Waiting for a NOA2 from CSC for your I-129F?

[StillThePrettiest 3]

mox, as usual, is speaking a lot of sense

the Loud American Tourist stereotype may be undeserved by most, but by definition, they're the ones who get noticed... I wouldn't say it happens a lot, but I notice it regularly too, specially now living in London - pretty much the same thing you mentioned, mox; loudly making fun of place names, accents, systems, the tube itself, whatever... even things that are less overtly immature and silly can grate sometimes (like the woman waiting in line for Neuschwanstein Castle in southern Germany, who called it 'cute', and who then produced a piece of paper and ticked off the countries she'd been to - each for maybe a day - telling her companion that she'd 'done' France etc )

while I was travelling, whenever I could, I would do a German tour, as opposed to the one done in English, to avoid all the loud silly comments which would invariably come

that said, seeing any of them actually OUTside their country and seeing someone else's is a great thing, because again as mox said, it doesn't seem to happen enough, and many Americans' general knowledge about the rest of the world often seems alarmingly limited

AND I will also add that Aussies abroad can be pretty embarrassing too, specially when they avoid the sights and head straight for the pub - and they're also known to be Loud Talkers sometimes - and I know some English people who are mortified about their fellow countrymen... none of us are perfect

as far as living there, DKM -

pretty much the first thing friends of mine say, after spending time in the States (and I know quite a few who have lived there for a while, whether my cousin's six months - appropriately enough, in Portland - or my friend's year, as well as just those who have holidayed there for a short time), is a compliment about the people; words like 'open, 'friendly', 'generous', 'charming' are pretty common... Americans are very well thought of on those grounds, and I have definitely seen that; I had a lovely time when I visited last year (thus far my only time), and I'd say this is definitely the rule rather than the exception

and as far as standard and cost of living, weather, etc, you're also pretty spot-on, and I wouldn't argue with you at all

however, I'm still pretty reluctant about moving there, and there are loads of reasons why... I moved to London over a year ago, and while it's just recently been ranked as the second most expensive city in the world (and I think deserves it), and obviously doesn't have the temperate climate of many places in the States, there is SO much I love about it... I love the proximity to Europe; I booked a flight to Germany the other day, just for four days, and will spend New Year in Paris, after travelling there on the Eurostar; since living here I've spent weekends in Portugal and Spain, been on a different trip to Germany, spent a week in Provence at a friend's wedding, and so on and so on... SO much to see, and right at your fingertips

and before you counter with 'but there's loads of variation in America too!' - I know, but it's not the same; these are different cultures (some of them ancient); it's just not like moving about within the borders of one place

even within England - even within London - there is SO much that I love; I love old place names, and beautiful old buildings - I often catch a bus, even when a tube would be quicker, just so I can sit and look at everything (sometimes things I've seen a thousand times before, but which I still love); it still gives me a thrill to catch a glimpse of the Tower, or Big Ben, or have to go up to Cambridge on business and walk by the ancient colleges, or whatever... SO much here is just steeped in history

and on a more subtle note - I find that people here in Europe tend to share my sense of humour, and understand my way of expressing myself, far better than people do in the US (or in Australia, for that matter) - it's hard to put the difference into words, but in my experience it comes down to literalness; so many Americans seem to take everything at face value, and not see the levels of subtlety or the dead-pan nature of the comment or the implied joke or whatever... I have seen this over and over again, and there's nothing WRONG with it; it just makes me feel like a foreigner, and like no one's speaking my language

so in the end, while there are things I think I will love about the States, at the moment I'm quite nervous about the change, and still really sad as I go about London and realise how soon I'm going to be leaving all these things I love

whew! sorry; a bit of a novella... will rein myself in a bit better next time, but I was just really interested in the discussion

thank you to anyone who bothered to read this far

[TBoneTX 45,090]

and yes, TBone; I can only speak for myself, but I saw your post, and Ewok's answer, and I disagree, and said so... I thought I had phrased it in such a way as to make that clear, but evidently not

and yes, I also saw that you'd sent him a PM, which is why I again posted my advice to make it a public discussion so that more people can get in on it

by all means continue asking him if you want, but don't see his answers as gospel - a month or so back there was a similar discussion re received dates vs sent dates, for the NOA1, and the general consensus ended up being that what's Official Policy on VJ isn't actually the most logical or helpful

---

I have taken Prettiest's advice (after all, she is The Prettiest) and posted a question on the Site-Related Forum just now, as a new topic. Everyone will be able to identify it, and I encourage your participation as you see fit.

