Phil & Ningning

OK. It's in the mail.

Whiye house TN 37188 = White House TN 37188 ?

Count us in on this. Jiening got her visa last month and is safely here with me now, but the fear and uncertainty leading up to it was almost unendurable. I can't imagine what Alex and the others must be going through right now. It is just wrong that visas petitioned by American citizens are given such a low priority.

Congratulations Lowell & Jun. It's about time they saw the light. We met Ken and Shaoyun in Nanning last month. They seemed like really nice people. I'm glad you had some support.

Congratulations! We've been waiting for the good word, glad you succeded so easily! Have a great trip home. Phil & Ningning

So the old timers like Trigg and Frank have warned us all that life as we know it will be gone forever after our loved ones arrive home. You know? Mine sure is, but it's not at all as wrenching as they make it sound. People always laugh that a man's life is over when he gets married. This is anything but that... Since Ningning & I got home, every day brings new suprises. She was a bit worried about me being tense sometimes, but the other night she commented that I seem more relaxed here. I hadn't noticed. A couple of days ago I came home for lunch to find a big ol' plate of homemade fried rice. Man, was that a great lunch. There are no Chinese grocers in this small city, so we started at the Mexican market where she found many things she wanted. During that shopping trip, we were both a bit hungry, so sat down at the food court and she had her first taco. It was a bit humorous watching the stuffing fall out the back and the tortilla split along the bottom, but she stuck it out and finished it. She understands that these little things make me laugh because I don't realize until I watch her that nearly everything we do is a learned skill. Today we went to a Chinatown area in another city and found a good Chinese market. We bought some mussels and some clams and some squid. As we got home, she said she wants to try to make some seafood tacos with Chinese hot sauce. Sounds good to me. Smells even better. Gotta go.

My sweet Jiening is upstairs sleeping off the jet lag. It feels really good to say that. After she got the visa we went to nanning for the goodbyes with her family. I even got to see the very small village where she grew up and met her 89 year old grandmother. Next we flew back to GZ and took a 500RMB cab ride to Zhongshan for four days of dinners, dim sum, and packing. Some very nice friends drove us to Zhuhai yesterday and saw us to the border. She presented both her international passport and the HK/Macau passport to the Chinese inspector and he stamped her out of the country in the red one. When we got to the Macau side, we were talking so much I wasn't thinking clearly as she got in line behind me. This is a border we have crossed several times together with never a problem, however, this time the Chinese guard had stamped her international passport. I went through and quickly realized my mistake. They weren't letting anyone wait on the far side, so I slowed my walk to a crawl as I watched behind me with no sign of Ningning. Some woman came to me yelling in Cantonese and pointing back to the other side of the room and I knew something was wrong. I found an immigration guard and asked if he spoke English, and he directed me to the central booth. They escorted me from there to a visa room at the side where I was relieved to see her face. It turned out that she needed to pay a visa fee of $100 MOP/HKD to get the visa in her red passport, since that is the one she left China on. Then they saw her other passport, cancelled the visa in it and processed her through without paying the money. I really didn't care about the twelve bucks. On to the airport. When checing in for our flight out of Macau, the agent was speaking to Jiening in Cantonese. our bags went on the scale and stayed there and we went to sit in some chairs ont the sidelines and stayed there. Ningning told me there was a problem making sure that we would be sitting together and kept me calm. I have a tendency to become agitated when I pay for a service and don't get it, especially when I had called the airline myself about a month ago to confirm reservations and seating. After a while I refused to sit anymore and went to the counter by myself to see what the problem was. You know, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. With Jiening safely across the room, the woman was forced to speak to me in English so I could get the straight scoop. There was no reservation problem, she was waiting for the immigration people at LAX to call her back to confirm that she did not need a return ticket with a K1 visa! Once I made it clear that I was going to wait at the counter until we were checked in, things happened fairly fast. No return ticket necessary. Next was the immigration leaving Macau. It seems they had never seen a K1 visa before, either. They asked me if she was my wife. Not yet. I waited. And waited. Then they let her through, kept her passport, and told us to wait. We waited while some manager in an expensive leather jacket and no uniform carried her passport down a hallway and slowly went from office to office trying to determine if it was legit. Finally he came back and said it was okay and she told him it was boarding time. Then he took it into a glass office and a uniformed officer brought it out and said we were free to go. After landing at LAX the captain came on and said there was another aircraft in our gate so we had to wait just a little more. I accompanied her through the visitor's line and to the immigration counter. These guys knew what a K1 was. The man was very nice, and took all of our documents together. I offered the X-ray tube and he said, "That's hers... I'm not a doctor." He processed me through and told me to wait on the other side. She signed a form or two and told him we were thinking of April 2 as a wedding date, then he let her through. Customs was very simple as usual, and the drive home in the rain was followed by squealing happiness as she looked around her new home. Finally we are together

