Mick

I like Ms. Stella - she has some mighty fine legs...

Looks really interesting and I will be interested to see how it all pans out. If I were going, however, I would skip Iran. Things are a bit too volatile over there.

Uncovering indeed, but very nice.

When I first arrived in China (1997) coffee was generally unavailable, except for those little pre-mixed packets of Nescafe, with cream and sugar already added. There was one "western" restaurant that served coffee and it was actually espresso. They served it up, however, in standard sized coffee cups and that stuff would put a wing ding on you for sure. Li and I spent many a Saturday morning in that place, drinking coffee and grading papers. Well, she drank tea while I sucked down the strong stuff. When we moved down to Shantou the following year, we found more coffee available and I could buy the beans as well. I was even able to find my personal favorite, coffee from Sumatra. Most of the Chinese I knew that drank coffee, preferred those Nescafe packets. In the supermarkets and at Wal Mart, about all you could find was instant coffee.

I am absolutely terrified of roller coasters. I had rather you tie me to a post and beat me for two hours than put me on one of those things.

This is an interesting topic and one that can spawn much discussion relevant to the direction(s) our culture is headed in. I would encourage everyone to keep all comments civil and respectful as there is nothing to be gained by attacking one another.

Congrats on the major milestone of buying your first house together! Over the years, I have owned several homes, but I still cherish the day Li and I bought our first home as a couple, about two years after we returned from China. And also, there is no way I would let the seller stay in the house beyond closing. Too many bad things can happen. Imagine, for example, one of them "slips and falls" when moving out. You, as the property owner, may be responsible. Call me paranoid, but better safe than sorry, especially in the world we currently reside in.

I agree completely with what Dan just said about avoiding the reschedule if possible. The scenario that Dan described, where the interview was rescheduled but the appointment list not changed for the interviewing officer, happened to a good friend of mine. It created a significant delay in the process for them. I would try to avoid the reschedule if at all possible. In terms of getting it moved, chances are they will give her the test and the interview in the location that services the area where you live. Yet also be advised that the swearing in might take place at a different time and at a different location. For example, my wife was interviewed and tested in Memphis (almost five hours from our home) and sworn in at Knoxville (about four hours to four and a half hours). The swearing in took place around six weeks after the interview and test. There are cases, however, that have the interview, test, and swearing in on the same day at the same location. It seems to vary.

As always, great photos Randy. Thanks for sharing them.

Nice photos and it looks like an old city. Still waiting to see the room.

Ditto here. My wife has traveled back and forth from China many times since we moved back to the States in 2003. No hassles any time, except once when she was flagged for bringing in an herbal medicine that contained extract of a palm tree that is on some endangered plant list. Customs agents must have been having a slow day or were bored. But other than that, never any problems related to I.D., green card, passport, etc. Of course, now, it is a moot point as she is a U.S. citizen.

As always, great photos Randy. That raft reminds me of my visits to Thailand, especially up north around Chaing Mai.

Great photo, Randy. That tree is really impressive and reminds me of several trees I saw at Six Banyans Temple in the heart of Guangzhou. Looking forward to more pics.

Always better to overkill than underkill. Whenever I lived down in South Florida and encountered those giant palmetto bugs, that look like cock roaches on steroids, I would step on them three or four times, just to make sure they wouldn't pull a Lazarus on me. Same thing with the paperwork, if in even a little bit of doubt, send it. Each visa officer has their own quirks and there is no way to predict what they will ask for. Over the years I have seen them ask for everything from notarized copies of a letter from an employer, to a video tape of the petitioner speaking Chinese. Again, my two cents say be safe, not sorry. Good luck for much success.

So good to hear from you, Kyle. And I understand what you meant about your readjustment to American culture after living so long in China. I went through a very similar process and I think I could have become quite depressed, except Li became pregnant and Salina entered our lives and changed everything. Her arrival really pulled me out of the much and mire I was wading in. So glad to hear you got some help with it. And Yadi looks like a fine dog and I guess he has a couple of brothers as well. How good is he at digging a 58 foot curve ball out of the dirt? If he can do that, don't worry about his intelligence or lack thereof. You must be very proud of JingJing. Obtaining at BSN is no small task. Give her my congrats and best wishes. Also, I worked with homeless vets in Miami and I know how rewarding that kind of work can be. Most of my career as a writer was spent obtaining grants for various social service projects and faith-based initiatives. Hard work, but I loved it. Stop by more often old friend.

I figure that's what he is talking about, Dan. I Googled it, but all I got was jibberish, plus something about a permit to broadcast a drama. ????

Please forgive my ignorance, but what is "Juliu Xukezheng?" I lived in China for five years, but I am not familiar with that term. Of course, it was many years ago that I lived there (1997-2003). Perhaps terms have changed.

