Our "Lovely" Chinese Consulate Experience

When I say "lovely" I'm being quite sarcastic. Owen had a terrible day today. He drove all the way to SF to the Chinese Consolate, right before it opened. There were 100 people ahead of him already.

The first time around, they required more information. They wanted to know exactly when my mother and our daughter had traveled in China. They had just renewed their passports so previous travels weren't there. To look up this information required a 2nd line in another part of the building.

The 3rd time in line, they wanted to know exactly why Owen who checked "pastor" as his occupation, was going to China. They required that he have a letter written from our church verifying his employment and that he was going as a tourist.

Poor Owen drives all the way back to San Jose to our church. Get the letter. And drives all the way back to SF to the Chinese Consulate again.

But wait there's more....it ain't over yet!
Now, it's the 4th time he's in line. And they are still not satisfied. In fact, they ask him to step aside to another line for an interview.

In this 5th line, they required a interview and ask him again, why is he going to China? They thought he was traveling alone. That's because in the 3rd line (you are tracking with me, right) they took our (Grace, Faith and Po Po's) applications already. He had to tell them about our adoption and the time frame. Praise, there was a merciful clerk and they let him through this time. If Jack Bauer can survive a Chinese prison, Owen can survive the Chinese Consulate.

Thank you everyone for paying. Keep paying please. We're not even in China yet and it's a "lovely" battle already. But we continue to persevere. As Dad is our witness, we will get Hope.