mao mao so

ha, I thought I was good at saving money, and not being too wasteful, ... that is until Jie got here. Our accounts are in both our names, we both know what bills have to be paid, where, and when. But so far, it seems like Jie goes along with the concensus here, she thinks I should take care of the big decisions, she takes care of the day to day things. I also haven't had to make any "big" decisions yet, so my job is pretty easy right now! B) (and I ain't complainin' none either!) Jeff

Jie has been here almost 9 months now, how time flys. I agree with you Jin, "learning each other" is a very important aspect of my relationship now. I don't have any specific examples to give, or at least any "big things", mostly its just every day little things, but Jie and I have many converstations where she concludes by saying to me, "I know you more now". Mostly that's good. Sometimes it's funny. Sometimes she points out things I didn't realize about myself. All that in less than a year. I've said it a few times to her now too. Exploring our cultural differences has been an adventure so far. It helps that she's a pretty easy person to talk to, and insightful. Jeff

Way to go Dylan and Wendy!!!! Congratulations!!! We'll come to the airport when you get back and take pictures of you getting off the plane!! See you then!!! Jeff and Jie

Hey, thanks all for your help! Jeff

Hey all, My wife has been helping a friend of hers translate emails and such for prospective suitors for quite a while now. It looks like it may have finally come to fruition, as she told my wife that she has found a good man and they want to marry. The thing is, he's Canadian, and doesn't have the foggiest idea what to do about getting her here. Does anybody here have any good information as to what their Visa options are? Any links to the Canadian version of USCIS? Are they similar to ours as respects fiancee and marriage visa's? Any input would be appreciated because Oklahoma is long way from Calgary. Jeff

Glad to hear it Rick! We're happy for you! Jeff

When we applied for Jie's SSN the lady told me I could wait for the card in the mail, or I could call the local office back the next day and they would tell me the number over the phone. FWIW Jeff

Ok so Batman knew! I didn't anyway, and I thought it was pretty funny! BTW... "old, weird America" I thought that was pretty funny too. Jeff

Tsap, My last trip to China, last year Aug. '08, on the way over I was sitting beside this tall thin American fella. Everybody knows how long the trip is, so we had plenty of time to talk. When he got on the plane and sat down beside me, he was carrying a banjo case. He somehow managed to squeeze it into an overhead compartment, and sat down. I started talking to him out of curiosity about bringing a banjo to China. He assured me it was infact a real banjo, having been duly inspected infected detected and neglected, by the security folks and all, and proceeded to tell me his story. It turns out that Bluegrass is very popular in China and Japan and that he is a member of a traveling band that tours all over the place playing, ... well ... that's right Bluegrass! Who knew!!! Apparently they've been doing it for years, members of the band come and go, and according to him, they're quite popular and make pretty decent money doing it! Now, I was born and raised not too far from your neck of the woods, and I grew up on Bluegrass, and every other type of hillbilly music you can imagine. I just never in my mind pictured a Chinese coal miner slapping his knee to the same music my grandfathers (all coal miners BTW) slapped their knees too! You being a redneck and all, just thought you'd like to know! Jeff

I agree with what others have stated here. I don't know if my going to China during the interview helped or not with a pink outcome, but the support to my (now) wife was great. It's also a very good chance to bond while accomplishing a common goal. Jie's told me several times that she was immencely releived I was beside her during all of that. Jeff

ShadeOgray, I went to China the last time for Jie's interview. My visa expired on 8/16/2008. I left the US on 8/13/2008. It says on the visa (mine anyway) that it was good for a 60 day stay. I didn't renew it, and had no problems, even though I got a few comments about cutting it close. I just figured I got my money's worth on it. Jeff

Everybody needn't worry! Maybe you have worried too much. It just one of the things, can you tell everyone about the things is true or not? Let AL go to China. Maybe there is a surprise happen for him. I think even though no surprise lady waiting but have a big country make him surprise. If you tell him the truth, maybe he don't want to go China any more. It is not good to him. Maybe he will cost more money to go to China, but he can go to visit many good places. It is worth! If Jie is a good lady match him, he will be a lucky man! If no, he still is a lucky man too. Because he will be in a pretty and big country. He can see many good things and learn many people and see if they are good or bad for himself. Don't take away his chance! Jeff's Jie

Michael, I'd love to tell you I can remember their names, but I know that there are several large hotels just outside the airport on the road back to the city, maybe five minutes away in a taxi. Guangzhou airport is like any airport with lots of hotels surrounding it. I was there just last August and my flight arrived at 10:35 PM like yours. Jie and I were on a train to Liuzhou the next day, so we went to the first one we came to. The room was 150 RMB if I remember right. There's a hotel inside the airport, but it was over 1000 RMB a night and Jie just about had a cow when they told her the price, so we got a taxi and went on down the road. Jeff

I gotta agree with ShadeOgray. I used to be a short order cook many many years ago, and learned the clean as you go thing. If we trashed the kitchen to much the manager and the other cooks would really get on you, so we all learned to keep it spic and span, even in the heat of a big meal time. I guess it got pretty ingrained in me because I can't stand to have a dirty kitchen now. We wash every vegetable we use, just one look in the water afterwards when the veggies already looked clean to start should be enough to convince anybody. Jie is really fanatical about this, I can't disagree with her any. I think we got a pretty good system worked out in our house. Jie doesn't like western food much, just a few things, so she cooks most meals during the week. On the weekends I cook breakfast for us and sometimes a western dish for supper. I figure she cooked all week, every meal, she even gets up early to make breakfast for me, and pack me a lunch so why not give her a break? Our son's chores include putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher after everymeal, allowances are great insentives. He's 11 so Jin I think you may have to wait a while before the boys are older to help out? That's just how we do things anyway, everybody seems happy with it, YMMV. B) Jeff

