Times A Flyin'

We had a very busy week. First, we had to get Drai’s passport photos taken. What a nightmare! Do you know how hard it is to get a 7 week old baby to hold his head up and look straight into a camera with his mouth closed? And the photo can’t have the parent propping up the head. Not fun but a necessity as we wanted to apply for his Canadian citizenship last Friday. So after about 20 minutes of snapping photos, the clerk was sure she had at least one that would pass.

Drai then had to get his tuberculosis shot on Thursday, which I was really worried about because it often leaves really bad scars. All Taiwanese people have a scar from it and some of them look awful. He was really tough and only cried for about 30 seconds and then moved onto better things like checking out he nurses. His arm looks good so far, so I think he will have a pretty minimum mark from it. Then, Friday morning we had to take him up to Taipei to apply for his Canadian citizenship card. We took the new HSR (High Speed Rail) from Tainan to Taipei. It is basically the Taiwanese equivalent of the Japanese bullet train. I had low expectations but was absolutely blown away by the service, appearance and trip with them. Everyone spoke English, the buildings were nicely designed and easy to navigate and the train was really comfortable. Best of all, a trip that used to take at least 6 hours (if you managed to miss traffic) now takes an hour and a half. We got from Tainan to downtown Taipei in 90 minutes. And the station attaches to Taipei’s mass transit system, so you can hop on a sky train and pretty much go anywhere you would want to in the city. Drai was awesome and slept the entire way there. He woke up upon arrival and as we were on a tight timeline, I decided to feed him in the back of a taxi. Bad idea. We rushed into the Canadian trade office, which thankfully wasn’t busy and then slid into a private room to begin the paperwork. Drai began screaming super loud as soon as we entered the little room with the liaison. I didn’t know why until he projectile vomited all over Jenny, the chair and the floor. (Much to the horror of the liaison.) I had never seen him throw up like that before and assume it was probably due to the combination of dealing with the Canadian government and riding in a Taiwanese cab. Alas, the photos were not good enough for their standards and the birth certificate didn’t say his gender, so they couldn’t finish the application. The woman in the office was really helpful though and is holding it for me and letting me mail the new photos and new birth certificate to her. I just need to do it in a week. Hopefully, the hospital won’t be slow typing up a new one. I then need to try and get up there again with plane tickets and then they will give me an emergency Canadian passport, which will cut down the process of getting him one by about 1 year. It is amazing how slow the Canadian government is to do things like this. I think I am a fifth generation Canadian but my son has a harder time getting granted his citizenship than someone smuggled into the country by the Chinese Triads. Pretty frustrating.

It was then back onto the train, back to Tainan and then back to work. When I was at work, Drai had to get yet another shot which apparently will prevent ear infections and colds. It was a $100 shot, so hopefully it works. I was plagued by ear infections as an infant, so if it spares Drai the agony of it- money well spent.
Sunday is my only day off and Jenny works all morning, so terrified that I would have a repeat of last Sunday where he screamed for three hours, I decided to feed him, throw him in the stroller and take him for a walk. One block turning into two blocks, three into four and before I knew it, I had spent 3 hours walking about Tainan with the little fellah. He didn’t make a peep the whole trip, so I just kept walking. Unfortunately, I didn’t think about sunscreen and now have a rather sunburned face. The weeks are going by so fast now. I don’t seem to have enough time in the day to do half the things I want to. Before I know it, he will be 18 and stealing my whiskey.