We've had a good week of progress. It feels a bit like being in two worlds, or a parallel universe or something, because we are still working at our regular jobs, but we are thinking A LOT about our future jobs. Today was especially exciting because we got our first orientation newsletter from SCIS (and from Jeff to boot), full of information and a big to-do list. Turns out we're already slightly ahead of the game with our visa documents already sent. He didn't mention immunizations, but that's pretty well covered on the school website. The big news is that we finally have a suggested report date: August 5th or 6th!
Here's what came up this week.
Visa application: Jeff's newsletter sent a link to a form, and forms are always a positive step in bureaucracy. We haven't heard anything from the school about the visa documents we sent, but we figure Ms. Kasono (the main HR lady) is pretty busy right now. We will fill out this form and make our appointment with the Chinese consulate in LA sometime around the first week of July, when we will go and I will be uncharacteristically quiet and hopefully convince the Chinese government to let us in. We will be putting our reason for visit as "business," which is the magic word. We have learned quite a bit about magic words, which seem very important in getting things done that are supposed to be against the rules. For instance, betting is illegal in China, but you can place a "guess" on a horse at the track.
Immunizations: We are done with our typhoid series and I have my second hepatitis (A, I think) in a couple of weeks, right after spring break. I have been emailing to a couple of my SCIS colleagues and have been assured that medical care is great and we can finish the hepatitis series there, although she still told me to bring all the medications I need with me. Joe has already visited his doctor and got medical releases for both of us so we can take our medical records with us. We'll do a doctor visit at the beginning of the summer just in case we find something we need to clear up.
Jack's new home: I sent an email this week to many of my Flagstaff friends, detailing Jack's plight and his qualifications as a good dog, and asking for suggestions. One of my former parents, Karen, wrote back quickly to say that she was interested and would like him to come visit to see how he would get along with Mia, her cat. We were skeptical, because Jack has never had any sort of feline relationship, but he has done fairly well in his two visits this week. On the first visit, they stayed well apart in the same room and growled at each other. This cat can really growl loudly. On the second visit, Jack and Mia went nose to nose, and although Mia hissed at him, she seemed to settle down a little bit, and Jack was almost polite. I think he's knows something's up and he seemed to understand that he has to make friends with Mia. However, after the first visit, Mia spent the entire night under the bed, and that sounds like a bad sign to me, so we'll see what develops.
Communications from our friends: I have saved many of the emails we received from our family and friends, and they make for great reading. We have a surprising number of friends who have traveled to China, so we are getting lots of good ideas about places to visit, vaccinations, and communications of all kinds. One great thing that came the old fashioned way (the regular mail) is a Mandarin language DVD from my sister and brother-in-law, Rhonda and Andy. She has always been the one keeping everyone else organized! More on that after we start watching it.
Communications from our new colleagues: I am emailing to two of my new colleagues, Helen, who is part of the music team, and Wendy, an NAU grad who teaches language arts and is from Mesa. Although we will both be assigned "buddies" who are in charge of getting us up to speed on life in China, these two ladies have been great about answering all kinds of questions, and the answers have been very interesting. The government will be monitoring pretty much everything I do on the phone, and probably on the internet as well, at least those sites that are not blocked, which is just about everything (no Facebook? I can't do it!). Joe has nicknamed this problem "The Bamboo Curtain." However, we have learned about the semi-mighty VPN, which stands for Virtual Personal Network (I think, I looked it up on Wikipedia). The VPN can't help with the phone monitoring, but it does get past the "Great Firewall" of Chinese internet, so I believe I will at least be able to maintain my blog, but I think Facebook, and for some reason, AOL, might be non-starters in China. Boy, do I hate to give up my Violindiva address! If I can't make the blog work, I'm going to have to send my postings to someone back home to enter for me, but I'll find a way. (The Chinese haven't met me yet, you see.)
Studying: I haven't spent so much time trying to learn about something since law school, I think! We are reading everything we can get our hands on, from National Geographic (the March issue has an article on Shanghai) to books to other people's blogs (so I know the blogging can happen). If you're thinking about some foreign travel, how about the 2010 World Expo, being held in Shanghai through October of this year? If travel isn't on your plate, but you'd like to know more about China or Shanghai in general, here are the books we're currently reading: "China Road" by Rob Gifford, a Christian NPR reporter who was based in Beijing for six years and decided to take a cross-China trip prior to leaving for his new posting in London. He is very funny and very honest about the country, both good and bad, and I really love how his faith colors much of his commentary. The other great book is "Postcards from Tomorrow Square" by James Fallows, a writer for The Atlantic and other journals as well, I believe. He is a huge fan of the VPN and deals specifically with Shanghai and the joys and travails of living there.
