MarkLuvsShuPing

Yep, Trigg, you da man! We missed you, glad to see you back.

I can't remember if I mentioned this one or not, but if so, I'll repeat. "The baby come out" = the baby is born "I am trouble" = I am pregnant "Lost the baby" = an abortion (not that we were thinking about abortion, but it was/is a concern because many times it is the primary treatment prescribed for any type of complication in the pregnancy) Example: "If the woman is trouble and the baby head is wrong (possible mental disability), the doctor said she must lost the baby". Word of advise to any prospective fathers who's SO's are still in China, get them here ASAP.

I've heard the "This is China" statement a lot, but also "Welcome to China" when someone talks to her on the phone or web cam from over here. I liked to use "Welcome to China" when I was there and something negative or uncomfortable happened. For example, in a traffic jam, "Welcome to China". To which ShuPing might reply, 'This is China". Yeah, I know.

Ahhhhh, I remember my 10th blue thingie, I was so proud. Enjoy it Robert. Just in case anyone is interested, I'm less than 200 posts away from passing Clifford to move into 7th all-time CFL poster. Don't worry Don, I'm not going to make a run for it.

Jason, I don't think I've ever called you JP. I'm not sure why I never picked that up... I'll have to fix that. GENE!!!! You really are back this time! It's good to see you again. As a Mark, I just have to say, I'm glad I can give the Seattle folks a run for their money. There's the real contest, # of Marks compared to # of Seattle area residents.

We all know that USCIS is not in the business of promoting US immigration. This article is definite proof of that.

Boy, do I feel out of place. I had only a passing appreciation/fascination of Chinese culture when I met ShuPing. It wasn't until I met her on-line that I started investigating anything deeper than the local Chinese restaurant and a few movies (CTHD). Kung Fu was my favorite TV show when I was a kid, but how Chinese was that? I had no idea what to expect when I went over there to meet her. I suspect it will be similar for her when she gets here. Apart from some American movies, exposure to me and limited exposure to English speaking foriegners in Nanning, she has no idea what she's getting into. She grew up in QiQiHaer where anyone with "round eyes" is either deformed or looked at as someone who is. I think she even said she never met anyone who wasn't Chinese until she moved to Nanning. Still, she has an adventurous heart and is one of the bravest people I've ever known. She moved from QiQiHaer to escape the small town, closed-in mentality (and the cold). When she began looking for a guy on-line, she was hoping to catch an Aussie, I'm glad she didn't find one. She's never mentioned to me that she thought America was a violent society. I think she wondered why we would go and attack Iraq for no reason, of course, I set her straight about that. Now she understands the situation in Iraq more, with a more balanced view, but I'll be interested to know what opinions she forms after she gets here. (Contrary to popular belief, I don't plan to indoctrinate her into the Republican party... at least not right away). Which segues nicely with my next comment. Spoken like a true Liberal, Lele. But I won't hold that against you, but I'm not going to let you get away with it either. Perception is reality, the media, no matter what part of the world it comes from, knows this and uses it. America is percieved as a very violent country by much of the world because violence is played up in the only exposure most people ever have of America, the media. If a Chinese person only ever hears or sees America through the media, they will think the worst, as has been stated in some of the posts in this thread. Yet I have never been shot, shot at, nor even seen any one shot or shot at. I know it happens, and I know we are a relatively violent society, but we are also a very open society, which creates it's own problems. There are plenty of laws against guns in this country, but those laws are not enforced against the criminals who break those laws with no regard for the law. They are enforced against the people who don't generally commit violence with guns. The local thug or gang member downtown isn't going to buy his weapon of choice at the local gun store where he has to register it, he's going to buy it from another thug. If guns are outlawed, he'll go get his gun from the same thug. My point is, and then I'll stop, is that gun control isn't a solution that will work. We have to control the reasons why people are violent and deter them from becoming violent. It has nothing to do with guns, it has to do with the people who commit violence with them. Of those 40,000 people who die from gun violence, how many were shot by the person who registered the gun and how many of those guns were even registered?

Welcome to CFL John. Now that I'm almost an expert... I had similar questions a few days ago. I have no idea how to get the police certificate from another country. Your second question depends on if she is a Chinese citizen. If so, she has a national ID card. Wherever that ID Card is, that's where she'll have to go to get the only police certificate she'll need from China.

Thanks Jenny, that's what I've been told now.

Mark!! I can't believe you would stoop to such a shameless tactic to get your numbers up! Have you no pride man?!!!!

Hey Chuck, You mean I don't have the only ShuPing in China? I'm sure your ShuPing is wonderful like mine. If things go as I hope they will, we just may meet in GZ. Take Care! Mark

Thanks MRMC, that verifies what she was telling me. Can anyone else confirm that for sure?

No, she's not a criminal. ShuPing had no trouble getting the police in QiQiHaer to give her a copy of her records, but when she called Nanning to get those, they told her they wouldn't be able to help her because her ID card is from QiQiHaer. I can't believe that one could get arrested in Nanning, but because their National ID Card was from QiQiHaer, no one would know about it. So what does she need to do? At the moment, she has a friend in Nanning trying to get the info for her. Barring this, ShuPing will be going back to Nanning prior to her interview to try to get it. Did we miss something? Also, is the police certificate provincial or municipal? ShuPing lived in YiZhou before she moved to Nanning, but both are in GuangXi province, does she need one from each city or just one from the province?

