So here I am in sunny (hahaha) London, to get Chinese visas. I had been assured by the nice Chinese man at the embassy here that there would be no problem, that I could do it for all my family, blah blah blah. However, I should have been concerned at this point, as I had already been assured by the Chinese embassy in NZ that I could get them in Germany - wrong again.
So I fly over to London from Nuremberg, spend 1.5 hours delayed on the plane in Zurich for de-icing, spend 2 hours and many pounds getting here from Heathrow in the dark, by myself, only to be told this morning that they will not issue visas for the children because they don't have UK entry stamps! Well they wouldn't, as they are NOT HERE! No amount of explaining or even crying would melt the lady's heart. She was adamant that "if you want to come into our country you must follow our rules". Aaargh! Our tickets are booked back to NZ via Shanghai - it is not changeable! So now I am trying to change our v expensive Shanghai-Korea-Shanghai flights to ensure we are not in China for more than 48 hours at either end. More money haemorrhaging out for no good reason. Very irritating.
It does amaze me that while NZ tries to negotiate a free trade agreement with China our citizens are treated like evil overstayers when trying to visit for tourism purposes,. Surely a little inconsistent.
So I cried (embarrassing but unavoidable) and I was really so angry, though I didn't actually lose my temper, just an incredulous raised voice explaining the problem we now have, despite advice from the embassy at home that it would all be fine.
The injustice! I feel some letter-writing coming on. I mean surely not everyone who wants to visit China is in their home country when they need their visas? Crazy system.
I am in Starbucks Piccadilly so I can get online and make yet more changes to reservations. Hrmph. Lots of post Christmas sales here, and I get to see Gwen, Graham and Honor, so those are the upsides. Fingers crossed that this is fixable.
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