Fuddland

Let me outta here!

Sorry about that, just had to yell to some extent. I’m over it now.

I’d like to go to Chēngdu (成都). I’ve heard and read that it’s lovely, and I’ve been planning a two-week holiday there ever since I handed in my notice. On Friday I tried to buy a train ticket for the 37-hour journey, only to be told there was none left. There’s no national holiday until next month and it’s the low season, so I’ve no idea why all the tickets were sold out, but they apparently were. But! I was advised by the ticket agent that I could buy a ticket to Nánjīng (南京) — only three hours away — and would be able to buy a ticket on to Chēngdu from there. It escapes me as to why I will be able to do it this way but not buy one directly, especially as a train from Sūzhōu (苏州) to Chēngdu actually passes through Nánjīng, but I don’t really have a choice, and Nánjīng won’t be a terrible place in which to hang out, even for a couple of days if there really are no tickets to Chēngdu. I leave at lunchtime today.

The above headache was compounded by trying to sort out contracts and visas with my new employer. I went in last week to sign on the dotted line, only to be told I had to come back again a couple of days later to sign the Chinese-language versions of the contracts — err, why didn’t they just ask me to come in when all the documents were ready to sign at once?

When I went back on Saturday, my new boss sprung on me the news that the medical I have to take as part of the visa application process — don’t panic, this is something everyone has to do, foreign or Chinese — needs to be completed before I go to Chēngdu in order to have time to process the paperwork before my current visa expires. Having already bought my train ticket, I asked — nay, demanded — to know why on earth he hadn’t mentioned the urgency of this medical before now. He muttered something about us still being in negotiations until I’d signed the contract, so didn’t think it was necessary, but I still think he might have said something sooner because I’d told him numerous times I was going away around this date, and wasn’t planning on being back until just before my first day of employment.

So in I went, early this morning, to be accompanied to the medical, taking my packed rucksack with me in case it all took longer than expected. When I arrived at the office, I was asked if I’d eaten breakfast, to which my reply was a cheery, “Yes thanks,” because I thought they were just going to offer me some food — but alas, you’re not supposed to eat anything the morning of a medical, a fact no-one had bothered to tell me. So I’ll need to take the medical when I’m back from Chēngdu [if I ever get there], and pray there’s still time to organise the visa.

[You may ask — as my new employer did — why I didn’t remember not to eat anything from the medical I had when I first arrived in China. The answer is: because I never had one. As I say, everyone must have a medical when they come and work in China; everyone I’ve met who works out here has had one in the past. So why didn’t I have one? The only explanation is that my first employer, in Běnxī, acquired me my visa through connections and back-channels that circumvented this need, for reasons unknown. I have a mild fear that my current visa, upon closer inspection, is going to be deemed invalid. Eek.]

So, basically, I would like to get away from Sūzhōu for a bit. See you all in a couple of weeks.