January Filers at the CSC - How are you doing?

[Big Papa Zone 93]

doesn't help they don't let u smile haha!

Really? Just as well I'm not smiling in mine then! I look a proper spazzmong in my pics, btw.

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Yes - no smile!

A non-smiling photo face-on flatters very few people, although proper lighting conditions can help tremendously. Ah well, bad photos are just one of those rites of life.

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

It is (in America!). That confused me at first when I read about it elsewhere. But here it stands for Secure Mail Services - they're supposed to deliver me my visa in person.

lol, not only there, also over here in the Netherlands, Belgium and many other countries... you Brits are being against the stream again, just like that silly left side driving of you guys hahaha

SMS is a text message in France too. Hey that's something people have asked me here: do you drive on the left side of the road in France? nah that's just for the Brits

[sunnybear 0]

Haha I will go to bat for the Brits and say I prefer driving on the left! Haha....Of course I lived in Japan for 6 years before my 3 years in England and had to drive on left there too....I still tend to go to the wrong side of my car here in America...sigh

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Aah, re. the Harry Potter comment - I now have something fresh to torment tease Alex with. I've already shortened Harry Potter to HP and I've been on the forums he posts on and changed his signature to advertisements for HP sauce.

[sunnybear 0]

Aah, re. the Harry Potter comment - I now have something fresh to torment tease Alex with. I've already shortened Harry Potter to HP and I've been on the forums he posts on and changed his signature to advertisements for HP sauce.

LMFAO! And hey he kinda does look like a Sexier HP from what I saw in the pics of him heheee...see maybe he really can fly HP sauce HAHAHAH classic!

[Alex & Rachel 78]

What a lot of problems it would solve if he could fly!

I am going to have so much fun with this, the Harry Potter/HP sauce ideas are endless... I, personally, do not think he looks anything like Harry Potter (although I agree he's sexier ) but I do love a good joke.

[JeroenAndMichelle 28]

Talking of we Brits being against the stream - *ahem* may I remind you what we are all speaking here? English sure wasn't named so for America! Calling it a text makes more sense than SMS anyhow!

lol, you do know you've done it know eh? haha.. I wonder if I need to remind you that if we didn't sell New Amsterdam back then to you Brits we would all be speaking Dutch right now

Yes, I do blame my forefathers for wanting Suriname more badly (it looked like a good idea back in the days)

hmm.. I could also say something like 'well I guess I've learned some English since you guys are too lazy in learning Dutch'

btw.. sms = short message service, sounds better to me as it is that what it is... text could be anything.. .I mean, I'm writing text on a forum right now..

'texting'.. I don't know, it feels like you guys want to mix up things.. like if you say 'Ill text you a write' :S lol

Oh well, UK English is funny anyhow... like swallow the T (and I mean when pronouncing a word like gutter or mate or something lol, I don't mean swallowing tea itself).. or instead of a smoke, 'a **' haha

Ahhh, this brings memories of when my fiance was in the Netherlands and we were watching some British movie.. she didn't understand half of it because of all the words you guys mix up hahaha :lol:

Hurrah, I am not alone - Gareth, Jeroen and I can all be terrible passport photo buddies. I don't look evil; the lady who took my photo just managed to give me a triple chin and greasy cheeks (love the flash!) and a man-jaw (odd upwards-angle, you can see up my nose).

You do know that I don't look like that terrible, though? :lol:

[JeroenAndMichelle 28]

SMS is a text message in France too. Hey that's something people have asked me here: do you drive on the left side of the road in France? nah that's just for the Brits

LOL I have had that question so many times as well hahaha

Haha I will go to bat for the Brits and say I prefer driving on the left! Haha....Of course I lived in Japan for 6 years before my 3 years in England and had to drive on left there too....I still tend to go to the wrong side of my car here in America...sigh

Hmm.. lol, guess you're born in the wrong place.. you shouldve gone to the UK instead hahaha

lol, this reminds me of when I was in the UK for the first time.. we were walking near a roundabout and lol, I can remember almost getting a heartattack because I saw two cars crossing a roundabout at the same time and I was like o_O omg thats gonna be an accident! hahaha

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Yeah, we really are too lazy when it comes to learning other languages. In our defense, we don't have the exposure to other languages that most of continental Europe does to English.

I've grown better at not dropping my Ts, although as a southerner the problem is less dropping my Ts and more dropping the ends of words altogether. We also have an incredibly wide range of dialects and accents, despite being such a small island. Fortunately I don't have any problems making myself understood in America (other than when asking for 'water' - it has a T, not a D in it!) but I do feel sorry for people with thicker accents.

