One of the weirder things about my stay in China is how the number of Chinese Visas in my passport has grown exponentially. Five Visas in one year when I never actually left the country (except for stupid Hong Kong, which I could have sworn was in China) is pretty impressive.
So those five visas coupled with the stamps I've collected over the years have left my passport mighty full. It's a nice thing really, and I've grown strangely attached to the little blue book. So much so that I just can't wait to get some new big bad visas in it from my upcoming jaunt through South East Asia.
The only problem, is that my passport doesn't have enough pages.
Enter the U.S. Consulate in Shenyang, China. This branch of the embassy located a mere four hours away from Dalian by train offers the super cool service of adding in new pages. So with an email sent to double check when they were open, Corey and I hoped a train to the capitol of Liaoning Province (home to Dalian).
Shenyang itself is... uninspiring. Dirty, crowded, and dirty. But maybe I'm just being an ass for no reason.
We make our way to the embassy and are confounded when the gates are closed. There are no Americans or signs in English explaining why the place was shut.
I managed to use what little Chinese I've accumulated to ask the guard what was up, and he responded with a courteous (but a bit snarky I'd say) "Ming tian". Tomorrow. Not what you want to hear after you spent four hours on a rather uncomfortable train.
Wei shen mo? Why?
I'm sure he gave me a legitimate explanation, but as they say... it was like he was speaking Chinese or something.
Another American dude rolled up to the Consulate with his Chinese Girlfriend/Prostitute in tow and after he talked to the guard, he explained to us that it was Presidents' Day.
What? Really? I did email the consulate. They could have bothered to tell me that when they say they're open Monday-Wednesday, that doesn't include the upcoming Monday.
I mean, who celebrates Presidents' Day anyway?
- Shawn
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4 comments:
I feel like your blog is comment lonely so I'm here to comment.
Hong Kong is still part of China in mind. I don't care what they say.
Also, that's pretty cool that your passport is full.
awww thanks!
i celebrated presidents day by not going to school, which was awesome. Also, boo fricking hoo, my passport is too full, wahhhhhh.
Aw look! I restarted comments for you. No thank yous are needed, just doing a nice sister thing. =)
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