It's the middle of June, and I haven't seen my passport in 2 weeks. This is a source of consternation, because I am going to be leaving the country on June 26th.
With about seven days to go before departure, I demand to have my passport back. The reason for this demand? The 'helpers' have said that they are finally going to get off of their asses and take our paperwork to the local security bureau to get our residence permits re-upped. This will take an inordinate amount of time, so much so that my passport will only be given back to me (assuming nobody loses it, gets drunker than usual, or just decides to take a 'me day') on the early afternoon of my departure day, some 2-3 hours before I am to leave the city. This is unacceptable, so I ask:
"Is it a question of me spending 2 hours in an office now, or two hours in an office in the fall? Is this going to matter in any way?"
"No no it's the same, it will be no problem!"
The director of my program having assured me there would be no problems with me re-doing my residence permit in the fall, I confidently re-acquired my passport with a smattering of time to spare before I fled this wretched berg. I'm sure eeeeeverything will turn out just fine, and no directors will lose their jobs as a result. The china, everybody!
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Monday, December 2, 2013
Prodigal stunned - part 2
So picture this: it's late August, and I'm beginning to actively dread my impending re-departure. To add to it I have real concerns over whether I'll be able to visit the country (see part 1) at all due to visa issues, but I am officially packed up and off to the airport.
It's worth noting that I had spent about a week emailing everyone involved about the visa issue, to which I got some confident 'don't worry, the police in the city know you are coming!' - type responses. At a certain point, you just have to believe people.
The check-in person at YVR, alas, was having none of this, and so it was that I informed my higher-ups that I was, in fact, not bound for China on the day I was supposed to due to not being given a visa. Their solution? I go beyond my contract's scope and get down to the travel agent (something of an idiot savant for inefficiency about 98% of the time) and arrange my own visa.
The only thing that could be accomplished with any speed was a tourist visa, as a work visa requires city-specific documents that take weeks to get at the best of times because, you know, China. However, I was assured confidently by the travel agent (whose entire job is knowing everything about Chinese visas) that I could somehow transmute it into a working visa while in-country. Awesome.
Having already said all my goodbyes, I checked into a hotel for a couple nights to wait the visa process out, rather than going back to the island/crashing friends' couches in Van into oblivion. The flight was uneventful, and I was picked up by school car (AS IS THE RULE when coming from Vancouver).
I was sure my working permit would be organized in a few weeks. After all, I'd been given a generous 60-day stay on my visa with which to illegally work, what could go wrong? Many local adults were working hard on rectifying this situation.
5 weeks later they admitted they couldn't get it done....but....was there another option in 'China'? (dramatic sound cue)
It's worth noting that I had spent about a week emailing everyone involved about the visa issue, to which I got some confident 'don't worry, the police in the city know you are coming!' - type responses. At a certain point, you just have to believe people.
The check-in person at YVR, alas, was having none of this, and so it was that I informed my higher-ups that I was, in fact, not bound for China on the day I was supposed to due to not being given a visa. Their solution? I go beyond my contract's scope and get down to the travel agent (something of an idiot savant for inefficiency about 98% of the time) and arrange my own visa.
The only thing that could be accomplished with any speed was a tourist visa, as a work visa requires city-specific documents that take weeks to get at the best of times because, you know, China. However, I was assured confidently by the travel agent (whose entire job is knowing everything about Chinese visas) that I could somehow transmute it into a working visa while in-country. Awesome.
Having already said all my goodbyes, I checked into a hotel for a couple nights to wait the visa process out, rather than going back to the island/crashing friends' couches in Van into oblivion. The flight was uneventful, and I was picked up by school car (AS IS THE RULE when coming from Vancouver).
I was sure my working permit would be organized in a few weeks. After all, I'd been given a generous 60-day stay on my visa with which to illegally work, what could go wrong? Many local adults were working hard on rectifying this situation.
5 weeks later they admitted they couldn't get it done....but....was there another option in 'China'? (dramatic sound cue)
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