Checklists

Today's post is about checklists; things to do, places to go, people to sniff, etc.  But first, some questions to answer from the comments in the last post.  Blogless A.R. very reasonably asks, "What's the reasoning for purchasing a round-trip ticket?"  Well, my reasoning was that I was sure I'd want to come home sometime, and it's cheaper to purchase a round-trip ticket at about $1000 than two one-way tickets at about $700 each.  Also, I have a three-week break between school terms, and although the school calendar is not available yet, the break coincides with the Lunar New Year (a.k.a. Chinese New Year), so the timing is fairly predictable.  My thinking was that I could save some money.

On the other hand, I'd love to see the New Year's celebration in a major Chinese city like Shanghai.  I could also use the time to check off one or two things from my bucket list, like seeing the Great Wall of China.  Also, my parents will never visit me there if I come home whenever I have the opportunity.  And, it would be more expensive than just coming home for summer vacation.  In addition, the initial expense is greater, and after some research (more on that later), I decided that I might need the extra $300 in the short term.  So, I will probably purchase a one-way ticket after all.

Murielle asks "What part of China?"  For a full answer to that question, see the entry from 09 March.  And now, if there are no more questions, we shall proceed with today's topic.

I'm pretty good at packing without a checklist.  From six years with Boy Scouts, plus several family vacations, I know that I can pack from memory alone, and only leave out one or two minor things at the worst.  But this trip is significantly more complicated than a weekend campout, a skiing trip, or even a 50-Miler.  The last time I did this, I did pretty well, but I did end up having to check an extra bag, with mostly bed linens.  This time my school will provide those, so I am determined to avoid any extra baggage charges.  For this, as well as other reasons, I have decided to make a few checklists.  And, here they are:

Yes, they're big.  They're the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning, and the last thing I see when I go to bed.  This is what my life is all about from now until I leave.

You can see I have three lists:

• Purchases, or things I will need to buy (or want to buy), tangible and otherwise;
• Questions, or information that I need to assist in my preparations;
• Tasks, or small chores that might be forgotten or neglected.

You will note that there is no comprehensive list of things to pack.  This is deliberate.  Such a list would necessarily be very long, and include mostly things I am not likely forget, like slacks and shirts.  At one time I had a habit of forgetting pajamas or the equivalent, but I'm past that.  And a list is only as good as the person who makes it.

More to the point, the final packing list is not firm, and is not likely to be firm until the last bag is packed and weighed.  In compliance with a corollary of Parkinson's Law, it is likely that I will want to bring more of my belongings than I can fit into my free baggage allowance of space and weight.  I will have to make up the packing list as I pack, based on what will fit and how heavy the bag is.  Based on past experience, I should do pretty well.

One question that I need answered is the amount of money that I should take with me to pay for food and other expenses until my first good payday.  You can see that listed on the center list as "Initial Living Expenses".  One contact estimates that $1,000 would be a good amount.  I haven't heard from the other contact yet.  I hope it won't cost that much, but in order to reduce my initial expense, I won't be buying a round-trip ticket.

One thing that is annoying me is the list of restricted items.  I took up knitting about a year ago, and now I can't imagine sitting through an intercontinental flight without some knitting to keep me busy.  I even had a project all picked out: a helmetliner from the official Operation Helmetliner pattern, slightly modified, in 100% naturally black alpaca from Alpaca Direct, shorn from a locally raised alpaca named Sunny.  However, Korean Airlines (who appear to have the most economical fare to Shanghai) include knitting needles on their list of restricted carry-on items.  This is even more annoying because I know that knitters flying in the USA and Canada normally have no problem bringing knitting needles on a flight.  I'm thinking about bringing a couple of wooden pencils, and knitting a potholder or two, to be felted in China.

Of course, this is just a minor issue.  There are more serious concerns, like visa approval, and the question of whether I'll have enough money to live in China until my first decent payday.  Clearly, I need to keep some perspective, and trust God to take care of me.

Prayer Requests
As in my previous posts, please pray for my work visa request to be approved.  Also, I've been adding up the costs and looking at my account balance, and I might have to spread my butter pretty thin to make it to my first payday.  Please pray that the financial issues would be sorted out.  I also have another issue that's really worrying me, that is too private to mention here.  Please pray for a successful resolution to this problem.

Most importantly, please pray that God will give me peace about this whole process, and especially this private issue that's just come up.  Thanks for reading, and thanks for praying.