Same here, last February Jie met me in Guangzhou during the bad part of that winter storm. We both got there late that night and we stayed at a hotel near the airport. It was cheap enough - maybe 160 RMB, but No Heat! the "hot" shower was warm for maybe 30 seconds! and we couldn't snuggle close enough to keep warm. Jie's interview was in August, so then I got the other extreme, but the A/C was good. Now it's winter time here, and normally I kept the thermostat a little low - 65 ish. That was too cold for Jie so now it's 70. It stikes me just a tad funny to see her in her "winter" PJ's and big fuzzy slippers, and me in a tank top and shorts. Fortunately the winters here are pretty short. But I'll take that over that frozen night in Guangzhou any time! Jeff

I actually ran into that this weekend. When I took Jie and her son to my C/U to open accounts for them both, Jie was able to open hers (K-1 Visa with SSN), but her son couldn't yet (K-2 Visa no SSN yet). It was just a childrens savings account type thing (he's 11), and I had to be on his account too since he's a minor, but it still wasn't good enough. My C/U required an SSN from him, so no account for him. He has to wait until after AOS. I sent in the I-765 for him as well, just to get him an SSN, so hopefully it won't be long. YMMV Jeff

Wow, I have to ditto this! it sounds exactly like my wife. I read all the "get ready tips" here, had qq and chinese input methods on the PC ready to go (the webcam was already in place), got her a cell phone, and she was off and running. She talked every day to her family and friends the first month or so, but like David, I've noticed it is quite a bit less frequently now. I guess at first her family and friends just wanted to know she was OK and happy, and everything was fine. Jie brought back a lot of "chinese medicine" that she was used to, and some cooking spices and things like that, that she liked. That was a pretty good suggestion I got here from other members, and it helped a great deal I think, because she was not used to "western medicine", even the OTC stuff. The officers at customs looked at the stuff we brought and never blinked an eye. (I was worried ) At the risk of some TMI, I would suggest "feminine products" as a good thing for her to add to her list of things to bring from China to help her get started here, until she gets used to the packaging and labels here. Jie struggled with that a little, and I wasn't much help. I would ditto the I-94 thing, I filled it out for Jie and her son just to make sure it was in order, and then when I started the AOs paperwork I paniced a little when the POE officer didn't write her A number on it like a lot of others did, but I was directed to other paperwork that had it on it, so it was mute anyway. Enjoy the "cooler" weather there now, I was in GUZ in August, it should be pretty nice now. take care, Jeff

I read quite a bit here about this myself, and decided to follow a path many here recommend. When Jie got here, we went and applied for her SSN in her maiden name. She got the number the next day (they said I could call and ask what it was), and a week later she got the card in the mail. Then we married, she added my last name to her first and last (now middle) name. We just got the marriage license in the mail, so we'll go apply for the name change in Social Security. So far it seems to be going just the way you guys here said it would. Jeff

Dougie, If you ever get over to OKC, we have three asian markets here, and several good India markets if you like curry (Jie really likes it and cooks some great curry dishes). The Chinatown market must have some new management or something because it used to be pretty bad (looks and smells) but Jie and I both think it's the best now. The freshest produce, a good meat counter and no bad smells, it's very clean! Cao Nguyen is just two blocks away from it, and it's pretty good too, and the biggest, but it's a little more expensive. There's a third one on the south side of town, but we don't go there, it never looks clean, smells bad, the produce isn't too good, and the selection isn't as good. Give us a shout, and we can take you around if you want. Jeff

When Jie is in the kitchen doing something, she sometimes softly sings Chinese songs. After dinner we'll go walking in the park, and she'll sing softly. When she came here she brought a lot of CD's with her. Sometimes she sings along with them at home, or in the car. I think she has a beautiful voice. So I have to say that is my passion, listening to her sing. Jeff

I went through this recently too. Jie's son is 11 and started the fifth grade. We had his school transcripts translated, but when we got here, the school never even wanted to see them. I told them we had them, they just said, "no need". (maybe because it was only the fifth grade?) Anyway, he is learning english, in an ESL program, and doing fine. The only thing the school really was interested in was those vaccinations. The little yellow book from Guangzhou really helped there. Without it his little arm would be a lot more sore now! Jeff

Congratulations!!! We wish you both a long happy life together!!!

My weiwei brushes a lot too. I know she and the lil' rabbit are Liaoning girls. I don't want to generalize but do you think northern girls treat the teeth different from the southern girls? I heard once that Guangdong people think differently about tooth care but I ignored it as a probable prejudice. Is there really a dental difference between the provinces? After reading this and several other threads like it, I was wondering the same thing. Jie is from Guangxi, she and her son brush diligently, twice a day. I got them flossers I have yet to convince them to use, and a good mouth wash to use after, which they also use diligently. I'll keep working on the flossers. I've stressed how important it is, and the expense of dentists here, but progress is in baby steps (I think). Jeff

Good Luck!!!

Jimi, this is one of the questions I asked at ACH two and a half weeks ago. The VO's answer was that it is not required, but that it is recommended to notarize all documents like this, including the EOR letter. But since I was there, the VO said that the actual passport was even better. So I never made copies, just gave Jie my passport. She gave it to the VO along with hers and her sons. Jeff