Yesterday we drove up to Bern in order to get our travel visas at the Chinese Embassy there. (I will spare you from looking at photos of the process!)
The lady at the desk behind the teller window was a typical functionary who doesn't look you in the eye and waves off any questions you might have. She was an older Chinese lady, but spoke good French and looked like she might have been processing visas for a very, very long time.
When she saw "purpose of trip - adoption" she suddenly became very cheerful and animated, asked us all kinds of questions. To the alarm of those behind us in line, Dino handed her Hong Mei's photos through the slot, and she proceeded to show them to everyone in the waiting room!
So, the visa is done! One less bureaucratic hurdle to surmount!
THAT'S BAD: On the downside, when we got home we noticed that the WHO bumped H1 N1 Flu up to a level 6 pandemic. Hong Mei's province has been blocking adoption-related travel for several weeks due to pandemic fears, so this may slow down our travel plans temporarily.
THAT'S GOOD: On the other hand, we heard that other parents have just been authorised to buy their airplane tickets to that region. So we will still plan to travel sometime in July until we hear otherwise.
My new mantra: One step at a time!
1 comments:
This is just a wonderful story! If you can make a functionary smile, you have a true miracle. Thanks goodness for the small bits of humanity among even the most hardened among us.
One day at a time: It is a mantra for all in life.
--Theresa
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