NickF

ChunMei's going back to China for a month and a half in May, and wants to have a phone she can use to make local calls while she's there. We're currently under contract with T-Mobile, and when she was last in China she learned that the SIMM card slot T-Mobile uses won't take whatever they use for SIMM card format in China. She want me to buy her an $300 unlocked Blackberry for six weeks of usewhile she's there. Since the cards are incompatable with our current phone carrier she can't use it here when she comes back. I still have a year before our T-Mobile contract expires, so changing US phone carriers isn't an option. Anybody got any advice?

I've experienced a couple of Japanese tea ceremonies, but not any Chinese. The Japanese one is as ritualized and rigid as a Roman Catholic High Mass, though. Interestingly, ChunMei has never suggested we go to one, though. One the other hand she's told me a couple of times that, concerning tea, she prefers "American" tea to Chinese tea. Go figure.

After ChunMei passed her interview they told her it would be 5 to 7 days before her visa packet would arrive at the Guangzhou post office. She waited in Goangzhou for two weeks, before we finally decided she should return to Nanning and her job. We contacted the consulate by email several times during that period, and each time were told "it's still being processed." It took five weeks before it was finally mailed.

I did, too, but I have a certain amount of sympathy for an 18 year old high school senior, brought here by his or her parents at the age of two, and who is probably fluent in two languages, but has never been to Mexico in their life. Imagine how you'd feel if someone scooped you up and shipped you to a place you'd never been before. How well would you adjust?

I just qualified for Medicare, so I guess I'm officially a Senior citizen (hate that term.) On the other hand I still work full-time, and weather permitting, bicycle 10-15 miles a day, so I guess I won't drop dead for a year or two. On the other hand I'm preparing ChunMei and my daughter for that inevitible moment... life insurance, etc..

Congratulations.

Lots to do in Shenzhen, too, One of my sisters-in-law lives there. And of course Hong Kong is just a 45 minute train ride south, too. Guanzhou is OK, but ChunMei and I almost always fly through there, so it's not as interesting as it was at first.

No suggestions on Vietnem at the moment. We took a day and drove down to Mon Cai from Nanning, but didn't cross the border into Vietnam. Stood on the river bank and looked at Vietnam, but didn't go. ChunMei and her father and brother didn't have the necessary paperwork. I have a friend here at work who has been in Vietnam for the past month visiting her family. She should be back here next Monday and I can ask her for ideas.

Been there, done that in Nanning. Fortunately when we went to Guilin and Yangshuo we lucked out with the weather. While we were in Yangshuo it was sunny and in the low 70's and we rented a couple of bikes, found a local guide, and spent a couple of days touring the countryside. In Yangshuo most of the interesting places are either withing walking distance of West Street or within easy biking distance. We took the bus back to Guilin and spent another day there, with temps again in the low 70's. In early February! Our hotel was about 2 blocks from Elephant Hill Park in one direction, and the twin pagodas in the other direction. And a decent noodle shop in the alley across the street, where we ate breakfast every day. Keep in mind that if you go to Rlephant Hill Park there is a staircase with about 11,000 steps to the top of the hill. When you're in your 60's it's a bot of challenge. The day we left to take the train to Nanning the temperature fell like a paralyzed falcon, and the next week in Nanning hovered in the upper 40's to low 50's, with constand overcast. And ChunMei's parents don't have heat in their apartment. So you never know what you're gonna get. But if you go you'll probably take a million pictures; we did. The picture in our signature here was actually taken at Elephant Hill Park. Thankfully digital film is cheap.

ChunMei and I flew into Guilin just before New Year two years ago and took the Li River trip to Yangshuo. Rode the last 15 miles on a bamboo raft with an outboard. Beautiful trip. Spent 5 days in Guilin and Yangshuo, took the bus back to Guilin from Yangshuo, then took the train to Nanning the day before the beginning of the New Year holidays. Now that was a standing-room only adventure of sorts. Everyone actually had a seat, but mine was at the other end of the car from ChunMei. Spent most of the ride helping my seatmates practice their English. Had a great time.

ChunMei are waiting ultil next year for the Guangzhou/Nanning route. We've ridden that trip on the conventional China Rail train a number of times, and I for one would like to see the countryside when it's daylight.

I wish you both the best of luck. Hang in there.

For what it's worth ChunMei and I med whjile I was still married, but my now ex-wife and I had been separated for almost two years. I'd visited ChunMei in China twice in an eight month period, and we'd spent a total of a month together. I'd met her family and they approved of me completely. they even threw an engagement dinner for us, even though I was still legally married at the time. ChunMei was 15 years younger than I, and I was 62 at that time. She'd been divorced and has a son who had just turned 21, so there was no question of bringing him here as part of ChunMei's immigration. My attorney had me file a K-1 with a detailed EOR, including an explanation of the whole situation. I filed it a week after my divorce became final. From the time the K-1 was filed until she received her visa took a total of only 11 months. But then, as she frequently tells me, she is "a good luck lady."

ChunMei's back in China until 6 November, and was planning on having her brother give her some in-car instruction while she was there. I've tried to discourage this for a couple of reasons. First, I really don't want her picking up any bad habits related to the Chinese approach to motor vehicle operation. Second, her brother's driving scares the crap out of me! If he isn't the worst drive in China he's at least in competition. Last year we drove from Nanning to Mong Ca for the day and he spent most of the trip watching pop music DVD's on the center-concole display. Ehile he drove. I did some basic instruction and practice here, and there was always a delay while she processed my English directions into Chinese. So when she gets back there's a driving school here in Denver that's owned and operated by a Chinese lady who uses Chinese language instructors. They'll work with her intil she passes the written and driving tests, for a fixed price.