T-B.

[StillThePrettiest 3]

*simper*

someone else who likes monobrows!!

(and the best criterion for giving good advice is prettiness; glad you recognise that )

[DKM 0]

wow very well thought out answers. Sunshinegirl don't sweat it. If they catch that, which I highly doubt, it is easy enough to fix.

yes STP I do understand what you are saying. I've dealt with the same issues with my fiancee, she says the same things about Moscow that you say about London. Add on top of that the language barrier and its even worse. She's totally freaked out about leaving and giving up her career when she finally got into management. I hope you don't tell your man too much about how much you will miss where you are leaving because its rather distressing at times to be honest.

Its been 3 days since a CSC NOA2. I hope Tuesday brings the first one of the week!

[StillThePrettiest 3]

I do actually talk about it to my fiancé sometimes; it IS difficult, but I think it's healthy, and best to be honest... I always make sure I reassure him that it's not about him, and he knows that

I think we'll be fine

and I moved to London more than THREE years ago; I don't know why I said one

[Captain Ewok 1,891]

and yes, TBone; I can only speak for myself, but I saw your post, and Ewok's answer, and I disagree, and said so... I thought I had phrased it in such a way as to make that clear, but evidently not

and yes, I also saw that you'd sent him a PM, which is why I again posted my advice to make it a public discussion so that more people can get in on it

by all means continue asking him if you want, but don't see his answers as gospel - a month or so back there was a similar discussion re received dates vs sent dates, for the NOA1, and the general consensus ended up being that what's Official Policy on VJ isn't actually the most logical or helpful

---

I have taken Prettiest's advice (after all, she is The Prettiest) and posted a question on the Site-Related Forum just now, as a new topic. Everyone will be able to identify it, and I encourage your participation as you see fit.

T-B.

I have posted a reply in the other post. Quick answer is that there was a person at the TSC filing a K1 with a similar date to yours that had put 2005 instead of 2007. This increased the estimate artificially. Generally we have a few hundred timelines per estimation that generate the statistics but since people are not filing at the TSC anymore and since there were only six other timelines that went into your calculation the "errant" timeline date scewed things. I fixed it and it now reads Nov 5th. If you used the CSC you would get a similar date as they are clearly working the same files or at least very close now. Regardless it does appear that you are a bit late since there were six other timelines that filed within a few weeks of you and were all approved in early to mid November.

I am glad you pointed this out as well and I have improved a screen program I use to check for other potential data entry errors in timelines. Generally small errors are filtered out since we throw out outliers and also by the fact that with larger sample sizes (for the CSC we typically have over a hundred or more in the estimate vs. only 6 for yours at the TSC) the effect is minimized as well. This means that possibly like others were saying, the CSC seems to be more stable thant the TSC (since there are only a handful of TSC timelines left in the system used to generate estimates).

[Ovaltine Jenkins 5]

The worst I've ever been treated as an American was in France, and even then it was just general rudeness (sorry to promote that stereotype, but it was true in my case). Mostly I think we bring it on ourselves. Whenever I'm abroad, I cringe when I hear an American accent. We are loud, animated, and we have to make fun of everything that's different from what we're used to. Taking the tube one time in London, there were 2 Americans sitting in the seat across from me. They were yapping in fake British accents and just thought they were so funny when they made fun of the various British differences. Everyone in the car could hear them, and it was embarrassing.

The best I've ever been treated was Scotland. I've found that most places in Europe are pretty good to Americans, despite our behavior. Especially if you at least make an attempt to speak the language. I was treated with slight disdain in Moscow, but the people in Kazan and Yoshkar-Ola treated me like a long lost relative.

I was always treated well in Portland.

