As you may have noticed, we’ve slowed down on the website articles lately. Part of that is due to some technical glitches I keep meaning to fix and part of that is due to us falling into the natural rhythm of daily life. With work and visitors, life has been cruising along, though not without adventures worth sharing.
My mother is visiting us right now. Grandma’s can’t stay away from their only grandchild for too long. Her visit came as something of a Mother’s Day surprise. That is, we called her up on Mother’s Day and asked if she’d like to fly out to Hong Kong… at the end of the week. Well, it wasn’t as surprising as it sounds. We had talked about it a few times before. It was just a big surprise to everyone else. (You’re going where?... when???) Until we have matters settled for a helper to watch Maeli, we’re taking advantage of flying willing family members around the globe.
The biggest hurdle for my mother was getting her passport. We had been told that if she had a plane ticket in hand she could go directly to the passport office and get the application processed within a day. We needed a quick solution because even expedited service can take months with the current backlog.
The first time my mother called the office, she couldn’t even get through. So she woke up very early the next day and tried again. The automated system informed her she could have an appointment at the end of the month… weeks too late. She knew that the office opened at 6:00 AM, so at 5:58 AM she started calling and got into the phone queue. Eventually a human responded and after some tense moments, my mother was able to secure an appointment for the next day.
Visiting the passport office revealed just how lucky my mother was. She met many people there who had expedited their passport applications months ago and were now desperately attempting to track down the application in the system. After being told that their applications were still being processed and they should come into an office, one family drove the next day to DC from North Carolina only to then be told that their passports were being delivered to their home that morning. In comparison, my mother’s one day in-and-out experience was simple, quick and efficient.
Thankfully everything else went smoothly (well, the flights were rescheduled and then rescheduled again…). My mother arrived last week and has been enjoying the beach here on Lamma Island as well as the markets and greenery that Hong Kong offers.
So a word to any US citizens: if you’re in need of a passport, apply for it as early as possible or try your luck and head down to the office directly (you’ll need your plane tickets in hand).
§Commentary