LaurenAmber

I don't have particularly too many faves from the mainland since i've had more exposure to music from Taiwan. However i do like Gary Cao Ge, but that's because i'm partial to an artist that has a scary resemblence to my husband lol out of the TW music i have a secret love of the bubblegum pop like Fei Lun Hai (Fahrenheit) and S.H.E. My favorite artist is Tang Yu Zhe though. He's got a great balance of pop, rock, and ballads with a very unique sound. Here's one of my favorite songs... ÌÆÓíÕÜ - ÛÎÒ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fOjS2q534I

China needs to learn more Western ways of doing things, like: Keeping thier cities clean! (Never thought i had a cleaning OCD til living in China heh) America needs to learn more Chinese ways of doing things like: respecting elders and taking care of the family

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wd2LoXDiQs Here's the Chinatown moment If you havent seen the new series "Bad Wolf" won't make any sense, but maybe you can enjoy the creepiness

I checked with some people IUDs ar eno longer used because they caused too much trouble. IUC is Intre-uterine Contraceptive. The most recent common one is Mirena. Nevertheless it seems Chinese people on the whole neglect thier health ALOT. Either they just don't care, or the facilities are terrible. But that shouldn't stop you guys. Ask questions, make appointments FOR them, make them go. It's best for everyone

Umm not sure what IUD stands for, unless you mean IUC, and if so then YIKES. Maybe i'm weird but i'm VERY open about women's health with my husband. He's a bit paranoid about health things concerning me, but neglects himself. Perhaps it's a Chinese thing. However, i have to go against Jin and say that on the case of health it is OK to push your lady. Health is something that is TOO IMPORTANT to let you're wife just "have her way" and never go if she "doesn't feel like" here's a hint, they'll almost never feel like going. Hell, right now my youngest sister (adopted) is in a panic because she "never felt like going" etc etc, and now she has a cyst in her breasts (her mother died of breast cancer). There are just too many issues in life that you can't risk letting slip by. I'm at the women's doctor twice a year (mandatory check up that i make myself do) and an extra time if i suspect anything. Women are going to get bitchy if you force them to do to the doctor, but it's for thier own good! Don't let them mopslap you into submission. Also this is probably a personal choice but i think wives should always at least offer to tell thier husbands what's going on with thier body. Some men don't want to know and will decline the info, that's fine, but they need to at least offer the info. Communication about health is very important

Bad Wolf showed up many places on Doctor Who.... i think by many places you mean everywhere. LOL but in Turn Left they were actually in China town and there were tons of signs that said Bad Wolf in CHinese as well as a decorative font that took you a minute to realize it said Bad Wolf

This just reminds me of the Doctor Who episode "Turn Left" where there were Bad Wolf references all over Chinatown

Haha well you know if you ever feel like being a part of us youngins pick up a DS haha. Hubby actually asked me for one for christmas lol I've played the spanish one (helps out when my side job is assistant managing a restaurant) and it was AMAZING. The only problem that seems to be with the Chinese one is i'm noticing a lack of pinyin. It's there... just not alot. I guess it's helping me crash course into the characters, but my ability to hear it and figure out the pinyin is not so great. However when i'm on the go it's a great tool to just keep my mind fresh when i'm going crazy from my books, CDs, and computer software Thank you, i shall add that to my arsenal lol. I've got CDs, books, textbooks, charts, software, and now this game. The game is good for me when the other two are making me feel too much like a student. I can cram a book in my head for hours, but then i use the game to kinda cut loose. I've just started with it but it's fun and great. For me the learning Chinese is hardest because I have a lisp... yeh... let that process... a lisp... with Chinese... It's hell lol It took me two weeks to master "xie xie" and i still flub it at times. And i'm a audio/visual learner. I need to be able to say then or i'll never remember them. So for me, studying Chinese is going agonizingly slow due to my complete inability to form some of these words. I took speech class when i was younger, but they don't really have that for chinese. Any word without a "sh" or "ts" or "ch" noise and i'm fine lol