Oh, I'm aware my photo is probably the worst! I wasn't suggesting yours was as bad as mine, but I was still happy to hear that not everyone is happy with their photos.

Oh - roundabouts can be truly horrendous over here! We LOVE roundabouts! We also love narrow, steep and windy roads. UK people find it very amusing that US roads alert you to the slightest bend, and have such low speed limits.

Edited August 22, 2008 by Alex & Rachel

[JeroenAndMichelle 28]

Yeah, we really are too lazy when it comes to learning other languages. In our defense, we don't have the exposure to other languages that most of continental Europe does to English.

I've grown better at not dropping my Ts, although as a southerner the problem is less dropping my Ts and more dropping the ends of words altogether. We also have an incredibly wide range of dialects and accents, despite being such a small island. Fortunately I don't have any problems making myself understood in America (other than when asking for 'water' - it has a T, not a D in it!) but I do feel sorry for people with thicker accents.

Just don't ask where the loo is haha

Oh, I'm aware my photo is probably the worst! I wasn't suggesting yours was as bad as mine, but I was still happy to hear that not everyone is happy with their photos.

Oh - roundabouts can be truly horrendous over here! We LOVE roundabouts! We also love narrow, steep and windy roads. UK people find it very amusing that US roads alert you to the slightest bend, and have such low speed limits.

lol, same in my country, we love roundabouts as well.. we see them more and more.. and lol about speedlimits... my fiance thought we were all driving like maniacs over here, she really doesn't want to drive here hahaha

[sunnybear 0]

I think asking for a "**" in America would get you in a bit more trouble then asking for the "loo" hahahaha!

Roundabouts I grew to love although in Swindon there was the magic roundabout! OMG that thing was horrendous....MAGIC ROUNDABOUT of DEATH which I avoided at ALL costs haha!

As for the different accents in England I was astounded at this! As an American I think we have a preconceived notion of what an "English" accent sounds like. So when I got there and started hearing all the different ones I was shocked! But then again it is just like in the US where almost each state has own accent!

I am trying to think what letters and such Gareth drops in words...I think he can speak pretty proper when making an effort but otherwise he speaks very fast and mumbly and I am constantly saying "What" which then drives him nutty haha!

[Levi_Heather 0]

I wonder if that was just a standard reply they give? Not what it will actually be.... I would expect it to be close to others around your own timeline. The way they do things seems so random sometimes. I really don't understand some of it. I hope you find out something more soon and thats not as long as they say I've felt totally stressed through this whole thing and can't wait for it to be over!

you guys were lucky that you are going through Vancouver. Seems like at every turn we get the short end of the stick: We had to go through CSC, then Canada Post lost our Packet 3, and now this. Feels like every time we try to expedite things or even ask whats going out we get slammed down. We are both feeling so beat up and exhausted by this process. Do you think that's part of the plan - to try and test us to see if the relationship is strong enough - or maybe just petty power tripping? I'm thinking its the latter.

I've wondered the same thing about the power trips..... We were lucky to get Vancouver for sure. Things have really gone pretty smoothly for us, but even with that I've felt so much frustration so can't imagine what you must be feeling right now! I hope you don't have to wait much longer. I just try to think about how it will be when all this is over and we're actually together and I get peace from that:)

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

Oh, I'm aware my photo is probably the worst! I wasn't suggesting yours was as bad as mine, but I was still happy to hear that not everyone is happy with their photos.

Oh - roundabouts can be truly horrendous over here! We LOVE roundabouts! We also love narrow, steep and windy roads. UK people find it very amusing that US roads alert you to the slightest bend, and have such low speed limits.

lol, same in my country, we love roundabouts as well.. we see them more and more.. and lol about speedlimits... my fiance thought we were all driving like maniacs over here, she really doesn't want to drive here hahaha

I miss roundabouts

[sunnybear 0]

Oh, I'm aware my photo is probably the worst! I wasn't suggesting yours was as bad as mine, but I was still happy to hear that not everyone is happy with their photos.

Oh - roundabouts can be truly horrendous over here! We LOVE roundabouts! We also love narrow, steep and windy roads. UK people find it very amusing that US roads alert you to the slightest bend, and have such low speed limits.

lol, same in my country, we love roundabouts as well.. we see them more and more.. and lol about speedlimits... my fiance thought we were all driving like maniacs over here, she really doesn't want to drive here hahaha

I miss roundabouts

Already?! hahahaa....aww Cecile hang in there America will get better....