Unglobalized bodies
I spent some hours of my weekend planning on the Summer trips. Three months ago, my plan was to split the summer into a long stay in Indonesia to do research and fun and a long stay here in Tempe to write. But two months ago, the whole plan was changed as one rare opportunity to go to a place I'd always wanted to go came. A conference in St Petersburg Russia!!! I cannot and shouldn't miss it. And it also means that I might stop by Amsterdam the Netherlands as I'll fly with NWA/KLM — I could always make events in the Netherlands of course. My former professors, colleagues, are friends are there! It means I need to get Russian and Schengen visas. Which means I need to go to LA to apply for a Schengen visa at the Netherlands consulate as they only serve in-person application! Ugh.
As I planned the trip, I found out that though my O-1 visa is still valid until August 2009, the visa stamp on my passport is only valid until July 5th, 2008. Ouch! My conference in St Petersburg is until July 6th, it means that I cannot go back to the US from Europe! Ouch. I can go to Indonesia directly from Europe and then come back to the USA after getting a visa stamp in Jakarta and spend some time there in Indonesia. But the problem is my funding comes from different sources, and it'll be an administrative hassle to combine two trips in one ticket. Beside a multi-cities ticket of Phoenix (Tempe) - Amsterdam (St Petersbug) - Jakarta - Phoenix would cost around $7,000! While dividing them into two Phoenix-Ams return and Phoenix-Jkt return make them much cheaper. My funders wouldn't like it! Nobody's gonna pay me $7,000 for tickets! I perhaps have to convince my funders to let me just buy a round-the-world ticket! Cheap (for them), reasonable, and great for me! Oh Mer, dream on! Another problem, there'll also be some baggage hassles if I combine the trips.
Arrrgh, this is too much. Now, to make it safe, I need to go to Canada to get a visa stamp. But to enter Canada I need to apply for Canadian visa. Oh, nooooo!!!!! I can also apply in Mexico but it has a longer waiting list and to get into Mexico I also need a visa! When will I apply for a visa? I have no time! I need my passport to go to Cambridge and London this coming Wednesday and then as soon as I come back here I need my passport to apply for Russian and Netherlands/Schengen visas.
So to make trips I need to do some pre-requisite trips! Yikes. In essence, I need to apply a visa to go to country A to get a visa of country B, in order to come back after going to countries with C and D visas, just because I am a citizen and a passport holder of a country E……….ndonesia!
The world is getting more global and global. Information flows across local, national and regional boundaries. I got these invitations to speak mostly because information/ideas I published (my publications) are globalized. They are read by people, who in turn, invited me to come. But my body doesn't easily cross various boundaries! Not until the material physic can be compressed into bits and bytes, which perhaps will never happen. And even if it happens, most likely there'd be immigration cyberofficers in the cybernetwork that will halt me from entering their countries!
Globalization, through informatization, enables ideas to travel around the global (in most cases) freely, with no barriers. Globalization, through the channels of technology, integrate economic institutions and the advent of information and communication technologies has accelerated the pace and the scope of this integration. Globalization also takes place on borders between countries, specifically on opening them up, encouraging free trades and free flow of goods between countries and across the world.
However, even in the era globalization, open border still does not appear to apply to people, to their bodies. As inequalities between rich and poor countries increase, borders are becoming more and more closed to some bodies, my body included.
Perhaps I should just do some cosmetic surgery, buy a fake American passport, and change my name. Or alternatively, as my friend suggested, I can try to go back to Arizona through the porous US border with Mexico. There's a risk of getting caught, though. The real problem, with my look — people think I am Hispanic in disguise here — the border-police might deport me to Mexico City or Lima and I have to change my name to Merlyna Sanchez! I don't mind. What is in name anyway? But that would disappoint my folks in Dayeuh Kolot !
14 Comments so far
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well..the problem's solved if you can present your paper via video conference. but I'm guessing, that's not the point? the point is how to get you to Russia, a place you'd always wanted to go came hehe anyway, even if it is possible to compress you, material physic, into bits and bytes. it's a lot harder to reverse it back. what if you're forever bits and bytes?
mer: yes, the point is I love traveling, I love seeing other places. and I want to go to Russia. i don't think 'forever bits and bytes' is possible. for every process of compression there's always a process of extraction. once an artifact can be compressed into atom (bits) then it'd be transmitted and extracted into something else. the question is whether the extraction process will bring back the exact materiality of original artifact or not, there's no warranty yet.
By dina on 04.21.08 1:40 am
there are two countries in the world (other than Asean which you can enter without visa. i remember one; Maroko and the other is…i think it's a country in American continent. Can you go there, get a stamp and fly again?
mer: the problem is not all embassies would give you a stamp. yes, Morocco, Chili, Peru, Hongkong and Macao let Indonesians in without visa.
By Mulia on 04.21.08 6:13 am
What a wonderful opportunity to go to Russia .. and Amsterdam …. and Jakarta. And oooh .. that visa problem … sometimes I wish I had passport other than the Garuda!
mer: right… Russia is especially special for me. to go there is one of my travel dreams! visa…visa… ah…. what to do about that….
