mao mao so

ha, I thought I was good at saving money, and not being too wasteful, ... that is until Jie got here. Our accounts are in both our names, we both know what bills have to be paid, where, and when. But so far, it seems like Jie goes along with the concensus here, she thinks I should take care of the big decisions, she takes care of the day to day things. I also haven't had to make any "big" decisions yet, so my job is pretty easy right now! B) (and I ain't complainin' none either!) Jeff

Jie has been here almost 9 months now, how time flys. I agree with you Jin, "learning each other" is a very important aspect of my relationship now. I don't have any specific examples to give, or at least any "big things", mostly its just every day little things, but Jie and I have many converstations where she concludes by saying to me, "I know you more now". Mostly that's good. Sometimes it's funny. Sometimes she points out things I didn't realize about myself. All that in less than a year. I've said it a few times to her now too. Exploring our cultural differences has been an adventure so far. It helps that she's a pretty easy person to talk to, and insightful. Jeff

Way to go Dylan and Wendy!!!! Congratulations!!! We'll come to the airport when you get back and take pictures of you getting off the plane!! See you then!!! Jeff and Jie

Hey, thanks all for your help! Jeff

Hey all, My wife has been helping a friend of hers translate emails and such for prospective suitors for quite a while now. It looks like it may have finally come to fruition, as she told my wife that she has found a good man and they want to marry. The thing is, he's Canadian, and doesn't have the foggiest idea what to do about getting her here. Does anybody here have any good information as to what their Visa options are? Any links to the Canadian version of USCIS? Are they similar to ours as respects fiancee and marriage visa's? Any input would be appreciated because Oklahoma is long way from Calgary. Jeff

Glad to hear it Rick! We're happy for you! Jeff

When we applied for Jie's SSN the lady told me I could wait for the card in the mail, or I could call the local office back the next day and they would tell me the number over the phone. FWIW Jeff

Ok so Batman knew! I didn't anyway, and I thought it was pretty funny! BTW... "old, weird America" I thought that was pretty funny too. Jeff

Tsap, My last trip to China, last year Aug. '08, on the way over I was sitting beside this tall thin American fella. Everybody knows how long the trip is, so we had plenty of time to talk. When he got on the plane and sat down beside me, he was carrying a banjo case. He somehow managed to squeeze it into an overhead compartment, and sat down. I started talking to him out of curiosity about bringing a banjo to China. He assured me it was infact a real banjo, having been duly inspected infected detected and neglected, by the security folks and all, and proceeded to tell me his story. It turns out that Bluegrass is very popular in China and Japan and that he is a member of a traveling band that tours all over the place playing, ... well ... that's right Bluegrass! Who knew!!! Apparently they've been doing it for years, members of the band come and go, and according to him, they're quite popular and make pretty decent money doing it! Now, I was born and raised not too far from your neck of the woods, and I grew up on Bluegrass, and every other type of hillbilly music you can imagine. I just never in my mind pictured a Chinese coal miner slapping his knee to the same music my grandfathers (all coal miners BTW) slapped their knees too! You being a redneck and all, just thought you'd like to know! Jeff

I agree with what others have stated here. I don't know if my going to China during the interview helped or not with a pink outcome, but the support to my (now) wife was great. It's also a very good chance to bond while accomplishing a common goal. Jie's told me several times that she was immencely releived I was beside her during all of that. Jeff

ShadeOgray, I went to China the last time for Jie's interview. My visa expired on 8/16/2008. I left the US on 8/13/2008. It says on the visa (mine anyway) that it was good for a 60 day stay. I didn't renew it, and had no problems, even though I got a few comments about cutting it close. I just figured I got my money's worth on it. Jeff

Everybody needn't worry! Maybe you have worried too much. It just one of the things, can you tell everyone about the things is true or not? Let AL go to China. Maybe there is a surprise happen for him. I think even though no surprise lady waiting but have a big country make him surprise. If you tell him the truth, maybe he don't want to go China any more. It is not good to him. Maybe he will cost more money to go to China, but he can go to visit many good places. It is worth! If Jie is a good lady match him, he will be a lucky man! If no, he still is a lucky man too. Because he will be in a pretty and big country. He can see many good things and learn many people and see if they are good or bad for himself. Don't take away his chance! Jeff's Jie

Michael, I'd love to tell you I can remember their names, but I know that there are several large hotels just outside the airport on the road back to the city, maybe five minutes away in a taxi. Guangzhou airport is like any airport with lots of hotels surrounding it. I was there just last August and my flight arrived at 10:35 PM like yours. Jie and I were on a train to Liuzhou the next day, so we went to the first one we came to. The room was 150 RMB if I remember right. There's a hotel inside the airport, but it was over 1000 RMB a night and Jie just about had a cow when they told her the price, so we got a taxi and went on down the road. Jeff

I gotta agree with ShadeOgray. I used to be a short order cook many many years ago, and learned the clean as you go thing. If we trashed the kitchen to much the manager and the other cooks would really get on you, so we all learned to keep it spic and span, even in the heat of a big meal time. I guess it got pretty ingrained in me because I can't stand to have a dirty kitchen now. We wash every vegetable we use, just one look in the water afterwards when the veggies already looked clean to start should be enough to convince anybody. Jie is really fanatical about this, I can't disagree with her any. I think we got a pretty good system worked out in our house. Jie doesn't like western food much, just a few things, so she cooks most meals during the week. On the weekends I cook breakfast for us and sometimes a western dish for supper. I figure she cooked all week, every meal, she even gets up early to make breakfast for me, and pack me a lunch so why not give her a break? Our son's chores include putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher after everymeal, allowances are great insentives. He's 11 so Jin I think you may have to wait a while before the boys are older to help out? That's just how we do things anyway, everybody seems happy with it, YMMV. B) Jeff

Same here, last February Jie met me in Guangzhou during the bad part of that winter storm. We both got there late that night and we stayed at a hotel near the airport. It was cheap enough - maybe 160 RMB, but No Heat! the "hot" shower was warm for maybe 30 seconds! and we couldn't snuggle close enough to keep warm. Jie's interview was in August, so then I got the other extreme, but the A/C was good. Now it's winter time here, and normally I kept the thermostat a little low - 65 ish. That was too cold for Jie so now it's 70. It stikes me just a tad funny to see her in her "winter" PJ's and big fuzzy slippers, and me in a tank top and shorts. Fortunately the winters here are pretty short. But I'll take that over that frozen night in Guangzhou any time! Jeff