That’s News to Me

Have you ever used the expression “That’s news to me”? Correctly applied, I think I could have used that expression two dozen times since October.

Here’s one: apostille. No? Don’t worry; you’re not alone. The word itself is French. Simply stated it is an international certification comparable to having something notarized. For the record, that’s the only thing simple about it. After a document is ‘apostilled’ it is recognized as ‘official’ by countries throughout the world without any further research required. So, you can see, they don’t hand these out easily.

Deb in Annapolis

By now you’re wondering how this applies to me; right? Well, let me start at the beginning. Learning about the job at the International School of Amsterdam, convincing myself I might actually be right for the job, applying, interviewing and accepting the offer turned out to be the easy part. Once done, the fun began; that’s when I ‘met’ Maryl van Hoek and Charlotte Buskens, both from the HR department at ISA.

The first person to name a department with the words ‘human’ and ‘resource’ must have known these two women. Since our introduction, their knowledge, patience, and fortitude have both encouraged and reassured me that the overwhelming set of tasks required to work in the Netherlands could, in fact, be completed, and done in a timely manner.

OK, back to apostilled documents. That was lesson no. 1 for the newest fifth grade teacher at ISA. Learning what 'apostilled' documents are is different than learning how to get them. Both my birth and marriage certificates had to be apostilled. Using the internet, my wife, Deb and I tried to order them from the state of Maryland where I was born and we were married. Easy, right? Um, yeah, well; read on. What arrived fifty dollars later was a brand-spanking new copy of my 57-year-old birth certificate. (Hey, I already owned a vintage copy of that!) It was at that moment that we decided that a road trip was in order.

Deb and I left home on Monday morning at about 4:30 a.m. and reached the Office of Vital Records in Towson, MD at about 11:00. With a newly acquired copy of our marriage license and my brand-new-really-old birth certificate in hand we set out for Annapolis to find the Office of the State Secretary of State, which of course we did. A few dead trees and a few greenbacks later we returned home to North Carolina with apostilled documents in hand.

in Annapolis, MD

By now you’re asking the most obvious question: why in the world would I need to prove that I am legally married. In retrospect, I should have asked that, too. It was Maryl who offered the explanation. In Dutch law, two individuals can establish legal ‘partnership’ and before I can live and work in Holland, I am required to prove that such a ‘partnership’ already exists. (As if anyone else would ever have me!)

Hey, that was news to me.