Futility
Often we Americans use the movie "Groundhog Day" as a metaphor for some action that repeats itself over and over repeatedly over and over again.
I thought about using that movie as my own metaphor for what's been going on over here with us in Hong Kong, but in the movie, Bill Murray's character eventually learns things and applies what he learns toward getting closer to Andie McDowell. The iterations we are going through are far less instructive.
For the first several days we were here, Randy's company worked with the Labor Board and the Visa Office in Beijing to complete our visa applications. On Wednesday they received an official letter from the Visa Office that we were to take to the Visa office in Hong Kong that said ALL of our Visas were approved, and in Chinese and English it requested that Visas be given to us. We received this by overnight express on Thursday morning, so Randy took it immediately with our passports to the Visa office. He was back at our hotel in less than an hour because that office told him that the document wasn't enough and we would have to complete the entire visa applications AGAIN with their office. So, off we ran to get new sets of photographs taken, and fill out new applications, and then we all returned to the Visa office right as it opened after lunchtime and.....at that office they showed us another piece of paper that they required, an employment license.
Of course, because we had as far as the Beijing office was concerned completed the visa process, we did not have this piece of paper. It was already surrendered to the Labor Board to process Randy's work permit. Unfortunately, his work permit was only just received at his office late yesterday afternoon, too late to make the overnight mail to Hong Kong for today's receipt. We have a scanned email of it, but as anyone can guess, only the real one will do. That will be sent, and then we will return to the Hong Kong visa office, maybe to get visas, and maybe to be told that we are still missing another piece of paper.
So we wait....
I thought about using that movie as my own metaphor for what's been going on over here with us in Hong Kong, but in the movie, Bill Murray's character eventually learns things and applies what he learns toward getting closer to Andie McDowell. The iterations we are going through are far less instructive.
For the first several days we were here, Randy's company worked with the Labor Board and the Visa Office in Beijing to complete our visa applications. On Wednesday they received an official letter from the Visa Office that we were to take to the Visa office in Hong Kong that said ALL of our Visas were approved, and in Chinese and English it requested that Visas be given to us. We received this by overnight express on Thursday morning, so Randy took it immediately with our passports to the Visa office. He was back at our hotel in less than an hour because that office told him that the document wasn't enough and we would have to complete the entire visa applications AGAIN with their office. So, off we ran to get new sets of photographs taken, and fill out new applications, and then we all returned to the Visa office right as it opened after lunchtime and.....at that office they showed us another piece of paper that they required, an employment license.
Of course, because we had as far as the Beijing office was concerned completed the visa process, we did not have this piece of paper. It was already surrendered to the Labor Board to process Randy's work permit. Unfortunately, his work permit was only just received at his office late yesterday afternoon, too late to make the overnight mail to Hong Kong for today's receipt. We have a scanned email of it, but as anyone can guess, only the real one will do. That will be sent, and then we will return to the Hong Kong visa office, maybe to get visas, and maybe to be told that we are still missing another piece of paper.
So we wait....
Comments
Susan Peterson
and thank you thank you thank you for my lovely Starbucks travel mug...my mailman was quite impressed that I was getting a package from China! it's really sweet of you to think of me in the midst of all your moving stress! AND you even remembered I liked the color purple! I shall think of you all with every sip! XOXOX