For two weeks in a row (February 26 and March 3), Paul and I went to the Chinese Consulate located at Laguna and Geary in San Francisco, to apply for our visas to China. We are going to attend the 50th Anniversary Reunion of our Foreign Language Training Class.
It is no easy task to get the visa yourself. You have to have your most recent visa photos properly taken by a professional service like Bay Photo, fill in the application online, go to the consulate in person to submit your passports, and finally return to the consulate to get back your passports after paying $140 visa processing fee, if your visa is approved. Thanks to Paul's wealth of experience and famed time management, we did everything strictly according to the schedule. To eliminate any hassels in street parking, Paul had even consulted ChatGPT to find the closest garage, namely, Japan Center Garage at 1737 Post Street. Leaving home no later than 6:00 a.m., we managed to arrive at the destination and secure our position in the front middle line that inevitably meandered around the corner to Eddy Street, when the consulate was open for business at 9:30 a.m.
The long journey to obtain our visas is not without its glimmers of joy. Thanks also to Paul's vigilant supervision, Tesla Y drove us tirelessly and safely twice from Santa Cruz to San Francisco, and then from San Francisco to Santa Cruz, right before noontime. It then sat on the driveway, sipping electricity quietly after 9:00 p.m. The other unforgettable moment was when Paul saw the M letter in the entry category. After a closer look, we saw that the visa expiration date as February 3, 2035. It seems that we were granted multiple entries for 10 years! Without further ado, Paul strode to Window One to double-check and received the due confirmation. Wish the staff could inform us of this extraordinarily good news when we had been there to receive our visas. Oh well, maybe it is always better to find out things yourself.
With one month to go before our departure, both Paul and I have loads of work ahead to complete and plan. But we have got our visas!
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