The US Consulate thinks the DH wants to throw away his dream job and fabulous Beijing apartment for an illegal visa overstay in the US where he would be unable to work and would constantly risk deportation. Hmmm… Great job in China vs. crappy existence in the USA…

All he needed was a two week business visa to do a training course…

But the US Consulate has no heart…

Or brain…

And thinks the DH will not leave the US after his two week course is finished…

And this US citizen is the one who suffers.

But I believe that where there’s a will there’s a way. And there’s got to be a way, right? Right?! DH hasn’t set foot in the US for over 10 years. We have a signed 2 year work contract. We have a 1 year rental agreement. We have my signed statement. How else do we prove he wants to come back to China? I’m at a total loss.

I am constantly moving back and forth between the stages of grief. I’m angry one minute, depressed the next. I deny to myself that this could possibly be happening and then I accept it all and work out a solution plan before spiraling once again into depression and anger.

Expect no posts on this blog until the situation is cleared up. Through my puffy eyes I can barely see the keyboard.

No related posts.

I’m really a Beijing resident. I even got a little piece of paper from the local police station saying so. (Okay, it says I’m a temporary resident, but that’s all foreigners really can be here.) I’m here. I’ve got a great apartment. I’ve got an Internet connection. What more do I need?

How about a bathtub? And a separate shower? Central Air Conditioning? Hot water freely flowing from all the faucets, even in the kitchen? A laminate floor? An oven? A washing machine that also dries AND is capable of washing with hot water? A couch so comfortable you can actually sit on it for more than five minutes? A green landscaped garden space downstairs complete with indoor and outdoor pool? Yup, all the things I missed in my Linyi apartment. And I’ve got them now. I’m living big. I don’t mean to brag. I’m actually overwhelmed just a little.

This move doesn’t feel nearly as radical as, say, a move to Saudi Arabia. I’ve been in Beijing before. I know the culture, the language (some of it, anyway), the routines of Chinese life. Still, this is an adjustment. Beijing is so different from Linyi in so many ways. It won’t be a difficult adjustment, but I feel the bubbling of mini-culture shock nonetheless.

For one thing, my new apartment complex is crawling with other expats. (My landlady said the ratio of Chinese to expats is 70%-30%, but I read elsewhere it’s more like 50-50.) It is so bewildering to see kids riding bicycles and rollerblading around the garden area shouting out in English to each other. I can’t stop staring.

We’re living in the border area between Dongzhimen and Sanlitun, areas in the eastern part of Beijing very popular among expats. There are western restaurants, cafés and import food stores around every corner. I just don’t know what to think of it all. Don’t get me wrong, I’m planning on a cheese run later this morning, but I feel just a little bit weary of becoming too accustomed to the easy pickings of Beijing expat life. (Not to mention the expense of the imports!)

I had the help of a local Beijing friend in my apartment search. She contacted real estate agents and accompanied me on visits. Being a frugal person, she wanted me to see a full range of apartments, and we started off at several less-expensive old-style brick walk-ups. These are the buildings that have been in Beijing for decades, where you can find older residents in the courtyards sitting on stools and chairs chatting or playing cards. The buildings have a lot of personality (think meat products and undergarments hanging out the windows) and after living in a similar xiao qu (neighborhood complex) in Linyi, albeit newer, I was very open-minded about these places. I think it would have been fun to live in an older apartment that I could fix up and make my own. Alas, I was too romantic. The apartments I saw were dark, small and oddly decorated. The bathrooms were generally the size of a card table, complete with sink, shower and toilet. As much as I thought I was accustomed to living native style, these apartments did not speak to me.

Our first year in China we lived in a hotel room. The last three years have been spent in an apartment devoid of personality and creature comforts. To be honest, I feel a bit like a university student, just getting by. When I stepped into the apartment that is now mine, I knew my “university” days were over. And I knew there was no going back. I could not let this apartment get away. The DH and I put in an offer right away. It was just so comfortable, so neat and modern, so convenient to where we wanted to live. And did you see that list of amenities above!?

So welcome to Global Gal’s China Adventure Version 3.0 – The Grown Up Years.

Related posts:

1. Is This Really Happening?
2. Buddhist Temple
3. Three Weeks Later Perspective

We'll soon be flying high in Beijing

Today is our last day in Linyi. I’ve still got two boxes to pack up and a bit of cleaning to do. Tomorrow morning we fly to Beijing to start our search for a new home. I feel strangely numb about the whole process, probably because I haven’t had enough coffee. I should be excited, jumping up and down. I am excited, but to be honest, I am still experiencing a bit of disbelief over this new job, new city, new life thing.

It was last February, after all, when the DH received an email about a possible new job. Back then, it seemed like all we had to do was say, “Yes!”, pass a medical exam and start the new job. But things are never straightforward and easy in China. (Actually, I’ve come to learn that the US is probably the only really efficient and straightforward country in the world.) We waited and waited and waited some more. The DH did medical tests and filled out forms and applied for a police certificate from Spain (two months and we’re still waiting for it!) We resigned from our current jobs. And you guessed it, we waited some more.

In most countries, when you want to leave one company and go to another, you just do it. In China, particularly in aviation, the process is a little more complicated. In China, a pilot’s pilot license is tied to the airline or aviation company employing the pilot. In order to change companies, the pilot is required to obtain a dismissal letter from the first company saying that he is free to go. Then the new company must apply for the licenses to be transferred. Bureaucracy is a wonderful thing. We wonder if this is related to the old work unit system in China, wherein everyone belonged to a work unit where they were employed, fed and housed for life. Ideally, obtaining the dismissal letter and license transfer should be a simple process, and in our case it was not complicated, it just took a long time. I suspect that companies could make trouble for an employee they do not want to see go.

The good news is that all the waiting has paid off. The DH is going to be a first officer on a Lear 60XR business jet. For those of you who know nothing about aviation, that is a mid-size jet airplane with seating for ~6 passengers. And since I’m no expert, all I can really say is that it looks cool and flies really high. (That’s one in the pic above.)

I’m not sure what I am going to be doing. I want to focus on Mandarin for a while and my first order of business is going to be finding a tutor or class that I can join. I really, really need a structured environment to learn a language. I am too introverted and too shy to pick up a language on the street. Another expat in Beijing joked on Twitter that I’ll be enjoying the tai tai life of leisure from now on. Perhaps I should change the tagline on my blog, as I like the sound of it. A tai tai is a “Mrs.” in Mandarin. I’ve never been a trailing spouse, and I’ve never really thought of myself as a Mrs., although I’ve been married for nearly nine years. I’m sure I’ll have a lot more to say about discovering the tai tai life!

So we’re entering a new phase in our expat adventures. We’re upgrading, in a way. In another post I’ll share how I feel we’re growing up. Is this real? I think that maybe tomorrow when the airplane climbs up and away from Linyi I will really believe this is all happening!

Related posts:

1. Oh Yeah, It’s Really Happening
2. The One Where I Let the Cat Out of the Bag
3. Since When Do I Care About Aviation?