003 visa drama + packing

so, i'm about three days away from flying to los angeles and ten days away from attempting to fly to china. i've been doing last minute packing and preparations (yeah, right), and i'm really excited to go, even though i'm going to miss people and food and toilets with doors in america. mostly people. but also toilets with doors. and buffalo wings. i went to buffalo wild wings with clint for lunch today. and i got a snow cone after. get excited.

the only thing i'm waiting on now is my visa to get into and stay in china. travisa says it'll be done by the 12th, which is cutting it incredibly, uncomfortably close to my departure date, but who knows? i may get lucky and get it before then. i had it sent to their office earlier this week, and would have gotten it in sooner had it not been for the magical disappearing JW202 form. like, i wish i was kidding, but i'm not. quite literally, i had it one second, and it evaporated before my eyes. from my hands. into thin air. okay, not really, but out of an entire stack of papers, most of which were unimportant and completely dispensable, the only one that went missing was the only one i couldn't replace. STUPID. i got ciee to send another copy to me, which bless them, they managed to overnight to me, and well. my passport + important documents are in texas now, hopefully getting their processing on. meh meh.

and of course, with my luck, the chinese government decided to not allow the visa processing...process to be expedited, because of the swine flu. really? REALLY?

anyway. packing. yeah. so i've narrowed all my stuff down to an enormous suitcase and i plan on cutting it down further. i'm horrible when it comes to over packing. i fall into the female stereotype so perfectly, it's disgusting. i was talking to filipina the other day about it. according to weather.com (which is really just as good as asking the psychic on 6th street), the weather in china should stay in the 60s-80s the whole time i'm there, which means perfect weather. which means shorts and skirts and dresses and things like that. i absolutely detest having to choose which clothing i want to bring though. mostly because i'm not good at making decisions. anyone who knows me will attest to this. my bus driver will attest to this. i'm in that boat of people who are like, absolutely convinced they're going to need snow boots in the summer in a country near the equator. just the other day, i was talking to clint while staring at my boots, and our conversation was as follows:

stacy: babe, i'm thinking i'm gonna bring these boots to china. they are so cute.
clint: um, it's going to be like, 80 degrees in china the whole time you're there.
stacy: but baaabeeee, they. are. so. cute. please please please.
clint: no.
stacy: plllleeeeeaaaaassssseeeeeee.
clint: no.
stacy: I AM SO TORN.
clint. no you are not. the answer is no.
stacy: but but but. whhhhhhhyyyyy? :( :( :(
clint: no.

lather, rinse, repeat.

i hope packing happens soon. and my visa. ooh - note to self: traveler's checks and call bank of america.

i hope i get to china. :(