The interview, a Paris experience

So, I went to Paris and did my interview.

Just to give you a mental image, I have to note that summer has broken out in Ireland. We nearly hit the 20 degrees Celcius twice and it rains a little less.

Coming from this background, it is no surprise that it took me a little while to adjust to the 30 odd degrees in Paris. Marching to my interview in business casual and with a really heavy bagpack, I was very happy that my anti-transpirant deo held it's end of the bargain.

I was about 30 minutes early and that served me well. My interviewer, a nice lady from Quebec, did not even leave me waiting for 5 even minutes.
She paid a great deal of attention to my previous work engagements and my studies. Then it came to the most dreaded part of my interview - the French test.

I feel that I have to elaborate a little more.

Due to an unfortunate delay in my test result reception I only got a hold of my French marks slightly more than a week before the interview in Paris. So I decided that there is not point in sending it out at that late stage. I simply brought it in the day of my interview.
However, since they had no notion (other than my say-so) of my French level, my interviewer asked a couple of questions in French. Mainly simple stuff, but also a broad and open question about my motivation to go to Quebec.
I must have managed alright, so she agreed to give me the CSQ, which is the admission for Quebec.

Oh, one thing. I had worked in Quebec for half a year a good few years ago. This was quite relevant for my application. Obviously, I did not have the pay slips anymore to prove it - they went into the garbage before I even left Canada. But since I brought any important (and many unimportant) documents along, I quite fortunately could show the interviewer my tax refund from Quebec. She was happy enough with that.

The steps to gain the permanent residency, the visa that I ultimately need to get into Canada, illuded me entirely. So once more I was quite happy to have an immigration lawyer at my side. I just had to let them know that I passed and they took care of getting me the right information. Very handy!

So, that's where I am now. Filling more forms and hoping that it won't take so long...