Up the down or down the up or ...

Restoring Our Harmonious Yin & Yang


So yesterday things were looking pretty bad. Liam was VISA-less and would be stuck in China unless we could get his US immigration VISA approval to the US Consulate here b difficult, especially once you know that they share the same computer system in real time, not to mention they both work for the same boss, Uncle Sam. However if you take in to consideration that we’ve been through this twice before unsuccessfully and that they again both work for Uncle Sam, you’ll understand why we were less than optimistic. To compound our worries, Liam’s bronchitis was not getting any better.

During our last appointment the hotel doctor pointed menacingly at her arm, which our translator explained meant, if he did not get better by tomorrow we would need an IV at the hospital. Here in China, “the drip” seems to be the preferred course of treatment for a wide variety of ailments. Our uncertainty about the proposed treatment and the disturbing description of the hospital by our Chinese translator made us decide a visit to the western doctor was in order. We’d have to forgo the next day’s trip to the zoo, which in retrospect was good for Liam’s health in more ways than one. Apparently the bars on the animal enclosures at the Guangzhou Zoo are unusually wide and one of the little boys in our group was quite skilled at slipping inside them. It was reported that there were more than a few tense moments, but everyone returned safe and sound.

We scheduled our appointment and then waited, and waited and waited to go head to head with our friends in immigration. Due to the time difference our call-a-thon could not begin until 9:00 PM. And a call-a-thon it was. We spoke to various representatives, their supervisors and their supervisor’s supervisors. What made this all the more ludicrous is that everyone agrees he is approved and has been for months but they refuse to deliver the information to the consulate in any way other than the electronic system that does not work. We suggest phone, e-mail, or even a call to the Consulate rep to help him properly use the system. No one is sure if they can do any of the above and will call us back. It’s 2:00 AM and we move to plan B, calling our Senator, Ben Cardin’s office. This call proves to be equally frustrating, but by the end Cardin’s aid agrees to send an e-mail on our behalf to the Consulate and Immigration. At 4:00 AM we get the call we’ve been waiting for. Immigration will send the approval via e-mail. We sleep for a few hours and then call to confirm. Yes, the Consulate has it!

Our spirits buoyed but exhausted, we head off to the Western doctor, who if I didn’t explain, is Chinese but was trained in the US. Again things look like they are turning around. He has us throw away the meds Liam was taking and gives us antibiotics we’ve actually heard off. Things are still written in Chinese, but instead of zip lock baggies and powders wrapped in little pieces of wax paper, our new meds come bearing the Novartis logo. Who knew it could be so comforting?

The rest of the day is big. We take a bus to the US Consulate and take our oath. We promise to be good parents etc. Typically this would be worth writing about but we are dead on our feet after today’s marathon. All we can think about is bed and that we’ll be on our way home in two short days.