THE Lowly Peon

a travel story (part III) 
12 November 2008, 12:51pm

so i guess that shuffle god has more power over my life than just my apple tv's playlist. for some reason, he really does not seem to want me to go to vietnam.

let's see. looking back, there have been plenty of signs that i probably should have interpreted as some kind of omen:

the first vietnamese guy i knew thought i was worth crap

my only friend in the country lived a

so i guess that shuffle god has more power over my life than just my apple tv's playlist. for some reason, he really does not seem to want me to go to vietnam.

let's see. looking back, there have been plenty of signs that i probably should have interpreted as some kind of omen:

• the first vietnamese guy i knew thought i was worth crap
• my only friend in the country lived a world away from where i was going
• i think most of you remember my visa fiasco, and all the fun that followed, trying to keep me in china
• the initial bad taste i had in my mouth from first arriving
• how nothing quite added up right and a three hour tour day tour turned into setting ground on this uncharted desert isle an eight day voyage (if not for the courage of the fearless you-know-who, the minnow would be lost, the minnow would be lost)
• oh yes. there was that time that some moron decided to keep throwing the switch on the very same circuit i kept trying to turn on
• the second time around, my friend, again, will not be around :(

so if that's not enough for you, i've got one more.

last time i was there, i got so much crap for my visa problems that the vietnam office guys took care of everything for my next visit. they got me a letter of invitation, meaning i could just waltz into the country, and wait for about an hour while i get my visa at the airport embassy. so i was not worried. i asked them to confirm about a zillion times. they were certain.

so when i planned my trip this time around, i sent about fifteen emails asking them, again, to confirm that i didn't need anything else.

three weeks ago

um... i'm not sure, you need to ask this other guy.

next day

yup! i'm certain! that's all you need!

great! i don't need to worry!

monday afternoon

um... actually, i just asked my friend, and i'm not sure that's right. why don't you ask your colleague who has come here before?

this morning (she's been out of office til today)

what?! no! that's not enough! you need the visa to get on the plane to leave china! i don't care what the vietnamese people say! you need a visa to leave!

well poop*.

so now i'm sans-passport for my weekend in shanghai, meaning i probably won't go except for a day trip. the manager here, again, poured salt on my angry wounds and said "why didn't you take care of this before?" thanks, buddy. i figured three weeks was enough for a visa that takes three days. but now that you mention it...

i'm just tired of trying to go against the flow of the universe. and i've really been comfortable here in hangzhou.