life in surabaya

The first time get here. things are great. and I really like the weather here. sunny every day even rains it will stop very quickly.
I entered this country with a social visit visa with my daughter. I thought my boss will proccess the work visa (here called kitas right away.) yet her plan is in june. My visa is only two months so means i need to renew my visa here. Of course school will cover the expenses. for my daughter i need to pay. I have agreed it before I came.

Things start to change very dramatically, in June I was told my passport will be expired in February 10, 2009. It has less 12 months so indonesian goverment refuse to give the kitas. and chinese embassy says without kitas they cannot help to exchange a new passport.

The only solution is back to China and get a new passport. I flew to Jakarta wait there two weeks finally got my bassport back from the agent. Bought a ticket rush to China. School is unwilling to cover the cost. I have to shoulder it by myself.

Wait 10 days in Chengdu (my birth place ) my new passport was in my hand. Email the copy back to Surabaya and waiting for the fax from Jakarta to pick up visa in Indonesian consulate in Guangzhou. My flight is June 20 Chengdu to Guangzhou. June 18 already sms me the fax is done. Yet when I was 2 days already in Guangzhou the fax still somewhere on the air. finally late around 10 pm china time on June 22 I got the fax through yahoo messenger for this I have been waited in the internet cafe for a whole day.

back to indonesia it is the turn for my daughter now. Without knowing if there is a need of visa for Chinese go to Sigapore the office at school already bought the flight ticket to Singapore. And my daughter's visa will expired on August 11(which has been extended four times) and it was August 3. On August 5 my daughter already in Jakarta yet aplly a visa need 10 days and it is unknown if we can get it. With the flight ticket has been reroute we have to refound the ticket in that case 80usdollars missing.(until now the refound not coming out yet) . I have to buy a flight ticket for my daughter go back to China to pick up her visa. for sending the fax to Guangzhou I have to pay another 1 million rupiah which is around 109 usd.

Life is good for me. Now everything has done. What I gain is education is expensive. The cost is one year's saving to cover all the bills.

Louis Liu peng Fei Surabaya