slightly obssesed

I got an email from my English First contact. It said the final paperwork I needed to apply for my visa had been mailed. My heart began to race until I saw the last sentence. It included a DHL tracking number. Then, instead of feeling like I was flying, I felt like I was sitting on the runway and realizing the dumbest member of the refueling crew had been assigned my plane.

I have a bit of a history with DHL. They have messed up - no, no, 'messed up' is too mild - they have completely FUBARed deliveries on three separate occasions. (Don't think I'm the one who kept going back to them. All of these deliveries were initiated by international organizations.) DHL has left me hanging with military paperwork, financial paperwork and an 'overnighted' credit card while I was in a foreign country. You try tracking down a package in Spanish! I convinced the lady I was living with to call DHL for me. She got into a yelling match with the customer service rep. I wasn't entirely sure what she was saying but I wanted her to know that I appreciated her efforts. I repeatedly leaned over her shoulder and hollered into the phone, "Si! That's right, senora!" I said these things with what was intended to be a Spanish accent as if that was going to somehow make my words more comprehensible. Additionally, I'm fairly certain that my accent wasn't so much Spaniard as it was Mexican gangster.

I had taken to spitting every time I saw a DHL truck.

Because of their pathetic record, I thought it best to follow this package's travels closely. I had already found the customer services number so that I could call as soon as I saw the package heading to Istanbul. You think I'm exaggerating? When they were supposed to deliver my credit card to Seville, Spain, it was deposited in Nashville, TN. I kid you not!

I copied and pasted the tracking number into the online tracking system. The listing said that the package had already traveled from Guangzhou to Honk Kong. Good start. A few hours later, I checked it again and found that the package already left Hong Kong and was headed for the US. Somewhere around this point, I became slightly obsessed. I started checking it's progress almost hourly.

8:00 - no change
9:00 - no change
9:15 - forbade myself from checking again
9:30 - no change!
10:57 - package arrived at sort facility in Cincinnati
11:30 - left house in attempt to not check tracking status
12:30 - stopped at public library to check tracking status
13:30 - package processed at facility in Cincinnati
14:30 - handed laptop to mother in attempt to break vicious cycle
15:30 - threatened mother to give laptop back or else!
16:30 - no change
etc, etc, etc. . .

Anyway, long story short, I signed for the package at 10:30 this morning! Despite their poor history, they actually delivered the paperwork to me in a very timely manner. I was completely shocked and pleased. So I guess that moves DHL up in the ratings to a -2.

Happy New Year From the Girl Without a Visa

It is January 1st and I have no visa and no plane ticket. It is mildly frustrating. If you've ever planned a big event you know that having too much time to think about it is a bad thing. Little thoughts creep into my mind. Maybe I should be looking at graduate work instead. I wonder if that photography venture with my dad would work out. Don't get me wrong. I want to go to China. I very much want this adventure.

I want this adventure so much that I sit and worry about all the things that could keep me from going. You have no idea how many scenarios I've dreamed up about what could go wrong. I've got a military background. What if the Chinese government doesn't let me in because they think I'm a spy. I've worked with a church group. What if they won't let me in because they think I'm a missionary? I've got Rheumatoid Arthritis. What if they don't let me in because they think I'm a medical burden? This week I smashed my leg into a fixture at work (I know, very talented) and my father had me convinced that the bone was fractured and I would need a cast. Now I'm obsessed with avoiding random injuries that may prevent my departure. If you know me, you know that's a pretty big feat!

My leg is fine, by the way, in case you were worried.

Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to live by the immortal words of Ferris Bueller. "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." My life is going on right here and right now. It doesn't start if and when I get to China. I've got family to love and friends to spend time with and books to read and, of course, Rosie the Pug.

Waiting sucks. But I'm going to make sure I'm living and not just waiting. Call if a New Year's resolution if you want.