Getting ready for repatriation

Until I am on the airplane heading to Shanghai and then back to the T dot O dot, I will keep updating this as I remind myself of what I need to do. The school year is almost over and it’s back to Canada. It’s time to start planning repatriation. Okay, I have not been gone that long, my OHIP is still intact. When I came to China my three bags were bursting from the seams. I hope I don’t have to send anything back by post when I go back to Canada. I also have to remember to clarify that I’m transferring to an International flight so I should be allowed to bring more than 1 checked bag onto my domestic flight. I should just play the dumb foreigner and go there looking clueless, I probably look like that anyways.

Flying back to Canada

I have to make a transfer in Shanghai and then it’s a direct flight to the T-dot. My flight back to Vancity was mostly Chinese food, I wonder what I’ll get to eat this time. Things for me to remember:

• Recommended check-in time is 150 minutes before boarding for international flights from Shanghai.
• Review: Carry-On Baggage, Liquid Rules
• Don’t forget to have Baggage ID Cards, because so many people have lost their luggage.
• Keep track of what I need to declare on my Form E311.
• Remember where I recently traveled and make sure I’m feeling a-okay!

My coworker’s wife arrived in Wuhan last week from the U.S. She came into Wuhan from Hong Kong. When the plane landed, airport personnel boarded the plane and took everyone’s temperature. The passengers went to Customs and had their temperature checked again. If one person on the plane had an abnormal temperature, everyone on the flight was quarantined. It took my coworker’s wife about an hour to get from the plane to the passenger pick-up area. I have to plan my transfer accordingly because I have to fly from Wuhan to Shanghai.

Resources:
- “I Declare” from Canada Border Services Agency

Going Postal

If it turns out that I need to send things by post to get under the weight limit on my checked bags, I have to be prepared!

Resources:
- China Post on Beijing Time

Bring me back a…

I’m a terrible shopper, especially when it’s not in my native language. I also hate how salespeople follow you around all over the store, it makes me feel all uncomfortable. But I said I would try to find certain things for people and I have and will continue to try.

• Chinese silk jacket, any style (Male Large) [1]
• Shiseido Lostalot Faceline Effector [1] [2]
• Sugus soft candy [1]

You can’t beat the Sugus here. It’s so much better than the ones I’ve eaten in Toronto. I’ve found Shiseido but not the Lostalot Faceline Effector. By the time my mom asked me to buy a silk jacket for our uncle it was already 25 degrees outside. I’ve only seen silk jackets at the silk emporium in Xi’an and those were ridiculously priced or really ugly ones that I wouldn’t want to see my uncle in.

Funds

I have a small portion of my salary paid to me in my Chinese bank accounts and the rest into a USD account. Getting money out of the USD account will be no problem. It’s the Chinese accounts I need to think about. My options:

• Transfer money by Western Union.
• Use my Chinese bank card in Canada.
• Carry up to $10,000 CDN in RMB with me on the airplane.

You can transfer money through Western Union by visiting any of the participating Chinese banks. There are many banks in Wuhan that I can visit to transfer money

China Unionpay is to China as debit is to Canada. Just this January, China Unionpay it is said that Toronto does have some merchants that take China Unionpay cards. The chances of me using point-of-service payment

Diet

I knew coming over to China meant I would have to change my diet. I’m a freegan over here since I get breakfast and lunch served at school 5-days a week. By myself, I still don’t eat meat. I haven’t weighed myself but I’m pretty certain I’ve gained weight. I’m working my way back to veganism when I step off the plane.

Resources

• Canuck Abroad