Dan R

Hey what is wrong with chicken feet???? Authentic Jewish Penicilin (Chicken Soup) can't be made right without the feet in it. My Grandmother wouldn't have served it to us otherwise. By the way if you ever try Vietnamese egg rolls and wonder what the very thinly sliced white strips are. That's the pork skin (ears are also served thin sliced and those have a pink edge with white center. Both taste bland but crunchy.

China sizes usually use the Hong Kong Jewlers standard. Japan is yet another. The Chinese Jewlers in San Gabriel sometimes have the sizing rod for both. Ping's size 13 worked out to close to 6.5 U.S. I think a 9 is about 5 perhaps 4.8. Why not have her send ring the right size and have a jewler size it?

Better to tell them Trigg. They would guess anyway when you keeled over in diabetic coma after your third slice of pecan or sugar pie. The problem comes when your friends being nice to you offer you everything they know you like but is on the no no list. Have her take you to a Chinese herbalist. They are very good at diabetes. I recommend friends near me to go to one I know. They all got off the pills and can cheat a bit on the diets without a problem now.

When did they arrest Dr. Pepper????????? Where are they holding him????? Was it our government or theirs?????? Where do I send my donation to secure his release by funding a write in campaign? Actually breaking him out might be cheaper. Let me know, we must gain freedom for political prisoners. Are you sure he isn't a terrorist or a tool of bioterrorism?

Congratulations!! Now proceed to stage two. Best wishes to both of you.

900/night!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ping would kill me. We stayed at the White Hotel also very nice for 450/night. The second time we stayed at the Holiday Inn Great Wall - The best beds in China.

Hey Trigg! I just had a thought (which filled the quota for this decade), I bet opposum or raccoon would make a good substitute for civet cat cooked guangzhou style. Will you let us know how it is? I would think you would want an alternative to a river fish diet. Besides opposum is an American tradition isn't it?

While in China I learned to make stir fried vegetables and egg drop soup Hubei Sheng style. Both are very good for the health as well as having everything cooked. I have had to give up many things I enjoyed as a youth trying to maintain good health. The basic problem is that traditional cooking from most regions of the world do not mix with today's high stress and sedentary lifestyle combined with nearly limitless supplies of food.

Another night or two on the computer should do guys. Should I put on the coffee?

Congratulations Rick. Each new white slip gives those of us remaining new hope that it will go well when our interviews come up. We are with you! Thay are from Harbin? Boy will they be surprised at AZ weather.

Who used Jason's name to post that advise above? Many friends from various countries have advised me to avoid the K-1 hassles by marrying here while she comes as a student or tourist.Seems this is the preferred method from Europe and the middle east where it is easy and quick to get those visas. We decided against the risks and stayed standing in line.

Jim one of the pages in www.virtualtourist.com has a picture of an old bearded Indian man looking like a yogi or some such talking on his cell phone. A funny statement on the modern world. Robert you are starting to get kinky. Spurs indeed.

Congratulations .... move to the front of the line. Hey Wait! Could this be a plot by GZ to remove our statistician and stop our plotting?

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! What a relief that email must have been. Now as the others have said start cleaning man!

With your education and experience you can get a teaching job at a private English school. Depending on location these pay between U.S. 250 to 350 plus apartment. If you are staying with her family then you can probably negotiate your own arrangement with a local school. You should get a work visa if you arrange the sponsor before going. Another way to make money would be for her to line up students who want conversation tutoring. You then control how much time you will be working which you have no say in at a school. This also pays much better than a school. Japan for some years now has required a Masters in ESL plus experience to teach English. China is already starting to tighten up in State run schools. Personnally I would start tutoring and leave time for doing things you want. Since she can help you get around the school would be a hinderance rather than a help.

Just send it in a hope they pay. If you didn't file and hadn't applied for an extension on filing you owe fines and penalties (no interest since you didn't owe) for late filing. Don't mention that part just mail it in.

