THE Lowly Peon

A Busy Three Weeks 
20 November 2010, 6:37am

If it seems I've been absent the last few weeks, you needn't worry — the dust is settling after a very busy month, and things should go back to a somewhat more normal pace. But for now, this month in review...

This month began at a fast pace, as Daisy & I prepared for our migration to the states. We recently hired a lawyer to help us gather the documents and file our petition for Daisy to come to the states, with a green card in hand, as my spouse. This has been a big project, requiring multiple trips to the embassy in Shanghai, gathering photos of the two of us from the last few years, lots of tax and legal documents, and even writing an essay describing our history together. Hiring the lawyer was the best decision we could have made — he's provided us bulleted lists, making it simple (even if difficult) to get everything together. We tried desperately to get everything together at the end of October, so as to make the events of November a bit more worry-free. Despite our best efforts, we're even now still working on it, meaning the task list has been looming over us throughout.

The first day of the month, my two bosses arrived for an extended visit. For one, it was a first trip to China; for the other, it was just another stamp in the passport (though it was his first visit since becoming my boss). For me, it was a lot to squeeze into a time that was a bit too short. The two were both here the first week, but one headed home early the following week, making those first few days all the more crucial. I tried to make sure they were both comfortable and enjoyed their time in Hangzhou — I'm much more of a work-to-live kind of guy, so showing them the sites was in many ways more important to me than the time we spent in the office. This was, of course, made difficult the day after they arrived, on the second day of the month.

The second day of the month, my parents arrived for the week. To celebrate the special occassion, they stayed at the Hyatt — which is synonymous for "palace" here in China. A connection my mom has got them a discounted rate, making the cost of frequent lobby-bar-meetups slightly more tolerable. My dad declared early on that he would not be eating western food — it was clear that he had spent some time refreshing his high school learned Chinese, and he was interested in a Chinese vacation. Their visit started off great: great dinner at a favorite of mine & Daisy's, and it felt immediately like we were all at home.

The first few days were exhausting for me, juggling my bosses and my parents. It worked out well, though, and everyone made clear that they understood I had other things going on. Their hotels being close made this easier on me, as I could swing by one for a drink and run to the other for dinner. And my parents, already familiar with Hangzhou, had a great time wandering the city while I was at work. Daisy took them, on Thursday, to the wetlands, which made me both jealous and relieved, while I was franticly running around at work.

On Thursday afternoon, I said goodbye to my bosses and headed to the Hyatt to meet my parents and Daisy after their adventures in the wetlands, where they had spent the better part of the day on a private man-powered boat, cruising through one of the country's largest national parks. We had some delicious hot pot while we waited for my sister to arrive from Korea.

Maggie33 came into Hangzhou after a pretty long journey. Her uncertainty of the voyage from Shanghai Pudong to the hotel barely matched my worry that something would go wrong and she wouldn't be able to communicate with us, so seeing her at the lobby bar in the Hyatt was all the more exciting. The five of us had a great time chatting and catching up before Daisy and I went home early to rest up for the following day.

Remember, remember, the fifth of November. Friday morning, Daze & I met at Fuxing Lu Beikou to get an egg pancake before going to the government registration building. We both dressed in red, nice clothes, and our Converse All-Stars. The weather could not have been more cooperative: slight breeze, blue sky, not too warm but not too cold. We took a taxi because the office is for some reason the farthest point from any part of Hangzhou, and excitedly walked in. Because I'm a 老外 (foreigner), we were sent to a special office where we didn't need to wait at all. And despite being the international office and having English forms to fill out, I filled out the whole form in a 1st grade level Chinese, occassionally asking Daisy to show me how to write this character or that (they wouldn't let her write it for me, since it was a legal document).

They took our picture in front of a red background, stamped it in a little red book, and we were on our way — a married couple!

We went together, giddy, to the Hyatt, where we checked in for our special "pre-nymoon" (since our honeymoon will be in Japan, which requires Daisy to have a US passport). We had to get the marriage certificate notarized, conveniently at a place not far from the hotel, and then we met my parents and Maggie in the lobby. Not long after, Daisy's parents arrived, and we went to dinner.

We ate at the Hyatt's Chinese restaurant, considered one of the most authentic (and delicious (and expensive!)) Hangzhou restaurants. They recognized me from the night before, when we made reservations (which took two weeks, because every restaurant we reserved either cancelled or called back to say they had a US$600 minimum), and sat us at the table I had requested. Dinner was amazing. My dad gave a toast in Chinese, which he had written in the days leading up to the event. And the others, despite speaking none of the others' language, communicated perfectly (and I must say, my translating skills were not too bad!). It's difficult for me to describe the evening because any words wouldn't compare to how wonderful the evening — the joining of two familes — was.

Saturday, we nursed our hangovers and wandered around the lake. Daisy and I got some street food for breakfast, which hit the spot. And in the afternoon, after a nice walk by the Grand Canal and a hardly-traditional carrying of Daisy in a jiaozi, we went to Daisy's parents' house for a good ol' fashioned family dinner. [Ask a room full of local Hangzhou people where the best food in Hangzhou is, and they'll all raise their hand to answer "my mom's house."] Her grandparents came, as did her two aunt's and her cousin. It was a blast. We made dumplings and drank tea. My dad tried everything on the table, while my sister proved through her chopstick skills and dumpling rolling skills that she was Chinese in a previous life. My mom, through her excitment and Rockelmann charm, torn down any language barriers and made everyone feel comfortable. As for Daze and me — I don't think we could stop smiling, it was such a great night.

We were sad to say goodbye to Maggie on Sunday, and to my parents later that night, and even sadder that the weekend had come to an end.

The following week was back to business for Daze and me, especially busy from a work standpoint because the boss was still around, and we had taken care of the easy stuff the week before. Fortunately, the extra time after work allowed for me to take him around a bit after work, and despite the network failing due to a routing error on Verizon Business' part, we took Friday off to do some shopping before meeting Daisy in the north for some delicious sushi (you can view our track here).

Just last weekend, the boss and I did some geocaching, hiked up Wuyun Shan and around to Dragon Well, a total of nearly 25 miles!

The day after, Daisy, still with a bit of a cold, started moving in. It was lots of fun going shopping and finding stuff for the move, and we had a wonderful celebration dinner the first night living together.

Meanwhile, Daisy has been studying for her fancy accounting exam, and spent the night at her parents' house up in the north to give her an early start. I'm about to head up there to congratulate her on being finished, at last!, and to visit with the in-laws.

And after another week of hard work, things are finally back to a more comfortable pace. Just me & Daze, enjoying our married couple life.

Can anyone say sushi at Hatsune followed by Cold Stone chocolate with raspberry mix-ins?