Hard to believe that a week has gone by. Tony's been living overseas and adapting to life in China while Matthew and I are chugging along here in the States. Matthew's busy counting down the days before he's done with school and we'll be on a plane to China. I'm counting down my last days with International Paper.
Our home went on the rental market last Friday and by Tuesday evening, we had an offer. Wow. That was fast. Don't get me wrong. I'm thrilled that we found a tenant and everything checked out. Now all we need to do is sign the lease agreement and on July 15th, Tony and I will officially become Landlords. The good thing is that we'll have someone here to manage the property in our absence and we won't have to deal with the phone calls at 3 AM in China that something has gone wrong. I can't imagine trying to deal with those issues halfway around the world.
Tony in the meantime is dealing with issues in China. Namely, the residence permit. Yes- the residence permit. It came to his attention five days after he arrived that the "business" visa that's affixed to his passport that allows him a one time entry into China is not the correct visa. Apparently, a "work" visa should have been applied for in order for the residence permit application to be processed. WHO KNEW? It was never communicated to him by HR in China that he had to apply for a work visa. So, a standard business visa was issued which allowed him a one time entry into the country and allow him to stay a maximum of 90 days. However, once he leaves, he can't return unless he applies for another entry visa. Well that's a slight problem. Considering he's returning at the end of June to help me finalize the move and then we're all going to return to China in July to live together as a family. The residence permit had to be resolved within 15 days upon arrival into China. So, he went to Hong Kong to get this resolved.
The good news is it was resolved in Hong Kong and he's returning to China tomorrow. If all goes well, he'll be readmitted into the country, the residence permit application will then be approved and the boxes that have been sitting in customs will finally be released. Yes- the infamous boxes that I so painstaking prepared over two weeks ago. The boxes have arrived in China and could not be released until Tony arrived into the country. Proof of his entry and a copy of his passport, baggage claim that's stamped with a chop has been turned over to the courier in order for the boxes to be released. As of today, no boxes yet. I have this vision of the customs agents going through the boxes and eating the cereal, popping the pop corn and just having a grand old time with the contents of the boxes. OH WELL.
