Recieving...guiltily

Receiving a package here reminds me of summer camp, always wondering if they will find contraband to confiscate or in this instance pay tax on. I always enter the OPT (French postal service) office feeling guilty, like a child owning up to a crime. I enter tentatively with my slip stating, I have a package, always fearful they will force me to open it up in front of them and sort through its contents. I have a flashback to summer camp where a counselor would have you open your package and confiscate any candy your parents lovingly sent to you hidden within the package, knowing full well that, ‘candy was not allowed.’ I think I had gum confiscated once, no financial burden incurred, but the thought of someone taking my possessions from right in front of me still rings as severely unjust. Stories circulated that one parent went so far as to cut out the pages to a book in order to fill it with candy. I cannot imagine my parents doing this, not for lack of creativity, but simply for the sacrilege of ruining any form of reading material.

Though the rules are clear anything under 30,000 FCFP (French Pacific Franc) roughly $240 (the dollar really is painful to track these days) sent from a private individual or 3,000 FCFP sent from a commercial enterprise is tax exempt. I have some antiquated concept of mail as being extremely personal and beyond the hands of the law. For me it truly is a crime for anyone to open your mail, especially a package. So the thought of the post office having ultimate control is still not something I have come to terms with.

I also must provide a thank you to my parents who are always willing to send me things to any where in the world. Mom and Dad: THANK YOU

I have had only had two experiences thus far, and both were perfectly legal packages. The first time I felt I got a bit of the run around. The package arrived as a gift (and unbeknown to me), but was sent directly from a commercial enterprise, thus necessitating a facture (a receipt). This being a surprise gift I did not have a receipt. Visit number one was a bust. The second attempt I came prepared with facture and passport. I entered, took my number and waited. Luckily the wait wasn’t that long. My number was called I went to the appropriate person. She told me to go to another person. I went to person number two, he asked for the receipt. The receipt was presented and deemed acceptable, but then he smiled a big sneering smile, which in my experience of French public servants means, ‘I am going to make this difficult for you’. He sent me back to person number one. She retrieved my package and sent me to person number two who smiled again and sent me back to person number one saying it wasn’t for him to be involved with. In the end the package involved another round of back and forth, but was eventually received.

The second package was received last week. I was a bit concerned because inside the package was the book I requested, but there were also CDs listed in the contents. I was happy to see that no tax was required, but still a bit concerned as I did not know if these were new CDs or burned CDs, what would customs or OPT think of either circumstance/ There was a bit of a time lag between arrival in Nouméa and receiving confirmations in our Boite Postale (P.O. Box), but this time the visit to OPT was painless. Maybe one day I will get over my residual guilt from summer camp.