Monthly Archive for April, 2010

During my maternity leave after Danny was born, we were thinking to go to Australia to visit my sister.  But we didn’t make it for various reasons.  One of them is,  as a Chinese passport holder, I had to apply for a visa basically everywhere I go.   I was too tired of this visa shit and wanted to get myself a Canadian passport.  Ron objects to this idea because that means I will have to apply for a visa when I go back to my home country!  I agreed with him — I don’t want to lose my Chinese citizenship.  I don’t know if I can ever get it back if I lose it.   But my hormones were quite imbalanced at the time and I decided not to be the only one in my family who has special problems when we are planning our family vacations.  Those f**king visa application documents drive me mad!

So I applied for Canadian citizenship instead.  And about a year later, I got my Canadian passport after I vowed to be loyal to Her Majesty — there was no going back after your application was submitted.  I wasn’t feeling excited or anything during the citizenship ceremony.  But I was quite happy when I got my passport two weeks after.  No more visa shit!  (I hope this does not offend people as for my intention of getting Canadian citizenship.  I love living in Canada and the freedom it gives to me to tour around most of the countries without a visa.  If it is not enough, I love my Canadian husband and my Canadian-born son.)

But I also love the place where I was born and raised.  The food, the people and the culture.   Anyway, I had two valid passports,  one Chinese and one Canadian.  Canadian government allows for dual citizenship which is wonderful!  So I am still a legal Chinese passport holder.

But I know this illusion will not last long.  One day it will be torn up in front of my face.  I thought I had a very long time to be prepared for the truth — I renounced my Chinese citizenship quietly, automatically.

Ron has a meeting in Shanghai soon.  Both of my parents in Shanghai just had surgeries for their long term illnesses.  I want to take the opportunity to go to Shanghai with Ron so we can see my parents and let Danny meet his cousin and aunt.  One of the benefits of being jobless: you can go on a trip anytime you want.   This time, I am not the special one in the family, because 3 of us all need visas!  Since I am a visa application pro,  I took care of  our visa applications.

I have to say it is much a simpler process to apply for visas to China as long as you don’t ask for multiple entries.  I don’t need to waste paper to print out my last 6 months bank statements and provide crap such as the proof of itinerary.  But I was asked to bring my Chinese passport with me since this is the first time I have applied for a visa to China as a former Chinese passport holder.  I knew something was going to happen.

We arrived at Chinese Consulate located in downtown Toronto.  It was a long line.  Not even a minute later, Ron started to complain about the disorder.  As a human being used to a quiet life in Waterloo, he is not made for cities and crowds.  I told him this is the first test to go to China, if you can not even make it to the end of the visa application, don’t even think you can survive in Shanghai.  He went to China to visit my family with me once, he survived despite the endless complaints.  Shanghai is definitely not a place for him.   Finally we handed in our applications.  The visa officer told me that since my Chinese passport was still valid, he will have to destroy it.  I said OK.  I was prepared something like that to happen, but when he was using his scissors to cut my Chinese passport right in front of me, it hit me.

As if this is not enough, right at my side, Ron said: “You officially lost your Chinese citizenship, and remember, it is not Canadian government’s fault. “

一晚无事。 早晨天还没有亮，丹尼开始了，“mommy,mommy”。  我在另一屋，默默地听着，希望他能自己睡回去。 可是丹尼越叫越响，最后把daddy也叫醒了。 我只好起来了，把他放到床上，真困啊。 多希望他能再睡会儿。 可是这家伙没有nana就不睡了。 我一看时间，才6点半不到。  没有办法，只能起床给他弄早饭去了。

上午，天气很好，带着丹尼到屋外玩他的小踏车，等他玩腻了，又领着他去了离家不远的playground.  快到12点了，我估摸着丹尼经过这一上午的拉练，应该是又饿又困了。  Msgç»™daddy，让他马上到Ye’s Sushi会合。

到达Ｙｅ‘ｓＳｕｓｈｉ，正值午餐高峰，好在我们常去，没等多久，安排入座。丹尼已经饿得猴急，指着桌上的ｗａｓａｂｉ就要吃起来。　这哪能吃？马上取出自备的ｃｈｅｅｓｅ　ｓｔｉｃｋ，他三下两下就嚼完了，还不够裹腹。　又嚷嚷起来。　好在Ｙｅ‘ｓ　Ｓｕｓｈｉ上菜及时。　丹尼拿着牛肉串，鸡肉串，把自己的小嘴塞的满满的。　直到不能咀嚼，又全吐了出来。　。。。两岁的小孩。　我在一旁看得无比难受。　怎么才能让这傻小子明白，慢慢吃，这是ａｌｌ　ｙｏｕ　ｃａｎ　ｅａｔ呀。

吃完，我载着丹尼回家，正琢磨，这棘手的午觉问题。　还没到家，往后视镜一看，丹尼已经目光呆滞。　我就在ｎｅｉｇｈｂｏｒｈｏｏｄ多转了两圈。　丹尼已经进入梦乡。　我窃喜。　把车停在我家ｄｒｉｖｅｗａｙ。　关掉引擎。　车里有点闷，但是我又怕开窗会惊醒丹尼。　不知过了多久，一声惊叫把我唤醒，小祖宗醒了。 一看表，睡了有一个多小时。  丹尼不停地大哭，我抱着他，他出了一身的汗。我开始无比地自责，应该至少开点窗睡的。 这天非常大的太阳。 丹尼还是哭个不停，我已经不能思考。 把他抱到楼上，换了尿布，放到床上。 我到卫生间洗手，心想洗干净后，马上喂他奶，让他安静下来。 我手还没洗完，奇怪地发现屋里悄无声息。 我正十分诧异，莫非小祖宗着了？不可能啊，这才几秒钟呀。又等了一会儿，还是没动静。 我蹑手蹑脚地走进卧室，只见在一堆枕头当中，丹尼已经酣睡。

这一睡，就睡到了快六点。

丹尼醒来，daddy已经下班回家，mommy在厨房做晚饭。 daddy,mommy 都在，小宝非常地happy。 吃饭，玩耍，洗澡，照常，丹尼是daddy和mommy的宇宙小太阳。 我俩都不亦乐乎地围着他转呢。

晚上10点，就寝。 这次，我决定不要Ron先哄他睡， 因为结果也是可想而知的 — 丹尼声嘶力竭地要mommy。 灯一关，和mommy一起。 丹尼又开始了，nana, nana。 翻来覆去，在无数次的挣脱中，最后竟然爬到床外， 站在门边上，似有夺门而出之意。 我已经精疲力尽， 躺在床上看着他。 不过，丹尼看着我并没有阻止他的意思，可怜兮兮地又走回到床前，他可能是真累了。 我把他抱回床上，又跟他说nana wawa了。 丹尼还是哭闹，不过比刚才好多了。 双手搂着妈妈的脖子，小脸贴着妈妈，说bao, bao。 也不知什么时候，他学会了说bao。 这可是他说的为数不多的一个中文。我顿时融化，把他搂入怀中。 丹尼安静下来。 他的小脸贴着我的脸，他在枕头上，我怕压着他，所以我是撑着的。  这一姿势虽然甜蜜，可是我也支撑不了多久。 我动了，丹尼也动了。 又找nana， 小手钻到我的衣服里去找，幸好我有做了保护措施。

虽然又经历了些波澜，但是大风暴已经过去。 丹尼带着泪水，呼呼地睡了。

这第二天也算顺利，可这第三天就不行了。