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evansfan

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  5. Starting from scratch

    in Culture & Language Discussion

    Posted · Edited by evansfan (see edit history)

    We have mutual friends whose personalities would seem to mesh but unfortunately the language gap is massive, as of now they trade emails that are translated. Her last english class was many years ago. Even under these circumstances, My friend wants to see her for a week during an upcoming business trip, with not enough time for the upcoming english classes to help. Which leads to a group of questions,of course like microwave ovens your performance may vary

     

    Was any one else in this position: Please share your experiences

     

    did you use electronc translators was that enough or do you think hiring a human translator is worth the cost

     

    How difficult was that first trip

     

     

    WHat did you do to make it bearable

     

    were any of you in a relationship and you visited to soon and the language gap sabotaged a promising start

     

    ANy information will be passed on and greatly appreciated

     

    Upon your SO's arrival to US how fast b4 conversational skills reached criticall mass

  7. QQ

    in Culture & Language Discussion

    Posted

    Have MS chinese language support on the laptop and everything works fine except qq. The machine language does not appear in Pinyin char.so she cannot make out the words. MSN messenger works great it is only QQ that has a problem

    thanks
    jay

  8. K1- Work Eligibility

    in AOS & Immigration Challenges

    Posted

    Does the visa itself prove the work eligibility requirement (see question marks below) I remember that at a few select airports a stamp can be obtained, does a K1 need to get an additonal document and if they do, where do they get it?

     

    The K-1 symbol indicates you are the fianc¨¦ of a U.S. citizen. As such, you are eligible for a Social Security number and for employment.

    To apply for a Social Security number:

     

    Complete an Application For A Social Security Card (Form SS-5); and

    Show us documents proving:

    Immigration status;

    Work eligibility; ???

    Age; and

    Identity.

    Take your completed application and documents to your local Social Security office.

    All documents must be either originals or copies certified by the issuing agency. We cannot accept photocopies or notarized copies of documents

  9. Culture Clash already...

    in Culture & Language Discussion

    Posted · Edited by evansfan (see edit history)

    I am having the most difficult disagreement with my fiancee that I have ever had:

    She saw me kiss my cat on the back of the neck the other night on video conference, and told me, "You kiss cat?! If you kiss your cat, you can NEVER kiss me!!"

    I though she was joking, but we are now on day two of this.

    She says that in China, no one kisses their pets.

    She says in China everyone knows how dirty these animals are.

    This is seemingly not a jealousy issue.

    She claims it is a cultural one.

    I just don't know what to do now. I wish to make her happy, but being affectionate with my pets is a deep part of who I am. I am an animal lover. I come from a family of animal lovers.

    I even offered to always wash my face and mouth after kissing the cat and before kissing her, which is ridiculous, but I told her I was willing to do this if it would make her happy.

    No go.

    She still says, "You kiss cat, you never kiss me!"

    Any ideas here people?

    Is this a serious cultural taboo I don't know of?

    Anyone have any experience with this situation?

     

    You aren't going to like this.

     

    Anyone who would seriously consider 'losing' their fiance over kissing their cat has a serious problem in my world. I don't get it.

     

    I have a yellow lab that followed my 18 month old son out of the yard when my bai chi former wife didn't close the gate. That dog wouldn't let the POLICE get near him; he walked along side my son while the cops herded both of them home. I loved that dog for that, but... that said, he is a DOG, nothing more, nothing less.

     

    I will incur the wrath of all the animal lovers here for saying this, and I don't think there is a wrath greater than that of an animal lover who is defending his/her love for their animals, but... it is strictly cultural, and damned recent in our culture to boot.

     

    Human love of their animals comes from that same "touchy-feely" place that cartoon animals come from. We're talking a Pooh Bear that eats 'hunny' instead of people, cartoon lions that sing and talk and Bambi-type deer that have all the characteristics of sensitive, kindly and hyper-moral (if a little bewildered) humans, TIMES TEN.

     

    I think that any culture that can shower this much attention and 'love' on animals has; a.) Too much disposable income, and/or b.) Too many lonely people, and/or c.) A very distorted view of our world, that being projecting too many human values/emotions onto animals who are, by definition, just animals.

     

    Sorry, I've never had or even KNOWN of an animal that I would put above any human being, with the possible exception of Charles Manson, but I could make a strong case for him not being human.