FANTASTIC

What is with Americans??? We spend tremendous amounts of income resisting nature rather than living with it. A child has no difficulty sleeping on the floor. I remember enjoying that at times. Today my misshapened arthritic spine can't handle a Chinese matress. I would take all the pillows to make a mattress pad. Actually I was fine on about half of the matresses I slept on. I wasn't sure what the differences were because they all felt hard. The Great Wall Hotel in Beijing had the best bed in China. It was very comfortable but still firm. When I left the Yantai Marina Hotel I suggested they provide a foam mattress pad at the guests request. I hope they do it before I go back. In the 60's and early 70's the Japanese were proud that they were not wasteful nor isolated from nature like Americans who use central heat and air. Today the modern Japanese rarely leaves the central air or heat. I found that while stoic the Japanese had many ways to stay warm and enjoy creature comforts. Since then I try to avoid heating and air conditioning but I live in L.A. where that is easy. However few of my friends do the same. Modernization need not be a divorcing from nature and catering to many comforts that are self destructive. I hope the world will begin concentrating on being less disposable and comfortable and more sustainable and healthy. In Singapore recent studies have indicated that increase of modern type diseases parallels the increase in a western lifestyle. We all have a lot to learn about quality of life and developing a truly modern lifestyle and outlook. By mixing cultures I hope we choose the best of both and not the worse. Future generations are depending on choices made today.

Great news Mark. See it is all working out.

It is great to have actually had a chance to present your views ( I did that with Nixon and Agnew and ended up on a list). I do however have a problem with putting orphans above adults. I guess the problem is why is the government so interested in providing the avenue for adopting Chinese babies rather than helping adults unite to form a household. I may be overly skeptical but if they are concerned about orphans why not reform the domestic adoption system? It seems to me that they prefer babies who can be brought up as Americans over adults who immigrate with their own culture and cause cultural changes here. If it was a humanatarian concern they can make funds available to help these children in their own country. They could also make domestic adoption easier. Somehow this issue doesn't sound right. Of course if I wanted to make someone feel guilty for putting their own adult happiness before the welfare of a child, I might ask them aren't they concerned with the welfare of poor orphaned children. And in spite of small numbers the government is doing the humanatarian thing for them. Ok so convince me I am wrong about this and just being critical.

Best of luck Mark. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. I'm sure everything will go fine.

Congratulations, it is very reassuring to hear when something goes well. Best Wishes!

Ok now I am really getting worried. Will she pick up all those poor dietary customs of Americans now that I have almost completely changed to a Chinese style diet? The last time I told her I have found lots of authentic Chinese restaurants to eat at she said "I can cook Chinese. When going out it should be American." Actually I now cook very good Chinese food and since she prefers cleaning up to cooking, we may have a good balance. maybe she will tire quickly of American food. I'll have to ask friends if they know a good place. I haven't been out for American food other than a taco or fish and chips (aren't those American?) for years.

A friend of mine got his Congressman involved when the P-4 was not received in time for the interview. The Congressman's office told him GZ must respond to them by law and that they had never had a response take more than 8 weeks. The Congressman never got a response but 12 weeks later the P-4 was sent and the interview rescheduled. She is now here and they will be married this Friday. While GZ did not respond as required I think it helped their case. They had minimal proof of a relationship and by the time of the interview hadn't seen each other for 3 years. The process took 28 months for them. They fell in the black hole. Anyway I think having them know you have your Congressman involved may add to the impression they get of a serious relationship.

The situation is bound to get worse over the next 5 years as China reaches parity with the U.S. like Japan did 20 years ago. The big difference is that unlike Japan China is a larger population requiring greater resources. Americans may well feel threatened as the U.S. and China line up supplies of natural resources and the United States experiences more shortages like the current cement and steel problem. There have been signs that China will try to find renewable resources and not copy the U.S. model. That seems to be the long range goal, but short term they will need to develop infrstructure in competition with the U.S. Also both countries are vigorously working on alliances to assure future oil supplies.