I wasn’t sure what to expect when applying for my visa at the Chinese consulate in Chicago yesterday. I had imagined a large room with busy workers at large wood desks straight out of a 1940’s noir movie. If not that, I at least expected to sit down and talk with someone about where I was going. I even brought a nice button down shirt to look respectable. It turned out that I didn’t have to bother with appearances, a young punk with chains and a mowhawk wandered around the small room where we stood in line. Most of the twenty people in front of me in line were of Chinese descent and spoke Mandarin.

Signs posted mentioned the prices and turn around times for 30-day single entry visas and longer double entry visas. I am planning on staying in China for 45 days and hoped to get a longer visa or be able to extend it without leaving the country. The more I’ve read lately it sounded like China wasn’t allowing extensions for Americans as retaliation for the new security checks put in place for Chinese visiting America. After waiting in line for one hour the doors to the consulate had been shut to any new applicants. The woman behind the glass didn’t want to know where I was going or how I was leaving. When I asked if I needed to apply for a double entry visa or if it was possible to receive an extension in China she hurried me along and told me she was giving me a 60-day single entry visa. I am holding my breath until Monday when I am able to pick up my passport and visa. If I am granted a 60-day visa I will not have to make a side trip to Hong Kong or find somewhere to spend an extra two weeks while I wait for my Vietnamese visa to become active in early November.

I just finished up a conversational Chinese class at my local junior college. The decision between French and Chinese was hard to make but I decided that China would be more difficult to travel in without knowing the language than certain the parts of Africa that favor French.

The course was 8 weeks long and had a lot of vocabulary. Learning Mandarin wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, but I do get it confused with Spanish sometimes. For instance, I (me) in Chinese is “wo” and in Spanish is “yo”. Both languages use “de” as a possessive but are pronounced differently. The class familiarized me with the language and I can put together basic sentences. I should be able to order train tickets, shop at a market and answer the usual questions about myself and my family. I suspect I will be asked what I do, however I haven’t figured out how to say “designer” yet. I may just say “I make books” which I do know how to say.