frank1538

Great idea. Thanks for the tip.

I think Jingwen bought a Besta (CD-57?), and she paid about 1500 RMB for it in Zhanjiang. It has a pretty good handwriting recognition function. Either the software is good or her penmanship is. Lately, she said she has been having problems with the LCD. It's been in the shop a couple of times, but she still has odd characters popping up from time to time. Because of the problems, Jingwen does not recommend it. I don't know if this model is still available, but Besta is supposed to be a good translator despite the display glitches.

I don't remember the make and model, but I'll ask Jingwen when I talk with her tonight. I like CQuickTrans a lot. Not only does it help me with the grammar and pronunciation, but it also copies to the clipboard in a format that lets me paste the Chinese characters to Yahoo I/M. If I try to copy directly from my Chinese translation software to Yahoo, I get nothing but question marks. Jingwen lives in Zhanjiang (Guangdong) where the local language is more like Cantonese than Mandarin. I speak a little Zhanjianghua now, but I keep trying to tell Jingwen that it's better for me to learn one language at a time. Fortunately, she also speaks putonghua. Just wait till she comes to Atlanta. She'll have a helluva time learning Southern English after all her practice with the king's English. "Excuse me, where is the WC?"

We both have pocket translators, although Jingwen's is much more sophisticated than mine. Hers even contains slang expressions like "bulls**t". Mine is supposed to have a 50,000 word dictionary, but more times than not, I can't find the word I'm looking for. But, the phrase function is so useful. I can't wait to tell someone that I have menstrual cramps and need to go to the pharmacy. One feature I like is the ability to display both pinyin and hanzi, so, even if I cannot correctly pronounce the word, I can show the Chinese characters. The voice feature is not that good, so having the hanzi is helpful.

When I first started writing to Jingwen, I wanted to try my hand at Chinese. I did a lot of research and bought some software to help in the endeavor. She was very appreciative that I would try to use her native language since, at the time, she spoke no English at all (well, other than ok and bye bye). After a few letters, she begged me to write in English. Apparently, it was easier for her to translate my English than to translate what I was taking for Chinese. I knew all along that machine translation of English to Chinese is notoriously bad, but I figured that she at least would get the gist. Boy, was I wrong. We speak more Chinglish these days, but I still use the software. I have learned to be careful how I phrase my input and if I spell incorrectly, I find myself saying ¡°I¡¯m goo¡± rather than ¡°I¡¯m good¡± (the damn software has ¡°goo¡± in its dictionary). Some of the more memorable translations include: ¡°My government is sometimes stupid¡± ¨C translation: ¡°Sometimes my government is a bird brain¡±. ¡°I¡¯m fine¡± ¨C translation: ¡°I¡¯m a penal sum¡±. ¡°It¡¯s raining cats and dogs¡± ¨C translation: Actually, I was surprised that the software came up with ¡°It¡¯s raining in torrents¡±. ¡°I like the VCD¡±. Since the software translated DVD correctly, I assumed the translation for VCD was correct too¡­wrong: ¡°I like the variable electric capacity diode.¡± Still don¡¯t know what the heck this is. ¡°I can¡± translates to ¡°I am able¡±, but ¡°I do not know if I can¡± translates to ¡°I do not know if my jar¡±. What the heck? ¡°still¡± comes out as ¡°yet¡± or ¡°stationary¡± depending on the usage. Conversational Chinese seems a bit easier for me, particularly when I¡¯m in China. The ear, if not the tongue, becomes better attuned, but I still get those funny stares. Now, what¡¯s the correct pronunciation for ¡°ma¡± (mom, not horse or toad)?

My fiancee, Jingwen, and her two teenaged kids live with her mom and dad. At one time, I think they had a washing machine. When I would go to visit with two week supply of underwear, I didn't realize that I really only needed maybe one or two pair of anything. Everything got washed amost daily. One day, Jingwen asked me if it would be okay to buy a washing machine. I said of course. I think it ran about 600 RMB. With five people living in the apartment, I figured it would be a good ol heavy duty, but when I later went to visit again, I saw this little "device" tucked away in the corner of the kitchen. Very interesting indeed - a mini washer. I asked her if she thought it was big enough for all the clothes. She said "of course". Little did I know that she would still be washing clothes almost daily. Some habits are hard to break, so I guess a small washing machine fit the bill. I might add that it seemed to be very efficient - very little water useage. Of course, the clothes are still hung to dry. Should I put up a clothes line when she comes? Maybe the dryer can be used for storage. A quick inventory of appliances and devices in Zhanjiang: washing machine - check dryer - check - the clothes lines variety microwave - huh? dishwasher - check - the human variety vacuum clearner - check, the human variety TV - of course telephones - check check check check check and check - more cell phones than I'll ever need. room air conditioner - check - wish we had these types in the US hot water tank - check (no tank) - the instant on kind is the best I've seen

Just curious how you swung $1.50 per ATM. Mine used to be $1.50. Since August 1st, it's gone up to $2.00. I am doing the exact same thing as you, using Bank of America with two checking accounts.

