Waiting for spare parts and organization in the background

(Photos of the diary entry can be found at the end of the text).

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Our spare part should have arrived days ago, but the tracking number showed us that the parcel was stuck in Germany. Because we’ve been stuck here for almost two weeks now, I’m starting to get nervous. That’s because we still have to travel over 1,100 km to Chengdu and our China visa expires in three weeks. The plan is to travel from Chengdu to the Vietnamese border by train and bus, one at a time. This means that Tanja stays in China with Ajaci while I leave and re-enter with a new visa. Then Tanja will make the same long journey. So one of us is always with Ajaci. Apart from that, we can’t leave the country with him because otherwise the one-month quarantine regulations would come into force again. We are sitting in the café where I felt so comfortable on my birthday, talking about the organization and when the spare part will finally arrive. “Tell me, the second passports with our new China visa should also be in China by now,” I remember, because we had them sent from Germany to the Bosch address in Shanghai. “Yes, actually,” Tanja now wonders. Later, in our hotel room, we check the progress of the courier shipment and are shocked to discover that our passports have already been in China for three days and receipt has been confirmed. We immediately call Lois. “Passports? No, I haven’t received any,” she wonders. Although I don’t want to paint a black picture, I’m getting really nervous now, because if the passports have been lost, we really have a problem. That would mean we would have to organize a minibus immediately to drive the 2,000 km to the border in order to be able to leave for Vietnam. However, without a visa we would only have a stay of two weeks in Vietnam. I have no idea how to proceed in this case because visas, especially if it is a stay of several months, have to be applied for weeks in advance. “I will check tomorrow. Now nobody is in the office”, says Lois, as it is already 9 p.m. in the evening.

I spend a partly sleepless night. Nightmares torment me. Firstly because of the missing spare part and secondly because of the missing passports. The very next morning I check our incoming mail. We have news from Riese und Müller. In fact, something went wrong because of the complex customs regulations. The parcel was sent to China again days later. The fly in the ointment is that we have to pay customs duty because of the strange shipping regulations. So more than the parts cost. “What the hell,” says Tanja. “It’s only money. The main thing is that we’re healthy. Look, we’ve got food, it’s warm in the room now, we can shower with hot water, whereas these days some poor Chinese people get frostbite. The only thing is having to wait here. And the passports are bound to turn up.” I notice that it’s not easy for Tanja to absorb and balance out my bad mood. At this moment, I lack composure and that’s exactly what matters in situations like this. It makes little sense to read spiritual books, make great sayings and then, when it comes down to it, forget everything and be in a bad mood. Since I have analyzed myself as well as I can, I am now also angry with myself. I still have so much to learn. One of my primary goals is to stay relaxed and balanced even in stressful situations. This is shown to me by moments like when a part breaks in the middle of a mountain pass at minus 17 degrees, when passports containing important and expensive visas disappear and when important spare parts are on the road for weeks because of some crazy customs regulations. However, is it too high a goal that I am setting myself? Is it also a good idea to just swear a lot to let the pressure out? Perhaps there is a middle way? Or is the middle way a cheap compromise? Anyway, I continue to work on integrating some of the wise, philosophical wisdom into my life. That must be feasible. Tanja also managed to react calmly, at least most of the time…

The very next day, our passports are found at our partner’s porter’s office. Lois arranges for immediate courier shipment to us. We also now know that our spare part has left Hong Kong airport. Now it’s just a matter of getting the two shipments to us before the big Chinese Spring Festival. Because if they don’t reach us before then, we’ll have to wait another week because of the all-encompassing vacations…

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