Sunshine in Taipei!

Get work permit then get Alien Resident Card - Easy! Get a visa! Wait, what’s a visa? Is that something different or are people using it synonymously with work permit or ARC? Does one need the first to get the second? Or third? Can an immigration lawyer ever answer one simple, direct question without prompting 824 more questions? 

Got here, entered Taiwan. Now it appears the dufii (that’s plural for dufus) who first checked us in and reviewed our tickets and papers at airline ticketing at LAX then the brother dufus who sent us to the Diplomatic Line at Immigration at the Taipei airport (perhaps that should have been a red flag to us?) both made mistakes and now it appears we shouldn’t quite be here yet. We require round trip tickets to be here without ARC in case they find a problem and need to send us home. Easy- again, you say? Just get a ticket home with changeable dates- you say? Sure! Except they require you release your passports to Taiwan Immigration for the processing of the ARC and we can’t quite leave or purchase international flights (aka: any flight out of Taipei) without them.

It’s funny how adamantly opposed to letting go of those little blue books we are. Chris and I have both got the notion traveling abroad that they are some sort of lifeline back to a land where someone will come get you, fight for you, make sure you don’t stay buried in a collapsed building, make national news fairly easily (812 dead on a ferry in Singapore will get the rolling CNN ticker, while the 3 Americans scratched in a bombing in Egypt lead US national news). But we can roll when we need to and if they require the passports- our passports they will get; after I scan and take 23 copies of them.

We needed copies, scanner, FedEx to send passports, etc... so went into the Western Digital Taipei office. Wow, turns out that coming into an office with the highest ranking employee in the country makes things happen. Two very gracious expat-handling Human Resource godsends spent about two hours with us, went through everything in detail, sent emails for us to our attorneys in NY and Hong Kong (try to explain that one to me), reviewed our Chinese contracts, and generally reassured and personally shepherded us through the process. I've always been partial to the folks in the trenches who do the actual work- they typically know the system better than the partners and are more keen to get things DONE not just move the piles. That was true today and it feels we're back on track with our immigration issues. And they didn't take our passports- they assured us we can meet at the WD office while a Taiwan immigration official reviews them there when ARCs are ready.

The traveling-with-celebrity feeling continued when we left WD to go to TAS to introduce Claire to the school and get her assessment testing done. The Lower School principal and counselor both mentioned to Claire that the kids in her class were excited about Claire's arrival, but I figured they were being polite and it was adult-speak. Golly, now I know what the Beatle's manager felt like! We went up to the classrooms just before dismissal which was good because as soon as we were outside the door we heard a couple excited gasp-y screams, "There she is!!" and the girls came pouring out into the hall, surrounding Claire and introducing themselves, literally jumping up and down. The teacher sorted through all the kids and pointed out who Claire would be "assigned" to the first few days. Erinn is a blue-eyed blondie who was born in Taipei and has been at the school since preschool. Claire left TAS pretty encouraged that this just might be ok.

And we came outside to sunshine! It's been June-gloom every day that I've been in Taipei (November exploratory trip also). You don't realize it's impacting your disposition until that big, yellow orb shows and your mood lifts (immigration and TAS starting success contributed a bit too, of course). I'm sure I'll rue the sun in the heat of summer but it really felt good this afternoon.

We found a small boutique hotel very near Claire's school and our future apartment and will move this weekend. It appears we'll be another week - ten days until apartment is ready so the Westin with 25 minute cab ride to/from TAS isn't practical. It'll be nice to start getting familiar with the Tianmu neighborhood.

It's odd- folks keep referring to the honeymoon phase of an international relocation where you're just excited, it's all new and you're living like tourists. Perhaps it's because I'm a planning nest-er with no control over planning and no nest yet to feather, but if this is the honeymoon excitement... ugh. We are lucky if we have the energy and emotional bandwidth to do one outing a day. There's a sense that we don't have to pack everything in like on a vacation, but can relax and pace ourselves. And also a sense of exhaustion because we're trying to take in everything in a very different way than we would just visiting a place. Keeping track of driving directions in taxi, beginning to learn the Mass Rapid Transit system, speaking carefully to communicate clearly, looking out for restaurants/shops/services we'll need nearby home and school- all mental processing effort, all the time. We get back to hotel late afternoon, collapse and order room service.

I think I'm perhaps too aware of all that needs doing over the next months to feel honeymoony but my enthusiasm and interest is growing, not fading as we spend more time here. The people are lovely- very considerate and kind. Everyone dresses quite posh, very European feel to attire. (Although I did see my American sweats-wearing mommas at TAS pick up; they might be my new besties next week). The city is a study in contrasts- urban sprawled up a against jungle, western high rise next to exquisitely detailed Buddhist temples, Gucci boutique across from street market. There's a lot to explore and learn and we've got the time to do it!