MarkLuvsShuPing

Thanks to everyone who came to our little get-together. It was a blast! ShuPing and I got there about an hour before everyone else did. We had nothing else to do after ShuPing got her visa. I took advantage of the 2-for-1 TsingTao drafts while we waited and was feeling pretty good by the time 5:30 rolled around. Contrary to Mike's previous statement, I don't have pictures to post, but I am going to set up a posting in the gallery for Mike and Mike to post their pics. I'll throw in a couple of pics from our dinner with Lowell and Jun, but it's up to those who remembered to bring the cameras to post the pics. Mark, I'm really glad Ling was able to come, it was really nice to meet her and see her pictures. Yvette, I'm also happy you decided to come by. I know Lucy's probably isn't your favorite restaurant, and work kept you late, but you made it. It was great to meet you. Same with everyone else, it was really wonderful to see you guys there. I hope we can all meet over here soon. ShuPing said everyone was very kind and warm, and that's her stamp of approval.

Yikes!! Well nothing as bad as all that, but I do have some fun stuff to tell you about my "not-so-good" luck. It'll have to wait though. Suffice it to say that we arrived in Denver today, tired but in one piece. I feel really bad for ShuPing, she developed a cough and sniffles and it only got worse as we travelled. Now, on top of being pregnant, she's suffering with a chest cold and jet-lag. I could tell she was happy to be here, but she looked like she'd been run through the ringer. She's now laying in her new bed, sleeping soundly. I'm going to type one more message, set up a download and hit the hay myself. Though I don't think she'll even know I'm not there, I'll know. Thanks to all my CFL friends and family, again, we couldn't have done it without you.

Not a Cheeto in sight around here. Anyone know where I can find a Cheeto?

Thanks everybody, even you , ahem, Liberal leaning individuals. Good wishes are good no matter which side of the aisle they come from. I screwed up! I left the hotel this morning without my camera, so I hope everyone coming to the get together will bring one. Actually, ShuPing didn't tell me her plans today, so I didn't make proper plans myself. Now, we're half way across town and I have an on-line test to do and we're not going back to the hotel before she goes to get her visa, so I may have to buy a disposable camera. In either case, I'll update the visa report later.

Cory, Call us and we'll hang around after 7, if you can make it. I'll send ShuPing's cell number, can't remember if you have it, but I'll send it again. As far as Lucy's goes, I've never been there, but it's all I had to go on. Where were you when I was asking for suggestions? No problem, if you want, we can ask everyone if they want to move when you get there. I'm all for bar hopping.

Well, I'm glad I vented. It seems to have created a decent discussion. I want to throw out a caveat. Yeah, China has been a bit uncomfortable, (this time around it's the cold and the bed, as always) but I do greatly appreciate many things about it. My wife is a remarkable person and her family reminded me a lot of my old, southern family. "Y'all come back now, ya hear?", was just as meaningful in Chinese as it was with a Georgia accent. Very few people have given me an ugly face in China, I can't say the same about Americans toward Chinese visitors. The differences between East and West make th relationship that much more rich. Yeah, I was cranky when I wrote the original post, but I love my wife and her homeland is where she comes from and reflects in her what I fell in love with. That "Mao Menality" is tough, perserverance through hardship, or a better life comes through hardship, either way, it is true. Nietze said the same thing - That which does not kill us, only makes us stronger. Americans have gotten soft, used to comforts that our forefathers suffered to provide for us. Maybe the Chinese hold on to these things a little longer out of respect for their ancestors. Maybe we could learn a little respect ourselves.

Alright. For everyone in GZ on Monday. We'll meet at Lucy's at 5:30 Monday night. I hope everyone will be there. If you need info on where it's at or need to call me, PM me and I'll give you our telephone number. Bring your cameras and happy faces, we'll be wearing a smile no matter what happens on Monday (we'd better have a visa in hand or I'll be looking to open some cans of Whoopass). Lele, if Rong is still here, we expect to see her and her parents.

Curse on you Carl! May the wind of a thousand camels blow directly in your face! Fred Mertz is an apt discription, pfkops. No matter how cheap I try to do things, it always seems to cost me more. We are going to suck it up and fly together. $800 for some togetherness and assurance that she won't get waylaid or have further problems is worth it. Otherwise we're paying $600 for uncertainty and stress and lord knows what all. Not to mention her 5 suitcases. We plan to buy a larger suitcase to cram the contents of 2 broken ones in bringing us to 4 suitcases and 3 carry-ons. If we don't go together, there's no way my pregnant wife would ever make it through 4 different airplanes in 3 different cities without some major trauma. So fear not my CFL family, we'll just keep on perservering. Spoke with Lowell this morning and he's feeling better. Trying to get out of China ASAP and hopes to be gone tonight. His words were, "I've had about enough of China for now". They may be stuck here until Friday if he can't get the tickets changed up. Lucy's it is. For all you folks here in GZ, Lucy's at 5:30 on Monday. I'll post it on the GZ hookup thread too.

