June 02,2011 Okay, Now I'm Upset with my Government

Upset is not quite the word.  I'm furious.  I'm ranting, foaming at the mouth angry.  What is the matter with MY country that they act like this.  It's like the days of the head tax all over again.  We've invited our friend, Panda, to come with us to Canada this summer, and my government has just refused to give her a visa.  What?  Why?  Oh, I see.  They think this middle class Chinese woman, a recent nursing graduate, with close family ties and a boyfriend here in China may be trying to sneak into Canada illegally.  Well, we must disabuse them of that silly notion.
     It's interesting to experience Canada from the point of view of a Chinese person.  I think many Canadians think of China as a repressive and restrictive country.  China does have its faults, but Canada is obviously just as restrictive and repressive, at least when it comes to relationships to outsiders.

 
                                                                                                                                                                                         -Ruth Anderson photos

Last week my wife, Ruth, went with Panda by train to Beijing to personally sit with her and make sure her visa application was done properly and completely. I had asked, by email, whether this could not be done in Shanghai, a mere hour away by train, but whoever answered the email in Shanghai office did not understand my question, simple as it was, and gave an ambiguous answer.  Hence the trip to Beijing, which turned out to be unnecessary, but that is okay.  Ruth had a nice break and a mini-vacation, got to visit an old friend who now lives in Beijing, and got to supervise the visa application.

                                                                                                                    -Ruth Anderson photo

The visa application for Panda to come to Canada is absurdly complex.  Our visa application to come to China was very simple in comparison.  In fact, my visa application to come here required only my passport and a one page application form.  The application for Panda to come to Canada required about  twenty documents.  Plus an application fee of 500RMB and a fee of 250RMB for the "use" of the visa application centre.   Both non-refundable.  I wonder whether a recent graduate from France or Germany is treated this way, and I doubt it.  Canada, you make me ashamed of my country.  The excuse that Canada must keep out economic refugees from developing countries just doesn't make any sense in this case.  Given the size of our population, we should be welcoming a recent nursing graduate from China.  Why aren't we?

Just a Little Later:

Now that I've time to digest this news, and consider things, I realize that a family of Canadians inviting a friend from China to visit them is a small issue compared to the things the Canadian embassy must deal with on a daily basis.  No doubt there are those who would enter Canada without due process, and are very hard to chase out again once they have landed on our soil.
     Still, this ruling seems very unfair, if not discriminatory and racist, but it is only an inconvenience.  Perhaps my country needs us to post a bond guaranteeing that Panda will return to China at the end of the summer.  That should be possible.  We shall investigate further.  I'm gathering letters from friends and supporters back in Canada.  We shall make a new application, and appeal this bad decision.

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Showing Off the New Whip:

I'm quite pleased with the new whip, now that it is finished.  I'm VERY pleased that I managed to learn how to tie a Turk's head that won't come off.  I think that knot cost me almost as much time as the rest of the whip.  The new whip looks good.  It's the longest whip I've ever had, and it takes a lot of finesse to get a good crack out of it.  I'm not sure whether I'll ever get better with it.

I suppose this is no more useless a hobby than, say, building ships in a bottle.  Hey, maybe I need to try that next.

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I like a Stylish Bug

This critter made me late for class this morning.  I just had to stop and take a few pictures, then coax it onto a twig and get it off the road. 

My students tell me that it is quite common here. Its Chinese name is 天牛 (tiān niú literally "heaven cow") which my Chinese dictionary translates as "longicorn; long-horned beetle".

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Wuxi - Better and Better

This is turning into an extremely upscale and beautiful city.  The improvements in just the five years we've been here have been amazing.  The other night, Jin Bo and his fiancée and I went to dinner at Grandmother's House, a new restaurant on the canal.

Wonderful food.  My only complaint, once again, is that these restaurants do not have a no smoking section.

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