You Have No Mail

Last year for Christmas I wanted to mail some Chinese-only items to my sister and my long time pen-pal Anita. A co-worker helped me get a FedEx to pick up and mail my package off to the Czech Republic and Portugal. I was able to track down where the package was and so were my recipients and all seemed going well. Strangely enough, when the package came within blocks of where they lived we hit a snag. 

FedEx said that both my sister and my friend had to go in-person to the FedEx office, bring their passports, and be there within three days or the packages would be sent back or DESTROYED. 
Both had a hard time getting time off to get to the FedEx office. Anita sent her boyfriend to pick it up for her but the employees denied him, saying Anita had to come in person and just her passport wouldn't do. My sister came in the day they told her to with her passport only to be told that the package was destroyed early that morning. 
Both of my packages ended up getting destroyed even though I expressly stated on the forms that I filled out when sending the packages that I wanted them sent back if there was a problem. Needless to say, none of us use FedEx anymore. 

(If you recall in a previous blog post, FedEx has let me down before.)

What is confusing is that while I was in the USA I could send packages to both Czech Republic and Portugal and had zero problems! The packages came in their mailboxes and there was no fuss. 

After doing some research I found that Europe has really tight restrictions against anything coming in from China. Everything is closely inspected and regulated compared to anything coming in from the USA. 

Sadly, the other way around is true as well. My two co-workers in 2017 were sent packages and post cards in August and then in December. A total of ZERO packages ended up getting delivered to them. Only one postcard out of three was ever delivered and it came in June of 2018. 
I have no proof but I am almost sure that the government is confiscating these items. When my co-workers checked online to see where their packages were, one seemed to be perpetually stuck in Shanghai. 

Last August my cousin asked if she could send me a project called Flat Stanley. It is now December and I am 100% sure that Flat Stanley has now become Confiscated Stanley. 

Now that the holidays are upon us, I have been asked by my loving family and friends if they can send me things and the answer is always no. I just can't risk these things getting "lost" for months on end or confiscated. I am not sure if these things will ever get delivered. 

One thing I know for sure is that the United States Postal Service is amazing at sending things overseas. 

The true mailing bae.