OK.... Here it is.... The first visit at 8:00 was just for turning in documents from the Med Envelope which the official asked her to open, and then the fingerprinting. After security, a man collected the interview letter and then allowed them into the lobby. This is a VERY small room. Then they called her name and directed her to window 11. At the window, the clerk took her passport and had her open the sealed envelope. Then she signed three documents, the ones that the P4 included that needed notarization. Next she was assigned number 27 and instructed to wait in the lobby. Later they called her name again for fingerprinting. After that was completed she was given the interview letter back and instructions to return at 1:00 PM. We returned to the line at 12:00. It seems that arriving one hour early is about right. There was already a crowd forming. At 1:00 the guard allowed everybody inside the fence for a security screen again before entering the lobby and again producing the interview letter. When everyone was in the lobby, an official performed the swearing in of the group. Then, the interviews begin. When her name was called, she went to the window. These are the questions: (mostly in Chinese) VO: Nihao J: Nihao VO: Your passport please? J: (Hands over her passport and mine) OK Here You are VO: (seeing the US passport thought it belonged to J) Have you ever been to America? J: No, this is my friend's passport (Nice to know I rate) VO: Your friend?! J: Sorry, this is my fiance's passport. (Began speaking English at this point) VO: OH! Your special friend.. I see. (English) J: Ahh Yes VO: Who are you going to marry? (English) J: Can you repeat that question? VO: Who are you going to marry? (Chinese) J: Robert Philip Sxxxxxxxxx VO: When did you know him? (Chinese) J: I met him online on AsianEuro September 2003. (English) VO: How many times has he been to China? J: Three times and he is standing outside right now. VO: When did he come? J: The first time was September 2004 VO: 2004? J: I'm so sorry, it's 2003 (actually it was November 2003) VO: The second time? J: 2004 April and the third time is Janu-- VO: What does he do for a living? J: Instrument technician VO: What kind? J: Airplane Instruments VO: Can you give me the I-134? J: (Looking for it, offers the notarized passport copy) VO: I don't need that... Is that the tax return? Let me see that. J: (Still looking for the I-134) OK (Begins looking for the tax return) VO: Here it is...... J: (Produces tax return) VO: what is your job? J: Mostly I work as a designer but my last job was as a real estate seller. VO: What kind of designer? J: Interior J: (Finds the I-134) Here you are. VO: Could you show me some email? J: OK (Produces about 100 emails) VO: That's enough VO: Do you write email in English? J: Yes VO: Who found who first? J: Could you repeat that again? VO: Who found who first? J: He found me first! VO: What did he say in the first email? J: He said he liked my profile and personality and character VO: Could you let me see your pictures? J: Ok here you are VO: (Looks at a few pictures) OK.... You passed. Come back tomorrow at 4 o'clock for your visa. (Hands over white slip) J: (Unbelievebly big smile!) Thank You!!!!!! VO: ²»ÓÃл£¬ÂýÂý×ߣ¡ This shows that even with less than perfect English and even some incorrect answers, the interview is not a problem for those truly in love. The woman was very nice and polite and always said лл whenever recieving documents from my sweetie. I was a bit nervous when she had to go back at 1:00 but it was not a problem at all. Maybe they were just very busy yesterday. Thank God that is behind us. Time to go to Nanning.

Congratulations to you both. I know it has been quite an ordeal. I think Jiening and Julia will both be at the consulate this afternoon picking up their visas at the same time.

Mz sweet Jiening passed her interview with no problems! I[ll tell zou more about the interview when I get the chance. Right now we are too excited to do anzhthing but celebrate! This qualitz computer at Bleny is transposing the Z and Y. No, Im not applzing for a job at the Trigg skewl of spelin.

It has been determined by more then one member that it is better to replace toilet seat then to try and clean it! Get the Japanese toilet seat with the built in washer/dryer and seat warmer. Great for those cold winter mornings. Maybe the Thai style with the built-in footpads. Then her butt would never have to touch it.

Congratulations again to the two of you. I am up late still preparing to leave for GZ on Friday..... Will I ever be ready? (sort... clean... double check files.... clean some more!) It's a problem worth having!

I know what you mean. Jiening is in GZ today also, to pick up her results. I told her just to fill out the forms in English but she insisted that she would do them in both languages. Sometimes she knows best... and sometimes I do. I think the trick is to be amenable to admitting when I am wrong. I have been running around for three weeks now trying to get everything together for the interview next week and she is the one who is nervous. When we are talking on the phone she tells me she's anxious about the interview and I tell her everything will be okay. Somehow I feel that I am witholding my stress for her benefit. Later after the interview I will tell her how I feel now but right now it would just cause her to worry. Also I believe that keeping a positive attitude will help. Hmm... started rambling a bit. One week to go.

Better just replace it to be on the safe side. Congratulations! That is one I would say was definitely decided beforehand.

Count me in. Thank you, Bruce.

Have a great trip! Good luck!

Ahem. We prefer the term "Afro-American" chicken. Is it really American? Could it be Afro-Asian chicken?

Congratulations Chuck! It is exciting... I am happy to say that we will be safely back in the USA on the 11th.

My first one had a 01 for single entry and two subsequent ones had 02 for double entry. You'll be fine.

Jiening filled out both.... the DS157 and the DS156k.

Good luck Jason, I'm sure you two will be fine. Jiening is going to GZ for her medical tomorrow as well.

As I understand it, the doctor/hospital staff will review the documents for completeness and put them in order and seal them in an envelope to be opened by the consulate. It is routine for the I-134 to be included later due to the USC often bringing it to China personally just before the interview. This is what I plan to do in two short weeks. Jiening is going to GZ for the medical exam tomorrow and is showing a bit of concern as well. I told her not to worry, it will be fine this way. If you read the interview reports posted by many other members, you will notice that the VO often asks the interviewee for the document. If it was in the envelope, they would already have it. I could be wrong. Hopefully, I am not.

Congratulations!! Let's keep those white slips coming!

Just shaking off the dribbles from January I guess.

Ken, I'm sure y'all'll be fine. We'll try to give Shaoyun a call when we get to Nanning and let you know how the interview went.