Tuesday marks my ninetieth day in China. If you remember back to last fall, the visa I was granted only allows me to stay in China for a duration of ninety days at a time. As a last resort, all I'd simply need to do would be to cross the border into Hong Kong. I could turn around and enter again and be good for another ninety days. About a month ago, we began seeking out what other options might be available to us. There was talk of someone being able to 'walk it across' for me, without my having to go anywhere. Then just this past weekend, we were introduced to a man with some connections to a business that could possibly help me change my visa type altogether. We had a meeting with him on Sunday afternoon in which he explained that his colleagues in QingDao could switch my tourist visa into an 'F' visa - the 'F' visa being one that has the ability to be extended for a full year with no limits. Before the meeting was over, we had booked a flight for myself to QingDao for Tuesday morning, the 10th. I was scheduled to arrive there in the morning, had an escort meeting me at the airport to take me to the visa office, and then a flight booked back to Beijing again that same evening. It all looked very hopeful and I was excited to get on a plane!
Late Monday night, as I was wrapping up all my preparations to leave, my new 'business friend' called to inform me that I would no longer be making my trek to QingDao in the morning. Apparently there had been a drug bust that afternoon, and the visa office branch that I was scheduled to work through had been involved in processing the visas involved in the bust. The office would be shut down until further notice. Time for a new plan! So instead of heading to the airport the following morning, I found myself in a Starbucks in Beijing, meeting again with my new friend. From there we walked to the Subway station and boarded a train for his office. It was quite a walk from the Subway stop to his street, where he then infomed me we'd 'just wait' on the corner until one of his business partners arrived. When New Friend Number Two showed up, they took me to a tiny Kodak store where they told me I'd need a new photo to submit with my visa application. The one I had with me was 'not good enough.' After having my photo taken, I took a seat and waited. Friend One and Friend Two sat down at a computer and began typing to someone on QQ, a popular instant messaging program in China. "Oh, great," I thought. "I have to sit here and wait while they catch up with their friends. They're probably announcing to everyone that they're spending the day with an American." By this time it was far past my lunch time and I could feel my blood sugar beginning to drop. I was rummaging around in my purse, looking for some candy, and they must have sensed that I was getting restless. They turned around to assure me that they were "just talking to some of their colleagues" back in their office about my visa.
As I continued to wait, two women came in and had their photos taken as well. It appeared that their photos were for some type of employee identification card - you know, the type you might wear laminated and pinned to your shirt - not anything fancy. The first woman wanted to approve her photo on the computer screen, and then insisted they take another one. She primped her hair and makeup in the dingy mirror and sat down for a second try. Once their photos appeared on the computer screen and they gave their 'okays', the photo technicians rolled up their sleeves and began a tedious editing process. First they enlarged their photos on the screen to ensure that everyone in the store could see each of their pores in detail. Then they whitened their teeth, smoothed their fine lines and wrinkles, and blotted out any blemishes. Next they administered a complete hair makeover. It was amazing - each lady had to have been in her fifties and sported no small amount of gray hair, but oh, now their photo showed them with shiny dark hair. They shaved off any fly-aways around the hairline and erased the unwanted skin along their jowls. I was incredulous to how they showed no embarrassment and nobody else in the store found it odd in any way. "I would never have anyone watch as each of my flaws was displayed in jumbo-vision!" I thought. At last, the two women had their brand new ID tags in hand and seemed quite pleased. Finally they would be able to print my simple passport-sized photo and we could get out of there!
But then, oh, then, it happened. Suddenly it was my face displayed for all to see - zooming, and zooming, and zooming. "No, it's fine, it's just for my passport," I insisted. "We must have nice photo," argued Friend Two. I sat back, helpless, and watched as some Chinese teenage boy edited out each part of my appearance that he didn't think was quite good enough. He even did some slicing maneuver to my neck, rotating my head to give me just the right tilt! After my digital surgery was complete, it was sent off over QQ to their 'colleagues' and we waited again for a response. Thankfully it came quickly and I was happy to hear the news, "Okay, your photo has been accepted. Much better than other photo." Should I have said thanks?
We then left Kodak and walked onward to 'the office'. I was surprised to see that the mysterious colleagues did indeed exist, and had actually been working on my visa paperwork afterall. By the time we arrived, my information had already been submited online to another branch in another province. We should have my passport back in seven to nine business days with (hopefully) an 'F' visa inside. The 'F' visa will grant me three months until I need to apply for an extension. This extension can be done locally, and will then be good for another twelve months. Please keep my pretty little passport in your thoughts - that my new visa will be granted and that it will all return to me safely and soon.
I've added a couple new activities to my weekly schedule. On Wednesday afternoons, I'm now teaching an English class at a coffee shop on a nearby University campus. We've had two classes now, and each brought about sixty students. My time in China this time around has been much different than previous trips in that I've really found myself surrounded by foreigners the majority of the time. In the past, it was always the relationship-building and outreach to the Chinese that drove my time. Having this class now gives me the opportunity to reach out from my foreign-bubble and practice what first brought me here. I have to admit, though, my heart is not one hundred percent back in it. At the end of each class, the students have all lined up to speak with me one-on-one. It's hard to formulate answers to their questions that often don't make much sense, or really just leave me baffled as to why they'd wait in line for so long to ask such a thing. They each want my phone number and e-mail address and want to know if they can come visit my house on the weekends or take me to dinner the following night. While it would be wonderful to say yes to one person, it's impossible to say yes to all sixty. I hate having to dodge their dinner invitations. I'm not an incredibly social person to begin with and I'm afraid I'm already feeling exhausted by them. I'm hoping either my newness will wear off or I'll gain some incredible wisdom in how to manage my time with them.
They put my name on their marquee out front!My second activity is a small group with a couple friends in Beijing. On Fridays, Ting has a driver take her into the city for her youth group, so I've been riding in with her. After she gets dropped off, I then meet up with a couple girls my age - one from Wisconsin and the other from the Ukraine. We meet at one of their apartments for dinner and study the Word.
Yesterday, as I entered the bakery and bounded up the stairs to my bedroom, something on the floor caught my eye.
It's a wonder I didn't miss him. He blended in quite well. But sure enough, there he was. I guess since I have a Lester the Chicken, I need a Larry the Lizard, too. I
have had an awful lot of mosquitos in my apartment, so he's welcome to stay if he's hungry. All this talk makes it sound like I must be living in a lush, tropical locale, but don't be fooled. It's still mighty cold here and I have yet to see any signs of spring.
Thanks to all of you who have been following along with me. If you were here, I'd give you my phone number, my e-mail, take you to dinner, AND invite you over on Saturday (but don't tell my Chinese students that).
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