M-whY

My uncle was on his way to work, and I was off to the Public Security Bureau (PSB), which happened to be near his office. As it turns out, it's possible to obtain a 30 day visa extension, saving me a trip out of the country. The driver, a streetsmart local Shanghaiese, dropped him off and accompanied me to a few blocks down to the PSB. Inside, after waiting half an hour for my number to be called, I was informed that I needed to get some sort of 'proof of residency'.

"[He's temporarily staying with his aunt,]" said the driver, speaking on my behalf.

"[Then his aunt needs to accompany him to the police box with her deed.]"

"[And what if he was living in a hotel?]"

"[Then the hotel would have to provide the forms.]"

This was all news to me, though not unexpected as taking care of business in China can sometimes involve bureacratic hurdles. So it was back home to pick up Aunt Josephine and the required documents.

"[China can be a pain. They want foreigners to visit, but the way the make things so difficult, it's also like they don't want them to visit.]" The police box, a simple building tucked away in a residential alley, gave us no trouble, and issued a yellow temporary residence slip. Back at the PSB, the driver cut to the head of the queue without bothering with another number. If I were by myself, I would've again waited my turn. I guess as modern as Shanghai is, they still have their own way of doing things.

The lady at the counter took my passport and application and told me to come back in five days. Taking care of my visa extension was all I had planned for today. I was looking forward to getting some rest. I don't know why - maybe I'm finally getting burned out? - but sleep is all that's on my mind lately. It turned out though that I had another aunt, a more distant one, that also happened to be in Shanghai. She had invited me to lunch, even though we had never met before.

"[She's going to ask you what kind of food you want to eat. Be prepared to give an answer, or we might spending half an hour in discussion about it,]" warned Aunt Josephine.

My other aunt - I'm not sure what to call her so we'll just refer to her as Auntie - lived in the French Concession. Her residence was of old colonial design, which has been deemed Shanghai heritage and protected from being taken over by skyscrapers. As predicted, I was quizzed on what I wanted to eat.

"[Uhh, whatever.]"

Wrong answer. We didn't spend half an hour, but at least ten minutes deciding on the type of cuisine. In the end, Shanghai style it was. A short walk away was a restaurant with some pretty authentic local food. Auntie did the ordering, as reading menus causes too much headache for me. Six dishes were brought out from the kitchen, way too much for three people to eat.

"[Your mom tells me you can eat a lot,]" said Aunt Josephine. Which is true, except I was too tired to show off my tremendous appetite. I did my best, but a lot of food was still left uneaten. Not because it was bad or anything. I just really couldn't stuff down any more.

"[Not impressed,]" smiled Auntie. Recognizing my drowsiness though, she mercifully called for the bill. Only 2:30pm, nonetheless I was ready to call it a day. With my passport at the PSB for the next five days, I'd have plenty more time to explore Shanghai.

Thanks to everyone for their support and comments! Knowing people are reading keeps me motivated to continue the updates!