I have been archiving my Yahoo on-line chats with Jingwen since we spend more time doing this than sending emails and talking on the phone. I was curious if the group thinks is worthwhile. The text files that are created only show the time, but not the date. The file, of course, is dated when it is saved. Also, I suspect that I will want to edit some of these files if Jingwen takes them to the interview - way too many intimate details sometimes.

Funny, how moms are able to do this. I have encountered the same, but I do not join Jingwen's mom when she does her thing. I suspect it's because I'm a westerner or possibly it's because I haven't done business with the money changers. Anyway, she gets all but .02 yuan of the official exchange rate, say 8.25 yuan rather than 8.27 - must be the handling charge. I still find the ATM method to be the most convenient. The exchange rate haircut is about .10 yuan, say 8.17 vs. 8.27, but I have never seen anyone get the official exchange rate on anything, and the bank fee is $2.00 per transaction. Overall, the convenience of the ATM is best for Jingwen. I might add that "convenience" is a relative term in Zhanjiang, where Jingwen lives. ATM's are very convenient .....when they work.

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These are very good questions, and I sent them (English and Chinese) to Jingwen. She asked me what I thought was a very good question. How would the consulate know if the answers to some of the questions were correct or not? (favorite color, music, food, car, etc.). I said, for these types of questions, that it probably did not really make a difference if the consulate knew what the answers should be, although, if asked, she should give the correct answer. I also said that the answer, ifself, might not be as important as the way the question was answered. The interviewer might be looking for a reaction that would suggest a lack of a relationship. I might add that Jingwen is scared stiff about the interview. I keep reassuring her that all will be well, just relax and answer the questions honestly. When she travels to Guangzhou for the interview, her "book" will probably weigh more than she does, so I'm not worried about proving anything. Do busses charge for excess baggage?

I ran across a post on another board where the individual fiancee's namecheck went through NVC in 44 days. His NOA 2 was June 24th, and the the notice that the application was forwarded to Guangzhou was dated August 7th. This seems pretty fast for a Chinese fiancee. Makes me want to call the NVC more regularly, since my NOA2 date is only a couple of weeks behind his. Maybe the namecheck process is getting better.

Just a comment about DCF in Malaysia. Here is some correspondence between the Enbassy and me that led me to believe that DCF was not an option for me since I was not a resident of the country. Maybe I asked the wrong questions. From: ******** Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2003 9:44 AM To: Klconsular@state.gov Subject: Immigrant Visa for Spouse My fiancee is a Chinese citizen, and I am a US citizen residing in the US. My fiancee is thinking about taking a trip to Malysia later this year, and I was thinking about surprising her while she was in Kuala Lumpur. If things go as I might hope, we might get married during her visit. While I have not checked Malaysian law on legal marriages between two non residents of the country, I wanted to know, if we got married while in Kuala Lumpur, whether we could apply to the Embassy for a visa for her to immigrate to the United States. If so, could you provide me with the details for obtaining such a visa or direct me on where I might find such information. Thank you. ******** "U. S. Embassy, Malaysia" <KLConsular@state.gov> wrote: Regret to advise that since we are not the immigration service, we can only accept clearly approvable cases for residents in this consular district. IV Unit Kuala Lumpur From: ******** Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2003 7:51 PM To: U. S. Embassy, Malaysia Subject: RE: Immigrant Visa for Spouse Thank you for your response. Yes, I understand that the Embassy is not the immigration service, but I also understand that the Embassy still permists direct consular filing. I am trying to confirm this and better understand the circumstances under which it is permitted. Any additional information would be appreciated. Thank you. ******** "U. S. Embassy, Malaysia" <KLConsular@state.gov> wrote: We can provide direct consular processing for clearly approvable cases for residents of this consular district. Since neither you nor your wife is a resident in Malaysia, we will advise that you either file a petition for her in her home country or you may approach the nearest INS office in the States in order to file the petition. For the second alternative, once the petition has been approved, the file will be sent to her home country for direct consular processing. IV Unit Kuala Lumpur From: ********** Sent: Friday, June 13, 2003 8:47 PM To: U. S. Embassy, Malaysia Subject: RE: Immigrant Visa for Spouse Thank you very much for the information, and I appreciate the prompt response provided by the embassy. ******** "U. S. Embassy, Malaysia" <KLConsular@state.gov> wrote: You are most welcome. IV Unit Kuala Lumpur

I guess I am what you would call a lurker while I wait for NVC to do the name check, but I did want to throw in a point about Yahoo and Chinese characters. Of course, Jingwen doesn't have a problem with sending Chinese characters via her Chinese version of Yahoo. What I have had to do when sending Chinese instant messages to her is to first copy the sentence to a little program called Cquick. From there, I can copy to Yahoo. It takes an extra step to do the copying, but it also has the advantage of giving the English translation for the words I type in Chinese. I find this very useful, given my limited writing skills. If your interested, the website is www.coolest.com