     

    animals don't = humans

     

    sorry

     

    I agree, except you forgot one thing-we are animals as well-jay

  12. Finding a job

    in AOS & Immigration Challenges

    Posted · Edited by evansfan (see edit history)

    The interview is next month. My SO's life is about to change in ways that will be incomprehensible to those who have never lived through them. Two weeks ago their was a fascinating column in the Wall Street Journal, from an american who worked in Shanghai. He was highlighting some of the different cultural adjustments that must be made when working in a foriegn land. I laughed out loud when he illustrated in one quick anecdote of a coworker mentioning to him during an elevator ride that "he had gotten fat" that brutal honesty from our SO's that we all know and love. In another section, I could sense his disdain as he described the practice engaged by many chinese workers of taking a quick nap during lunch time (even though study after study shows an increase in productivity after a quick 20-30 minute mid afternoon snooze, the practice has never caught on here)

     

    I am meandering here, but the goal of my post is to engage our veterens in their experience with job hunting, and the cultural change of the american corporate environment. Did their SO's stay close to their own experience an work among fellow Chinese immigrants? How long was their adjustment if they worked among americans? What pitfalls do we need to watch out for? How bout finding a job? How did you guide your SO through the job hunting process which is unlike anything in China?

     

    I am sure this topic has been discussed in the past but it is so important I am hopeful, a new round of discussions will be quite helpful .

     

    YanXia is college educated working for a large Chinese manufacturer as a representative to english speaking companies, her main customer is an american company.

     

    Thanks

    Jay

  14. Studying on a k1

    in AOS & Immigration Challenges

    Posted

    I guess this post straddles two different forums, but I will try my luck here. If everything goes according to plan, with some margin of error built in, my SO should arrive in late summer early fall. She is fluent in english but we were thinking of a refesher course during her 90 days and after when she is in limbo before working. A local liberal arts college with an excellant reputation offers a reasonably priced semester long english cirriculum with at least 2 classes focused on american culture. A semester is divided into 2 five week sessions so she can take at lease one session within the 90 days. As far as anyone knows, can she attend university on a k1 or do we need to get an F1 as well.

     

    Thanks

    Jay

     

    P.S. I inquired at the college as well, but this board is always so helpful.

  17. Address Change

    in General Visa Discussion & First Steps

    Posted

    Actually I just changed my address and was told to change it with all three USCIS, NVC, and the consulate. Best to cover all bases.

    The consulate changed my address even though they did not receive the physical papers yet from NVC. I guess they just used my case number.

     

     

    First call NVC and if the case is still there get the address corrected, wait a few days and call them again to verify the new address.

     

    http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/ty...types_1309.html

     

    If and when the case is sent to the consulate, you can email them to confirm the case arrival and also to verify the address change is in their system, they will have the case in their system but wont send the P3 until they actually receive the physical case, it takes 2 months or so for them to receive the file.

     

    http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/guangzhou/iv/email.html

     

    I would also correct the address with DOS, and then Confirm the address change with them.

     

    http://travel.state.gov/visa/about/how/how_1463.html

     

     

    Thanks Guys, you have been incredibly helpful-Jay

  18. Address Change

    in General Visa Discussion & First Steps

    Posted

    I know this topic must have been addressed in the past, but my search has been fruitless. Our NOA 2 was late October, and our paperwork has left the NVC, but now my SO is moving to a new apartment and her company just gave her a company sim card with a new number, so we need to update her information. Do we go through the NVC or the consulate? If we go through the consulate how do we know when to contact them since the P3 apparently sent out subsequent to the data entry of her file?

     

    Thanks

     

    Jay

  20. notary for K1

    in General Visa Discussion & First Steps

    Posted

    One last question, Is the notorial certificate certifying the divorce enough for the USCIS or does the divorce decree need to be translated and notorized-jay

     

    When it is notarized and made into the "white book", it is already translated and certified and notarized (same as the birth, divorce, single certificate, police check). The answer is yes, it is accepted by USCIS when done this way.

     

    Remember any document that is not in English that you submit needs to be translated.

     

    Thank you, this all coming to a head because the notary office is balking at signing the document that they are certified translators

  23. notary for K1

    in General Visa Discussion & First Steps

    Posted · Edited by evansfan (see edit history)

    We have the original document supplied by the court and we had that translated, but we were REF'd with USCIS stating that they " all chinese documentation to be used abroad is processed through the notary office and issued in the form of notorial certificates" so that certificate will be notarised but does a translated copy need to be notarised as well.

     

    jay

  24. notary for K1

    in General Visa Discussion & First Steps

    Posted

    My fiance Yanxia was married for a very short while, and now I need to prove to USCIS that she is divorced. I have a few questions:

    1, I know that we need a notarised copy of the divorce decree form the notary office

    2, we also need the translator to sign a form certifying the translation.

    3, The question is do we have to have the tranlated copy notarised as well.

    The crux of the problem is that the divorce was in Lizhou, a small city whose notary office is unable to translate the document to English. We can get the document translated in Guangzhou but it would be a pain to then get the translated copy notarised back in Lizhou.

    thanks
    Jay

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