credzba

Thanks for posting Randy.. Makes me a little sad .. lonely, missing life in China. My wife and I talk about how bad the pollution is there, and how we're so much healthier here .... However, when it is New Years in China, or I see the pictures you post I certainly think perhaps the pollution isn't bad enough to keep us away.

Chinesepod has teachers you can pay to speak with you and teach you over the phone.

I guess its too late now, but for others reading this I suggest backup to the cloud. It isn't that expensive, and it doesn't ever break.

I know one year the information came from databases that hackers stole, then published. My userid / pw happened to be in the stolen set is how I knew of it.

After review with the family, it is just not worth the time/trouble. We'll all move to some other country.

Thanks that is what I needed to know.

My wife and I have been in America 6 years, and we, like many others, are concerned for our extended Chinese family with the pollution there. My wife does not want to become a citizen, at least not yet, but we would like to get our extended family applications for immigration in the queue. Is it a reasonable strategy to go ahead and apply for their immigration process, even though my wife is only a permanent resident, and then when she becomes a citizen will her family jump to their place in the citizenship family queue ? Would it be better if she became a citizen before applying? My niece is 12, I am thinking that if we applied now, and they made it over before she turned 21, she could come on their visa, otherwise she would have to get applied for by them, potentially many more years. Anyone thought this through, and have a good strategy?

To you yearning masses, we open our coffers (for your deposits). Eat and drink of the sweet milk of our democratic government that you too may become intoxicated by its taste.

We do exactly what Randy is saying for my wife's China phone number. We put enough yuan in the account to cover the minimum monthly fee while we are gone, and that way it never lapses. If we think its getting too low, we ask a friend in china to go put more into it, and we repay them. It isn't big money, I want to say maybe 40 yuan a month on our plan ? Maybe less, not much at any rate.

hmm .. and I am usually the downer guy So, I'll go the other way .. her dad could be sick, pollution is bad, he is old who knows ? I'll tell you a story I experienced ... 1) We had chatted on email a while, but she didn't know how to set up chat. 2) She told me she was out shopping and bought me a necklace with her whole paycheck, but it got stolen before she could get home 3) Then she had to be away from contact for a while. Did she want money, should I run away ? Well, in fact she is my wife of almost 7 years now SHE DID spend her whole paycheck to buy me a necklace before we ever met. SHE DID get robbed. She bought me another one and I wear it to this day. The problem is you can not tell. Dennis's story could have ended differently, or maybe it was a setup .. no one knows. There are bad people out there, there are also good people. My wife and I often tell each other how lucky we were, because we both went into our relationship 100%, but blind and ignorant at the same time. I think wait it out. If your the backup guy, well there are lots of other women. If her dad is sick, you should be sympathetic.

windows file manager will let you expand partitions. control panel -> administrative tools computer management storage disk management Then right click on partition that has extra area and you can expand it

Many of us who want to retire in China have considered medical choices. In my investigation I found that Thailand has excellent America level hospitals, and the cost is cheap enough that your cost without insurance wont be insurmountable. I have not checked any more than that, but it is a consideration.

One of my children was stopped for dui. He was arrested. After that, he and I both have read what people should do when interacting with police. It is unfortunate that not knowing the proper behaviour can result in an arrest, but it is a fact in the country where we live. Being innocent is not enough. There are many many incidents where people are detained or arrested for things that would not have happened had they known the law, and followed the proper procedures. The web page provided dealt mostly with being pulled over, but there are similar instances with a police visit to your house. Everyone thinks that because they obey the law, they have nothing to hide, so knowing and claiming your rights is a non-issue. It is not true. On a theoretical level, any right you don't claim, you loose. Thus, every time you allow your rights to be violated, you have freely given up that right. On a more practical level, you may not KNOW you have done something illegal. Perhaps you pull your back out, and a friend gives you some pain killers he had left over from when it happened to him.. How many years would you stay in jail, and afterward have a record of felony possession of a controlled substance ? I am not an alarmist, or a civil rights fanatic, but I do believe with all my heart that each and every one of us has a duty to uphold the constitution, and the bill of rights. Be respectful in all interactions with police, but know how to keep the rights given to you by the laws of our country, and ensure your rights are maintained for the good of everyone in this country. Its your civil duty.