The Farewell Tour: Once we got our report date, Joe started looking at plane tickets, which are really not crazy at all. Korean Air has been recommended to us by our friend Rick (remember Mr. South Korea?) as well as just about everyone on the travel sites, and a one way ticket comes in at $600 from LA (because we can get to LA through Southwest, of course). We also had a visit to our bank to find out how online banking works, and the test case turned out fine - our HOA check was cashed. So, if I can reach my bank's website from behind the Bamboo Curtain, I'm golden! It's so easy, I might do more stuff this way. Also, we're starting to plan our visits to various places, beginning with spring break in Tucson (Edina, Lourdes, we'll call you soon), and what is shaping up to be a big Vegas reunion for my side of the family, coinciding with my Uncle Steve's seniors' bowling tournament (over 55, not prospective grads). Finally, we have our Indiana trip set for mid-June to see Joe's family and our Louisville friends, so you Hoosiers and Bluegrassers get ready too.
More next week...
Showing posts with label visa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label visa. Show all posts
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Preparing to Go, baby steps
It has been a couple of weeks since we got our big news, and now we are busy trying to get everything done to get to China. The list seems endless, but we have little victories that keep us from the pit of despair. For instance:
Getting a visa: The list of required documents is pretty long, but the good news is that the school will shepherd them through the application process. We dutifully copied passports, transcripts and our marriage license, took passport style photos (10 each) with a white background and both ears clearly showing (gosh, do I wear earrings or not?), and took digital pictures of our diplomas (some of which were a bit hard to find, but we had a nice trip down memory lane). All of this went off in a package to the director's secretary in Shanghai, where she will get it on her second day back after the week off for Chinese New Year, and happy Year of the Metal Tiger to all of you, by the way. If all of this goes well, we will then have to go to LA, the site of the closest Chinese consulate, and our visa will be granted. Probably. We hope.
Getting immunizations: China doesn't require any immunizations to enter the country (which I found surprising), but we found strong recommendations for hepatitis, tetanus, typhoid, malaria, rabies, Japanese encephalitis, and even some lively discussions of yellow fever. I was donating blood last Tuesday and answering the questions about any recent immunizations when I noticed that the hepatitis question was for the last six months. Fortunately, this was before I gave blood, so my brain was still working and I asked the interviewer about the vaccine, which it turns out is given as three shots over a six month period. We called the county health department right away to get our vaccinations, and even so, the last hepatitis B vaccine will have to be administered in China. By the way, we skipped the rabies and Japanese encephalitis vaccines and went with hepatitis (a series of shots) and typhoid (an oral dose of four pills).
Taking care of the house: We are keeping our house in Flagstaff, and don't want to leave it sitting empty, but finding the right people is a tough call, especially as we would like to come home over the summer break. We had some ideas in the form of two lovely college girls we have known for two years, so we invited them out to dinner, plied them with Wildflower Bread Company pasta, and sprung it on them. They really did look like deer in the headlights, but they recovered gracefully and said they would think about it. A few days later, they called and asked us to meet them at Starbucks, where they plied us with Americano coffee for Joe and a rather bad iced tea thing for me, and accepted our offer! We are really pleased, because we know these girls very well and feel completely comfortable in having them in our home. We still have a few details to work out and have to draw up the lease, but that was a large burden lifted, so thanks girls! Also, we've had this dirtbike in our garage since the summer, when our former neighbors moved out and asked us to store it for "a few days." We were worried about what would happen if we left and it was still there, when we got a knock on the door from our neighbor coming to pick up the bike.
Taking care of Jack: We have been told that Jack could come with us, and it is possible in this present reality, but the more we read about it, the worse it sounds. Assuming he survived the 14 hour plane flight (a dog who is terrified of loud noises), he would then be in seven days of quarantine and we would be unable even to see him (a dog who doesn't like being alone and has severe food allergies). At the risk of being unkind to my new country, there's no way I'm trusting the communist government with the safekeeping of my dog! There is much more to this whole issue, and I'll just say food and fur trade and leave it at that, but the upshot is that Jack needs to stay here in Flagstaff. Joe keeps reminding me that God has been very busy putting the rest of this China package together, and He will take care of our precious Jack as well.
Meeting new friends: Jimmy Buffett says that "everybody's got a cousin in Miami," but I think he might be a little behind the times. As soon as we started sharing our good news, everyone said, "Hey, I know a friend/sister-in-law/former co-worker/father's former wife twice removed/whatever who lives in Shanghai, so I'll give them your email!" It's really great to know that when we show up, we'll have the Chinese version of Welcome Wagon (kids, ask somebody old to explain that reference). Also, we are amazed at the similarities between us and the current staff of SCIS: four NAU graduates and two ASU graduates (well, I can be nice when I'm that far from home, I guess). Also on staff, a recovered attorney now teaching first grade (she and I have already exchanged emails) and a medical doctor who decided to teach science AND plays the violin. We are going to love these people!
