Sho mo nai!

Travel is so unpredictable.

I guess I won't be seeing China this time after all.

The problem? They won't let me fly without a visa. Why don't I have a visa? Why didn't I look into it? Well, my trip and tickets were arranged by a travel company, and the guy I went through was sure that for a mere three days I certainly wouldn't need one. He sorted out all the stuff I would need. But overlooked the visa, it would seem. So my flight leaves in 50 minutes, and it is highly unlikely that I will be on it.

Now, China was just a bonus, and I suspect that they will pay for me to stay somewhere in town tonight and fly me out tomorrow, or the next day, and I will just change planes in Beijing without actually seeing it. Which makes me kind of sad. I was looking forward to my two days of travel.


Oh, no, wait, they are going to have me fly today and just arrive in London like two days earlier than planned. Which is fine, I guess. I'm going to need to call Mr. Moore and let him know what's going on.

So I'm angry at the Nishikawa-san (the travel agent) for thinking that a Canadian would enjoy the same privileges as a Japanese and so neglect to think about a visa, I'm sad that I don't get to enjoy a couple days of adventure in China, I regret that I am going to have to spend money to pay for where I am staying and I regret having told so many people that i was going to be in China, but I also forgive the travel agent for the mix-up, and am thankful for the efforts to which they are going to get me to London nonetheless.

China will just have to wait. I wonder if I will ever go now? I hope so.

[sigh] Oh well.

I suppose that if there is a lesson to be learned here it is to be very carefully aware of what is needed for travel, instead of relying on someone else to work it all out for you.

It's funny how much I want to go to Beijing now. If I had never made the plans, it probably would not have been a big deal to never go. But having made the plans and had events negate them, to be denied the chance to go somehow makes me want to go all that much more. I was so close to a new experience, to seeing a few really famous things.

But like the verse in James says, don't go around saying I'm gonna do this, and then I'm gonna do that. Instead say, if the Lord wills, I will go to this or that place and do this or that.

And I don't need to worry about missing out on China now. I trust God that he will work it out for good. I may not have been able to enjoy it anyhow, if the typhoon makes horrible weather there for the next couple of days. And that has been a concern. I was psyching myself up to get soaked.


Oh wait! Now they are just flying me straight to London!

posted by Fletcher @ 6:14 p.m.