all in the life

Today has been such a crazy day. I don't even know where to start recounting it. Also, exhaustion. I wonder if that's how the Chinese government keep the population in submission--by draining everyone of any spare energy outside of what's needed to run around fulfilling paperwork. 

- Praise God that my son did not get crushed in the packed bus (I'm grateful they don't have people-pushers here like the ones for the subways in Tokyo. I seriously think there would be many deaths) we had to take after failing to flag down any of the taxis that drove past us in the rain. 
- Praise God for the numerous people on the bus who yelled at others to stop pushing on my son's behalf, for the elderly woman who actually motioned me over and gave up her seat so I could protect my son better, and for the gaggle of teenage girls who surrounded my son and me and shielded him from the crowd as well as entertained him during the whole bus ride.
- Praise God for all the ridiculously merciful acts of kindness that was showered on us at the public security office (letting us cut in line despite not having a queue number, etc) because my son's started to cry towards the end.
- Praise God that we got assigned a new and far more conscientious handler from the university who's becoming a good friend at this point.
- Praise God that we met the visa deadline right before a three-day weekend (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!), even though the permanent resident process is still far from over. (Explanation to follow.)

We need prayer for actually securing the permanent resident status. The Chinese embassy in Chicago was supposed to have notarized our marriage certificate so that my son and I could get residency through my husband. Since I had acquired a z-visa through the legitimacy of our marriage certificate, anyone with common sense should figure that our certificate is real. But, alas, blind bureaucracy rules. Gotta keep a billion people employed somehow. So we need to traipse north to Beijing to get it certified before my son and I can try again for residency. Right now we're officially tourists, allowed entry for six more months. My husband, meanwhile, FINALLY secured his expert card, thanks to many nagging phone calls by our handler and more cuteness from my son. But will need to extend his residency after his "real" health insurance kicks in.

I felt less bad about how long this process is taking after our handler told us that, in order for him to transfer his residence from his previous hometown of Shandong to Hangzhou, it took him six visits to the public security office and well over half a year.