Joshua + Wang Zhuo

I had an ex GF who used to get her diabetic supplies from a diabetic charity (I forget which one), Look into those for the diabetes maybe? I actually came here to ask a similar question. My in-laws are coming over to live with us and get their greencard. We can do travelers insurance for catastrophic problems for a short period, but does anyone know what it would take to get insurance for long term for them? My inlaws are 57 and 59 and my mother inlaw has diabetes as well, although she manages it with her diet.

You can still get the newbie lessons for free from iTunes. I have found that the best way to learn is to use many different things and one of the most helpful/fun tools that I am currently using is called "My Chinese Coach". It is a "game" for the Nintendo DS. It teaches you how to say words and phrases. It teaches you to recognize characters and the coolest things is that it allows you to practice writing characters by using the stylus. My Chinese was ok when I started using it, but it has helped me a good deal. All the other recommendations were great as well, just thought I would throw this one out there. Joshua

So......A few updates on Beijing and the air quality... I was there last friday to go to the canadian visa office..... The air was beautiful. The bluest skies I have ever seen in Beijing. It was the first time in China (Not including Hong Kong) that I have ever seen skies like that. I returned today/yesterday to leave.....wow what a difference. Today was hazy and smoggy. About 1 minute after takeoff I could no longer see the gound. I guess that this just shows that the weather makes more of a difference for the air quality than anything. It rained last Thursday(the day before I went) and cleaned it up. By today the heat and humidity brought the smog back. On another note, I do believe that the people of China feel that polution is an issue. They want cleaner air. The government of China will work on it. Will it happen over night? No way! In our lifetimes.....maybe. But it will happen. It would be impossible for Beijing to continue doing the same things after the olympics. Hopefully the pride of the Chinese will continue to drive them to improve on the pollution issue though. Joshua

Actually, I was on one of the first trains from Tianjin to Beijing. We needed to go to Beijing and the new train station is about 25 minutes closer to us. It was really fast. They post the speed in front of you and the fastest I saw was 349 km/h. It may have ended up being the wrong choice taking the new train though. The trains were all full, so we had to wait for a few hours. Then there was some celebration that postponed things for a while.... Finally when we got to Beijing, the new train station is much farther from where we needed to go, so we needed a 50 RMB taxi ride to get to the Canadian Visa application place (stopping in canada on the way home). We arrived there at 2:55 (they close at 3:00). The actual train ride was extremely fast and the way they move the taxis was pretty good, so once we were on the train, the trip to Beijing was really quick. 25 miutes there and 5 minutes getting out of the station. Took the old train back. We thought it would be faster because everyone was taking the new train. Wrong.....It was standing room only and it was PACKED. We did not however need to wait for tickets which we do sometimes need to do. High speed rail is awesome. It is something that the states needs. Joshua

Congratulations. Thursday seemed to be a rough day. There were a lot of blues and whites flying around and Mr. Yang said it was one of the worst days he has seen. Glad to see that you passed and good luck in the future. Joshua

Yeah, Congratulations. It was good to meet you and your fiancee. Made life a lot easier being around people who were going through the same thing as us. Best of luck in the future. Joshua

Really glad you posted this info.....I had this question as my fiancee will be flying home in a few days. I am taking air canada......Guess she will be coming separately on a different airline. Joshua

Yeah, she said everyone with a belly-shirt was a No-Go.

I thought it was a little long too. Honestly, she was a little glad it took so long though. She said it gave her a chance to show off how well prepared she was. I am sure she was a little excited to show off some of her photos too . Now, there are a couple of others from Candle here at the moment too. I think they will be going on Thursday and I will be keeping in touch with them. We will keep everyone posted. Wang Zhuo wants me to say that she noticed a correlation between how people dressed and the results of their interview. I am not saying that this is necessarily a connection, just an observation. She says that the girls that wore more conservative clothes seemed to do better than the ones that didn't.....Of course that was not always the case, but she wanted me to say it. Thanks Again Joshua

Actually, the first picture IS me..... Not sure how you got it so quickly (you have spies here?)

And the verdict is.................. Pink I want to put out a serious thank you to all the people on CFL. The information thatwas provided here made sure that we were well prepared. The interview was about 20 minutes long and she said that she was well prepared to answer all the questions. I met a group of 3 other guys there and they all got pinks as well. There was one person that I was talking with that received a white, I think they had some extraordinary circumstances though. Seriously everyone..... Thank you for your advice and your support was priceless. I read the forums much more than I post. Joshua

In 15 minutes we walk out the door to go for our interview!! I'll let you know the results when we return. Joshua

As much as I hate to say it.....is college always the right choice? I think it is best for someone to look at what jobs interest him or her FIRST. Figure out what you would like to do and then call a few companies that you would like to work for. Find out what they want. Sometimes it is college, sometimes it is certifications, sometimes it is experience, and sometimes it is the ability to sell yourself. College is a very big investment now that often times goes to waste. Sure, that bachelors in__________ (fill in the blank with whatever you want) is better than nothing, but it is not always the best option. I only write this to play the devils advocate..... Some of the other posters had some great ideas, and if you take in what you read in all of them there is some great advice. Joshua

Well, I will be in and out of beijing the days before the olympics. Hopefully things will clear up before then. I have been there 2 times in the last few weeks and it certainly did not look this bad. I agree, it is a shame if it is not better for the city and for the athletes when the olympics come. Joshua

No, you should not be in trouble with that and it is very true. They want different kinds of cosmetics. It is not as much make-up as skin care products that are big here. Yes, there are some brands here, but there is still a large demand. As far as Mary Kay and Avon, you may be on to something. We will look more into it.

