~July 2007 K-1 Filers~

[Ovaltine Jenkins 5]

Hi all, Gretchen has settled in quite nicely and seems to be adjusting. she is not use to the 70 degree weather and is alittle cold , but loves being with me and Vegas. She is currently trying all sorts of food each time we eat, and learning all the particulars to operating the appliances and tech in our home. My cats now spend more time with her than me lol, and she has worked out communication with all her friends and family. So far all is a success and we are so happy to be together and finally living a normal life.

Hehe We have just a little bit colder here today 69 ;-) Nice to hear you two are settling down

[Ovaltine Jenkins 5]

I´m glad everyone is doing so well...I read all the recent stories I´m sure Adriano will make it just fine Right now I´m done with all the paperwork for a while. Did AOS, taxes, paperwork for registering the marriage in Europe... So now I can just wait till I hear something from all the offices. Hopefully everything was filed ok and they will work on everything soon Though haven´t heard anything from USCIS yet. We sent AOS almost two weeks ago and it was only yesterday when they cashed the check (apparently they cashed it as bulk so they were waiting to receive paperwork from lots of other people ). So hopefully will get the biometrics appointment letter soon

How did everyone spend their Easter? We spent it with the family and it was a lot of fun I showed them some of the Czech traditions and they all loved it

StP I bet you can´t wait You probably didn´t see your family in a long time right? Are they all excited that they get to see you and your almost husband?

[StillThePrettiest 3]

it will be almost a year - almost to the day; I think I'm about a week off - since I was last in Australia... before that I hadn't been there since leaving in 2004

I saw my parents last year, in October, when they visited me here, but there are loads of people - including my two brothers - who I haven't seen for a year, and who I'm looking forward to catching up with

and yeah, they're very much looking forward to meeting him... SO weird that they haven't yet

[Ovaltine Jenkins 5]

Received all 3 NOA1s today

[Jeraly 4]

I hear you, Aly; I feel the same way... and I bet it won't even occur to Dave to get things all set up for my return (not that he really CAN; all the furniture and things will be coming later ), or at least, it will only occur to him on the plane back to LA when it's too late to do anything about it

I'm sure he'll have perfected the in-ceiling speaker system for the stereo, however

Hahaha - yeah I bet we have a home network set up! I am sure he will do me proud - I do jest as he has his lame moments but generally he is pretty good - this is a really big deal so he'll prolly surprise me with something really cool... Of course I don't want to get my hopes up

Received all 3 NOA1s today

YAY!!!!! Now we just need to decide: do we use the notice date on the hard copy? Or do we use the date received for our AOS spreadsheet?!?! Personally I think it should be the Notice date on the hard copy as that is what they ask for on the VJ timelines so can people check their AOS section to make sure I have the right date?! I haven't bothered e-mailing people for updates yet - am still working on the K- sheet!!

[BabyBlueSusie 1]

Susie - it sounds wonderful I did psych in high school but I never pursued it - I went down the art route instead I loved history as well.. in fact I think I just kinda liked learning. My two dissertations in uni were awesome - I got firsts for both of them - not sure of the US equivalent... one was on animation and the other was on video games

good times...im guessing that the US equivalent would be an A...we get letter grades, A being the best, then B, then C, then D, and the lowest grade is F which means you FAILED and you must retake the course...there are also pluses and minuses involved, for example if you didnt quite reach an A (which would typically be 93% or better), but you came close (90% through 92%), then you would normally get an A-...im assuming this is what you were referring to...im sort of curious how the system works for you...is it just 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc?? what is the lowest?

i love psychology and i also love history...im with you on the love of learning thing...it took me a while to choose what i wanted to study, because i was interested in soooo many things!! i loveeee philosophy (political philosophy was my minor), i took many many history courses and entered undergrad as a music major!! go figure that i would end up doing research in psycholinguistics lol well thats my story *shrugs* oh yea, and we dont do dissertations until we get into grad school (for masters and PhD only)...bachelors dont have dissertations, is that would you did your dissertations for?

[Jeraly 4]

Kinda like that although our system is crazy - to get a 1st class you need 70% - I don't think it means it is easier than you getting an A, just that the way the % works is different - I don't really see the point of having a top 30 percentile that doesn't alter the grade you get but there you go... They changed it all here in the UK - now you get:

A - 1st class - 70%+

B - 2:1 (2nd class, 1st division) - 60%-69%

C - 2:2 (2nd class, 2nd division) - 50%-59%

D - 3rd class - 40%-49%

Anything less than that is a fail. A 2:2 is known as a "drinker's" degree - ie you spent more time on the beer than studying - it's not horrendous but not preferable as a general rule. A 2:1 is kinda your average - it's seen as a decent final grade by an employer and I think (although am going by guesswork) that most people get this. A 1st is pretty tough to get and sometimes can be detrimental to getting employment as employers feel they might have to pay out more money... again - this is just what I have heard (I got a 2:1 ).