Hehe Moxie the thing with the French might not be that they have problems with Americans but they seem to have problems with everybody. I know some French language but just a little bit and wouldn´t dare speaking it yet. Though I can understand some if I try really hard So we were in France and nobody was serving the breakfast in the hotel. There was the sign there to go ask the receptionist. So we went to ask the receptionist and ofcourse I spoke English to her cuz mostly everybody learns English in France (they just like to pretend they don´t understand you or if they understand you they pretend they can´t speak it or I dunno what to think about them). And also you expect people in the hotel to speak English (at least the receptionist! lol). Ofcourse she understood me...but she was rude enough to answer in French. Which got me pretty upset but we just went to do what she told us to do and didn´t say anything. Then I decided that when we wanna check out I speak to her in my native language which is Czech. Maybe we would walk out without paying cuz she wouldn´t understand us lol Anyways she wasn´t there anymore There was some other guy who was nice enough to check us out and spoke English to us. That was dissapointing hehe Well next time I will be faster than them Just wanted to say that sofar about 95% of the French I met were rude like this. Like they think their country is so big that they never cross the border or what? I live in the center of Europe and so I am used to crossing all kinds of borders all the time and people speak various languages everywhere and if we need something we try to use English first cuz it´s expected that most people learn it as a second language or something. Then we might even find out we understand each other while speaking the native languages. Just the French are different with this and I don´t like it. Well maybe I just didn´t go to the right places or I dunno But I certainly didn´t feel welcome there...

[Ovaltine Jenkins 5]

SOS. Pls HELP ME. My fiance (USC) sent pictures to prove that we met each other. However, now, I found a huge problem. He sent 6 pictures. and once of the pictures has a wrong date. He put 07/10/2006. But, I returned to Japan on 07/08/2006. It does not make any sense. I guess he was remembering the night before we were together and it was 07/07/2006. but he put a wrong date. After he prepared entire packages, he got copies of my passport. I am really freaking out because USCIS might take this as dishonesty. I am asking him to call USCIS and tell them, But he kept telling me the line was busy and he said just wait RFE. Ahhhh Pls help me. What should I do?

5 Nov 2007

Well I don´t think it should be a huge deal...if they notice and have a problem with it, they might send an RFE, but I don´t think they will fix it if he calls them. Well he can always try keep calling maybe they will or they will at least tell him if it´s a problem or not Calm down a little and do something that will put a smile on your face

[Ovaltine Jenkins 5]

I moved to London over a year ago, and while it's just recently been ranked as the second most expensive city in the world (and I think deserves it), and obviously doesn't have the temperate climate of many places in the States, there is SO much I love about it... I love the proximity to Europe; I booked a flight to Germany the other day, just for four days, and will spend New Year in Paris, after travelling there on the Eurostar; since living here I've spent weekends in Portugal and Spain, been on a different trip to Germany, spent a week in Provence at a friend's wedding, and so on and so on... SO much to see, and right at your fingertips

and before you counter with 'but there's loads of variation in America too!' - I know, but it's not the same; these are different cultures (some of them ancient); it's just not like moving about within the borders of one place

even within England - even within London - there is SO much that I love; I love old place names, and beautiful old buildings - I often catch a bus, even when a tube would be quicker, just so I can sit and look at everything (sometimes things I've seen a thousand times before, but which I still love); it still gives me a thrill to catch a glimpse of the Tower, or Big Ben, or have to go up to Cambridge on business and walk by the ancient colleges, or whatever... SO much here is just steeped in history

and on a more subtle note - I find that people here in Europe tend to share my sense of humour, and understand my way of expressing myself, far better than people do in the US (or in Australia, for that matter) - it's hard to put the difference into words, but in my experience it comes down to literalness; so many Americans seem to take everything at face value, and not see the levels of subtlety or the dead-pan nature of the comment or the implied joke or whatever... I have seen this over and over again, and there's nothing WRONG with it; it just makes me feel like a foreigner, and like no one's speaking my language