Found this today while shopping for video games for my many brothers. http://www.amazon.com/My-Chinese-Coach-Nin...312&sr=8-10 I plan on picking it up for myself, and the eldest younger brother seems to want it too so he can seem cool to his new brother-in-law hehe

I gotta admit, after seeing all the wedding photos of the members of my husband's family i had the girly "I wanna do it too!!" moment lol. I'm talking about those big photoshoots with the gorgeously done pictures. Those big photo books, and the large print to hang on the wall. I saw a couple studios in Fuzhou and Xiamen, but never really told my husband how much I want to do them cuz i'm worried about cost. The pictures are gorgeous and i would love so much to do them when I'm back in China. But about how much do they cost to do? Are they terribly expensive? What all kind of photos can you do? Are there any studios you would recommend? And have any of you done them before, and what did you think of them?

The form said "English Name" but perhaps it did mean Pinyin. There are many countries that use characters for names, and since it was a generic "foreigner" form, that may have been it. My husband did teach me how to write my first name in Chinese characters, would there ever be a need for me to use it in China? And my Chinese name is really just for the benefit of all my asian friends lol. A name containing multiple L and R sounds seems to be the bane of my friends and family's existence lol. So my husband found a name that just made things easier. As for wanting to adopt his English name but not lose his Chinese name, could we do something like make his Chinese name his middle name and English his first? The name he chose for me is actually very sweet lol, but he does apologize to his "dear princess" when he screws up LOL The one time he almost got mop-slapped he also had food poisoning. The poor thing was certain he was going to die (first brush with food poisoning i guess lol) I just couldn't mop-slap him lol. No Happy Hour seems to be a better threat than mop-slap

I do agree for the most part. However kids these days are getting worse and worse. There are many ways to dicipline children that don't include spanking (I think "beatings" is a strong word). I got spanked once in my life, and it's because i took it way too far. I was punished by being sent to my room and having my TV taken out of my room. On my mother's exit i threw a coat hanger at her face. I got spanked. Not beaten, but spanked. It asserted pretty heavily to me that that kinda crap wasn't going to fly. I wasn't living in fear of my mother or anything. She taught me well and taught me to consequences to my actions. One of the potentials was a spanking yes, something I wanted to avoid. I think parents need ot take more time to teach kids consequences, and spanking is a potential consequence. Some parents just take it too far and it bothers me. I was in Wal*Mart and a kid was crying because thier parent refused to buy them a certain toy (already a problem that shouldn't exist if they had taught thier child right but ANYWAY) and the parent just yanked up thier kid by the arm and hit thier butt ridiculously hard. That, in my opinion is WAY too far and crosses the line into beating. Some kids need a spanking, but no child deserves a beating

Wow haha, sooooooo much applies to my husband haha

I've been pondering this for a while and can't seem to find the answer anywhere on the net. When my husband and I registered our marriage the form had a place for my English name and Chinese name. At the time my husband hadn't given me a Chinese name so we left it blank and all was fine. But now I'm curious because I work with many Chinese people and they carry both an English and Chinese name. And they say when they do papers for China they must put both names. How can you have two names legally? And I mean they don't have like English first and Chinese middle. There are two seperate names. My husband has since given me a Chinese name too, and when we were in China it was so much easier for introductions and things. So i'm just curious now about how someone can have both names legally? I've seen various papers since them that give me two boxes, one for Chinese and one for English. I also wonder because my husband wants to use his English name (Chinese name too difficult for Americans haha) but he doesn't want to do a name change and lose his Chinese name.

I was only ever whooped once (I i really did deserve it that time). But overall i never needed a whoppin. I knew my mom was boss. I was spoiled in proper ways (Like an extra cookie if i got an A) and wasn't spoiled in the wrong ways (7pm TV went off, no exceptions, didn't matter if i was in the middle of something) I think parents don't have time for thier kids. Therefore, no titme for dicipline. That leads to blaming media, politics, and everyone but themselves for thier children's poor behavior. I think it just boils down to spend time with your kids and assert that you are thier PARENT. You are not thier buddy and you are not thier doormat. Get that straight in thier heads and things should be fine.

