After some weeks of consternation, I have bitten the bullet, shelled out the moolah...... and got my friendly neighbourhood visa fixer to acquire an extension on my Z visa. It would appear that I can now stay here happily through the Olympics.
Of course, when one acquires a visa in this way, one always worry that it is rather less than fully 'legitimate'. In the past I have always been able to persuade myself of the essential validity of my visa status, of the honesty of my application, because I have at least been applying as a teacher, and have been nominally employed by teaching institutions with which I do have some genuine relationship (it's just that they were being very friendly, and repaying past 'favours' I'd done them by writing me a dummy contract which didn't actually require me to do any work for them!).
Now, I gather, I have become an urban planner with an obscure Chinese property developer.
Hmmm. I'm 'safe' for the time being; but if Olympic security gets ramped up another notch, I fear it could all fall apart in a moment. The anxious times continue......
Or, as Phil Collins put it......
Of course, when one acquires a visa in this way, one always worry that it is rather less than fully 'legitimate'. In the past I have always been able to persuade myself of the essential validity of my visa status, of the honesty of my application, because I have at least been applying as a teacher, and have been nominally employed by teaching institutions with which I do have some genuine relationship (it's just that they were being very friendly, and repaying past 'favours' I'd done them by writing me a dummy contract which didn't actually require me to do any work for them!).
Now, I gather, I have become an urban planner with an obscure Chinese property developer.
Hmmm. I'm 'safe' for the time being; but if Olympic security gets ramped up another notch, I fear it could all fall apart in a moment. The anxious times continue......
Or, as Phil Collins put it......
No comments:
Post a Comment