China

What a whirlwind of activities the past week had been! After weeks of weighing 2 options, only to have the 1 that we were really excited about shot down and then haggling on the terms of the offer, we finally accepted it. So, it is official. We'll be spending at least the next year in Chengdu, China.

In fact, the ink is hardly dried when we had to prepare for the pre-visit where the contract is officially signed and an apartment found. The challenge lies in flying with a 5 month old baby and ensuring that he has enough milk & playthings to keep him entertained and happy. All in, we now have 7 pieces of checked-in luggage nearly maxing our 70kg baggage allowance. And by the way, that doesn't even include the Stokke pram that the airline allows for infants.

The flights are tomorrow but ironically, none of us have our passports! :D DH & minibeanie's are still at the Chinese embassy's - where apparently a 1-day visa takes 3 days. I think there had been some heated words exchanged between DH & the travel agency in charge. As for my passport (no visa needed, thankfully!), it's sitting somewhere in the mother-of-all-Finnish bureaucracies - the Immigration Police. These incompetent, pencil-pushing technocrats 'debate' with a pulla (bun) on 1 hand and a cup of coffee on the other, whether to extend an immigrant's / resident's residence permit for another 2 years. Meanwhile, they are at liberty to hold your passport for up to 6 freaking months without a guarantee on when you'll see your passport again. At the risk of sounding elitist, no mitigating factors are considered. Not my degree from Finland's most established school, not my relatively well paying job, not the fact that I have a son who's Finnish, not even the fact that I've stayed here for more than 4.5 years. Did I mention that I HATE the Immigration Police?

Sorry for digressing :P yes, so tomorrow we'll leave for Chengdu.... but not before DH getting my passport and I heading to the company clinic for some vaccinations. Fingers crossed and prayers said that minibeanie will behave himself for the 3 flights and 18 hours.

minibeanie is 5 months, 1 week & 5 days old