Hey!!! As i'm sure any of these guys will tell you, i could not be more thrilled that you've joined! lol Welcome to CFl, I'm your resident white girl who can help guide you through this stormy sea from our perspective. *gives cupcakes*

Hey it's coming to my city! Cool, thanks for the heads up!

The IT is actually really good, especially with CISCO equips. What kind of specific jobs ar eyou looking for? I'll let yo knwo what's available. Currently right now most places are on a hiring freeze since it's at the end. As for Madison, inner Madison IS getting pricier, but once you hit County Line Rd which is on the line with Limestone, property gets REALLY cheap. But now are you looking for land or a home?

If you really are interested i can give you my realator's email. he can get an idea of what kind of area you want to live in and show you the cheapest areas. See in Huntsville and Madison there's a lot of doctors and lawyer, so it's easy to find the expensive areas. Those are the areas you're also going to see at the top of searches though. If you really want to check out Huntsville, i'll get you in touch with Ron.

LORD where are you looking??????? For some great cheap land where you can still see the good sky look off of County Line Rd. in Madison. It's just a couple of minutes out of Huntsville and the land is very cheap if you get it on the right side of COunty Line. Cuz honestly if you're seeing around 30k you are looking in the lawyer and doctor areas!

Well im sure there's probably great acupuncture centers. My Chinese friends always tell me to just ask if i need it and they'll know where to send me. Alot of the good Chinese stuff all you gotta do is ask someone. Huntsville has a lot of great "best kept secret" places, Chinese and not

There is definitely acupunturist, you just have to ask. Most of them work through a Chiropractic office. The Chinese are trying to attempt to build a China Town. I don't know thier definite plans for it, but it seems to be in the works. However, Huntsville is small enough that all of Chinese people and places are actually all very close together. There isn't a REAL China Town par sey, just that all the Chinese people and good shops are very close together.

What she said! Huntsville is a great city to live in - not too small, not too big. Lots of Chinese culture, several top notch universities, climate not too bad, unless you can't deal with humidity. I was born there and now live across the border in Tennessee, about 23 miles north of Huntsville. The city is very cosmopolitan, unlike the rest of Alabama. This is due in large part to the space industry. The Saturn rockets that put up the moon shots were built here, as was most of the Space Shuttle. NASA has a major presence in Huntsville. Crime is not too bad, and cost of living is quite low compared to other places. It is unlike the rest of Alabama. I often used to compare Huntsville to West Berlin. An oasis of sorts in a sea of Red. In the case of Berlin, red as in Commies....In the case of Huntsville, red as in ....well....necks. Haha veyr well said. Huntsville really is an oasis in Alabama haha. We should get together sometime since Ardmore's so close! But yes a definite second to everything he said about Huntsville too. Don't let the state fool you, Huntsville is very different from the rest of Alabama

VERY well said

Family values? You certainly havn't met my father-in-law. Trust me when i say my husband's thoughts were no fault of his own. It was drilled into his head that it was right to be unfaithful and that there was nothing wrong with it. His father is, shall we say, an undesirable individual. He is not a model citizen, husband, or father. It takes a while to reverse over 20 years of a certain thought. There's a few other things that my husband is learning he's been brought up wrongly on. He's learning and actively changing. He sees now that alot of what his father does is very wrong. Not that he's the same as his father. He's jsut becoming very aware and making a lot of changes in his life. His father, on the other hand, is not too thrilled about my husband's "newfound righteousness". Yeh see you were one of the ones talking to me when i made my very first post here which was ironically on this issue. My husband has changed drastically from those days. It seems like all it took was one day with a fallout of that wicked landlady. She went after me and was even seemingly like she was going to turn violent. Something flipped inside my husband's head and he went into "Super Husband" mode. He defended me hardcore against the woman and made the decision for us to move in with his parents to save me from the woman. After that i haven't had a thing to worry about. He's been making so many active changes, and he'll brag about being married to anyone that will listen for 5 seconds. I guess all it took was that moment where he suddenly had the lightbulb go off. I guess for some people it just takes that one moment of realization to know that your spouse REALLY is all that you need and you wouldn't want anyone else.