I was digging around for something and came across my stash of documents, which got me thinking of the travel meme I did last week, which got me to dig out my passports. You know how it goes.
Some mugshots over the years, beginning with the first one from the Philippines (with the name I stopped using after leaving Winnipeg), which I only have a photocopy of because (if I recall correctly), I left it at my friend’s house in Germany way back in 1994 and that was the end of the trail. They moved out of that house in Leverkusen to their weekend house in Aachen when my friend’s mum fell off a horse, had a stroke, and his dad took early retirement to take care of her. I lost contact with my friend while he was preoccupied with his PhD in veterinary science. Maybe one day he’ll find this blog and tell me he found my childhood passport amongst his stuff! (The internet’s good for nostalgia.)
Maybe you can still make out that it’s me. In my brother’s passport, he is wearing an identical outfit. We look like little matching prisoners. My dad wrote that my occupation was a minor. Let me tell you, being a minor is tough work. So is writing out my place of birth.
If you ever saw my birth certificate from the Philippines, you would think I was at least a hundred years old. It looks like it belongs in a museum, with old-fashioned typeface on onion skin paper. I’m surprised it hasn’t disintegrated yet. For my parents’ race, they are both listed as “Brown”. I’m not kidding! What on earth is the “Brown” race? Box #23 is “Legitimate” Yes or No. The entire back of the birth certificate is “Affadavit To Be Accomplished In Case Of An Illegitimate Child”. One day I’ll scan it, for now I’m just shaking my head.
my first passport
So here we have all the passports since then, the latest one expiring next year. The first one looks like I just came from a squash match, but I probably did — I played squash almost every day at work. Looks like 1997 was the only time I paid attention to my hair. Apparently my eyebrows were attacked by a pair of tweezers in 2002 and I probably hadn’t had a haircut in over a year. By 2007 new passport regs had kicked in and as a nation we slid back to photo technology circa 1999. Note the funky new maple leaf by the words ‘passport’, though.
The current one also has a really fake-looking picture, ironically, despite all the newfangled security measures — including the one where the passport holder is not allowed to smile.
passports, age 18 to 39
Canadians like to complain about the cost and hassle of a five-year passport since we are pretty much alone in this world of 10-year passports. However, good news for you people: Passport Canada will be issuing electronic passports in 2012 and offering a new 10-year option.
Personally, I like starting a fresh book every five years and renewing my picture. After all, my address has changed with every passport, but my next passport will be the very first one with the same address as the previous. Amazing!
Below is an old International Driver’s License, which I’ve only ever used once when some young (and crazy) Italians demanded I show it after my rental car bumper touched their bumper in Geneva and they wanted to make a claim against my insurance company. They wouldn’t accept that my rental car was covered under fleet insurance rather than an individual policy number and took it upon themselves to write down every single number of every single document I had. My theory is that one of them borrowed her mum’s car without asking, went joyriding in Switzerland with a couple of friends and now had to explain why there was a chip in the bumper paint. Meanwhile, every 14th car in Geneva has a side mirror held together by tape, scratches on the door or a dented bumper. (In Italy that would be every other car.)
international driver's license and citizenship card
The photo below the International Driver’s License photo is my citizenship card. I had this picture taken ducking inside during a snowstorm and it was so blustery my hair was out of control. I even look like I have a widow’s peak. Of course, this would be the picture for a card that doesn’t expire, so I’m stuck with it. Typical.
I also had to wait three months for the appointment to get the citizenship certificate renewed, and I was going to make that appointment by hell or high water! Consequently, I guard it even more closely than my passport since it is the ONLY document that shows I’m a Canadian citizen if my passport ever gets lost or stolen. I can’t get another passport without it. Two cards previous to this one was replaced in Calgary in 1991, where I had to borrow my friend’s car to drive from Banff to take the oath of citizenship again! Long story…
