Sunday, February 28, 2010

All is well.

I woke up this morning to a phone call with no person on the end of it. A necessary fumbling for the reading glasses revealed that the caller was a toll-free number. But since I was awake, I thought I'd see if my son-in-China had communicated in the night.

Yesterday we chatted online briefly, and he gave me a hotel phone number that never worked. Moreover, he told me that the credit card and debit card we'd so assiduously arranged for--including the de rigeur "I will be using this credit/debit card in China, as in C-H-I-N-A, so don't decline any charges coming from this card in Beijing, which is in Ch-China" conversation--was not working. As in, when he used it to charge a hotel room, the card did not "function."

God.

I will spare you the rantings of me, moi, myself as I tried to figure out how to get that situation in hand, without a functioning phone number, and with a bank that is decidedly and emphatically not available on the phone on Saturdays. Yes, it meant I waited in the drive-through line to find out, ultimately, that they, the bank, were not declining any charges. So what the hell?

Actually, having finally conversed with the bank, I kind of calmed down. I had done what there was to be done. Meanwhile, son-in-China slept off his jet lag in his hotel room (he is lucky we insisted that he carry some cash).

So, today when I looked, I saw a cheery e-mail in which he informed us, his parents, that he had purchased a cell phone, that there is now indeed a way to contact him, and that his credit card is now working, whatever! And he is registered at the university, his tuition and room and board paid for, and all is well. He has a blog, and there are a couple of posts. We spoke on the phone and he sounded great. He had noodles for breakfast, MacDonald's for dinner, and has purchased orange juice and Oreos for breakfast, much like college students everywhere in the world, apparently.

I feel so much better. So much better, in fact, that after having read the entire New York Times (with an excellent article about Jeff Bridges), I stood up from the comfortable red chair in the living room, looked around, and thought, I love this house. Hope you're up for a little tour:


















tags: relief, Ch-china, financial instruments

5 comments:

  1. I can't wait to see your house, perhaps we need part two to this blog featuring all the exciting things for grandchildren to do upon their visit to the grand place.

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  2. Good to know the world can still come together over Oreos and orange juice! Glad son is safely ensconced. Lovely home, HT. How could one NOT be a poet in a house that is itself a poem?

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  3. Oh how lovely! I'm especially fond of all the oranges and reds. And bird things. It looks like the kind of house I'd love to get lost in.
    xo

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  4. Every thought going through my head while reading these words and pictures (oh, good, glad China son is well . . . mm, what would a poet's house be but full of wings? . . . love those walls of color! . . . ) I see have all been said by earlier commenters. Which makes them no less true.

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  5. You are a stellar mother and not just because you arranged the credit/debit card thing and supported the leaving of that son again.

    I had no idea there are so many birds about your home, and not just a shiny apple--did I see a shiny pear too? That place has truly become your own. And of course, The Historian's. The photos could easily be gathered together into a new version of the I Spy books--may I request a copy signed by the author/photographer, please?

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