UN-BELIEVABLE...or not

I went to the Marseille Chinese consulate and dropped off my 8 page visa application along with, hopefully, EVERY COPY AND LETTER AND ITINIRARY THEY MIGHT NEED. Fingers crossed. Joe thinks it’s all good now, but I will wait til I have it in my hand. I know I’ve said it before, but it is EXTREMELY uncomfortable surrendering your passport to ANYONE. The work hours for this place are T-TH, 9-12. No visa assistance on Thursdays. Also they are not available 11-12 (so you say the hours SHOULD be posted 9 to 11, yeah I agree) I think they consider it lunchtime, but why not go home and eat, SINCE YOU CLOSE AT 12! Whatever. I’m not surprised. The Chinese consulate in Chicago was equally retarded with the ‘work hour’ (literally hour)
Joe called me to tell me that his 9 stitches have been removed and doctors said he’s doing good and “I told you it was nothing” (whatever). He also called to report to me that when he went to pay my phone bill that my balance owed was at 2500RMB (approx 350USD) I laughed (I had Destiny’s Child “Bills, Bills, Bills” in my head all of a sudden. No man has offered to pay my phone bill…EVER) and he asked “what’s funny, I’ve not told you the best part”. He asked me why it was so high. I reminded him that I have a Chinese number that I’m using to call the States and France (seriously not that much or that often) I look at the phone and just THINK about using it and there seems to be a charge. Tiger mom said I can use one of her phones, but I can’t figure out how to dial numbers ANYWHERE (there’s different number combination for dialing every country whether it’s a land line vs. mobile phone, day time rates vs nighttime, what time zone are you in vs the time zone you call. I feel like my dad trying to use the internets. So I gave up. So frustrating.) I asked Joe “you didn’t pay that did you?"He laughs “well, sort of”. He then explains to me how the sales rep at China Unicom told him “that’s too much. Don’t pay that”, after seeing the balance. The rep looks up my account and sees that my SIM card was never registered and Joe tells them my hellish story or trying to send them facsimiles (true damn story) of my information because that was the only way they would register me + my SIM card. The rep asked if I bought it on the street and he told them I had bought it at Best Buy. (thank you Best Buy for leaving China…ugh) The rep laughs and told Joe “since the card was never registered and there are no traces of who the owner is…don’t pay and wait for service to end August 31st. Then get a new SIM card”. I asked Joe if this conversation happened in the back alley and then thought about it “of course, only in China would this happen.” In broad daylight, at the Service Counter of the phone carrier main office. He paid the rep 200RMB (approx 30USD) for the advice (which he happily accept I’m sure). Which turns out was what he thought the phone bill would be.
The private school that I was working hard at to make “international”, contacted me saying “they would love for me to return for the Fall semester teaching when I get MY Visa ISSUE figured out” I could only scream, internally, YOU ARE THE SUPPOSE TO TAKE CARE OF MY VISA ‘ISSUE’. WHAT KIND OF SCHOOL ARE YOU? I did not and will not reply. I got other ‘issue’ to think about.
Unbelievable
News on the home, FRANCE, front:
None. Its been very quiet since Tiger mom left. I’ve not been 100% feeling well, so the kids come to my house when they want to study or bring me their homework. Its like a vacation for us all while mom is away. We’re not on the move NONSTOP. I can rest. I’m trying to get a workout and Chinese lesson daily routine but it seems impossible. Because I am lazy.
Blah.

I need to organize my pics. To show that I was at the Eiffel Tower (I swear this isn't photoshopped...tiger moms camera is crazy) Charlotte likes to give me flowers. We're in a fight and she's calling a truce. Then she took a photo of me with said flower, with extremely chocolatey fingers and proceeds to dropping the camera...Truce off.

~Anne