By santi d on 04.21.08 7:08 am
Looks like being an Indonesian national equals living in a surrealistic parallel world (Magritte would have liked it), rather than in a the global village. However, I guess you will beat the system. So, welcome back in Amsterdam (I presume).
mer: haha… surrealistic…. well, my ideas, my spirit, my mind, is in the global village. my body isn't. but yeah, i'll beat the system, as always! :D
By colson on 04.21.08 8:51 am
read the blog about what questions people ask about your ethnicity, no matter where you where….well I was adopted and always in southern cali…my black friends thought I was biracial with black, hispanic thought I was half chicana, or hawaiin and asian thought military daddy was causcasian and mom was an asian mix…. met my real birth mom…well yes she is indo dutch (but no real dutch blood in her) Greet Caffin is her name, and she just passed away…she did the rufugee in holland then on with the few thousand to southern cali…Azusa and Pasadean to be exact. I am half something ..whomever he is he had culy hair and green eyes…because i have wavy dark hair that lightens to a golden color in summer and my eyes turn greenish brown at certain times…my kids look more indo than I..but I am who I am…..and hate to say it…you got more question thrown on you even in the asian countries…you must be beautiful…..I am realizing I am and my kids are…and you are quite a journalist and traveler……my email is ceeflav@aol.com
mer: many thanks, Caroline. it's fascinating to read about your origin(s). i do think it's great to be mixed-blood! btw, yes, i am lucky to have opportunities to travel (freely!)… yet not quite a journalist, hehe. thanks again for dropping by….
By caroline caffin on 04.21.08 9:14 pm
yang tabah bu! aku juga dari Zurich mau seminar di Trento (Itali, cuma 6 jam naik kereta!) ribetnya minta ampun dan kemungkinan ngga bisa (ini plus krn perpanjangan tahunan permit swiss-ku ga jadi2, biasaaa immigration office). Juga di sini kalo apply Schengen visa, di berbagai embassy, kalo paspor Indo peraturannya beda (lebih ketat, butuh dokumen lebih banyak, mrk butuh waktu memproses lebih lama). Memang paspor hijau = imigran = persona non grata. Belum lagi kalo cerita ke teman2 lab, respon mereka: "ya wajar, soalnya banyak imigran gelap dr asia sih" .. duh sialan
Eh btw, kalo suatu saat mbak mer ngasih talk di Swiss bilang2 ya, sapa tahu bisa ngopi darat 
Gud lak lho buat trip-nya! Ayo, ayo, pasti ada jalan! berenang mungkin? 
sekalian memperpanjang liburan lho 
mer: thanks! iya, aku yakin pasti ada jalan. udah rencana sih mau ambil advanced-swimming lesson…. hahaha… supaya bisa berhasil melewati lautan samudra yang memisahkan dua benua…
By peregrin on 04.22.08 5:58 pm
or you can give me the ticket and i will go to st. petersburg on your behalf! how's that sound? lol you're so lucky!! i wanna go to st. petersburg.. i will, one day. you just wait and see.
mer: sure i can give you a ticket, if that worked
unfortunately they want the one and only Lady Day(euh) hahaha…
By rimafauzi on 04.23.08 12:17 pm
btw, haven't applied for a green card teh? woder if it will solve your problem, though.one thing i know for sure is that it will set you free from the loooong queue of "NON US citizens and PR" that I had to go through after going back from Brussels.. all men created equal? hmmm…
mer: if you read my O-1 postings (in the past), then you'd know why i couldn't even apply for a green card yet. i'm punished for having PhD, hahaha… anyway, somehow i'll find a way.
By pam on 04.23.08 6:28 pm
btw again, how could i go to tempe in the summer when you're not around? will you leave the house key?
mer: sure, let me know… you're welcome to acak-acak my house!
By pam on 04.23.08 6:30 pm
teh, schengen rasanya ga perlu in-person deh. waktu kemarin pam diurus dari international program office-nya UW. dibantu ma mereka, jadi ga usah wawancara. asu ga bantu teh?
mer: well…. aku ngga tahu ya. sejauh ini kan aku selalu undangan dan dana dari pihak ke tiga (bukan ASU), jadi aku urus sendiri. lagian kalau urus sendiri lebih cepat, karena aku kayaknya lebih mahir ketimbang international program officer, hahaha….
By pam on 04.23.08 6:50 pm
No, having a green card won't solve the problem either. I do have one with my super thick Indonesian passport and had to go through a lot of headache (and not to mention $$) to get the Schengen visa –while my husband and kids do not have too *grr* Been there done that. About that technology globalization, I guess it doesn't apply to us Indonesians, huh? Once they see our green passport, the siren will go off and everybody's in alert position and be like," Ja… diz iz Indonesie, ve must make it difficult!" Frustrating.
mer: you're right… no exception for green card holders…. but anyway, i went to Europe often and always managed to get that Schhhhhhengen visa anyway…. and any other visas… so this time, i swear i'll make this work.
By Diny on 04.28.08 10:03 am
Congratulation for the invitation
Russia, from 'communism' to 'capitalism' = getting better? the role of internet researcher in reformation? Spirit of truth, spirit of peace bring your music too. and imagine no country, no ideology and no passport !
mer: thanks. i am definitely for that 'imagined' system of the world!!! p.s. i'm more than just internet researcher, and this conference is not about internet at all.
By nemo on 04.28.08 6:58 pm
oh, don't miss the opportunity to go to russia!!
I always want to go there but got no chance yet. nice blog btw. cheers 
mer: thanks, Yodee. yes, Russia is much too important to pass!
By yodee on 04.28.08 8:28 pm
Mba’ mer..hohoho, teuteup nanya nih, jadi ke Jakarta kan awal agustus? soalnya InsyaAllah acara weddingnya tgl 1 Agustus, dan dakuw masih nagih utang janji nyanyi nya mba’ mer :p
By FIKi on 05.03.08 12:37 pm
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