I wasn't thinking when I made ChunMei's reservations and made them in her maiden name. The only issue she had was going through TSA security at DIA, where they wanted to see a photo ID with a name that matched her ticket. She showed her green card with her married name on it and everything was fine. Same when she went through security at LAX. But otherwise no problems.

Hmmm...interesting. But I still pity anyone who would get involved with this lady. Her current husband is a really nice guy, making reasonably good money, and he's mentioned to me the fact that she's physically abusive to him. God help the next guy. As I said before, ChunMei and I wouldn't touch this situation with a ten foot pole.

We have a married couple living near us here in suburban Denver, and I have an odd set of questions. Doesn't rerally involve ChunMei and me, but I was curious how US immigration law works in this case. The situation: It appears that they are divorcing. They've been married for about ten years. He is a German citizen teaching Chinese and German language at a local parochial school here in the US. He has all of the necessary paperwork to remain here, but is not considering US citizenship. She is a Chinese citizen and came here with her husband about 4 years ago. I assume she's here legally as his spouse, but don't know what documents that requires. They have a seven year old daughter. She wants the divorce and will be filing shortly. Custiody of their daughter will be joint. He's planning in staying in the US for the foreseeable future. She wants to remain in the US so that she can be near their daughter when she doesn't have her with her. What are the immigration ramifications inherent in all of this? She's asked ChunMei to help her find an American man to marry so she can stay here in the US and get a green card. ChunMei and I want no part in this, but I was curious. ChunMei says that her friend says that all she needs to do is to find and marry an American citizen, and she's good to go. Says a lawyer told her that she'd be eligible for an immediate two year green card. That sounds a little fishy to me. As I said, ChunMei and I think it would be a really bad idea to get involved in this whole bag of snakes, I for one would really not want anybody I know to get involved with this woman because she's one of the"little emperors" and feels entitled to anything she wants. And has the emotional stability of a 5 year-old. Anybody know anything about how this might play out?

Interesting. I assume this also includes spouses of Chinese citizens. Not sure what to do about the hotel reservation thing. When we go to Nanning we generally stay with one of her family members.

I think it's the little things that make a difference, depending on the interviewing officer. ChunMei had no problems with her interview at the consulate, I htink in part because she and I had discussed many specific deatails about my life and family. These were things we'd talked and written about many times, and for many questions she had to answer in Chinese, but she knew the answers. After we were married and went in for the AOS, the interviewer asked the usual questions about join bank accounts, health and life insurance, etc.. And then the interviewer asked ChunMei what we'd done since we got married. She thought for a minute, then said, "We travel much." He asked her where we'd gone, and she told him, "Texas." He asked here where in Texas, and she had trouble with "Dallas" so I helped her. The interviewer seems a little put off that I'd halped her, and asked her why we'd gone there. ChunMei told him, "Three of us go visit my husband's brother Tom for one week." She asked, "Three of you? Who was the third?" ChunMei said, "Me, my husband, and his daughter." At that point the interviewer smiled and agreed that since my family knew her and approved of her it appeared that we were a real family. Told us, "OK, you'll get your green card in about three weeks." It only took two. So in the end I'd say it's the gut feeling of the interviewer.

ChunMei had her interview in both English and Chinese. Her English was still fairly basic at the time. Of course she also had printouts of about 4,000 emails between us, which did document that we could understand each other.

I've ridden the Guangzhou-Nanning a number of times, both hard sleep and soft sleep. As I recall, a couple of years ago hard sleep cost me about $70 US for both of us. Not sure how much it is now. It's about a 12 hour overnight trip. Last time we rode soft sleep; shared with a nice Chinese couple, but you never know who's going to be your roommate. Keep in mind I'm sort of a train freak, so I do this by choice.

Have a good trip, Doug. I'd like to go over and spend a couple of weeks with ChunMeri's family while she's there, but I can't take the time off from work. Aside from the climate I like Nanning a lot. It's called "The Green City" for a reason. There are a lot of beautiful parks, large and small, throughout the city. Qingxua Mountain Park, on the east side of the city is especially worth the trip. Renmin Park is also a lot of fun; it has a large amusement park there which is almost exactly like any large amusement park here in the US. A decent western-style hotel is the Hawaii International Hotel. It's at No.81 Manzu Road. Decent rooms, decent prices, and breakfast buffet is included. And it's about 2 blocks from South Lake Park. .

ChunMei and I spent several days in Yangshuo. Took a motor vessel about halfway down the Li River, then a bamboo raft most of the rest of the way. Stayed at the Peace Family Hotel for $8/night, ate a bunch of great food, trented bikes and a local guide for a day, all in all had a great time. We're planning to go back.

I've noticed here that they round it up. And things like sales taxes will increase as well if we eliminate it.

Pay someone to teach your wife to drive? Absolutely! I've tried teaching ChunMei, and have had no success whatsoever. I think a big part of it is because she still isn't confident of language skills. We have been pracricing in a local high school parking lot on Sundays, and after four hours in the car she still has to "process" turn left, turn right, stop instructions before she executes them, and the time lag makes her very nervous. She's talked to her brother about teaching her when she goes back to Nanning in September. Her brother's driving makes me want to leap out of the moving car when I ride with him, so I have some serious doubts about that. Fortunately there's pretty good Chinese-language driving school here in Denver, and she's agreed to take the class from them when she gets back.