I'm like Jason, I wasn't looking for a Chinese woman, I just found a wonderful woman that happened to be Chinese. However, I did look around the world for female friendship, but that had more to do with the "exotic-ness" of someone foreign than me being fed up with American women. I will say that I was bored with most of the American women I was meeting and that's why I wanted a foreign e-mail pal. I wanted someone I could learn something from and someone who wasn't "tainted" by American culture and could give me a different perspective. Since I met and married ShuPing, I've met some very interesting American women, but, of course, now I'm not interested. (Isn't that the way it always works?)

Welcome, We here at CFL pride ourselves on helping all those unknown Adam look-a-likes out there. My first question would be, have you done any of the immigration paperwork at all? If so, what and how long ago? Everything else you want to know kinda hinges on this. Look at some of the timelines on the posts and you'll get an idea of how long it takes. Me and eeyore are on similar paths as yours in that we got married and applied for a K-3 visa while others got the visa and then got married. Let us know more and we'll be happy to guide you in the right direction.

Thanks Taz. I love all types of ecclectic music. I wondered when someone would get around to combining bluegrass and Chinese traditional. I'd love to hear a dobro and mandolin playing Chinese music. I think they are a natural fit in many ways. Last time ShuPing and I were together, I had her listen to my bluegrass mix and she loved it. The last song she played on this little news story brought a tear to my eye. The words with the music just hit me for some reason. "Without you, I don't know where home is. Without you, I'm lost on my way home." Maybe I can play it for ShuPing.

I got an e-mail from ShuPing and then called her. She said a woman from GZ called her and told her to get a notorized confirmation of her pregnancy from the doctor, have it translated, write a statement herself about why the visa should be expedited and send it in with the DS-230 and OF-169. She told ShuPing, if she can do this, they will expedite the paperwork!!!! Now I am dancing the happy dance. The only problem is that the translation is going to take a few days because of the Chinese New Year and then the notorization will take 7-10 days. So we probably won't get any paper work to GZ until the second week of Jan. Off set that with expedited paperwork and she could be here by March! YABADABBA DOO!!!!!!!

Was I supposed to get a copy of the P3? It would've been nice, but not that I'm aware of (of course I haven't checked my mail in about a week). Now, just to make sure, the only thing ShuPing is sending in for now will be the DS-230 and the OF-169. Right? She's going to fax them first and then send them EMS. Then we have to wait for them to give her an appointment. Right? Is it me or is this process just as nerve wracking for everyone? What happens if the DS-230 is goofed up? Will they send it back to her and tell her to correct it? Thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way. I just felt like that needed to be re-stated. Mengxin, I do have more than one hair left, but they are definitely gray and the worry lines are getting deeper and longer. Can I sue the gov't for damages caused by premature aging?

The cool thing about time lines is you start off having time line envy, but then you eventually get over it and finally, others envy your time line. Had to comment on time lines since I haven't experienced the AOS interview yet.

Thanks Bob, The K-1 packet and the K-3 packet seem to be different. In the K-1, there is a P3 Supplemental Info sheet that ShuPing didn't get. Is there something comprable that she needs to send in? Otherwise, I'm just going to have her fax the DS-230 and the OF 169.

Thanks, foebia, that's some good stuff right there. Just what I needed. Moon, I can see you dancing now, not hard to imagine since I'm doing it too.

I just helped ShuPing complete the DS-230 and she will finish the details ASAP. We've known about the letter coming for a few days since they sent it to her old address and they forwarded it up to her. It's nice to know they read their e-mail at the consulate, I sent the change of address to them 3 weeks ago. I have a question or two though. From what I understand from ShuPing, we send 830RMB to the CITIC bank when we send the completed DS-230 to them and then pay the rest of the fee 2925RMB when she goes for the interview. Is that correct? Do we need to send in anything else? Is there a copy of the DS-169 anywhere so I can see what she's typing and flashing over the webcam to me? I worry about all the crossed t's and dotted i's their asking for, not to mention that I'm anal retentive as hell about doing government paperwork. It's killing me that she's handwriting her DS-230 and not typing it from the computer. Anyway, is there anything else I should be aware of before she sends this in? Thanks and YAHOOOOOOO! about to clear another hurdle!

From one Mark to another, Welcome aboard. IMHO one can never have enough Marks. I'd offer my timeline, but I'm not that far ahead of you and I have some different circumstances, my wife is pregnant. I'm also from Florida, where do you live? Again, welcome!

To anyone and everyone who participated in or read the unfortunate postings in the 001 topic: The story goes that Jesus was sent here to teach us how to love one another and to live in peace together. It requires forgiveness, first of yourself and then others, for how can we love anyone unless we know love for ourselves? How can we forgive others if we hold resentment in our hearts? How can we live together in peace if we can't recognize the simple truths of love and forgiveness? Love and peace and forgiveness - let's celebrate the birth of the greatest teacher of these principals by following his example. It doesn't have to be a Christian thing because it's a human thing.

Luk 2:15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. Luk 2:16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. Luk 2:17 And when they had seen [it], they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. Luk 2:18 And all they that heard [it] wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. Luk 2:19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered [them] in her heart. Luk 2:20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. Luk 2:21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.