The little girl was cuter.

OOH.. just tried memrise .. I like it . Thanks for link!

It is not just the Taiwanese, but the mainland Chinese who had educated parents and grandparents suffered too. My wifes grandfather died this year, but I was fortunate to get to speak with him while he lived. He could speak some English, he learned while fighting along side the Americans to get the Japanese out of China. He suffered in Mao's prison for the crime of being educated. The real reason mainland people do not hate Mao (and his criminal wife) is because those that suffered, endured and do not speak of the crimes committed against the country. History in China is written to hide the terrible consequences of Mao's decisions. I will accept that Mandarin as a general language for the country was his idea, and was a good one. I will also acknowledge that giving women equal status was his doing, though his reason was to force them into labor, not to give them rights. Mao almost destroyed the country, millions starved because of his poor decisions, and he certainly set it back many years. The nationalists, though, did almost nothing to push the Japanese out, and without the Russians, and Mao as their figurehead, China might be a Japanese colony today. Anyway, enough of my fanatical views. I love the people of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China. The perversity of the governments that rule these people are probably no worse than those that rule USA. We all see our lives through the lenses provided by our governments.

Last trip I put up 2 light fixtures, but I didn't have a hammer drill to do it properly. This next trip there is a hammer drill in my suitcase !

I send everything usps, once it got there missing an item, but usually it did arrive. The import people sometimes held items and made our cousin come pay an import duty. If I sent it regular mail, it took over a month. If I send it priority (or whatever its called) it gets there in about 2-3 weeks.

Todd .. What nuworld said .. If you are thinking about the internet, you are missing the best part of the trip.

I agree with Dennis, learning a few useful phrases is more useful that trying to become literate. You would be surprised how few you need, and people will be happy you tried. hello (obviously) thank you. how much ( too much ) know your numbers so you can make change and understand cost. nice to meet you (again) The first phrase I learned (out of necessity) was I want to buy 1 ticket to Suzhou. So think ahead what you might need to be able to say to get from airport to your sweeties side.

I tried pimsleur, went through 30 cds, or whatever the set is, and at the end I knew phrases, but nothing I could use. I tried Rosetta, but only the trial, and I liked the approach, but I didn't learn well that way. I tried Chinesepod, and I really liked it, and probably learned a lot listening and practicing in the car, but I never advanced much. Finally I bought a book on writing characters, and I learned the characters and the vocabulary, but it only helps me when I hear those words to understand some snipit of the conversation. I think I am just a failure at learning. I have a new plan though, I am trying to get my wife to use chinese words in sentences. Once i learn a chinese word for something, I just keep using it instead of the english word. I don't know if this will work, or maybe i am just brain dead. My suggestion is try Chinesepod. If your disciplined, I think it will be the best choice, and if your not disciplined, you may end up a Mandarin failure like myself.

I looked into it a earlier this year, because I wanted a higher speed connection, and it required a modem upgrade. TimeWarner is only 3$ a month rental. The modem cost just over 100$. For me thats a 3 year payback, and in 3 years I am sure I'll want a new faster modem. So, I rent.

May we all be so lucky to live life to it fullest the one time around we have.

Curious minds want to know Randy, so update the thread when you find the details. Also, I will be curious how the wife's benefits work out. I have read, called in and asked, and done everything I can to understand spousal benefits, but after that I still don't believe it. My wife doesn't want to be US citizen, but we worry that somehow her benefits will be impacted if she doesn't.

Very bad. Can you please be certain that is what is going on? If certain, I will go close my b of a account. The only reason I kept it was for this benefit. Edit: Given Randy's information I called and checked my Schwab account. They will refund any domestic or foreign fees I incur. They have no foreign use, or currency conversion fees. Looks like my next trip will be with my Schwab card.