h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

So here it is!

I'm back at home in Australia......... well, for the moment I'm going to say that "part" of me is back.

Most who read this entry will know that for the past almost 2 years I have been resident in China, teaching English. In Yichang, Hubei, China.... to be more precise. And I got married while I was in China, which is absolutely fantastic. .

But on the last day of July 2007 I returned to Melbourne, Australia.

The day after I returned, I bought a car. The day after I bought my neat little 1989 Subaru Leone, I drove to the offices of my former employer to be greeted with something akin to "Thank Bob you're back, when can you start work?"

So, I'd been back for 2 days and already I had transport and employment checked off my list. Accommodation is another thing altogether. At the moment I am staying in my parents home.... not the best of situations, but one which can wait a little while to be resolved because, you see, the major unresolved issue at the moment is the fact that my wife is still in China - which is a major, major, major downer.

Okay, hereafter my wife shall be referred to as "Betsy" (the reason for which should be obvious to anyone who knows where I got my screen name from).

The problem, as you may well guess, is a government - but probably not the particular government you might imagine it to be. The Australian government has already granted temporary residency to Betsy, she got approval before I flew out and can enter Australia whenever she likes. Nooooooooo, the problem is the Chinese government. They're not stopping her from leaving, just taking forever to do something very simple which has nothing to do with her leaving the country.

Explanation: We bought an apartment in Yichang and we got the keys to the apartment on 1 July. What My Love is now waiting for is the official Ownership Certificate. You may ask, "Why wait? Why not get them to send it to you?".... the answer - because the Chinese beaurocracy is so steeped in red-tape and the idea that the left hand should not know what the right hand is doing that, firstly, we don't know who to talk to in order for that to be achieved and, secondly, they probably wouldn't want to pay the cost of mailing it to us in Australia or (if we did pay them on-the-spot) would probably lose any payment we made in order to achieve this.

We could get a member of Betsy's family go in and pick it up for us. But that person, once they have the certificate in their hand, could actually sell the apartment without our knowledge. Not that we don't trust members of my wifes family, it's more that she had to stay for a while anyway (to train someone to do her job), so we decided that she may as well stay a little while after the training is complete and come here in early/mid October, because the certificate is supposed to be ready by the start of October.

The "staying a little while longer" was, of course, a bad idea. I've been home now for about 6 weeks and I miss her terribly. And there's still about 4 or 5 weeks to go before she gets here.

That's all I have time for at the moment. Any questions?

Congratulations!

Good luck with all the immigration stuff... why do you think me and Clive are *still* just engaged?

*gives ER the mufflewhump she'd witheld*

Thanks Amy and Amy.

* wonders what he should do with his mufflewhump

The immigration stuff isn't a problem, it's done and has been fine since late July.

Latest news is that my wife "might" have the Ownership Certificate next week. "Might" is almost as big a word as "if" - certainly where a Chinese government department is concerned.

Which way are you looking to go, Amy? Do you want to stay in the UK, or does Clive want to go to the USA?

An American friend we made in Yichang is currently back in Florida and trying to get her Chinese fiance into the States in time for their wedding next August. She says the process to get him in is a nightmare..... and she wrote a very rude email to me when I advised her that Betsy had her temporary residency for Australia before I'd even left China. Fortunately for her, she wrote that email AFTER my wife and I wrote a letter saying what a great bloke her fiance is, and how the USA would be lucky to have him.

Congratulations!

Have you had any luck with that red tape?

Red Tape..... No problem.

My wife got the Ownership Certificate on 29 September, then it was a matter of organising the flights. She arrives in Melbourne at 06:20 on Tuesday 16 October 2007. Only 4 more sleeps!

Only one more sleep now...... less than 24 hours.