Arrested Development

We spent the morning at the police station. No, no, we haven't been arrested. In order to get a long term visa in China, we have to apply for official residency at the local police. Since Mat's company is based in Wuxi, we are at a provincial station. It's located in an alley off the main road in an old concrete building with plexiglass windows, buzzing with people carrying armfuls of leather bound ledgers and dated carbon copies (similar to the Ditto copies we had in elementary school).

We made quite the entrance. I don't think the Wuxi station has ever had Indian visitors before. While Mat's HR rep filled out the paperwork, we were escorted into the back room, told to "zuo" (sit) and were quickly surrounded by onlookers. Mat and I chuckle at how perplexed the locals get when meeting us . We are Meiguo (American) but don't meet their preconceptions that all Americans are Caucasian. So they are initially baffled. Nevertheless, there are not that many Indians in China, and the Chinese seem very curious about the "other" Asians, their neighbors from the subcontinent to the west. Thus, the onslaught of spectators. I was showered with compliments for my eyes and told that I was lucky to have such big ears. Lucky ears, who would have guessed? Mat was stared at like some sort of Hindu superhero. His bi-ceps attracted a lot of attention. We had a good laugh with everyone. It was really sweet and a good opportunity for us to practice our Chinese (although it was very broken and enhanced with wild hand gestures).

We wrapped things up and headed to the Wuxi No. 2 hospital for our physicals. This was my first experience in a hospital in China. Mat had the unfortunate luck of getting an asthma attack here a few months ago, and had already been given the all curing, "just give him an antibiotic IV drip for three days" consult from the Doctor. The hospital looked like something out of of a Stanley Kubrick film, it was shockingly sterile, white walls, white ceilings, white floors and all white furniture, with bright lighting. The nurses sported powder blue pantsuit uniforms that were very tight--especially around the derriere. They wore their hair and make-up the same and had smiles plastered on their faces. It was pretty surreal. We were whisked one room to another, and we passed all our tests with flying colors. Mat and I were given the "safe and healthy" stamp of approval for our long term stay in China.