I'm looking forward to it, Mike.

Congratulations Jason and Rong! I know it's a great relief for all concerned. I hope Rong and her parents will join us for dinner Monday night. I expect to be celebrating myself.

Lucy's huh? Is that just a bar or do they serve food there? Is there a restaurant next to it, if they don't serve food? This get together planning is tough when you don't know where anything is. We aren't staying on the island, so I have very little knowledge of what's there. Update on the ticket thing... I talked to United and they will sell us a one way ticket for something over $800, same flight, just more money. Not only do I get to pay twice, I get to pay more. On our way out of the consulate, we were handed a flier from a local travel agent. She can get a flight from here to Denver leaving the day before me and arriving at about the same time. The only problem is she has about 4 lay-overs on the way. It'll cost about $650. Plenty can go wrong, but it looks like the only route left to us. ShangHai was cheaper, about $500, but when you add in the train fare, taxis etc. to get there, it comes out to about the same as flying out of GZ. I still want to appeal to United that my wife will fly, but not on their airline, because their competitors can get her there cheaper. They've already screwed me once and if it weren't for the mega milage I've racked up with them, I would probably not fly with them again, just out of principal. (I know, I know, it was my screw up, not really theirs. Still....) Thank you to all our supporters, namely, everyone on CFL. It feels great to get over this hump. I couldn't have done it without CFL. Oh, Kim and Hypo, NWA wouldn't do jack for us. I think my Conservative honor is in tact. Thanks anyway. Another side note. I got a call from Lowell (maxmilagro) tonight. Seems he ate something that made him very sick last night. He's trying to get home ASAP. Let's keep him in our thoughts, prayers, etc. They've had a tough time here and deserve much better. I'm still working on the place for the Get-Together. I'll let you know tomorrow for sure.

WE GOT IT!!!!!!!!!! ShuPing got out about 11:15 with the white slip. The VO asked a few questions the most difficult was how long I had been apart from my ex when she and I met. ShuPing said "I don't remember", the VO said, "No problem". Some questions about my son and his pictures. How long we knew each other before we got married. She goes back Monday afternoon at 4:00 for the visa. Barring another white slip renig, she should be ready to go. Now, about that airplane ticket....

I'm sitting in an internet cafe/Starbucks waiting for my wife to come out of her interview... and freezing my a** off. It has been cold in GZ since I got here, yesterday was a brief exception when the sun poked out for a few hours. That's OK, I live in Denver, I can handle cold weather, but I am used to being able to enter a building and warm up. Not in China! Nooooooo! In China, they keep the doors and windows open so the friggin' (usually polluted) air can blow through and freshen things up. Bullsh**! I'd rather take a chance that I'll catch colds and flu and breathe in dust mites galore than keep wiping my cold, runny nose and shivering because I didn't bring my ski mask and long johns to a semi-tropical climate. And WTF is up with laying on bricks?!!!!! I toss and turn at night because the part of my body that's against the "mattress" has become numb from a lack of circulation. I know I've seen foam rubber around here, how about a little extra padding on the flippin' beds? I remember last summer was sweltering heat, but could I find a damn AC anywhere in the country?!!!! Hell no! OK, so they had a little cooling machine that blew cold air. The ratio of coolers to square feet was about 1:5000 sq'. How about some hot water too? I got a hotel room with about a 10 gallon hot water heater in it. Don't forget to turn it off once you've drained the sorry little bastard of all it's heat. Wouldn't want to use more gas than is absolutely necessary, oh, except when you drive your carbon monoxide leaking, fuel inefficient car through the jammed up city streets. Is it me or do the Chinese seem to get off on self abuse and living a life of hardship? Can I dub that the "Mao Mentality"? Or is it that we Americans are soft? We obsess with comfort and convenience to our detriment?

Sounds like a generic answer. They're giving you the line about it takes 60 to 120 days for GZ to get it once NVC sends it to them. In other words, they haven't checked on it, they're blowing you off. Either she's not in the system yet or they didn't even bother to check it for you. At least that's my take on it.

That may be in order if we get a blue slip today. OK... it'll be in order when she comes through with the white slip too.

