright! Bonus points for Calvin!  We bypass the 9 other people in line (I mutter a half-hearted 'sorry!') and he asks me what service I need.  I say, "Notarial services" and show him my appointment paperwork.  He then says, "Ma'am, all US citizens line up in front of that other sign" and he points to a small sign, closer to the guard house, that was apparently intended for US citizens only.  The sign was tough to see since nobody was standing near it and it could hardly be considered obvious.  Apparently I was in the foreign immigrant visa line.  I should've known to start my own special line for the special treatment I deserve!  Oh well.  We were expedited anyway thanks to the behbeh in the strollah.

The inside of the embassy wasn't any more attractive than its exterior.  I don't have any pics because they made me forfeit anything with a battery during my airport-like screening.  We entered into a waiting room full of foreigners applying for US Visas and I pay my $50 and get my paperwork notarized by the consulate.

Just a side note, everyone I spoke with at the US Embassy, with the exception of the consulate and the woman who took my $50 was a Swede. I thought you had to be American to work at the US Embassy? Guess not...

The only other US Embassy I have ever been to was the one in Brunei Darussalam.  It was located above a Dairy Queen in Bandar Seri Begawan and you had to log your passport number with a guard at the bottom of an elevator who then escorted you straight to the embassy.  The only part open to visitors was a plush waiting room with embassy workers behind glass just like a bank.  In comparison to the US Embassy in Stockholm,  it felt more secure, smaller and less bureaucratic.  Here, I had to wait in 4 different lines to do 1 transaction.  In Brunei, you went to your teller who took care of everything in one sitting.  I had 30 extra pages sewn into my passport within 8 minutes in Brunei.  In Stockholm, I had one piece of paper notarized that took about 45 mins from start to finish.

All in all, it wasn't a horrible experience and next time I will know to stand in the correct/special line.  America doesn't get any points for style or grace but in the end, everyone I encountered was fairly friendly, professional and expedient.  Maybe because they were all Swedish.

By the way, Calvin was not impressed...