Puppets on a String

[JohnB]

I have returned to the Twilight Zone early this week. Almost 3 weeks out & about Beijing, Shenyang, Dalian,
and of course Fushun.. my wife's family humble home.

I will say a week in Beijing was not enough and everywhere else was too long. Expectations somehow not
met outside the big city. Deflated. Maybe best to save Beijing for the end of a visit. Or, just stay in one
locale and make the best out of it.

Anyway... my observation of cell phone use in China.
When we were married, Jing had made little effort to connect to friends. She just was not that interested.
Her's a cheap phone.. a necessary evil at the bottom of her purse. Last year she bought an I-phone. Things
changed. Computers too cumbersome. I-phone highly mobile of course, and besides, whatever she wants to
know, listen to the news.. it is all available in a few seconds notice. On her very own I- phone. The latest
China craze seems to be exhibited, is a “KTV- like” download which allows anyone to sing. Then posted
on- line. Critiqued by similar like minded Chinese denizens. The success being measured on 'flowers'. I
guess computer flowers. Much better than plastic flowers she tells me.  Anyway, Jing has a beautiful voice.

The thing is, is that this phone is stuck to her hand. What can I do? Nothing! The Chinese go forth like mind
controlled zombies. Kind of comical, but sobering too. Wherever you go in China, this is a phenomenon unlike
anywhere else I have been.

Anyway, I am back in America. In Idaho.. the state with the hugest pickup trucks I have ever witnessed.
A far cry from China's most efficient, modern, & cheap public transportation.

[Willy The Londoner]

Glad to hear you had a good time.  Join the club of husbands with wife's who have had a smart phone transplant into one hand.

 I do not expect you noticed much change in the value of the US Dollar against the rmb.  Lucky your not British.

Last year I was getting 9.8 rmb per pound. Today's rate is 8.2 rmb.  That is quite a few thousand rmb down every month.

Willy

[JohnB]

Willy, I send my wife's family (as in, son) money each month. Education expenses. Jing told me the other day the US$ is weak. I don't pay much attention to the rmb exchange rate... only to my US$ expenditures! Anyway, I did the calcs.. "my" dollar/ rmb ratio is 4.65% cheaper than a year ago. Less bang for the money I send him.

I had to Google it. Maybe of interest, but the dollar is not just falling against the rmb, it is falling against all the
major currencies. https://internationalbanker.com/brokerage/us-dollar-consistently-falling-throughout-2017/
Things are improving for you. I just checked the exchange rate. The pound buys you 8.9 rmb.

We'll be in China mid- April for our last 'vacation'. I'll probably have to bring a few extra bucks to make the visit doable.

   
 

[ChinaBound]

 John

I thought you had your wife here with you in Idaho?
I must have missed something as i do not get on here
very often.

It is pretty much useless here as the forum has fallen
way down from the heyday of 5 years ago.

[JohnB]

Ted, Jing's American experiment failed. She is 100% Chinese. No change.
I'll go to China with her, with "minimalist" possessions & my American passport
in the hip pocket.   

Still Stateside for a few more months. I'll be done with work soon, so no more
demands. 

This site is a ghost of what it once was. There is a few of us trying to ignite a
flame here. Maybe the few, the new, the adventurous can add to the equation.
I think the joke thread is funny. That 'mod' must be a f*cking clown! Nothing
better to do than post funny shit.

Hope all is well with you.
 

[ChinaBound]

   John,

 Everything is great. Thank you for asking. Unfortunately
 many men have the same issue with their ladies after a
 brief stay out of China.

 As long as your good with it moving to China is a great
 option. I would take a look at Guilin when you return as
 it is very beautiful there. We enjoy our stays there.

 Stephanie enjoys both countries so it is not a issue for me.
 I still do the truck thing and bought another home in
 Sapulpa Oklahoma. About 10 miles from Tulsa but more of
 a country setting.

 Yes this place is a ghost of a forum. To bad because we had
 fun and provided great information.

Take Care
Ted

[Willy The Londoner]

Willy, I send my wife's family (as in, son) money each month. Education expenses. Jing told me the other day the US$ is weak. I don't pay much attention to the rmb exchange rate... only to my US$ expenditures! Anyway, I did the calcs.. "my" dollar/ rmb ratio is 4.65% cheaper than a year ago. Less bang for the money I send him.

I had to Google it. Maybe of interest, but the dollar is not just falling against the rmb, it is falling against all the
major currencies. https://internationalbanker.com/brokerage/us-dollar-consistently-falling-throughout-2017/
Things are improving for you. I just checked the exchange rate. The pound buys you 8.9 rmb.

We'll be in China mid- April for our last 'vacation'. I'll probably have to bring a few extra bucks to make the visit doable.

 

Hi John
Been off for a couple of days with the bug.
My January exchange notched up 9.2 rmb to the pound. best it has been since UK voted in 2006 to leave the European Community. It was 10.5 when I arrived here in 2009.
Short lived though as the big fall on the US Markets this week hit the exchange again and it is down to 8.77 again today.  But it still buys a lot here.

