Category: Relocation

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Day 24 – Well, I *was* going to open a bank account

This is turning out to be quite the day. On Thursday (Day 22) the work permit was approved and HR sent a bunch of documentation including one email which indicated my first day at work would be on July 6, which made absolutely no sense as that day is a Friday. Seriously, people, what are you thinking?! After being in communication with my GM at work, she was able to push my start date up to a much more reasonable day, Monday July 3. Phew!

So now the official first day in the office is looming and reading through all the documentation that HR sent was a small bit of financial information saying I need to provide bank account information when I get into the office so I can be paid. (Apparently, direct deposit is the only way for such payments.) But, umm, I don’t have a local bank account. Ugggh.

Looking through the benefits and relocation documents that came with the job offer, there is a blurb about having someone local help with not only opening a bank account but also provide assistance with obtaining a SIM for my cellphone (so I can have a local phone number) and assistance with securing a lease. OK, great! So an email was sent on Thursday to the relocation people asking who I should be working with on these items. No email reply on Thursday. None on Friday (until *very* late in the evening). And then a phone call on Saturday morning came through, and I’m glad it did.

The phone call was from one of the relocation people who asked if I could meet someone at 11am to go to the various places to get a SIM card and then open the bank account. (Apparently it’s best if you have a local number before opening your bank account as it’ll enable mobile banking. OK, makes sense.) We almost had a meeting time and place set … until I was told all that is needed is a 100元 ($14.50 USD) and my passport to open the account. Ugggh. Nope. Don’t have my passport as it’s still with the local police department while they process my resident permit.

Opening the bank account and getting the local SIM card will have to wait until Thursday or Friday, which work will not enjoy as I’ll need some time off to get those things done nor will they like having to enter in some data for my paperwork (ie, bank account information) after the first day when they’re expecting it. (Some internal processes seem to take quite a while at work, including processing HR documents and getting them aligned with accounting.)

The good news is that I did not attempt to open the bank account on my own without having the necessary paperwork (my passport) and local phone number, otherwise I might’ve wasted a lot of time. The bad news is that work will get annoyed. The OK news is that I should get my first pay check before signing a lease on an apartment which is going to be extremely necessary as a security deposit (one month in cash), three months rent (via bank transfer), and payment to real estate broker who ostensibly helps to find and secure the apartment from the landlord (one month’s rent, in cash) is all going to be needed; more on all that “OK news” in a latter post.

Life in China sure is turning into an adventure!

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Day 19 – More of the waiting game

It’s a good thing I’m able to find ways on how to entertain myself! You see, I’m still not legally able to work in China as I’m waiting for both the work and resident permits to be approved. It’s unclear if this is one in the same or two separate documents. Regardless, today was the fourth time someone needed my passport in order to complete some of this documentation. It feels really odd to hand over your passport to someone while being in a foreign country. It’ll be delivered back at some point in the future, but yeah, such a weird feeling!

Without much else to do today besides study some more Mandarin and read up on more stuff for work, I did another load of laundry — exciting huh? Well, it kind of was! Take a look at the picture below. Apart from writing in English and Chinese, what else do you notice?

Machinery

That’s right! The machine has a setting for Wash & Dry! When I did laundry the first time that setting wasn’t used; the washing was done then the machine was set to the dryer setting. My clothes came out a bit damp, likely because I over stuffed the machine a bit too much, so they needed to be dried a bit more. This time the machine was not over stuffed and my clothes came out great! One setting, a couple hours, and boom! Clean, dry laundry! …Now only if it would fold the clothes and match up all the socks …

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Day 5 – The medical exam

It rained again this morning which, in itself wasn’t the issue, but the rain caused many people to take taxis (出租车) to work and made it nearly impossible to hail one to take me 27km clear across Suzhou to get to the medical facility in time for my 9am appointment. You see, even though my physician in the US gave me a physical (which needed to include a chest x-ray and an EKG readout), China requires one done in country in order to obtain a work/residency permit. So yeah. Anyway. The taxi arrived at 8:50am, then got stuck in traffic, then dropped me off at the wrong location (about half a mile away) … The one good thing in all this is that there was no actual appointment that was missed; the facility seems to be a “drop in” type location.

The medical exam itself was quite interesting. My contact who’s helping direct what needs to be done for obtaining the work/residency permit did not mention I would have to bring 386rmb (~ $57) in cash with me, so … after registration and a visit with the cashier (payments up front, not after), the cashier kindly directed me to where the closest ATM was — a ten minute walk down the street! Now, walking 10 minutes is nothing for me, but where this medical facility was located made the walk quite interesting as it’s in a factory/industrial part of town. Also, the closest ATM was NOT on the same street. Thankfully Google Maps (hello downloaded offline areas!)  was able to point me in the right direction.

With cash in hand, I walked back into the medical facility, paid for my exam, and proceeded up to the second floor to begin the process. There were different rooms that you had to enter and each room had a specialist that was going to poke and prod you in a different manner. Height/Weight/BMI and blood pressure in one room, blood sample & urine analysis in the next, stomach ultrasound in the third, eye exam and EKG in the fourth, and then chest x-ray in the fifth — which happened to be back on the first floor.

The eye exam was rather interesting as unlike in the USA where you read a line of letters back to the medical professional administering the exam, in China you specify which way the character 山 is facing. They also test your color blindness, which apparently they weren’t as thorough in that category because I know that’s one exam that I will fail.

