Bureaucracy

In order to stay in China for the year, we have to apply for a residence visa. Part of the requirements for the application is a medical exam. Today, Sam (another very important person in our lives here because he coordinates many things and generally takes care of any issues we have) took us to get the exams. While we had some anxiety about the process, it actually wasn't as bad as we had imagined.

The driver took us to a medical building. On our way there, we saw more of the city and all the construction going on. The city just goes on in all directions and seems to be in a constant state of change, either being demolished or being constructed. There are hi-rise apartments and massive office towers everywhere... and of course, traffic.

Sam had prepared all the necessary paperwork and was there at the beginning to get us started. Thankfully, there wasn't much of a lineup in front of us. When Rob went, he was stuck behind a huge group. The process involved going to all these separate little stations and you got processed at each one by undergoing a different examination. Sam accompanied us on a couple of the first ones, getting our blood pressure checked by a machine and then another machine took our height and weight. Then he surprised us by giving us hurried instructions on what other exams we needed and where to go. Then he left us to our devices while he went off to start the paperwork for our Foreign Expert document.

So off we went, all the while laughing because we were supposing how we would answer crucial questions or follow instructions in Chinese. To make things extra funny, Sam had just told us that he's given us Chinese names (i. e. Chinese characters that sound like our English names. He hadn't thought that I would already have my own and since he used them on our employment contracts, we decided to just go with my new Chinese name). At these "stations", they were calling us up by our new Chinese names. We would just be huddled with the other people waiting. You have to remember that there is never a lot of space where it's needed most here. So at one place, the technician actually pointed at the photos on our package.

Oh yeah, we had to go get passport sized photos for these documents. That was a whole other adventure. Sam wrote down what we needed in Chinese and we went over to a nearby store to get it done. While motioning got us the photos, our next hurdle was going to be finding out when they would be ready. Thankfully, there was a young girl there who translated "tomorrow afternoon" for us. We paid 10 Yuan ($1.30 Cdn) for a total of 8 photos. A bargain compared to the $20 we paid in Canada for our 4 photos.

So for 2 hours, we went from one "station" to the next carrying our package. Imagine it as a thin booklet and after each assessment, they write their report. It felt like we were traveling to different strange countries and getting our stamps. In all, we gave our blood and urine samples, had an ECG and ultrasound done, got x-rays, and had our eyes examined.

The eye exam was particularly enjoyable. We were surprised that we could keep our glasses on during the "exam". From the look on the technician's face, I think he wasn't doing the analysis whole heartedly. I had my old prescriptions on so even with my glasses, I guessed. Don was standing on the other side of the glass willing the right answers to me. Unfortunately, I couldn't sense the right answers and continued to give wrong answers. Oh well. I think I passed anyway.

Now, we just have to wait for the results of the blood and urine analysis and then we can go to the police station to register our residence.

The worst part of this whole morning for me was that I had to fast. So from the delicious dinner last night on, I had no food or drink until after the exams. Thank goodness it didn't take too long!

J