So, we surrender our passports to the HR department at Mr. J's work, and then carry mini-photocopies of our passport and soon-to-be-expired residency permits in our wallets as proof of our legitimacy to live here. In theory foreigners should carry their passports with them at all times, in fact there is a law in China that you can be fined if you fail to produce them if some authority asks for them. We always thought that was quaint, but last summer, with the ramp up to the 2008 Games, there were actually cases of wai guo's (foreigners) being fined in bigger cities like Shanghai.
The newbie HR gal firmly believed we would need to redo all of the fun medical procedures China requires of its long term guests: ECGs, blood and urine samples and chest x-rays make the list. They have no desire to import people with heart problems, TB or HIV. I have to say I was dreading the possibility of these tests conducted here.
In years past we didn't need to re-do the medical. Our medical was done in the States @ the Joliet plant, where a sweet lab tech in the medical department did our tests. She talked about how back in the day their job was a bit more hands on... they would set bones if someone on the line broke something, but by the 21st century her main job was to be the Weight Watchers coordinator. So, when she got to do the medical work up for a China bound family she was pretty excited (Joliet is not exactly the sending hub for international bound employees!) The x-ray machine was new, so she had come in over the weekend with a friend and did practice shots on herself so she would get it right. "You are moving to China," she confided, "I don't want to make any mistakes!" She chatted while she went about paperwork and prepped for the different tests. She told me who she was hosting for Thanksgiving, which sweet potato recipe she was going with, and just as she fastened the last electrode into place for the EKG, said, "Are you just so nervous about moving all the way to China?" I think the needles went a little funky, because truth be told we were!
We were, however, exponentially more nervous about having to redo all those tests here. I don't think the administrator of the the chest x-ray and ECG would be as keen to make us comfortable. Remember, this is a land of efficiency and little privacy, that has dreamed up such practices as group pap-smear rooms!
We dodged a bullet. We didn't have to do a re-do. But, for two weeks our real passports are in the hands of the office HR dept, the local government, and the Public Security Bureau. I'm trying not to think that we are basically landlocked for these 10 business days. We cannot fly within China (or for that matter outside) without our precious passports. So, for now, we're just trying not to think about it.
3 comments:
We get our visa medical checks done in Qingdao since that is where our school's headquarters are. Last year the govt opened a brand new medical check center for foreigners and it is very nice! The first we went to was in an old building in downtown and it was a little scary.
I am really surprised that you didn't have to have the checks repeated on your initial entry to China! We had full medical checks for the Chinese visa paperwork in Canada, then we had to repeat it all when we arrived. Then, every year when we renew our residency, we have to repeat the whole procedure. The process is really quick and simple. You get to the center, fill out some paperwork, pay a fee, then get escorted upstairs to go through the medical checks: ECG, blood draw, abdominal ultrasound, chest x-ray, blood pressure & pulse, etc. It is efficient, yes, but also private. Every test is done in a private room behind curtains with just you and the tech.
It is really interesting about who has to redo medical work ups and who doesn't! We have a large group here my husband's company, and so far our original medicals have been sufficient!
I know I am being a little over-dramatic about the procedures :-).
I do know that the original facility was really grim, but friends in QD (w/other companies and schools) have also commented how the new place is much nicer!
You probably were not being over dramatic at all! I'm a nurse so I tend to think of medical procedures as everyday occurrences and I forget that they can be daunting!
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