I had mentioned before that I often felt like a large two-year-old because of my lack of language skills in Mandarin and the inability to read signs etc. I had started to feel less of that recently and more like a not-too-smart six-year-old. I have been able to get around pretty well and was feeling very comfortable. Yesterday I regressed back to the former toddler stage. I was taken with Ellen, who arrived about the same time as I to get our paperwork in for the work permit that allows us to enter and leave China and work here legally. Ma Jun from HR takes us by taxi to the government security office. After a short wait in line we are hustled over to a window where a very young looking woman sits in uniform behind a glass partition. She begins to bark orders to our handler who hurriedly hands over documents, my passport, photos the results of my health checkup where I was happy to see that I wasn’t pregnant. (See former blog post titled Health Care..and there off.) There is a lot of quick back and forth between Ma Jun and the woman. It seems like there are problems but I have learned that it is difficult to tell if people are angry at each other or just excited or just talk loud.
Soon I hear a command aimed at me. SIT! So like a good two-year-old I quickly sit. For a split second my inner smart ass ponders the wisdom of making a little comment like. “Did someone forget to say PLEASE??? Her badge and the fact that there were many more of her and my lack of being able to talk my way out of it hampered me just long enough to hear.. LOOK THERE! I notice a small camera on top of her computer. Ok another photo. I wonder why we have to do this everywhere we go even when we provide several mug shots with the paperwork. Don’t think Mike just follow commands. Remember you are only two. I stand up and start to talk with Ellen. SIT! I hear again. OK I sit again, not sure why. Imagine the soup Nazi from the Seinfeld show and that will give you an idea. Soon we are done with the process. They keep my passport and I am told that is normal procedure. It will take some time before I get it back.
Ellen’s husband’s passport is in the system so she will have to return one more time. We are shuffled out of the building and I am again amazed at how fast I get back into my inner toddler. We are all bundled up in heavy coats and I am almost surprised that Ma Jun doesn’t make us hold hands as we walk so we don’t wander off. Look! Shiny thing!....... I imagine losing a foreigner wouldn’t look good on her resume. She is incredibly good at her job. She is one of those people who can get anything done. I am standing on the street and she tells me not to stand there because I will get run over. I am supposed to be picked up by a photographer to go to see a festival outside of Beijing. I tell her I will wait but she doesn’t want to leave me alone even for a few minutes. Soon my ride gets there and she can hand over responsibility for this large toddler and go back to work. Being house mom to a bunch of ex-pats must be a lot like being an overworked pre-school teacher.
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