Willy

[David E]

Hi All !!!!

I often pop in to the Site to check whats new in the "Chinese Bride" World...but apart from a VERY few of the old guard posting, there seems little interest in general...I think the whole foreign bride scenario has gone cold...too many scammers, too many Governments making it difficult.
For Ming and myself, life has settled into our own routine, we have a good life and she has just applied for Australian Citizenship. She still visits her home Town (Chengdu) twice each year, but I dont go now...my COPD cant take the air pollution !!!

She gas a good mix of Chinese and Western friends here and enjoys her life in a warm climate, she can even cook a half-decent egg and bacon.

She has a job teaching Mandarin to second and third generation Chinese children whos parents wish them to learn the Chinese language, because they now see it as their second language.

I sometimes run across Scottish Rob on face book, but none of the old gang surface any more...it would be nice to know how they are all doing.

Regards to all

DavidE

[Pineau]

Johnb, me, willi and Robert are about all that is left. But I am still kicking. Fiona ia a US citizen and Katie has applied for citizenship. I check here once a week.

[Robertt S]

  Nice to hear from you again David! Like Gerry said, not too many of the old regulars post anymore here. I guess their lives have gotten to busy to hang out here like the old days. My wife and I are still going strong after 8-1/2 years and hopefully that continues. I don't post here a lot either, mostly housekeeping and deleting spammers that try to join.

 I am trying a few things in the hope of increasing membership and activity on the site, I am wanting to open this site up to cover more than just China because there is many other Asian countries that need the information and support we might provide. I have recently changed jobs after 17 years and that has been an adventure in itself. I just got to get used to staying in one location daily instead of being a mobile service technician traveling state-wide.

 My wife stays busy with her job and is as happy as she can be since she purchased her first car! I have been much happier also since she started working, now she doesn't have a lot of time to find honey do's for me to do after work. This has greatly opened up my weekends for my favorite hobby of motorcycle riding! We have also just recently welcomed her son to the USA, I sent his paperwork in back in Oct of 2010 and he received his visa in July of last year. He came over in late November and managed to get his Georgia driver's license shortly after receiving his green card. That impressed me very much since his English is very bad.

 Hope to hear from you again soon!
Robertt

[shaun]

Still here, still read but I'm not comfortable with some on this site to post anything about us. 

[David E]

  Nice to hear from you again David! Like Gerry said, not too many of the old regulars post anymore here. I guess their lives have gotten to busy to hang out here like the old days. My wife and I are still going strong after 8-1/2 years and hopefully that continues. I don't post here a lot either, mostly housekeeping and deleting spammers that try to join.

 I am trying a few things in the hope of increasing membership and activity on the site, I am wanting to open this site up to cover more than just China because there is many other Asian countries that need the information and support we might provide.

 Hope to hear from you again soon!
Robertt

Hi Robert

It seems that there are not a lot of guys looking for info about Chinese brides, I dont know about what the interest in other Asian countries is, but seems to me that modern guys have gone cold on foreign partners ??

For myself, having recently retired and now having much more spare times, also having over 7 years experience of the Chinese wife syndrome !!!!!! (haha) I am more than happy to help anybody through this minefield, but nobody seems to need any advice...so be it.

I am sad that Shaun is still concerned about contributing, as he had on of the most interesting and complex "journeys" of all of us....but I am sure he knows best and has every right to be cautious.

Pineau seems to be the everlasting poster along with Willie and I often think about some of the stuff that passed between us in the "olden days" !!

good to hear from you all

Cheers...DavidE

[Willy The Londoner]

I am like the preverbial bad penny and keep turning up David.  Nice to hear from you.

Celebrating my 9th Chinese New Year here this weekend.

I get around the home and outside on an Electric powered wheelchair now.

The hospital doctors here say that I had a stroke June 2016 but those who visited me here know that I have been having problems with my legs that has been building up for past 5 years or so. Went from a stick to two sticks to a walking frame to the wheelchair in that time.
But despite all that i feel good in myself and bearing in mind my age i am on borrowed time anyway.

Still I have a good wife here who looks after me second to none she is even changing the car so that my chair can fit in back easier.

Plus we have her 90 year old father living here part of the year.

Willy

[Philip]

I check in here occasionally to see if there is any life in the old dog.
After 5 years in Chongqing, me, my wife and 5 year old son moved back to Hong Kong last August. Things are going great and I have no plans to move until they tell me I can't work anymore. My wife and I are coming up to 8 years married in April.

[Rhonald]

Feb 12th was our 9th year marriage anniversary. My wife still teaches part-time her Guzheng and partakes in a few shows with her students. After finishing her school studies last fall, we did go to Tequila land back in December to finish up the year. Now that her son has his own car, I am not having to be her (Jason Statham) Transporter - but it has been a brutal 1st winter for him to handle winter driving conditions.

There is some talk of us maybe going to Shanghai for some music competition she might plan on entering, else its being smooth sailing over sometimes, stormy waters.