Chinese Consulate, Visa and Plane Ticket.....Ready to Go....

Earlier this week I made the drive to Houston to submit my application for a chinese Visa document. The process turned out to be very straightforward, but I expected it to be that way. It too me approximately 3 hours to reach the Consulate, sitting auspiciously in the outskirts of Houston, near several suburbs. The building is a grand monument to the success of China. It is a beatiful marble and stone monolith of taste, design and essence.

I made my way inside the building, dedicated solely to the chinese office; on my way in I overheard a clearly chinese woman speaking in chinese on her cell phone. It is a very beautiful language. She wasn't half bad either, so perhaps it was just the way she spoke. Inside I filled in the appropriate paperwork and submitted it through the bulletproof glass. The clerk gave me a few looks and then she kind of disembarked the cover from my passport, stating: "this isn't going to work, your passport must be in good shape." I simply stated: "oh, its good." Not to be arrogant, but it must have made an impression, the simplicity of my response. She got on the phone and asked the person sitting in a back office to suggest a course of action. Then she slid all of my papers back and asked me to wait while the response came forth. I waited for only a few minutes. She smiled and waved me over, from behind the giant wall of impenetrable glass. I promtply made my way, dodging and well towering over several other applicants, for my spot. I slipped my papers back through the slot, and she slipped most of them back. She put a paperclip on my pre-washed passport, attached the application and my new photo, and looked at my $130 in cash sitting on the outside of the wall, and said: "you pay when you pick up." I said: "so, that's it! huh, right, yeah? yeah! seeya." Then I walked out and drove home to Austin.

The visa will be ready next wednesday. I have a funky little receipt with chinese characters on it. It feels like I am some kind of international player. I drove back home very efficiently; just barely dodged a speeding ticket when I got a little to enthusiastic about the powerful v8 under the hood, coming down a hill. I put the $130 in my savings account to keep it safe and out of my wallet.

My wonderful mother bought me a plane ticket, from Austin to yantai: $960.00. My wonderful father gave me $140 and a full tank of gas for the visa trip. I will pay them back, someday, maybe before I leave.