There is probably a lot more, but we are learning things as fast as we can. My sister and brother-in-law sent us a DVD to learn Chinese, or at least to start. We are checking out library books on China in general and Shanghai in particular and devouring them. Did you know that Shanghai has a magnetic levitation (maglev) train that takes you from the airport at 270 MILES PER HOUR? I didn't think so! and aren't you glad I shared that important piece of information? Well, then, more in the next post; I've got to go read some more!
Getting a visa: The list of required documents is pretty long, but the good news is that the school will shepherd them through the application process. We dutifully copied passports, transcripts and our marriage license, took passport style photos (10 each) with a white background and both ears clearly showing (gosh, do I wear earrings or not?), and took digital pictures of our diplomas (some of which were a bit hard to find, but we had a nice trip down memory lane). All of this went off in a package to the director's secretary in Shanghai, where she will get it on her second day back after the week off for Chinese New Year, and happy Year of the Metal Tiger to all of you, by the way. If all of this goes well, we will then have to go to LA, the site of the closest Chinese consulate, and our visa will be granted. Probably. We hope.
Getting immunizations: China doesn't require any immunizations to enter the country (which I found surprising), but we found strong recommendations for hepatitis, tetanus, typhoid, malaria, rabies, Japanese encephalitis, and even some lively discussions of yellow fever. I was donating blood last Tuesday and answering the questions about any recent immunizations when I noticed that the hepatitis question was for the last six months. Fortunately, this was before I gave blood, so my brain was still working and I asked the interviewer about the vaccine, which it turns out is given as three shots over a six month period. We called the county health department right away to get our vaccinations, and even so, the last hepatitis B vaccine will have to be administered in China. By the way, we skipped the rabies and Japanese encephalitis vaccines and went with hepatitis (a series of shots) and typhoid (an oral dose of four pills).
Taking care of the house: We are keeping our house in Flagstaff, and don't want to leave it sitting empty, but finding the right people is a tough call, especially as we would like to come home over the summer break. We had some ideas in the form of two lovely college girls we have known for two years, so we invited them out to dinner, plied them with Wildflower Bread Company pasta, and sprung it on them. They really did look like deer in the headlights, but they recovered gracefully and said they would think about it. A few days later, they called and asked us to meet them at Starbucks, where they plied us with Americano coffee for Joe and a rather bad iced tea thing for me, and accepted our offer! We are really pleased, because we know these girls very well and feel completely comfortable in having them in our home. We still have a few details to work out and have to draw up the lease, but that was a large burden lifted, so thanks girls! Also, we've had this dirtbike in our garage since the summer, when our former neighbors moved out and asked us to store it for "a few days." We were worried about what would happen if we left and it was still there, when we got a knock on the door from our neighbor coming to pick up the bike.
Taking care of Jack: We have been told that Jack could come with us, and it is possible in this present reality, but the more we read about it, the worse it sounds. Assuming he survived the 14 hour plane flight (a dog who is terrified of loud noises), he would then be in seven days of quarantine and we would be unable even to see him (a dog who doesn't like being alone and has severe food allergies). At the risk of being unkind to my new country, there's no way I'm trusting the communist government with the safekeeping of my dog! There is much more to this whole issue, and I'll just say food and fur trade and leave it at that, but the upshot is that Jack needs to stay here in Flagstaff. Joe keeps reminding me that God has been very busy putting the rest of this China package together, and He will take care of our precious Jack as well.
Meeting new friends: Jimmy Buffett says that "everybody's got a cousin in Miami," but I think he might be a little behind the times. As soon as we started sharing our good news, everyone said, "Hey, I know a friend/sister-in-law/former co-worker/father's former wife twice removed/whatever who lives in Shanghai, so I'll give them your email!" It's really great to know that when we show up, we'll have the Chinese version of Welcome Wagon (kids, ask somebody old to explain that reference). Also, we are amazed at the similarities between us and the current staff of SCIS: four NAU graduates and two ASU graduates (well, I can be nice when I'm that far from home, I guess). Also on staff, a recovered attorney now teaching first grade (she and I have already exchanged emails) and a medical doctor who decided to teach science AND plays the violin. We are going to love these people!
There is probably a lot more, but we are learning things as fast as we can. My sister and brother-in-law sent us a DVD to learn Chinese, or at least to start. We are checking out library books on China in general and Shanghai in particular and devouring them. Did you know that Shanghai has a magnetic levitation (maglev) train that takes you from the airport at 270 MILES PER HOUR? I didn't think so! and aren't you glad I shared that important piece of information? Well, then, more in the next post; I've got to go read some more!
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