A slight update. We'll meet at 5:30 on the 7th, but I'm not sure about the location. I'll post it as soon as we decide on a place. So far we've met Wayne and Jiejun - (olmanoman1950) and Lowell and Jun (Maxmilagro). Both very nice couples and a pleasure to meet. Lowell and Jun have headed off for parts unknown, but hopefully Wayne and Jiejun will have dinner with us.

Hey Cory, We'll meet on the 7th at 5:30, but I'm still not sure about a place. I was hoping you had a suggestion.

I'd be more than willing to write a letter once my wife and I are back in the States. My case was expedited due to ShuPing's pregnancy so I can't cry too loudly, but I have been waiting 10 months for this day, much less than others, but still a considerable time when we were just waiting for some paperwork to get completed. Irregardless, I have watched others suffer through this wait and felt the pain in their words. Sure, the children are important, but I agree with the others who question the priority. Adoption can't be any more important than uniting a family that's already established. The issue that seems the easiest to correct and effected me the greatest is that GZ is the only consulate that does this. It would've saved me and my wife a load of trouble and money if she could've gone to one of the northern consulates. Dear Mata... er um, Maura, There are lots of ways to streamline the current processes and also increase immigration in the ways you want. Log on to CFL for lots of ideas. Sincerely, (My actual letter will be bigger, I promise.)

Thanks everyone. I'm going to try to contact United to see what they can offer me by way of consolation, but we also met a girl in line this morning (more in a sec) who can maybe get us tickets from ShangHai for $550. I'm sitting in Blenz at the moment, waiting for ShuPing. We were up at 4 AM, well, she was awake, I soon became so. We left at 5:15 and took the jet taxi express to Shamian. We were in line by 5:30, first by far. About 6:30 there were 25 people in line, by 7:00, 30 -35. The only other American there was a kid from Colorado, hmmmm. We talked for a few minutes and found that his girlfriend had connections to get tickets cheap. They hadn't bought theirs yet, so I have some hope. I've still got a few things to check out, namely United and Lele's connection, but I think I have time to burn here. I'll keep everyone informed about what's going on. Thanks again Jim. I know I've read about the round trip thing before, but it was one of my ADD moments.

Jenny, you are a rock star!!! Good work! I think it will do some good, but maybe not right away. Even if it doesn't, you were there and you made her listen, that is just great. One question.... did you call her Mata Hari?

A quick update so far. The drama continues. I got the fax from the bank and it looks good. I didn't get the fax from work. I found out that my boss faxed it, but I never got it. I've tried to get in touch with her, but can only leave voice mail and work e-mail. So, we'll go to the interview without it. If the VO needs it, I'm sure it'll be on the way Friday. It just hit me, with the change in procedure at the Consulate, we could still get the fax before she has to see the VO. Hooray for little victories. Anyway, this has become the least of our worries. I booked 2 round trip tickets from Cheap Tickets for this trip, expecting to take my wife home on the second leg of the trip. ShuPing had some concerns about using her married name for the ticket when her maiden name is on her passport. So I sent an e-mail to Cheap Tickets to ask if this would be a problem. Today I checked the e-mail and was informed that since she didn't check-in in Denver, her ticket was "suspended" (what they really meant is cancelled). I've lost the money I paid for the ticket and she has no ticket to come back with me. I'm currently trying to get clarification from them about why - I'll post the series of e-mails when the smoke clears. I'm pretty sure I can borrow the money to get her a ticket, though it probably won't be with me or on the same day. Now I can see how they can sell tickets so cheap (not the cheapest though), they screw the people who don't bother to read the fine print on their contract. So now I'm hoping I can book a fligh fo her leaving the same day as I am. Any suggestions? Comments? Mild reprimands?

Great news for you guys! I'm really glad it worked out for you. Care if we join you for dinner? I'm hoping we'll be celebrating tomorrow. ShuPing tried to call you guys, but no answer.

That's funny right there. Hey Steve, did I just pass you at the Consulate? I went to get my I-134 notoraized and now we are in a net bar near the medical records hospital place. ShuPing told me that they want the medical and biometrics records first and then come back to talk to the VO in the afternoon. I said, no, I don't think that's right. Once again, my LaoPo is right and I am wrong.

I just had to teach ShuPing what it means to ask someone this. I'll coach her a little more and when she gets done with that VO, he/she won't know what hit them.

Sorry on the lateness of the arrangements, but I've been busy with some other issues. Let's plan on the evening of March 7th. We'll know about our visa and I think the most people will still be here to get together. Not sure where to eat, but if anyone has any suggestions, let me know. Also, PM me if you need our telephone number. Yes, Nanning Get Together II, I hope we'll see everyone who's here, there.