Once all the exams were finished it was time to tender my document showing stamps from each of the rooms. I thought it was time to head home, but no … I needed to get a copy of my passport to turn into the facility and get my photo taken to attach to my medical exam. No idea why that photo was required as they scanned my passport and used that photo to add to the printed document that I carried around to the various rooms.

At this point in the day I was getting hangry as I hadn’t eaten since the night before — fasting was required for the exams — and quite thirsty as I violated one of my rules for living in China: I didn’t have a bottle of water with me and man was I thirsty! Fortunately I was able to hail a cab with no trouble and made my way back to the apartment. Thursday there’ll be similar fun as I need to return to the medical facility to pick up my “certificate”, whatever that means. (Why can’t they just fax it to the hotel? Oh yeah, original copies of things are big here.)

Today’s word of the day: 出租车 (chūzū chē), meaning taxi.

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Day 0 – Arrival!

After a pretty uneventful flight (only some light chop when I assumed we passed through the jet stream) where I watched five movies in hopes of staying awake for as much of the 13 hours as possible, I made it into the country safe and sound.

Getting through immigration and customs was a breeze. Not sure if it’s just luck or if they’re really speedy at processing people, but it only took five minutes. No questions were asked, my passport was stamped, and I was on my way!

The drive from the Shanghai Pudong airport (PVG) is much more interesting this time than when I came for the job interviews in February. Why? It’s light out and I can actually see things!

The apartment I’m staying in is rather nice. When I get more time I will post some pictures and provide more details. Location-wise it’s near perfect for a 20 minute walk to the office once I do start working.

First thing on tomorrow’s agenda: Find the nearest Starbucks to where I’m staying then find an ATM. It’s not as easy as it sounds: Google Maps doesn’t really work in mainland China and I can’t read enough Chinese to use Baidu Maps!

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Moving Day!

Moving Day 2017 Lunch at Amex

All good trips should start with delicious food and a good glass of wine. This beauty is compliments of the American Express Centurion Lounge at SFO.

So today is the day! After months of preparation (interviewing, getting the work visa, selling most of my personal goods, saying goodbye), the day to say goodbye to the USA and say “你好，中国” is here. And while I’m excited — and understandably nervous — about this big change, I can’t really look forward to it without first looking back at the past six years living in San Francisco.

While my professional life was doing great, my personal life didn’t really get started until 2014 when I joined a softball team for the SFGSL. That first season, as I was getting over an ankle injury, I was scorekeeper and really enjoyed being part of a team again. Having grown up playing team sports it was something that was missing from my life. Over the next four seasons I’ve made most of my good friends through the softball league. Those friends and being able to play with my teammates is something I’m going to seriously miss. If anyone saw what an emotional wreck I was on Sunday during my team’s most recent fundraiser, you’ll know I’m telling the truth! LOVE YOU BOMBSHELLS!

While people will be the number one thing I miss most about SF — ok, maybe the clean air and water too — the list of things I won’t miss at all is a bit long. The homeless problem, the crazies, the drug epidemic, the traffic, having to share an apartment at age 40 because rent prices are crazy stupid… I don’t want to dwell on bad things, so I’m going to end that thought right there.

Though I am moving to the orient, I should be back in the USA a number of times a year. And if there is one thing in life that I know is true, the paths of good people will always cross; you never know where or when, but they do. As I hate saying goodbye, because it is never the end, I’m closing this post with a “so long for now, and thanks for all the fish!”

 

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The Z Visa Waiting Game

After months of collecting paperwork, medical exams, and endless email chains, the final stages of the relocation process are hopefully coming to an end! The Chinese Consulate in San Francisco is processing my application and I hope to pick it up — and my passport — on Tuesday May 23. If everything is in order and the Z visa is granted, the next steps are to schedule the movers, obtain the one-way plane ticket, and potentially book a hotel for a few nights as my lease terminates on May 31. Whoah. Getting close!

For anyone considering moving to mainland China, the process for obtaining the required Z visa can be daunting. Here’s a list of tips that might help:

  • Work with a professional services company, like CIBTvisas, and an immigration attorney who has experience with this process.
  • Have 4-6 passport photos taken of you as you will need them for the visa application, your medical report, and potentially other documents.
  • Be prepared to submit not only your college/university transcripts but also your diploma. Yes, your physical diploma! (Currently my diploma is in China while the frame is hanging empty on my bedroom wall.)
  • The required medical exam should include “all the normal things” — which apparently means a typical annual physical, an EKG readout, and a chest x-ray. The exam should be “stamped” with your physician’s “seal” and include a picture of you.
  • Make copies of all the documents and applications before arriving at the Chinese Consulate. You will get to keep the originals, but they want copies. Bring the originals with you when submitting your application.
  • Be prepared to wait in line for an hour or longer with each trip to the Consulate. You might also have the pleasure of listening to protesters outside the Consulate yelling at you and the people inside on megaphones. #annoying
  • When picking up your visa, you will need to submit payment then. For the L travel visa (good for 10 years and multiple entries for Americans) the cost is $140. I think the Z visa is the same price and will learn for sure next week. I highly advise getting a money order from the US Postal Service as the credit card reader at the Consulate here in SF often goes down randomly. If you do not want potentially wait in line twice to get into the Consulate to pick up your visa, obtain that money order first.

— expatrichie