TLB

Hi folks, My wife is having a hell of a time finding facial creams in the States that don't make her face breakout and itch. We've tried pretty much everything and every brand, including those that claim they've "never" had anyone have trouble with their products. I'm starting to believe this is a problem with her skin, or adapting to changing climate (she's been here 8 months). But it's only on her face, not neck, arm, etc. Has anyone else had this experience? Is there a brand you've used that works? And failing all that, is there somewhere you go to buy Chinese facial creams in the US? Online, maybe? The one she uses is branded "Isabel" -- she doesn't like it so much, but it doesn't make her break out. The online Chinese sites claim it's French, but I can't verify that (sometimes these companies are not really foreign, and sometimes they are, but they've targeted the Chinese market and use a name just for China). thanks for your suggestions and experiences. Tim in Austin

Good riddance; discussions of what "ought" to offend people aside, this was just plain stupid.

I can only speak from my own experience: the day my wife had her interview (last September), I watched almost everyone come out (I was there early and my wife was one of the last to come out). I'd say 40-50% of the folks did not pass the interview (it's pretty easy to tell as you watch them emerge from the interview area). People find this place and ask questions hoping to help their case (or at least get as much right in the process as is possible). It's probably true that those who have trouble come back to ask more questions, so there is naturally more discussion about the cases with problems than the ones that sail through. It's probably also true that those who have had problems come here to vent as they feel that CFL members will be sympathetic (not sure if that might be some of the 'noise' you mention). I'll bet though that at least some of the long-time members are here just because they like to help other people and they like to be part of this community, whether they did or did not have a lot of problems with the interview process themselves. Oh, and not everybody does have a happy ending, no more than in anything else in life but we're trying!

They've evidently been at this awhile, but haven't gotten much traction yet... http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/17/cbsnews_investigates/main4267154.shtml I wonder if the international legal situation for this is complicated by the fact that the government that issued the bonds still exists... on Taiwan.

Hi Lane and welcome! This is one of those bureaucratic boondoggles we Americans so love to hate. You have a lot of questions in your post, and those with more experience and wisdom than I will soon begin giving you very valuable information I'm sure. What we need is some sort of new visa that's neither "temporary visitor" nor "permanent resident", or else the "perm resident" rerequirements need to relax. As I understand it, your wife would need to spend roughly half her time in the US to stay away from the possibility of having her immigrant visa rescinded. This is not exact (as in 6 months out of every year) and you could probably swing being away entirely for a year or two with good reason, but at some point the gov't is going to ask whether she's really a "permanent resident" of the US (and that's the only visa she can probably get). My wife and I are in a similar situation; she joined me here in October; I probably will retire next year and we haven't decided what we want to do or where we want to live. The original plan was for us to spend half a year in the US and half in China for as long as we could stand the travel back and forth. I don't know that I've shed any light, but welcome anyway, and there'll be others with more specific ideas and suggestions coming soon! Tim

Looks like you've been over twice; for how long and how much time between trips? And how much age difference is there? (if you don't mind the question)

Just my opinion here, but I think fewer photos of the kind that will help show bonafide relationship is better than inundating them with hundreds. You don't need to show that the marriage is real -- you have proof of that already, so I wouldn't give them lots of photos from the wedding. What they want to know is that the relationship is real, so photos of you two together, and you with your spouse's family. They will want to know that you know your spouse's family and your spouse knows yours. If you have time and can do so, open a joint account somewhere; put your spouse on your insurance as a beneficiary, etc. etc.. Oh, and include, for yourself and your spouse, patience... Good luck; this community is here for you.

I don't think it's at all clear that they're more responsible -- have you seen all the apartment buildings with no one in them? I guess we'll see in the next few years. Inflation, greater prices for their goods going out, demonstrations for more worker £ð£á£ù¡¡£­£­¡¡£é£æ¡¡£ô£è£å£ù¡¡£í£á£î£á£ç£å¡¡£ô£è£é£ó,¡¡£ô£è£å£ù¡¡£÷£é£ì£ì¡¡£ã£å£ò£ô£á£é£î£ì£ù¡¡£ç£á£é£î¡¡£á¡¡£ì£ï£ô¡¡£ï£æ¡¡£ò£å£ó£ð£å£ã£ô.

Dan is spot on, as usual. You and your wife's situation is similar to mine in the sense that we don't really know where we'll end up living either. We went the immigration route for her so she could come here for a while until I retire (maybe a year from now). I told her during not to tell the interviewing officer, if he asked why she wanted to immigrate to the US, "but I don't really want to; I'm just going there for a while and then we don't know." There really needs to be another category of visa besides "short time visitor" and "immigrant" for people who can't use the student or business visas. My wife and I just want to go back and forth as we please, with me remaining an American citizen and she retaining her Chinese citizenship; it seems that's too difficult a concept for the respective governments... If you can get a short-time visa using existing categories, that will be great; otherwise, as you know, the visas discussed here (and that you're contemplating) assume immigration and perm resident plans in the US (though you really don't have to spend the whole time in the US to satisfy the criteria). So, the process takes 8-12 months, costs some $, and if you succeed the first time, I think you have to go to the US within 6 months. That gives you almost a year and a half from now before you'd have to make that decision. If you went that route and then lost the visa due to not going to the US (or being declared a non-resident after that), I don't know if that would influence any future visitor visas. So in the end, I don't think your plan of "let's get the visa now so we'll have it if we decide later to go to the US" might not be the best approach, unless you're pretty sure spending at least half a year there on average for the foreseeable future is a good possibility.

I took a Pepto Bismol pill once a day and that helped a lot; as has been said, you can only be so careful yourself, you don't know how the food you're eating was handled. Stay away from street food, even though it can be very tempting. Western restaurants and higher-end places that cater to foreigners probably have better food-handling practices, but then eating where the locals eat is a great experience. I second the Melatonin idea, too; helps get your body straight on when to eat. Other than that, just spend lots of time in bed

Yeah, like how many Supreme Court justices there are? Thanks Gov Perry

haven't you noticed all the public sector layoffs? You're lucky there's anyone there! B)

Don't assume that her Chinese drivers license won't qualify her to drive in the U.S. -- each state has its own rules. You might want to check, and then not tell her if she is allowed to drive here...

Look at chinesepod.com -- you can do this pretty cheaply (a few bucks a month) if you're disciplined enough to really work at it every day. You can also pay more and have a phone call lesson if you want. I've done both and they were worth it. I second the idea of a structured class in person if you can find it, or a personal tutor, but the latter would probably be pricey. If you live anywhere near Chinese students, maybe offer to barter English lessons for Chinese.

Fort Worth has great museums if that's of interest to you: Amon Carter for American art (especially Wild West art), and the Kimbell is one of the fine art gems of the country, IMO. Also, if you want her to experience a C&W club (large honky-tonk style) go to Billy Bob's. https://www.kimbellart.org/index.aspx http://www.cartermuseum.org/ http://www.billybobsdfw.com/lp/billy_bobs_texas