BuffaloPaul

lots of good posts here. My thoughts -my wife used to say to me "security first - love second". She grew up waiting in long lines to get an egg or small ration of meat. So for her financial security was her first priority in a marriage. -she tells me that Chinese are very competitive. she and her daughter are always competing with each other. Anyone that every gets on 001 knows that they are always arguing about who gets the most money, has the best car, the nicest house, the best sex life, etc. I thought that there were lots of red flags regarding money. But it turns out I was completely wrong. Money never was the real issue - I just had to make her feel secure. Now life is great.

If I ever need an attorney Lee - are you for hire??

Since Jenny has taken my last name, she has no way to write it in Chinese. She also doesn't seem to be able to write cursively, so she just prints her name. Doesn't seem to be an issue. She knows who she is.

I have adopted several children - some from foreign countries. Usually need to get legal termination of parental rights. Advise talking to a family lawyer

Just to chime in - I've been to GZ, Yantai, Ningbo (2x) and never experienced any kind of prejudice or poor treatment. I'm sure if I went enough I would experience it. Just like an isolated incident in the US, it is not really fair to generalize about either Chinese or Americans

Congratulations Scott

Congratulations!!!

Wow, such a run around. My CS never mentioned anything about the booster. Would have been quicker to drive to Buffalo David

Great news Carl. Will be great for you two to be together after what you have been through this year

I shopped around and found a civil surgeon that knew only supplemental needed to be signed. Simply looked at vaccination records and signed - quick and painless & $40 per person

My wife worried for 2 years about my bed since she has a rock hard mattress and uses the old bamboo cover in the summer. But much to her surprise she loves the pillow top mattress I had bought. Can't seem to get her out of bed now B)

Take some deep breaths and don't let it get to you. I'm sure that you will get through this.

One idea if you have it in your area is a course called ALPHA. Some churches offer this to new Christians as a way to get acquanted with Christianity and find out some of the basic teachings. Theres a video and then group discussion. If your SO cannot speak English at all it may not be appropriate. My SO gets the jist of it and loves listening to other peoples discussion in the small groups. People share their struggles with their faith. My SO has surprised me several times sharing things I never knew about her faith.

We took passport, marriage cert and birth certificate, but the clerk didn't want the birth certificate.

Sometimes government actually works efficiently. We got Jennys SSN in only 10 days. No problems, no questions.

Work ethic is a big factor. My step daughter comes home from school and studies for several hours each night. Doesnt matter if she has homework or not. My kids come home and play computer games. Guess I am to blame. My wife scolds her daughter if she is not always studying. She things PE is a waste of time. On the other hand her daughter loves her new school.

Where I live there are no Chinese churches. We attend a large Weslyan church (a mega church) where the words to the songs are displayed on large movie type screens. My wife enjoys going and singing. We have talked about finding a Bible study group with Chinese people but she is not interested in that. Just wants American experiences. We are attending a weekly course on Mondays for people wanting to learn more about Christianity. There are small group discussions. She has shared much of her faith that I did not even know during these discussions even though she is embarrasssed to speak. I had thought that church would be a big area of difference between us, but it has turned out to be a great area of agreement in our lives.

My wife was invited to a Christian Church about 12 years ago in China and decided to become one. She is very happy attending Church here. Doesn't seem to have any interest in Buddhism.

Just enrolled my stepdaughter in school last month. Had her vaccination record and grades from school in China. Don't recommend having your child drop any grades. My step daughter is probably at least a year ahead of US children

I was getting so much conflicting information that I called this number (800) 375-5283 and asked for I485 specialist (they have a group devoted to AOS). Lady told me exactly how to assemble it, what type of checks to use, etc. Eliminated all the misinformation on both this board and 001

Congratulations and Best wishes to you.

Congratualtions and Best wishes to you

enight is a prolific poster on 001, has her own website as well. She has posted here often in the past but have not seen her post recently. Seems like quite an "authority" on 001 based on SO's comments.

Ask enight!!.... 159280[/snapback] enight knows all in our house 159885[/snapback] You should be very well advised then 159886[/snapback] Oh yes

Ask enight!!.... 159280[/snapback] enight knows all in our house