Period of adjustment

[NickF]

Well, ChunMei's seems to be settling in OK. A few rouigh spots here and there, but overall she's finding that she likes the US, and really likes Colorado.

 

She misses her son a lot, and it turns out that now that she's here, he misses her a lot, too. Fortunately we got italkBB working, so she can call him and her friends and family whenever she wants.

 

She also talks daily to her friend Yonghong, who lives in Minnisota. Yonghong's been here for almost two years, and still can't adapt to western food. On the other hand ChunMei's found she likes about 85% of the food she's tried. We've worked things out so that we alternate cooking; one night Chinese, one night American. We cook for each other.

 

She started her intermediate ESL class last Thursday, and it's the first time she's been on her own with other people, and I wasn'tr there. Says she is fine. I hope so.

 

During the day she's been exploring our neighborhood on foot, and wants to begin riding the bus. Problem is, she doesn't know where she would go yet. But we're working on that.

 

We're talking aboput next year when her son graduates from college, maybe he can come here and study for a year at a college here. Makes it much better for him to find a job in China these days.

 

Interestingly, ChunMei likes American Wal mart's much better than the Chinese ones. Not sure why.

[tsap seui]

Glad to hear things are going well Nick. Best wishes for your future.

 

tsap seui

[Dennis143]

Hey, Nick. Glad to hear things are going OK. About that food thing,,,,that can change. The old tai tai was kind of like that at first, too. She seemed to get along with most things I tried her on, but as time wore on, she got to where she won't hardly eat anything Western. And she still cooks her lettuce.

 

Just a little advice - let her go at her own pace and she'll do fine.

Yep, plan on having a plate of some type of lettuce on your table every night that's been cooked in oil. Learn to love it too.

[Davidq]

I wondered how you were adjusting!

 

Glad to hear things are going well.

 

QingHong and her daughter 9 years old, will be here in Denver in 4 weeks from Friday. We are looking forward to the new experiences.

[NewDay2006]

Great news. I'm things are going nicely.

[foobaz123]

Hey, Nick. Glad to hear things are going OK. About that food thing,,,,that can change. The old tai tai was kind of like that at first, too. She seemed to get along with most things I tried her on, but as time wore on, she got to where she won't hardly eat anything Western. And she still cooks her lettuce.

 

Just a little advice - let her go at her own pace and she'll do fine.

Yep, plan on having a plate of some type of lettuce on your table every night that's been cooked in oil. Learn to love it too.

 

Am I the only one who seems to like it better that way? Haha

[NickF]

Hey, Nick. Glad to hear things are going OK. About that food thing,,,,that can change. The old tai tai was kind of like that at first, too. She seemed to get along with most things I tried her on, but as time wore on, she got to where she won't hardly eat anything Western. And she still cooks her lettuce.

 

Just a little advice - let her go at her own pace and she'll do fine.

Yep, plan on having a plate of some type of lettuce on your table every night that's been cooked in oil. Learn to love it too.

 

Am I the only one who seems to like it better that way? Haha

 

Actually, I'm getting used to it. And she does the same with celery. I'll admit, she's discovered catsup and puts it on almost everything she eats, but if that's her thing and she likes it... The alternating cooking chores seems to be working out. She's learning what American (Italian, Mexican, Thai, Japanese) foods she likes and doesn't like, and I learning the same about Chinese.And, man, can she cook dumplings!

[screamneagle]

Ohhh Yeaaah! If they can cook good dumplings ... nothing else matters!

[Zhou Zhou]

Today has been 1 year since POE and it's been a lot of fun, but at times a little stressful for us both. She was first amazed at all of the green grass, trees and the birds, deer, turkeys and little animals. Ying, liked most of the new foods especially; milk shakes, ice cream, US Chinese restaurants, BBQ and her favorite, Godfather's Pizza Buffet. She loved her ESOL classes and during breaks would chat it up with her Latina classmates and laugh along at their funny stories. (pero ella no sabe espanol, nada)She was amazed at the fast rivers, rock formations and snowy mountains in the National Parks we visited in Utah and Colorado. She was glad that I insisted she go Kayaking and now she's hooked. She's still has trouble with the high cost of living, so many people being so over weight, the scanty clothed women, sex on TV and 90% of Chinese restaurant owners/workers being from Fujian. We adopted a young dawgy from a pet rescue and he instantly took to her and now she has another boy to spoil with her kindness. She doesn't see much of the racism in our little country town...the church ladies and old men staring and our nearest neighbor not speaking to us since I introduced Ying to them a year ago. But we both agree that it's been a fantastic year and we've had the time of our lives.

[Wil]

Today has been 1 year since POE and it's been a lot of fun, but at times a little stressful for us both. She was first amazed at all of the green grass, trees and the birds, deer, turkeys and little animals. Ying, liked most of the new foods especially; milk shakes, ice cream, US Chinese restaurants, BBQ and her favorite, Godfather's Pizza Buffet. She loved her ESOL classes and during breaks would chat it up with her Latina classmates and laugh along at their funny stories. (pero ella no sabe espanol, nada)She was amazed at the fast rivers, rock formations and snowy mountains in the National Parks we visited in Utah and Colorado. She was glad that I insisted she go Kayaking and now she's hooked. She's still has trouble with the high cost of living, so many people being so over weight, the scanty clothed women, sex on TV and 90% of Chinese restaurant owners/workers being from Fujian. We adopted a young dawgy from a pet rescue and he instantly took to her and now she has another boy to spoil with her kindness. She doesn't see much of the racism in our little country town...the church ladies and old men staring and our nearest neighbor not speaking to us since I introduced Ying to them a year ago. But we both agree that it's been a fantastic year and we've had the time of our lives.

 

 

Hi 'Zhou Zhou' ,

 

Thanks for your post. I wanted to ask you how long do you think it would take a lady who is going to English school to learn it to be able to go to the bank , market, get a driver's license and basically do everything that we can do when she gets to the US? My fiancee and I talk everyday right now so her English is adequate to talk but to write and read English right now is difficult in class, she is saying . She is going to English school about 2 hours per day in Changsha.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Wilfred