After a long and unexplained break [Ed. note: laziness] for making Dordles, I cranked out a few yesterday. Each one is worse than the last, crafted with disregard to color, composition, and concept. I hope you don’t enjoy them.

Here they are! { SFX: Out of tune trumpet fanfare } Click the images to view larger versions:

Find the rest of my wonderful Dordles at http://www.dordles.com

Things are finally coming together for my China departure. There’s been a lot of unexpected paperwork I needed to dig up, plus waiting around for forms to get sent back and forth through email, fax, and snail. To get my invitation letter for my work visa I needed to send for a copy of my college diploma. To get my visa, I had to use a service and send all my paperwork to Houston (the closest consulate). As luck wouldn’t have it, I had run out of free pages in my passport, so I had to send it to Houston earlier to have the state department add more. Both this and the visa mailing incurred considerable expense due to the rush: around $450. The high-strung ladies in the passport/visa office were very friendly and helpful, at least. If all goes according to plan, my passport should be in my hand Monday morning. I’m excited to see the shiny new pages and business visa jammed inside.

The invitation letter is an intimidating laminated document full of Chinese characters, seals, and decorative borders.

On Friday, our flights were booked after some hectic discussions and auxiliary phone calls to figure out various technicalities. We leave next Friday on an early morning flight. One leg goes to Chicago, then a direct flight to Shanghai. J. and I are on the same plane. Work is buying my flight; I’m buying her’s. Where we go from the Pudong airport is still a mystery.

Now that the trip is finally coming together, I’m getting excited. I don’t know what to expect over there, but it will be wild. Hopefully I will return from the East as a wiser, more confident, and richer man.