Great link, I have learned a lot.

Well, I am at the Yang's right now and there seems to be several others that are in town for interviews at the same time. If anyone is here I would love to get together for a beer or something and I am sure Wang Zhuo would love to meet some other great ladies to talk to. Joshua

My thoughts with the pearls are to buy some inexpensive(not Cheap) to medium quality pearls in China and bring them home and do some "testing" of the market with family and friends. Someone told me that you do not want to import anything unless you are going to sell it for at least 5x the purchase price (need to cover expenses such as shipping/taxes/labor). At this rate I could sell the inexpensive pearls (still very nice looking) for about $30 dollars a strand and the medium quality (by medium I mean that they are not saltwater/Tahitian or any other type of "special" pearl) for about $200 dollars. There are some that are between these prices as well. I have a feeling that I could sell quite a few of the $30 ones and maybe even some of the $200. We will see what my family and friends think. If they are interested at that price others will be too.....If they are not.......Well, I will just try to think of something else. I know that there is a market for the top quality pearls, but that just isn't really what i am looking to do (at least not at this time). So, for now I am just doing a little research and I am picking up books to educate myself a little. Anyone that has experience in import/export business with China, I would love to hear from you. Joshua

Cool, thanks for the info. I am not sure why I care. Wang Zhuo keeps on talking about how she wants to import/export stuff and this was just something I saw as interesting. I like to ask questions and do research before jumping in to things. She really wants to export cosmetics to China from the states. She seems to think that there is a huge demand. I told her she needs to look into that one herself though. I do think that with the dollar weakening there will be more and more opportunities for exporting goods to China and it will be harder and harder to import stuff to the states. Joshua

Size isn't the only issue though. Luster, shape and color also come into play. That was something I was wondering about though, are they cheaper in the South? I want to look here in Guangzhou to see what I can find. Anything anyone can add is appreciated. Joshua

Well, the one in Beijing that I was refused was a brand new 4 star hotel. I think the reason that we were not allowed to stay was because it was in the technical area and the hotel had conventions where secure topics were discussed. We chose it because it was very reasonably priced, the rooms looked awesome and it was not too far from the summer palace. Well, the Lobby confirmed that the hotel looked awesome, but I never got to see the rooms. Joshua I agree.....why stay in a raggedy 1 star hotel when you can get nice accommodations for a pretty low price. I try not to spend much for hotel rooms because we usually do not spend much time in the rooms. 30-40 dollars a night has been more than enough to get above average rooms.

Ahh.....that's the good old Chinese spirit . Why just today I was getting ready to get into a taxi and right as I reached for the door a much quicker young lady ran in front of my and totally intercepted the cab..... In America if someone did that I would give them an earful.....But when In Rome don't complain because the Romans don't do things like you. Joshua This one didn't last very long ""Those who came late but were able to push forward got the tickets," he said." Olympic ticket sale in Beijing starts stampede

Here is a picture of the nice set of pearls that we got the other day. http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/4250/pearlpurplesmallte5.jpg

usually about 10 -15% of their original asking price Haha, that is about right..... The scarves that they wanted 200 RMB....we paid 15RMB. Ties.....10-15RMB The squeeky baby shoes....20RMB. My fake Mont Blanc Pen......35RMB( I actually thought I got taken on that one, but It is probably the best pen I have ever had......) We have lot of fun buying at the market there. Anna talks about it all the time. I just arrived in Guangzhou today. I am going to shop for pearls here too and see if they are about the same (or maybe even less). I guess there is some jewelry shop here that is pretty cool. Joshua

Well, I bought 10 strands at about 6 dollars a piece for 7-8mm grade A pearls..... Really nice, but not perfect. They really are nicer than most of the ones we have seen in the jewelry stores. They are mostly round but not perfect and they have a good luster(at least until you put them next to the better ones). We bought 1 necklace of the best that we could find at 40 dollars They are grade AAA+ 8-9mm. They are Much nicer than some of the ones we saw here in the jewelry stores for almost 1000 dollars. Now, jewelry stores here are really TOO expensive, so I hate using that as a guide. I was along the same lines of paying about 100 to 250 dollars for a nice set. When we went to the market I planned on buying some for my girl and I was fully willing to pay that. The pearl market is on the fifth floor. The mall that it is located in is one of the most famous malls in the world to buy fake designer goods. Yes, the markets there are an experience. I must say that I am pretty good at bargaining though. More than one salesgirl looked like they were about to hit me when I left. But I know that they would not sell to me if they were losing money, So I got what I wanted and they made a profit (although not as much as they would like). If anyone has questions about what they should pay for stuff I can give you some good ideas of what stuff should cost. Joshua