I remember having a discussion I had before with some friends concerning Chinese names as legal names. For example, my legal name is "Wing Ting Lo", and not "Iris"...although Canadians are generous enough to put my name as "Iris Wing Ting Lo" at times. However, on my passport, it is still "Wing Ting Lo". Would you have the Chinese name as the legal name for your kids? Some says it keeps our Chinese roots and culture, but others can't be bothered with the complexity of having my Chinese name.

Today, I finally get to go to the bank to open a bank account because my ARC (Alien Resident Card) came at last! I brought along Tweety, my Taiwanese friend to help me... especially with the communication between the banker and I. As my bank book was being assigned, the banker came to tell me that my name chop was wrong. (In Taiwan, everybody needs a name chop as a seal to add security beside your signature. I actually got a name chop with my Chinese name on it a month ago). But my name chop was right... so that meant that the Chinese name on my ARC was WRONG!!! Ughh.... it was SOO annoying. My name on my ARC was 虞詠莛 (Yu Yong-Ting, in Mandarin) instead of盧 詠莛 (Lu Yong-Ting). And then the banker thought it was weird that my passport's legal name is "Wing Ting Lo" - shouldn't it be "Yong Ting Lu"?? Oh man... so we had to explain to him that it's actually a translation from Cantonese to English and all....

At the end, I couldn't set up a bank account because my name on my documents are not the same.

Fuming, I went to my school and walked up to the counter, where Nicole, the secretary, set next to our boss, Nicco.

Me: Nicole, can I ask you a question about myARC?
Nicole: Um-hm
Me: Well, the name on my ARC is wrong.
*Nicco's mouth drops open
*I show them my Hong Kong Passport with my correct Chinese name on it....

Sidenote: They actually don't NEED to put my Chinese name on my ARC, it's just good to have it because it's convenient. But my the actual Chinese characters of my name is NOT EVEN on my Canadian passport.... but it's written on my 60 Day Visitor Visa and that's it.

Anyway... back to the story...
I gave them my passport and the incorrect ARC, and they called the lady (Phoebe) who applied all the documents for me. Apparently she read the name wrong....especially since "盧" is a very uncommon name in Taiwan.
I went home.. and an hour later they called me again to give them a passport picture of myself. Man... I'm so glad I live 2 minutes away from the school, so I can actually walk back and forth without too much of a fuss. I walked over, gave them the photo, and then Phoebe drives up in her scooter and tells me to write. So we walked inside back to the school, where she handed me a new piece of document to sign to apply for a new ARC.
Me: Umm.. Phoebe, the "莛" is wrong here.

ARGHHHH-------------!!!!!!!!!

At the end I told her to just put "Wing Ting Lo" on it, like what it SAYS on my Canadian passport.

....and so the wait begins again for my ARC......