Visas, Going Away Parties and a Little Place Called Japan

So, I know everyone is waiting with bated breath but do not fret, my visa showed up and it is for 60 days. I will go into the particulars as to why it must be 60 days at a later date (you see what I did there? Now you have to keep coming back). The visa is actually pretty cool. It is emblazoned with the “Republic of China” across the top and Chinese characters all over the place. I now feel very official with such a legitimate piece of paper supper-glued onto one of the pages in my passport.

I want to extended a hardy “well done” and “thank you” to all those that made an appearance at our going away party. When I say “our” I am referring to Talbot and myself, I am not speaking in the royal. The night started with a great dinner with the family and then the night continued… For those of you that were there I need not recount my drunken buffoonery. However, I must say the ten shots of The German Hunter (Jagermiester) were completely and totally unnecessary. For those of you that were not able to make it, let me just say that I was found passed out and naked on my bathroom floor at 2am, Classy!!! This was not my proudest moment by far (is it me, or in the two postings of this newly formed Blog have I had two “not very proud moments”? this thing might be a bad idea).

I am now 48 hours from boarding a plane to Japan. The plans are coming together nicely, and I am very excited to spend a week there before heading to Taiwan. We are going to spend our first day in Tokyo, and then head to Kyoto for the weekend. Kyoto was the capital of Japan for seventeen centuries and I have read that it rivals Paris and Rome in culture and in beauty, I will let you know. We are staying in this cool, I hope, bed and breakfast run by a Japanese couple and their two children. This bed and breakfast is supposedly a five minute walk from a temple that is the begging of the “Lonely Planet” walking tour of Kyoto. So, I figure even if the B&B leaves something to be desired for we should still be in a great location to explore the city. After Kyoto we head back to Tokyo, after a quick stop at Mount Fuji. (Did you know that Mt. Fuji is completely smooth on all sides and looks the same from every angle? I learned that yesterday from a talking globe I bought my one year old Niece for her birthday.) Once we get back to Tokyo we are, get this, staying at a Buddhist temple with the monks. I am really excited about this! We are allowed to take part in their meditation and we can grab breakfast with them in the morning. Maybe I will come back a much more centered and relaxed person… well, until I have to drive in Miami again… no, I am not bitter at all!

If all goes well… Next entry will be from the other side of the world!

Hope all is well

Miami & The Visa Experience

Ok first things first, I am sorry if I offend anyone, but I hate Miami. That place is awful! If someone came to me and said "move to Miami or we will cut one of your fingers off" I would gladly give them my pinkie. Just when I thought I was getting my road-rage under control, I drove in Miami. However, I got to see and stay with some friends and it was great to see them and catch-up. Thanks again Chris and Kristine!

The visa experience was very interesting. Talbot and I drove (by that I mean, I drove and toolbox slept) down to Miami on Sunday night. Thinking we will get to the Taiwanese Economic and Cultural Office (they cannot have an embassy due to the political climate regarding them and China) on Monday. However, we are dumb-asses sometimes and forgot that Monday was Presidents day. So, we found ourselves stuck in that city for another day, not my proudest moment, but hey you learn to deal. I got up early and roused the troops so that we could get to the Office early, however Miami traffic had other things in mind. It took us an hour and a half to go the 16miles from where we were staying to the Office, awesome! I love Miami!

The T.E.C.O. experience was actually quite painless... until they left it quite vague as to whether we were going to get a 60day visa, which is what we need. They had no problem taking our cash (cash it was, they don't except any other form of payment). however, the best I got was "I will try to make sure it is for 60 days". I won't know anything until the express envelope I paid for gets here on Friday. I met a very sweet Taiwanese woman who has lived in the States for about 20 years and she was asking me questions about colleges for her son. I of course told her about the greatest institute of higher learning in the universe, The University of Florida. She helped me with some Chinese and she was impressed with my skills with the language, hopefully they will all be as nice over there. It was cool to be in a place with Chinese all around me, I think I am going to be able to pick-up the language faster then I thought... Hopefully.

I'll keep everyone posted regarding the visa.

Hope everyone is doing well,