This much closer to China

[aadler]

There were … issues, regarding our intended trip to China, to be there for the arrival of our second grandchild.

Boring explanation.

First of all, China requires any passport have at least six months left on it before they’ll allow entry, and Susan’s passport was to expire in September. So, we needed to send off to have her passport renewed in advance.

Then, when that passport finally arrived, the old passport didn’t come back. The old passport had her Chinese visa in it, and that was necessary to get a new visa. We called the company that had handled the passport renewal, and they said the process had the old passport coming back to us from a separate department (government) and by a different route. So, we then had to wait for that to happen.

Then, after waiting (it seemed like) forever for her old passport/current visa (which likewise expires in September, so it too needs renewing), I had to go through the online process to apply for a visa renewal. And, because my own visa expired last January, I had to do it for myself as well. We got the submissions prepared today, and FedExed the application, our current passports, and photocopies of the old visas to the company for the renewal.

If absolutely everything goes absolutely perfectly, we’ll get the passports back, with the visas installed, by the end of the month. Then will come the matter of getting airline tickets … which will cost more because we couldn’t get them in advance, which we weren’t going to do till we knew it would be, well, possible to go to China at all.

With everything running up against the deadline this way, we probably won’t be able to get in the stop in Ireland to visit our daughter on the way, as originally intended. The crisis came when we found out China requires that six-months remaining time on a passport; that, and me discovering my visa had expired (I thought it was still good for a while longer). So we’ll deal with matters as they are, and maybe check things sooner next time through.

Comments

Issues?! No KIdding!

[vantiri.livejournal.com]

Thing that's baffling me is if you wanted to go to an extremely hostile state; that one cuts the mustard really well, and is infinitely worse than N. Korea in terms of what they're pushing.
Makes me wonder why to be honest you'd want to go there!
I mean, Red China *today* is just about the most evil state imaginable!
"Issues"; NO KIDDING! I mean, Red China's government is *really* malevolent; they're the guys who loosed a *bioweapon* all over the globe and that was remarkably deliberate on their parts!

Re: Issues?! No KIdding!

[aadler]

I think maybe you didn’t read the entire post, besides which this is a matter I’ve referenced in several-several previous posts. I wouldn’t have any reason to go to China … except my son has lived there for the past 11 years, my only grandchild is half-Chinese, and we’re expecting a second grandchild in July. I have a number of reservations about him and his family maintaining residence in a nation which may very well be at war with us in the very near future — I’ve been worried about that for years — but as for WHY would I want to go there? That’s why.

CORRECTION: I just looked over the entry itself, and no, it doesn’t mention the reasons for our making the visit to China. I’ve touched on it enough times elsewhere, it simply didn’t occur to me that this entry would have nothing in that regard. Apologies for the misunderstanding.

Re: Issues?! No KIdding!

[vantiri.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's a valid set of reasoning... it is just that they have simply put the morally *worst* government on the planet right now; and really do embrace a truly "bad neighbor policy" so if you *do*, be careful!
I'm not hurt at all; just that's an odd move.
You're not in the wrong, though, their leadership would be very dumb to go to war against us; even in the early Cold War, the Reds knew it would be *suicide* to wage a war against us; no, what they were up to is *ideological* attempts at talking us into their platform; at least according to *both* "Comrades" Stalin & Mao.

Tis kind of like taking a vacation in Hell, and while I have read a story with such a concept, BOY is that a dumb choice for where to hang out... you're not being yelled at at all, but boy is that an odd decision... and Red China is about as close to that, government-wise, as it gets on this planet!
And that is saying SOMETHING!

I would add that while your apology is heartily accepted, it is also unnecessary overall.