Zhen's Tiger

Eclectic

Right, I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I read: "I am generally one of the most accepting and laid back people you will ever meet in your life time"...

This is me buggering off then...

Well, we're not trying to give her money or a place to stay. From what she has said, she wants to be able to support herself & son. All she has asked is to find out how to pursue the Green Card & Work Permit without his help. If you'd like to PM me & explain what you've done for her that she did not appreciate, that would be great, but we'd like to be able to give her the answers to her questions if possible.

The people on 001 asked if anyone in the Jersey area could help this woman, so Zhen & I have been talking to her. It's a little difficult to understand 100% (her English is fine, its just she cries so much) but from what I can gather, her husband has left her & her son to fend for themselves. They have an apartment until the end of this month, she is working until the end of this month, after that she will be out of luck. She wants to know how/if she can apply for the Green Card & Work Permit on her own if necessary? I'm not positive, but I think she said her husband had filled out both applications & had her sign them, but she didn't know if he ever sent them in... {there were posts by him [profpsy?] at one time on this site where I believe he said he wasn't going to send them, but I can't find them now} anyway... If he did send them, she has never received anything in the mail about them. If he did not send them, she wants to try to do them herself. Her 2 main questions are: 1) If they were filed, what should she do to see their statuses? Keep in mind she has no receipt numbers... 2) If they were not filed, can she do so herself & how? I believe the husband needs to send them in, correct? But she entered the relationship in good faith & now he's split... Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated, thanks much in advance. Steve & Zhen

Congratulations & good luck!!

Congratulations, Lee!! Very happy for you and your family!

Congratulations Bing & Carl!! Great News!

You got that right! And then do yourself another favor and make an Image of her PC once it's setup perfectly with any/all Apps she's using with something like 'Ghost' ($$) or if you're Linux savvy 'dd' (free) and when the PC implodes, all you have to do is re-image the PC using your backup. It'll be back up in no time!

You should be OK with them in Checked Baggage. When we went to Jiu Zhai Gou on a tour, I bought some beautiful knives, with horse carvings on the handles, etc., really nice work. Zhen was fine with me getting them, but as I was buying them the Tour Guide (maybe half my age ) decides in his infinite wisdom that I should not buy them as I wouldn't be able to get them home... after he couldn't convince me that I shouldn't get them, he started working Zhen, which really pissed me off. Don't start a fight between me & my wife when it's none of your business to begin with! Anyway, I still bought them & they were fine in my Checked luggage on the flight back to Guangzhou as well as the flight out to the US. I rubbed it in his face in the Guangzhou airport... I don't think he liked me much after that! They look great on display at the house now!

As Clayton mentions; it's something you download that's akin to a ring tone, but it plays on the callers side instead of the dialing sound. It is not a busy signal, the phone is ringing, but the person you are calling doesn't hear it in time & then you get the message similar to what you're hearing.

Congratulations, Griz - great news!!

Some of the places you mention are only accessible via air or train, so if you don't want to spend all your time traveling you might consider Hong Kong (if she's able to go there), Guangzhou or Hainan. All 3 are close to Shenzhen and would be great places to visit. Also, if you're interested, there's a nice Amusement Park in Shenzhen we went to with some friends of Zhen's - we had a great time there & it was cheap and a lot of fun! I'm sure you'll have a blast no matter where you go - enjoy!

Ken88 -- OK, First Breakfast -- and NOW communication? Ok, a little suggestion --- start learning Chinese. Then you can bring up the fairness issue --- she must learn English....You can meet in the middel. My gal and I -- speak half Chines and half English ---- I never really notice which language is being used...UNTIL I GET CORRECTED for having my "subject & time" in the wrong sentence location. I must own 50 Chinese books -- from Mandarin for Dummies...to an intense Harvard Mandarin Grammar Book. Nothing is easy --- but after a year plus of Putonghua --- I think it is much easier than learning English...no plurality, no tenses, no conjugation of verbs, simple negative-positive structures...and an intense desire to balance and abbreviate ever conversation. Time for you to start studying -- and cooking breakfast! (Sorry to be firm...but that's what old men try to do) It's commendable that you've learned Chinese to enable you to communicate with you wife. However, if any Chinese wife (or husband) want to have a successful transistion to a life in America they will need to learn English. I find it rather curious for anyone (on either end of the relationship) to not accept this reality and the importance of learning English. I have to agree with Dennis on this one. While I am also learning Cantonese & a little Mandarin, it is so I can communicate with her friends & family when we visit more than anything else. If your wife hopes to have any kind of successful, happy life in the US, English is a necessity. Just imagine your life if you lived in China with no way to communicate... I would really try to get her to change her point of view on this!

Congratulations!! Family photos definately do help if you have them!

Thanks everyone! She understands it perfectly now, I appreciate the help.

Does anyone know if there's a Chinese word for 'Craps'? Zhen's seen it in person in A.C. & I've refreshed her memory with images from the Internet, but translation does not work & she wants to know what it means... Anyone know if there's a valid translation? Thanks.

Every single one of my wife's adult male relatives smoke and none of her female relatives smoke. (at least not publicly) It's a cultural phenomenon. Yep I'll add that in all the time I've spent there, I've only ever met one male who didn't smoke - only one!! haha

That's awesome news, Roger!! My heartfelt congratulations to you, your wife & daughter!! Never was a doubt in my mind though! Congratulations!!

CONGRATULATIONS Rob & Jin!!!!

I wonder about the possibility of us (USCs) joining one of these tours...? Meaning, could we meet up with them wherever the tour was going & tour along with them? Understanding how hard it is for them to get single Visas to visit us, if it were easier to get one if they were in a Group... I understand they couldn't go off on their own to stay with us, but could we go with them? Sure, they wouldn't get to see our homes, but they could visit the US & we could be with them (if it were possible to join them, that is)... I'm curiously hopeful, but doubtful.

Great news!! CONGRATULATIONS, Ron & Ivy!!

41K a year in China is a kings ransom. I did see that, but wasn't really putting it into perspective... that salary for that position is low for USA wages, but you are correct - in China that is a pretty good penny. I'd work for that if I didn't have to live in GUZ. Funny, to me that is one of the perks! To each his own.

We liked 'The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (Yi ma de hou xian dai sheng huo)' a lot. It's different than many movies I've seen and makes you think about how tough some people have it. Also, it stars Chow Yun-Fat in a very non-traditional role for him, I'd definately recommend it.

41K a year in China is a kings ransom. I did see that, but wasn't really putting it into perspective... that salary for that position is low for USA wages, but you are correct - in China that is a pretty good penny.