Exactly! And everything in USA is sooo far away. You need to spend e.g. 6 hours on the road just to go through a desert or something... Wanna go "sightseeing" in L.A.? You better pick just a couple of things then cuz you spend the entire day in the car on the blocked roads, trying to get somewhere, then you get off for a while to see that thing you wanted to see and hop back in the car. I love walking so much here in Europe. We can walk everywhere and when we need to get somewhere we just hop on some public transport cuz the public transport network is so well developed here it gets you there fast no need for taking naps in the car while the traffic is blocked, you have so many things to see everywhere etc. I could keep talking about such a subject for long. On the other hand I think in USA they are more oriented on families and family fun so that´s what I will be interested in too if it´s true. So I guess there are things we will also start liking in USA but will just miss Europe lots...so we will see And it´s not like we are from Canada...we can´t just go across the border to go home visit family and friends ...it will be a longer journey for us so we can´t take it that often And I also agree with the sense of humour. Especially me, when English isn´t my native language and I didn´t grow up in USA I don´t get some of the jokes they start saying cuz it´s about something I have never heard of and it´s sometimes tiring when someone always has to explain what the joke is actually about. So sometimes I have to hear explanation first and then I can laugh. Also sometimes I like using sarcastic or dry English humour which I was told isn´t considered very polite in USA so sometimes it´s like I have to watch my mouth...

On a brighter note...I wanted to share the news I have with you....I have medical tomorrow and the interview in a week so I better get all my stuff ready now

[StillThePrettiest 3]

it's a weird thing about the French... I've heard SO many first-hand stories about rudeness and so on, so it's not like I can doubt it, but it's very rarely been my experience... I've been to Paris four times, Lille once, and spent a week and half in Provence (all spread out over a 12 year period), so it's not like I've not spent a bit of time there and been in contact with different people; I just... have generally found nice ones

of course, the time in Provence was with the family of a friend, so you'd expect them to be pretty pleasant

oh, and interview in a WEEK, Marta?!

how very VERY exciting

hope you're still going to hang out in here afterward though

[Ovaltine Jenkins 5]

hope you're still going to hang out in here afterward though

of course

[mox 298]

Before I start an international incident , I just want to add that my experience in France wasn't all or even mostly bad. Like Scott & Marta, my bad experiences had mostly to do with staff. The people on the street were for the most part really friendly, and the further I got outside of Paris the nicer people were. I think that's true of any metropolitan area.

My worst "staff" experience ever was in Moscow, at the Sheremetyevo airport. An Aeroflot customer service agent, as she was handing me my boarding pass, literally said to me "do not come back to Russia." To be fair, even Russians are treated this badly by Aeroflot.

Also, congrats on the interview Scott & Marta!! Please let us know how it goes.

[StillThePrettiest 3]

'do not come back to Russia' ?!

why on earth - ?

[mox 298]

'do not come back to Russia' ?!

why on earth - ?

It's a long story, I posted it here.

One clarification to the story, in case my SO ever decides to read these forums: When I said the red-headed Russian woman was the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, what I meant to say is that she was a hag with warts and scales. Warts and scales I say!

[TBoneTX 45,090]

I have posted a reply in the other post. Quick answer is that there was a person at the TSC filing a K1 with a similar date to yours that had put 2005 instead of 2007. This increased the estimate artificially. Generally we have a few hundred timelines per estimation that generate the statistics but since people are not filing at the TSC anymore and since there were only six other timelines that went into your calculation the "errant" timeline date scewed things. I fixed it and it now reads Nov 5th. If you used the CSC you would get a similar date as they are clearly working the same files or at least very close now. Regardless it does appear that you are a bit late since there were six other timelines that filed within a few weeks of you and were all approved in early to mid November.

I am glad you pointed this out as well and I have improved a screen program I use to check for other potential data entry errors in timelines. Generally small errors are filtered out since we throw out outliers and also by the fact that with larger sample sizes (for the CSC we typically have over a hundred or more in the estimate vs. only 6 for yours at the TSC) the effect is minimized as well. This means that possibly like others were saying, the CSC seems to be more stable thant the TSC (since there are only a handful of TSC timelines left in the system used to generate estimates).

---

Hooray for the Cap'n!

T-B.