Next Stop China

Two weeks ago it was confirmed that I would be going to China with my new job. This will be my first time to China and it's exciting and a little nerve wracking at the same time. I leave April 10th and will be there for 8 days. One night in Hong Kong, which should be super cool if I'm not completely incoherent from jet lag, then most likely 5 days at our China office which I'm not exactly sure where that is, then the weekend in Beijing. So, it's about a month away and I need a passport. I knew I had to renew it because it has my name as Jean McElroy, and then I found out that if you travel to China, part of the requirements to get a Visa to go there for business is that your passport is valid for a full 1 year PAST your return date! I don't understand why that is except a way for the government to make more money. My passport is up in July so I need to renew it anyway. I had a lot of back and forth with Allentown about sending me a certified copy of my marriage certificate (for proof of name change). I brought so many pieces of 'important' paperwork with me, but not my marriage certificate, it is in storage in Oxnard, CA. To get a copy of the marriage certificate I needed to send a letter stating what I needed with a $10.00 money order along with a self adressed stamped return envelope. Since, I need this for work I'm doing it all through work and sent the letter, money order, and return paid envelope via UPS overnight 2 Tuesday's ago. I did not get the certificate until this past Thursday. There were a few days this week where I thought it was lost. Fortunately, all worked out and all my paperwork is in the hands of a Passport expediter service. I should have both a new passport and visa to do business in China by the end of the month.

We are supposed to arrive in China and review first samples of our Fall 2011 handbag line. As of right now we don't have a confirmed factory and we have not sent all the designs over to our office. Should be an interesting first trip. I am finally busy at work doing the paperwork to get the designs off to China. It's good to be busy again.

In the meantime I've been looking at what feels like tons of apartments these past few weeks. There is a definite glut of rentals in the market here. I have seen many places I've viewed still on Craigslist weeks later with lowered rent. Today I met with the owners of the dream cottage I saw the second week I was here. I got paid last week and realized there was no way I could afford the dream cottage at the price they are asking. They are willing to negotiate so I think there is a chance it may work out. It would be so awesome to be able to live in a cottage in SB.
In the meantime I'm looking at a few more places tomorrow, one of which from the outside looks really beautiful and it's about 2 blocks from the beach....