We have been here 7 weeks already!
Yesterday I was at the school for what was supposed to be 4th Grade Soccer Day. It started raining so it was postponed until Friday, which we did not find out about until we (the parents) were at the school (remember it takes us at least 40 minutes to get there). The PTSA had ordered pizza for the 4th graders, so we had to serve it because we couldn't cancel the order that late. Parents had also brought in fruit and vegetables. I cut up a watermelon for the kids. I will blog about Soccer Day on Friday.
After lunch, Veronica and I decided to go to the Fake Market. I needed a slightly bigger purse since I am carrying a lot more stuff around here than I did at home.
Today I went to Souhou for my Residence permit. When I first arrived I needed to finish some paperwork for our shipment. I had to break our stuff into about 10 categories, then tell how many items in each category and give a value. I had a hard time remembering everything I shipped. (All I can think about is all the food I shipped, which I can't declare!) I am sure I way underestimated what I packed! They also needed to know what kind of books, kitchen items (wood, metal, plastic, etc), DVDs, etc.
Then we went to the government office with the paperwork. It ended up that the paper from the police was typed incorrectly, so that needed to be fixed before the permit can be issued. They took my picture and said the permit would be ready in 7 days (after the paperwork is corrected). The two women I was with asked for a rush on it, so I should get it tomorrow! After lunch the two women went to the Police Station and had the form corrected and took it back to the government office. They also told me that Daniel will need to come into the office for his permit. We are going to try and see if we can have him go to an office here in Shanghai and just have the info emailed to the Souhou office. I really don't want to have to take him out of school if I can help it.
The paperwork will be done, like I said, hopefully tomorrow. Then the shipping company can work on their paperwork, which will take about a week. After all the paperwork is completed the shipment can go to customs. BUT the first week in October, everything will be closed, so best case scenario is we will get our shipment the 2nd week in October. My guess is, if we are lucky, we will get it the 3rd week in October. I am a little bummed because Daniel's birthday is October 2nd and his birthday presents are in the shipment. I figured we would have it by now. My friend Alexis got her shipment today and she shipped after us!
We had lunch at the Magotteaux plant before returning to Shanghai. Their cafeteria is very small. They serve lunch on what Randy calls "prison" metal trays. The trays are covered in a plastic bag and the food is put on the plastic bags. To clean up the trays you just take the plastic bag off and throw it into the trash! Lunch was pretty standard Chinese food. Boiled Chicken pieces (on the bone), cooked greens (not sure what kind), rice, cooked eggplant and soup. They serve that to everyone, no choices. Near as I could tell there is no cost either. I thought the food was not too bad. I really liked the eggplant.
We left the apartment at 7:30 and I did not get back into the apartment until after 3. I am hoping that the paperwork is almost done!
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