3...2...1...blast off!

We did it! Well, sort of. We've made it to San Francisco for a few days of rest and sightseeing before our flight to Taipei. The movers came on Thursday and Friday of last week and we shut down everything in Houston. I think we were more relieved than anything. We weren't sure we were going to make it out of town at all. The final two weeks in Houston brought some unexpected challenges...

We have discovered a fascinating game we're calling Docu-nopoly. To play, you first head to the Houston branch of the Taiwan consulate (called the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office or TECO), where you file for a Visitor Visa to Taiwan. Then, when you return to pick up your family's passports with newly added visas, you find a tiny yellow note in Chinese affixed to the top one. You have now officially entered the phase of the game in which you will interact with the administrators there every day or so by having them tell you other things they would like you to do so that your Visitor Visa can Pass Go and Be Converted to a Resident Visa once you've moved to Taiwan. Here are some of our favorite "moves" on the Docu-nopoly board:

• Please submit marriage certificate and children's birth certificates to TECO office for authentication. (This was something we overlooked in our original instructions so we were thankful for the reminder. But there is more....)
• Please translate your marriage certificate and children's birth certificates into Chinese.
• Please find your own translator because TECO is not allowed to recommend anyone.
• No, you won't need a form to allow the agency translating your documents to present TECO with the documents on your behalf.
• Yes, you WILL need a form to allow the agency translating your documents to present TECO with the documents on your behalf.
• Please download the form from the TECO website. (They were shocked when we told them all the forms were in Chinese and we couldn't read Chinese. Email from their office was not allowed but they agreed to fax an English version.)
• Please have the faxed English version notarized, one form for each document, each one notarized.
• While documents are being processed, please go to Houston PD and get a copy of husband's criminal record.
• Criminal record for husband is unnecessary. Please go get a copy of wife's criminal record.
• Please have the (non-existent) criminal records notarized by the police department. (Unfortunately hearing the last three statements had the effect of making me laugh hysterically and then start crying. Shortly after my fit, we received word from our immigration assistance contact in Taiwan that this was an unnecessary requirement as was the translations of everything, but by now we were already well into the game.)
• TECO needs to verify that your notary is in fact a real notary (the stamped seal and notary number could possibly be a forgery?). Please fax additional address and phone number information for the notary who notarized the Document Authentication Forms.
• TECO has called the number for the notary and determined it was invalid because a woman answered the phone. (McLeod explained that the notary WAS a woman...)
• All documents can now be authenticated.
• Sorry, marriage certificate cannot be authenticated by TECO office in Houston because it is not a Houston marriage certificate. It must be sent to TECO office in Atlanta. (Since we were now one day away from leaving, we had our agent gather everything up in whatever state it was in and return to us with hopes that the American embassy could help us over there.)

BUT, there were some bonus points when we got our package of documents back! Other than the marriage certificate, they had authenticated the kid's birth certificates (relief) PLUS their immunization records. I had accidently sent over the immunization records with the original batch of documents and requested that they just be returned to me by the courier. I laughed when I saw the cool authentication stamp on them. So basically the kids are Officially Immunized but McLeod and I are Not Officially Married. Did we win the game? Was it a draw? Who knows?

And frankly, now that we're happy San Fran tourists, who cares!