Well, you may remember that I posted about a month ago about my trip to HK to apply for my work visa. It was Jan. 16 that I got my work visa and went back to GL with 30 days for the school that I work for to submit all the necessary paperwork for our family to get residence permits. Residence permits will allow us to stay legally long-term in our city. No more having to leave the country every 60 days.

It didn’t go down like that. . .

When I went back, the school was very busy with end of semester finals so I tried to go to the different offices and take care of it myself. Ultimately, I didn’t have all of the necessary papers and someone from the school would have to be present. So, I waited. Then the Chinese New Year holiday came (everyone was off work and offices were closed) and went. . . and on the LAST possible day, they took me to get my residence permit.

When we got there, we were told my physical which I had gotten at the beginning of this process (LAST JUNE! This is a LOOOONG process huh?) had expired, but since it was the last day of my temporary visa there was no way to get another one and have the results that same day. I was told I had to leave the country immediately because my temporary visa was expired and the residence permit was not obtained within the 30 day time frame that I had been given.

It was an incredibly stressful day to say the least. D and the kids still have their tourist visa so they could stay, but my tourist visa was voided when I applied for the work permit (that now expired). So. . . I’m BACK in HK and applying again for the same thing. Hopefully, this time when I go back things can be taken care of in a more timely manner.

When I turned my paperwork in Monday morning for another work permit, they asked me to write a detailed explanation of why I was requesting the same thing again and wasn’t able to get the residence permit within 30 days. Hopefully, they understand and look on my situation with favor so I can pick up my new work permit on Wednesday and go home! I miss my family, and this process has had so many hiccups along the way that I don’t think it could have been any more complicated.

We took another family trip out to some areas north of us. It was going to be a 6 hour bus ride, but there are 3 days a week that have 50 minutes flights for like $20! So we booked the flight for Friday evening and planned to return on the following Wednesday flight. We were out the door and getting in the taxi headed to the airport, when D received a phone call that the flight was cancelled (not sure why). So, we headed back home and took the 6 hour bus the next morning. There were only 3 other people on the bus in addition to our family of 5. The kids had the back of the bus to themselves and did a FABULOUS job playing and listening to stories. It was seriously the easiest travel ever – originally dreaded the long bus, but it turned out to be ok.

The further north we went the colder it was! There was rain turned to ice and the walkways were covered in a layer of sludge so it was pretty slippery. Other than the weather and a migraine (that passed quickly thankfully) it was a good trip We had some great visits and the kids hated to leave their newly made friends. The local kids in that area just immediately accepted them and they played so well together. When it was time to leave, Colt said, “I think I might cry.” Kylie and Caden didn’t want to leave either. There was a group of about 15 kids telling them goodbye. So sweet.

It’s Spring Festival time! It’s really an exciting and fun time around here. Just imagine Christmas with different decorations Everyone goes back home to be with family. The kids get off school for a whole month. Red lanterns are hung everywhere. Red paper cuttings are hung in windows. Blessings for the new year written on red paper are hung around the door frames. This year is the year of the pig – there are 12 zodiac animals altogether. I was born in 1985 which was the year of the cow. David and Colt are rats, Kylie is a rabbit, and Caden is a snake. That means nothing to us, but if you were a local born during the pig year, then this is your lucky year!

They also let off seemingly endless fireworks and firecrackers which make the air very polluted and leave a lot of trash on the ground, but it’s part of the tradition and festivities so . . . . We still manage to sleep through the night despite the bangs and exploding noises You can click here for the whole folk legend of how the Spring Festival started. Pretty interesting.

This year we have enjoyed the holiday more so than previous years. We have felt included and accepted as we have received gifts of homemade traditional holiday foods, a handwritten blessing to hang on our door, and been invited to eat with many friends and their families.

Spring Festival is the biggest holiday of the year – it’s comparable to Christmas in that everyone goes home to be with family, share lots of food, and take a break from work and school. We had several different invitation to go back with local friends but their hometowns were just too far away. We were able to visit one of our friends in a village that should take less than 3 hours if we had driven ourselves. We however took a mixture of public buses and taxis. It took us a bit longer

Sharing a meal around their kitchen fire where everything was cooked. We had beef and tofu soup with some home grown greens, another dish of hand made tofu with pig intestines, and a bitter gourd dish.

The village has lots of dogs and a recent litter of pups. We didn’t play with these though since they could bite and transmit disease

This is our friend’s home. There are always chickens roaming about. I guess they know whose are whose.

It’s a beautiful view from their home on top of the mountain.

They were drying some leftover rice and noodles which they will put in their oil tea (which is more like a soup than tea really). They also had some honey combs strung up and dried out that the sister told me they would use to make medicine. I feel like there are so many things I could learn.

They had hoped we could come up a few days earlier when they killed their pig, but we were hosting visitors. They don’t waste ANY of the pig. This meat will be smoked gradually as they cook over the open fire every day.

Handmade basket to pick greens from the garden

The upstairs of their house. They did have a washing machine, WIFI, and a TV – though everything else is really rustic.

This is a storage room of dried goods. It’s hard to see, but there is a pipe in the center which is connected to the kitchen fire downstairs to direct the smoke up and it can escape through the open roof

One of the bedrooms

Nike backpack and fur/feather jacket together?

Songbird

The kids made instant friends with the kids there.

The old house they our friend grew up in. He said it had been in the family for over 100 years. They built the new house was built about 5 years ago.

They used to host village Sunday meetings in their home.

The bus only took us so far, then we walked about 20 minutes up the mountain to their house

Keep going! Almost there. . .

The kids on the bus. They did good on the hours and hours of transportation playing quietly or listening to audiobooks.

Eating in town before going to the village. The chicken, duck, and fish are all alive and not killed until ordered. We ordered fish. It’s cooked whole so there are lots of little bones that you have to carefully pick around or spit out, but we are all used to it.

Smoked and dried pig face and some more honeycomb. I didn’t ask about this one. I wonder if they cook with it?

We didn’t order the rat or the small fish mixed with tadpoles beside it.

Well . . . in our 5 years here we have had frogs, tadpoles, turtles, fish, snakes, ducks, rabbits, birds and lizards. Most have been returned to the wild. The kids have always wanted a dog or cat but with our visa requiring frequent travel it didn’t seem like a good idea. Now, that we have a more permanent visa, we agreed to start looking for a cat. Seems easier than a dog and more conducive to apartment living. Right after the winter break started, someone posted this little kitty that was looking for a home. The kids named her 泡芙 which translates “cream puff” because they love cream puffs – haha. It’s pronounced “pow-fu.” She’s actually way better than I anticipated. She’s clean and good with the kids. She’s pretty cute too

We went with a friend to an amusement park not too far away – about a 2 hour bus ride. Since it’s so close to the big holiday here I wasn’t sure if it would be really crowded or uncrowded. Thankfully, it was the latter. We pretty much had the whole park to ourselves. We didn’t wait in a single line, and often had the entire ride completely to ourselves. That’s a first for living here – no crowds haha

The kids did an art camp for a week. I think Kylie is naturally gifted in this area and Colt isn’t bad either so I signed them up together. They did some great work! The last day they need a “model” to paint. Do you see the resemblance? haha.