Day 431: How About Some Information Please?

So I've been trying to arrange my Chinese visa ahead of time before my trip and it's proven to be a bit of a challenge. All foreigners need to get a visa to be allowed to enter the People's Republic of China, and it must be all sorted out before you get to China. I wanted to get a multiple-entry visa, since my travels will take me from mainland China to Hong Kong and then back again, thus requiring two stamps. They do exist, but according to my travel agent here, it's only possible to get a single-entry visa. Hmmm....

My travel agent gave me the phone number of the Chinese Embassy here in Seoul, but I wasn't able to get any information in English. It was one of those "Push 1 for this service" deals and was only in Korean or Chinese. I tried to get one of my Korean co-teachers to translate but she didn't know any of those words in English. I then went to their website to try and get information, but again everything was in either Korean or Chinese. How's a guy supposed to get some information around here!

I eventually just gave up. My travel agent couldn't verify it for me. My Korean-speaking co-teachers couldn't handle the difficulty of the tele-prompt, and even online I couldn't find anything out. Oh well. I decided instead that I'll just get a single-entry visa, and then when I get to Hong Kong I'll just have to get a new one. Kind of a pain in the ass, but I guess it's the easiest option since they speak English in Hong Kong and I'll have the time there anyways. Gotta love bureaucracy, eh! ;-)