Good bye muddled kingdom

So we’ve done it. We have sold our apartment, and have until the end of the month to move. Fortunately, we’ve already found a place in the same neighborhood. Close enough we won’t need a moving van. In fact, it’s right next door, in the other unit of the same building. Just a small change of address. And while we have a final date to be clear out of our apartment, we already have the keys to the empty flat we are moving into, and nearly 3 weeks to get as much small stuff moved as we can.
My darling wife's visa gives us 7 months to get to Canada, but we won’t take that long. We are now thinking of leaving at the end of February. Yup, in 3 months. It will still be winter when we get to Canada. Faster than we first planned, but once things started to move they really picked up steam. And so much to do before we go.
One thing I haven’t decided yet is where to live. I had pretty much pared the list down to one of 4 Ontario cities: Ottawa, Hamilton, Kitchener and London. Housing costs in all 4 are approximately the same, which is a consideration. I’m leaning towards Hamilton, because that is where I came from. Darling wife has been in contact with an agent who lives in Ottawa, and she loves in there. I probably would too, but it is noticeably colder there than in southwest Ontario. Some months ago, I asked everyone in the family to think about where they want to live when we get to Canada. My oldest daughter, who is autistic, thought she would like to live in the Yukon so she can see the northern lights. She and I are the only ones who have given it any thought. Until today, when my wife came home and said she couldn't live with the cold in Ottawa. (Today was a beautiful, crisp cool autumn day. Perfect weather for cross country running or American footie.)
But to the point: after a one year experiment that turned into more than 2 decades, it's looks like I am saying good bye to a land that I have grown to love. Oscar Wilde once remarked that he hated to leave his friends behind, but I suspect he meant something else.

Crazy time call for Lunatic solutions.  Here's one for you:

It's not too late.  "Accidentally" drop your passport into a blender.  Getting that sorted will take a lot of time, during which you can "misplace" your wife's passport long enough for that Maple syrup flavored visa to expire.

Then, since your wife doesn't like cold, move to beautiful warm Dongguan.  Then take your daughter to visit Harbin to see the northern lights.

 

 

What’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever done? I believe that proposing marriage is pretty romantic. I've done it a few times, and yes it was romantic at the time. Perhaps foolish as well, but you get that with the romantic sometimes. I can think of others who have made romantic sacrifices. I fear that my meager doings pale in comparison. But last Friday, I did something a teeny bit romantic. I married the same woman twice. Sort of.

We are selling our home and later moving to another country. Well, we've found a buyer and contracted a price and a moving day, but now we have to register the sale with the municipal real estate transfer office. When we went to that office a week ago, we had to show the officials our documents and they found a problem. My identity number on the marriage certificate is my passport number from when we were married, many many years ago. It's not the same as that in my current passport. Nor, come to think of it, the same as on the documents we signed when we sold our previous apartment and bought the one we will soon be vacating. (I've had several passports over the years, and I've managed to keep all of them. And I look the same in every passport photo. Awful) But the only way we could satisfy the local requirements was to get a new marriage certificate. There were a few other things, but that was the big one.

That was a run-around of classic proportions, but we ended up cancelling our Friday classes and making a day trip to another city  and getting ourselves re-registered there. (We travelled to my wife's hometown, those familiar with China understand the magnetic power of the Hukou) We had to be up at 5 to catch the morning train, and I could see that the traveling and the stress were taking its toll on my dear wife. I did what I could to keep the mood light and positive, and succeeded at least in getting the two young women in the marriage registration office to smile and laugh with us. At least they seemed to like us. I had noticed that there is a podium with a background where they take Official Marriage Photos, so I proposed a bit of levity; we should have our photo taken as a newly married couple. My darling kind of winced at the suggestion, but the young ladies thought it was a cool idea. They took photos of us holding our new marriage certificates at the podium, just like any newly married couple. So yes, I'm romantic enough to marry the same woman twice. And I have the pictures to prove it.

I'm the one with the goofy smile.

  Congratulations!!!

Love it!

Hmmnnnn.... If my wife ever tries to sell the apartment that has my name on it, we'll have the same issue.

Hmmnnnn2.... If a foreigner's marriage only ties to the passport used at the time of marriage, does that mean we can get an extra spouse every time the passport is renewed? 

    EL 

EL:
I believe so, but only if we can get the first wife to agree to the second. And the first two to the third, the first three to a fourth, etc
I believe four is the perfect number, but so far I haven't gotten past one.