Hi Joecy: no, I am not teaching in China any longer. I taught over there from 1997 - 2003. I taught English and American Literature my first year, then moved down to Guangdong to teach graduate classes in Journalism, along with Creative Writing. Actually, teaching journalism was not so difficult, even with the Chinese system. I was fortunate in that the university I was teaching at was founded and received a lot of funding from a Hong Kong multi-billionaire who was from the Chao Shan area of Guangdong, near Shantou and Chaozhou. Although the university was part of the "state" system, it was run on a western model and many of its graduate programs were taught in English as there was a big push from the founder to modernize the curriculum on all levels. I steered clear of any controversial topics to be sure, but so long as I didn't encourage the future journalists to make scathing criticisms of the government, I was pretty much free to teach whatever I wanted. Some of the classes focused on the nuts and bolts of print journalism, such as interviewing techniques, information gathering, evaluating sources, and especially how to streamline prose. For example, I would give them a topic to research and write a 1000 word essay, all in 24 hours. Then I would give it back to them and make them edit it down to 750 words; then 600, and so on. Lots of fun. Also taught about spin doctoring and such, which is how to slant a topic to agree with your opinion when, in fact, it may not do that at all. All of my students were fluent in English, written and verbal. I also taught graduate English majors, mostly American and British Literature. Oh, and by the way, glad you liked the story about the Lao Gan Ma. My wife and I still have a belly laugh about that incident whenever we think of it. Li went down to the store and explained to the old man what I was trying to say and he also laughed until his sides hurt. A foreigner can get in a lot of trouble with a tonal language if they are not careful.

Another language mistake, involving the use of tones in Chinese, got me in some hot water back when I was living in China. I have mentioned this before on the board here, so I will give the brief version. There is a Chinese chili sauce that I love, called "Lao Gan Ma." I put it on everything except ice cream. Great stuff. Lao Gan Ma is literally translated as "Old Dry Mother" and it has a picture of the old mother on the label. Anyway, I had ran out and I decided my Chinese was good enough for me to go to buy some at a little market just outside the campus. I went in the store but couldn't find it. So I went to the counter and asked the little old man there where they kept the Lao Gan Ma. His eyes got real big, then he started yelling at me and chased me out of the store with a stick. Freaked out, I went back to my apartment and told my wife what happened. She asked me what I had said and I told her. She literally had to pick herself up off the floor laughing. I had screwed up the tones something awful and basically only got Lao right. "Gan" evidently is also a kind of bad word if said with the wrong tone, and Ma is also horse. My wife explained that I had basically called the guy something like "Old Man who has sex with horses."

When my wife and I were teaching at a large university in Guangdong Province, there were times when my students, in an attempt to expand their vocabulary, would wind up using the wrong word. The following took place our second year at STU: I had just finished teaching a Journalism class and was on my way to our apartment when about five or six of my English major students, all males, came running up to me excited and out of breath. I noticed they were all punching in words in their electronic dictionaries, so I guess they were looking for how to say something. "What's up, fellas?" I asked. "Dr. Turner, how would you like to come with us to an orgy tonight?" they asked. Somewhat taken aback, I asked them, "What did you say?" "We are having a big orgy tonight and we want to invite you?" "Where is this orgy taking place?" "On the grass in front of the girls dorm." "Should I bring my wife?" "Of course, but there are going to be lots of girls there." "So let me get this straight," I said. "You are inviting me and my wife to a big orgy that is going to be held in front of the girls dorm tonight. Is that right?" "Yes, that's right." I just cracked up. I knew what had happened. They were inviting me to a party, but they had punched in "party" in their dictionary, seeking a synonym in an effort to show me how they had expanded their vocabulary. You can imagine how red-faced they became when I tactfully explained to them what an orgy was.

One of my former students, who lives in Bejing, manages to get on Facebook each day. Today he posted this image with the caption reading: "Memory replacement completed."

Great news, indeed! Best wishes for a wonderful life together.

Happy Anniversary to Mike and Carl. I think for we fortunate few who are in cross-cultural relationships, anniversaries are especially meaningful, especially considering all the difficulties we encountered in traversing the visa process, surviving the period of making adjustments to one another, and sustaining a positive relationship. Again, Happy Anniversary.

That was an interesting read for sure. I lived and taught in China for a bit over five years at the university and graduate school level, also in Guangdong Province, but not in Guangzhou. I wonder what motivated this guy to steal from a colleague? It makes me wonder if this was a one-time thing, or I wonder if he did it before but never got caught. For sure he will never look at Christmas lights quite the same as before.

Congratulations and best wishes for a great future. :greenblob: