bokiwen

There are some apps for translation available on the iPhone. I gave an (USA) unlocked iPhone 3G to my father in law, and my wife had downloaded a couple translation apps before taking it to China. I currently have a blackberry, and do know that the Chinese character IME is available (with the multilanguage pack), but don't know of a Chinese translator software.

That rule kinda stinks. In PA you can schedule to road test after passing a written test (test only needs to be passed once). As far as I understand it, you could take both tests as many times as needed.

Congrats on Yu getting her license!! That is really awesome! Yin drives on her own, and just needs more experience. Yin has made a couple mistakes while driving, but generally she does well. Her 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix needed some work (2 new rocker panels, rear brakes and rotors, along with new front wheel bearing) at last inspection, but we decided to keep it one more year before she is ready for a new vehicle. Yeah, missing an exit can be very scary for new drivers. I try to get my wife into the habit of saying routes, directions, and exit numbers instead of "turn left at McDonalds, until you see the big yellow house on your left". I've tried to buy the GPS for her before, but she isn't interested. I also bought her a backup camera for her car, but she claims she has no need... I'm really glad for both of you!!

Just a question if you SO has applied / or tried to get credit cards. My wife is working two jobs, and recently applied for a credit card and got a $1000 limit with a great 22.99% interest rate. Just curious what type of rates/limits other SO's have received. I thought this was a little bit of low limit and high interest, but I realize this probably has something more to do with the current financial situation, the recent credit card reform, and her limited financial history. Interesting that since my wife started working, she wants to establish her own "financial" independence. She has insisted on purchasing groceries for the week the last two times, along with paying for her own gas in her car. I think she feels a little guilty about living in America for 1 year before being able to get a job, and now wants to be able to do more.

Yin used Newark as her POE (from HKG). We had decided to take our return flight to Pittsburgh 4 hours from arrival in EWR, instead of a flight 2 hours out, to be sure to give us enough time at EWR. During immigration, we were escourted by an officer carrying her documents to the "immigration room". The flight I came in on had many newborn adoptions, and I noticed very specifically that people with children seemed to go first. I also remember trying to make a phone call, and being told (which I knew) that no cell phones were allowed to be on. The whole process took close to an hour. However, after we cleared immigration and went through customs, we got the "open every bag" treatment, which took some time. When we had cleared customs, there was a line to forward your bags to PIT and then go through security again. When all was said and done, our luggage actually made the earlier flight. As it turned out, we could have made it through everything in one and a half hours, but it would have been fairly close. To make matters worse, we found our EWR-PIT flight delayed by several hours, which made our trip much longer. To answer your question, I would say it can be done, but you might feel a little rushed. If you miss your next flight, I'm not sure what the airline policy is due to being stuck in immigration. As someone who traveled much with work and missed flight because of traffic or meetings, the legacy airlines used to be fairly liberal and actually let you fly standby on other flights to your destination that they had throughout the day (e.g. a later flight), but I'm not sure what currently policies are in place now.

Just out of curiousity, what was it that Disney screwed up on in Hong Kong? Was it that the HK Disneyland is so darned small? The article points out a couple things such as food, ineffective PR/communication, etc. But, yes, I would have to say the size is the main issue. I went there with my wife a couple years ago and I was very disappointed. I just couldnt believe how small and insignificant it was. I hope Shanghai is much better. Cant wait to take the kids there some day. I read somewhere in the past that Hong Kong Disneyland is to be opened in "phases". Phase I was the opening, and Phase II and III involve more expansion. I'm not exactly sure where the park is now in it's expansion plans, but the plan was always to do things slowly. I will say that we've been to Hong Kong Disneyland twice, and certainly had a good time.

Congratulations!!! I remember how happy Yin was when she got hers this April.

I guess more to the point as to what I'm trying to say, this story is very "media" related. I'm not sure for example if the couple actually talked to the Justice of the Peace at all (it says for example they talked to his wife). Did this conversation take place during a time/place of business or after hours. However, I don't believe the wife's statements could have prohibited them from filing, then on the grounds of whatever denial the Justice of the Peace would make would have made this a much bigger issue (IMHO). Don't get me wrong, if what was said to them on a phone call and then someone contacted the judge and he expressed his opinion in print, then discrimation took place here. I'm just not sure I completely understand the details of the case to throw the book at the judge yet (I see that yahoo updated the story and two civil and constitutional rights are calling for him to resign).

After reading the story, I'm a little confused. What I understand, is the interracial couple called the Justice of the Peace office and the wife answered the phone. She asked if the couple was interracial, and then made a statement that her husband does not marry interracial couples, and the couple should look elsewhere. At that point, the ACLU is going to send a letter to the Justice of the Peace. Based on that, of course I agree this is 100% wrong. However, the couple didn't file any paperwork with this Justice of the Peace and were discouraged to. Being in this situation, I would have filed with this Justice of the Peace just to see what happens. Also the phone call, was it placed to his office or the Justice of the Peace's home? I'm not sure a law was actually broken or would have been broken had they actually filed with this Justice of the Peace. The basic principal is wrong, but it's one of those stories which if you look into the details as I understand them, that shouldn't be blown way out of proportion. Of course I say that and immediately fell into the trap of balloon boy yesterday!.

Yin says basically the same thing, "change the air". Even with air cleaners running, it's difficult to convince her to change! Yeah, Wuhan is one of those areas where many apartments don't have heat (because they anticipate a warmer winter). In the big snowstorms in 2008 in Wuhan, my wife got her boots wet, and they were wet all day, and she couldn't find an effective way to dry them. Maybe Pittsburgh isn't a good city for a Wuhan girl (even though Wuhan and Pittsburgh are sister cities)..

My wife likes fresh air in the house, where she likes to open windows and our door leading to our screened porch. With the weather starting to get cold in Pittsburgh, I've closed the windows, and actually started running some heat within the last week. Yesterday, my wife had left for work at Walmart, and decided to leave the porch door wide open. When I came home from work, of course the furnace is running at full blast, while a majority of the heat is escaping through the door (my thermostat was set to 68, while the temperature was reading in the 50's). Of course, my wife says she wants "fresh air" in the house, but I'm not sure she appreciates heat. Her home in Wuhan for example really didn't have a heating system, and everyone wore multiple layers of clothing (including coats). She also complains that our oil heat dries out her skin (which is why we run humidifiers in our bedroom). Of course, this issue lead to some "discussions" between us last year, and we had to have this discussion again already this year. It seems as though she would rather have fresh air than have heat. I'm just curious if anyone else has had to have the same discussions with their SO?

I'm so stupid, as I never considered a Canadian having to go through immigration to come to America. Of course they do immigration and customs in the "pre clearance". So the only issue of making Canada a POE is the transit visa, I guess. Did anyone on the board every try to use Canada as their POE for their spouse? Appaullo, that sounds like it should be a good route through Chicago, and more than enough time to get through everything. Good luck!

I had the same thoughts last year of using Air Canada through Toronto, but decided against it. I couldn't figure out how to get a Canada transit visa for my wife (even emailed the Canadian Consulate in China, and got a response that they don't do it there). The other question about that I had was I was not 100% sure too that the Canadian airports can do immigration for US citizens at their POE. Some Canadian airports (Toronto airport for example) has a US Customs at the airport, so you don't need to do customs at your destination in America, but I'm not sure about immigration. I thought there were too many unknowns to try it, but I'd like to know if anyone was able to do this successfully...

Thanks for the information. I had heard some time ago this was being considered. Certainly will make me think twice what I really need!

I've seen some beggars, and yes, they often do seem to be in areas where more population hangs out. I did give money to some people, but this was often a source of "discontent" between me and my wife. I once gave some to a woman who was paper thin and her baby (she wasn't even begging), as she was outside of the hotel I was staying in. I tried to think it wasn't a scam, but you never know. I guess it's wise to assume that if things seem too good to be true, it probably is! Of course, this advice can appy to any city..

Some things I've noticed: I've been asked in Tiananmen square to see the "art show" from local students. Basically they approach, ask where you are from, then say they are practicing English, and ask if you want to go to see their gallery. I was asked to go to a tea house too, but I have a friend who owns a tea house in Beijing so I declined. The other "overly" helpful thing is people at an airport trying to help. At the old Beijing airport, some people approached me and asked where my next flight was, claiming "you won't have time to make your flight" or "your bags are overweight", blah, blah, blah. Of course they do this for money. Another Tianamen square scheme I saw was while I was waiting in Line to see Chairman Mao. I had my camera with me, and I was asked if I wanted someone to hold my camera for me because you would not be allowed to take it inside. Of course they were telling the truth, but I'm sure they would have run away with my camera. I took my camera to a locker rental place nearby. I fell for the "unlicensed taxi" scheme myself in Beijing. I had to get from the airport to a hotel on Wangfujing street. When leaving the airport, I was approached and said it would cost like 400RMB to go by taxi, but they would take me for 350RMB. Of course, I negotiated, and got them down to 250 (thinking I was making a good deal). On my return trip back to the airport, I found it cost a little over 100 RMB and I had been ripped off by the jitney driver. Some other things I noticed - not necessarily scams: A hotel also double charged me for a room (thinking this was an honest mistake though). I had to settle the matter with AMEX before I would remit payment. One of my colleagues was a victim of fake money. I think it was the 100RMB bills, but I wasn't so sure. The restaurant we went to wouldn't take his money (The Greenery Cafe in Taiyuan), so he refused to go back. He pawned the bill off on someone else though.