I would have loved a 1st and I was soo surprised and pleased when I got them for my dissertations (which are all bound up with covers and look really cool ).

For a BA which is what I have you generally have to do a dissertation. Because of my crazy degree I had to do two - one about general primary teaching/current issues and one about my subject specialism and primary teaching (art & design). These were shorter though and totalled I think (if I count the words I wrote but didn't include ) nearer 11k-12k words. I am sure for a MA or PhD they are much longer

I'd love to go back and study but I just don't think I could afford it... I would love to just learn all the time and get paid to do it but I don't think I'd enjoy it so much then I want to feel like I am progressing so the next thing would be a MA... who knows... maybe in a few years when wee find our feet

[*julez* 124]

Hey Aly, Griff actually sent his AOS petition today (26 March) as he was too sick the last few days to get to the post office. Just thought youmight want to update the whizzy spreadsheet!

[weedebz 0]

So much been happening here, I've missed so much. It's realy annoying not having internet so only get a few mins when I pop over to Nick's rent. I thought I'd just check in and say Hi to everyone. Would say I'm setlleing in but not really had chance. Been sorting out wedding stuff, ordered cake yesterday. Going to send out invites next week and get other stuff finalised. Only been here 2 weeks today but it really feels like longer. Going with Nick's mammy tomorrow whilst Nick at work to apply for SSN.

Take care all and I'll check in again when I get a chance.

[Jeraly 4]

Woohoo!! Yay!!!

*runs to update the spreadsheet*

Small things and all that...

[Jeraly 4]

DEBZ!!!! MISS YOU HUNNY!!!!!

Know what it is like with the wedding thing (wedding planners are AWESOME!!) and know that you can't get online much til you get the net sorted at your place

I know what you mean with the time thing too - when I was in the US in Feb it felt like I could have been there forever I guess that is one way of settling in

*HUGE HUGS*

Can't wait to see you back here properly

[Ovaltine Jenkins 5]

YAY!!!!! Now we just need to decide: do we use the notice date on the hard copy? Or do we use the date received for our AOS spreadsheet?!?! Personally I think it should be the Notice date on the hard copy as that is what they ask for on the VJ timelines so can people check their AOS section to make sure I have the right date?! I haven't bothered e-mailing people for updates yet - am still working on the K- sheet!!

Yeah Changed it in our timeline already

[Jeraly 4]

Ok - official then - on the spreadsheet we'll use the notice date as on the hard copy

[BabyBlueSusie 1]

Kinda like that although our system is crazy - to get a 1st class you need 70% - I don't think it means it is easier than you getting an A, just that the way the % works is different - I don't really see the point of having a top 30 percentile that doesn't alter the grade you get but there you go... They changed it all here in the UK - now you get:

A - 1st class - 70%+

B - 2:1 (2nd class, 1st division) - 60%-69%

C - 2:2 (2nd class, 2nd division) - 50%-59%

D - 3rd class - 40%-49%

Anything less than that is a fail. A 2:2 is known as a "drinker's" degree - ie you spent more time on the beer than studying - it's not horrendous but not preferable as a general rule. A 2:1 is kinda your average - it's seen as a decent final grade by an employer and I think (although am going by guesswork) that most people get this. A 1st is pretty tough to get and sometimes can be detrimental to getting employment as employers feel they might have to pay out more money... again - this is just what I have heard (I got a 2:1 ).

I would have loved a 1st and I was soo surprised and pleased when I got them for my dissertations (which are all bound up with covers and look really cool ).

For a BA which is what I have you generally have to do a dissertation. Because of my crazy degree I had to do two - one about general primary teaching/current issues and one about my subject specialism and primary teaching (art & design). These were shorter though and totalled I think (if I count the words I wrote but didn't include ) nearer 11k-12k words. I am sure for a MA or PhD they are much longer

I'd love to go back and study but I just don't think I could afford it... I would love to just learn all the time and get paid to do it but I don't think I'd enjoy it so much then I want to feel like I am progressing so the next thing would be a MA... who knows... maybe in a few years when wee find our feet

cool, sounds like the systems are very similar except for the actual percentages...sounds like you BA may or may not have been a little more intense than mine lol but i will pay my dues when im writing all those words for my masters and phd

i love learning, but i find that i always appreciate it more when im not doing it (ie: where i am currently working monotonous, brainless tasks all day long)...absence really does make the heart grow fonder...

just like i said to julez, i absolutely cannot afford to study, but i got a wonderful break working as a teaching/research assistant, so my tuition is waived and i get paid a stipend by the school!! woot woot

[Jeraly 4]

That is really cool

I think my degree was pretty intense because you have your specialist subject but you also have to learn how to teach all subjects - a lot of people think that that is easy when it is elementary but it so isn't!!!