Working Permit

This is what I've been waiting for.

A letter of invitation and a working permit from the People's Republic of China.  (I've blurred out the private information that's legible to English-readers.)  This is what I took, along with my passport, visa application, photo, etc., to the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco.  When I got there, I was glad, for the first time in my life, to see a flag of the P.R.C.  However, there were a few things I didn't expect.  Apparently, my naïveté knows no bounds.

For one thing, I didn't expect to see a group of Free Tibet protesters.  If you're familiar with the cause of that group, you know about what it was like.  I don't know how often they hold this protest, and neither did the person in front of me (or else she didn't speak English).

Secondly, I didn't expect a long line of apparently all ethnic Chinese.  Yes, I probably should have.  However, once I got in line it seemed to be moving right along.  This heartened me until I got close to the front door, where I learned the reason for this particular line.

Thirdly (and this is the kicker), for some reason I didn't expect a security screening and metal detector.  In the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China!  That was really silly (of me).  Since I was carrying at least four knives which would have been banned, and I was not willing to part with them, I simply left the line and walked to the bus stop.

Perhaps that was a good thing, because since then, in re-planning my return for tomorrow, I stumbled across some consumer reviews of the consulate service, detailing the problems that others have had, including one person who applied for a Z visa very recently.  Now, the consulate staff is not likely to improve their service in response to these reviews.  However, reading them should help me prepare for my return visit.  For example, one person said that they didn't take credit cards in spite of the information on the website.  So, I'd better get a cashier's check.  That will delay me until the bank opens tomorrow.  I also learned that the fee had increased, something I hadn't checked.  I really can't afford to have this delayed, so I'm going to try to be extra careful tomorrow, to be prepared to do the drop-off in one stop.

Apparently, I really need God's help, because there seem to be ample opportunities for snags in what is supposed to be a relatively straightforward process.

Prayer Requests
Clearly, someone's been praying for the visa process, because I clearly needed a dry run and a look at the consumer reviews, and I got both, and it only cost me eighteen bucks.  Tomorrow I'm planning to walk from the BART station, which will save me four bucks.  Please pray that I will be able to complete the visa application process tomorrow.

Also, please continue to pray for the packing process, especially the choices about which items to bring and how to prepare them for the trip.  I'm making some changes from last time, based on my experience and what I have available now.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for praying.