HA!! Our wedding video was not region locked. Most DVD's I bought in China worked on my home DVD player. I wached a couple DVD's with my wife I had brought to China (the old Mission Impossible TV show season 1 for example), and they worked. I did know however, that Yin had a newer DVD player (it supported both PAL and NTSC and was region free), so I guess your experience could be hit or miss. Maybe as a suggestion is you could bring a portable DVD player or laptop computer with you and just output the video to the TV (tv's also seem to switch between NTSC and PAL signals).

Thank you for the advice. I think my wife just feels unsure and not so comfortable yet, with working. Don't get me wrong, she doesn't think every American working is a PHD but she also feels they know more than her. I'm sure on the job learning will be tremendous for her. My wife is working hard, and will be working with a teacher from PA CareerLink to help her improve her reading, writing, and spoken English. She goes for her Walmart orientation/training on Tuesday. Had to buy the tan pants and the navy blue shirts last night. Selection for the shirts was terrible in the woman's section so we had to go to the boys department for them. She does enjoy her job at the Chinese school, but her first class went a little rough. She originally had 8 children, but they decided that the level of some of the children was higher than others, so they split her class. She has 5 children aged 3-5, and has to teach them and entertain them for 3 hours. She wasn't 100% prepared, but has since made a lesson plan for this week (she has asked the children to bring a toy which is an animal so they could learn the Chinese names of animals).

Li Yin got her first and second jobs! A couple weeks ago she was hired by the Pittsburgh Chinese School to teach Mandarin to 3-5 year old children for 3 hours a week (of course it's during Steelers game time and I don't feel 100% confident letting her drive to the school alone). This past week, she got a job offer from Walmart as a minimum wage cashier. She's very excited about her opportunities. I'm happy for her, as I hope this provides her some self confidence she needs to succeed in America. She feels that her education (a 4 year degree in Business English from Hauzhong University in Wuhan, along with some graduate degree work with Beijing Normal University) is lacking to work in America. In fact, my wife wanted to start at the bottom and take GED classes because she felt her English was not good (she went as far as taking the skills assessment test and scored 27 out of 32, which showed she didn't need to take courses). We are happy that we have found a free CareerLink office with teachers, that are helping her become more confident.

I often wondered the same, if we are reinforcing this stereotype. However, the Chinese seem to love it. YUM brands (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut), for example is considered the worlds largest restaurant chain now, with a lot of it's recent success attributed to it's success in China. I wonder if this works the other way around. Maybe we can bring Dicos and Mr. Lee California Beef Noodle King to America? Is someone willing to invest with me --- maybe this can be our franchise opportunity!!

Congrats on the interview date. Looks like her CR-1 visa proceeded very quickly!

Why don't i have women in midriff tops and go-go boots at my Hardee's in Pennsylvania standing outside giving me coupons?

Just reading this old topic. Reminds me of another scheme they pulled in PA years ago. You would pull up to the line to take your drivers test, the officer would make the other person leave, and do the signal test. Then the officer would ask you to pull the car forward and pick them up. TRAP! If driving with a permit, you are not allowed to drive without another licensed driver in the front seat... The minute you move the car, is the minute you fail the test. I know two people personally that fell for this TRAP..

When my wife first arrived, and after she got her social security card, I took her to get her a identification card at the DMV. I had similar problems as TN vol had. They looked at her passport which had the I-551 stamp (she was CR1), which said something like upon endorsement serves at temporary I-551 for 1 year. The PennDOT official argued with me for much time, saying something about the Patriot Act (I asked him to specifically quote what was in violation with the Patroit act, but he rambled on saying it's like a 1,000 page document, and many things apply)... In the end, they had to take my wife's passport and fax it into another office, where they quickly told the employee, everything is in order, give her the ID. My local office just didn't know how to deal with situation.

I would let you borrow it, but my wife traded the Delorean in on a cash for clunkers deal.... Anyways, when I sent things to my wife, it was usually via USPS, and it got to Wuhan within 7-10 days. Li Yin will occasionally send a package home, and they seem to get there within 2 weeks. Not too sure about other parts of China though. As far as the bank card is concerned, my bank clearly let me know that an ATM card was non-transferrable, and that that my pin served as my signature. I just gave up fighting them about it, and did a domestic bank of China transfer (you can transfer domestically to Bank of China in New York and they will route it through China). Not the most elegant or cheapest way, but it was efficient.