Back to Blogging, Beijing style

Truly inspired by my good friend jeremy's voyage to Taiwan, I've decided that it's finally time to put down the China Daily and pick up with my blog. To that end, I'll give a quick update on my life and times here in the capital of China, Beijing.

My days have oscillated between relaxing and ridiculous since I've returned to China after a wonderful 3 week stay in the US. I've been waking up early and getting everything lined up for my student visa (my current one expires in 3 weeks, so no rush). However, every time that I make an inch of progress, they tell me I have another yard to go.

Yesterday I showed up at the Public Security Bureau. That's the police station. They handle visas and visa extensions. Interesting. With my passport and university invitations in hand, I thought everything was in line. I had no idea. As it would happen, I need these documents, plus a form from my local PSB as proof of residence, plus a medical form telling them I'm healthy and don't have leperacy, plus another sheet from my uni (which they can only give me after I've completed the afformentioned 2 steps). The plot thickens.

So, I ask the PSB clerk, "Where do I get the physical." (BTW: I've had one every year I've been in China... if only they worried about their own citizens' health as much as foreign immigrants'.) She tells me the clinic name, and the phone number to get directions. I turn to leave. "But," she said, "the clinic is only open from 8-10:30am, so you'll have to wait until Monday." Great, a brick wall. I'll wait until Monday. I call my landlord about the local PSB visit.

My landlord is a very fast talker. Mustering the best Chinese I can, I call her and explain the situation, "To live in China, I must get visa. For visa, you and me go to police to tell them I in Beijing live. You can help me when?" Then she starts talking really quickly in Chinese, "I can... but then... 7 day... maybe we can... ok?" What?!? Sheepishly, I say ok, thank her and hang up. No idea what it all means. It will take 7 days to process? In 7 days she can go with me? Totally lost.

My friend Jeff speaks Chinese very well. I ask him if he wants to get some lunch. A clever ploy... After lunch, I enlist Jeff to translate and figure out what she means. Apparantly, she said that she knows where the office is and that it will take 7 MINUTES, not days to complete. Relief sets in. We schedule a time this weekend when she can take me. One form pending, 2 more to go...

Seeing as I couldn't really do much more work on my visa, I sat down with 2 of the greatest movies of all time: Rocky III and Rocky IV. That's right, Clubber Lang AND Ivan Drago, back to back. Watching Rocky fight Drago and Soviet bureaucracy with his fists, I felt peaceful. It was a good ending to a frustrating day.

More to come... hopefully shorter posts too...
be well. peace. paul.