January Filers at the CSC - How are you doing?

[JeroenAndMichelle 28]

I read on Sunnybear's blog that she likes scrapbooking, so now I want to know: for everybody on this thread, what are your favorite hobbies?

Hmm hobbies... people might think checking on VJ and the timelines would be one of my hobbies but it aint exactly that lol...

What do I like.. hmm.. well, I used to produce my own music and DJ a bit but I kinda stopped doing that since a few years.. Lately I'm kinda watching a lot of movies in my spare time, travelling is also a hobby of mine but yah, not doing that much lately since I am waiting on that I*$#*$$ approval lol... then there is driving around in my car a bit, exploring places.. chatting with my SO and such

ggeezz...may is coming...no january csc approvals YET ????????

Correction.......no MORE january CSC approvals yet.

No less either

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Blake - I like your attitude towards books, too. I'm the same. I just love a large library! I can't comprehend how people don't have a large collection of books...there are so many fantastic stories out there; I can't imagine what my childhood would have been like if I hadn't had so many books to read. It's the best form of escapism and is great for improving language skills.

Jeroen - travelling is fun! I love visiting new places; very exciting. Know what you mean about cost, though. One thing I shall definitely miss about living in Europe is how easy and cheap it is to visit an entirely different country.

Cecile/Miss Yoko - I was having a conversation earlier about pet names and that reminded me of what my mother calls her children. You might get a kick out of this! My mother used to be very good at French and had a French pen-friend she saw regularly (and still does) but there are still many words she doesn't know. (Once, when she was 17 and staying with her French friend, she wanted to communicate at the dinner table that she was full. Unfortunately she used a phrase which was also slang for 'I'm pregnant'. Cue a shocked dinner table!) Anyway, two of the words she uses as pet names are 'poubelle' and 'chou-fleur'. Even when she discovered what they meant, she still continued to use them because she thought it was so funny.

[shes 0]

i found this couple whos originally a september filer who got approved and made an " expedite request"..can anybody tell me wat this expedite request is? and is that some sort of a special request that a filer can apply for? OUR application was mistakenly sent to CHICAGO and i just wondered upon reading the post who was approved through that expedite thingy, does uscis makes a special processing for those applications that was mistakenly sent to a different SC?? then why the heck our application hasnt approved yet?

oh Lord give me more patience..

Edited April 26, 2008 by shes

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

Cecile/Miss Yoko - I was having a conversation earlier about pet names and that reminded me of what my mother calls her children. You might get a kick out of this! My mother used to be very good at French and had a French pen-friend she saw regularly (and still does) but there are still many words she doesn't know. (Once, when she was 17 and staying with her French friend, she wanted to communicate at the dinner table that she was full. Unfortunately she used a phrase which was also slang for 'I'm pregnant'. Cue a shocked dinner table!) Anyway, two of the words she uses as pet names are 'poubelle' and 'chou-fleur'. Even when she discovered what they meant, she still continued to use them because she thought it was so funny.

"poubelle"? that's definitely not a pet name we would use!

The "chou-fleur" reminds me something though. We wouldn't use it as a pet name but we do use "chou". One translation is "cabbage", the other one is some creamy dessert that is really good (I suppose the pet name comes from the dessert ) When Bryan discovered that it made it laugh big time! But apparently in the USA "pumpkin" is a pet name so that's still worse than 'chou'

i found this couple whos originally a september filer who got approved and made an " expedite request"..can anybody tell me wat this expedite request is? and is that some sort of a special request that a filer can apply for? OUR application was mistakenly sent to CHICAGO and i just wondered upon reading the post who was approved through that expedite thingy, does uscis makes a special processing for those applications that was mistakenly sent to a different SC?? then why the heck our application hasnt approved yet?

I'm not sure how this works, but I would guess it would be something to do when you first send your I-129F package, not several months later. But maybe I am wrong. I suggest you to ask it directly in the K1 forum and not on the January CSC filers here. You will get more answers (unless some people here know exactly how it works?) The "search feature" might be useful too. Sorry I can't help you more.

Oh yeah! I asked for your hobbies but didn't tell you mine :S

I've been playing the piano for 15 years but kind of stopped in the past 2-3 years. Sometimes I tell myself I need to practice again but I feel easily discouraged. I've never been able to improvise but I love to sight-read (that's what the dictionary says, sorry if it's wrong) music sheets.

Music has always been a big thing in my life but I find myself listening less and less music. I go to concerts sometimes.

I have also done some calligraphy.

But my problem is that there are always 10000 things that interest me and I never go deep in any of them. I'd love to do so many things that I end up doing nothing.

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Sight-read is correct. I'm the same; can't improvise (and am amazed by people who can - funnily enough, the two people I've known who were really good at improvisation couldn't read music) but love to sight-read, probably because I hate practising.

I know what you mean about never going deep into anything! For example, I love all kinds of music and I'm happy to see an opera, or a musical, or a classical concert or a rock/pop concert. But there are so many people who are really into one genre and can tell you all about the bands in that genre and the influence they've had and they have the t-shirts and posters and signed prints. I couldn't do that; I love a little variety! I think it's a shame, when, for example, a theatre-goer criticises someone else for watching movies, as if a play is somehow more worthy than a film. Again, I've enjoyed so many different forms of entertainment; from ballet to the Rocky Horror Show.

I'm trying to find more outlandish pet names for Alex. Maybe I'll take a cue from my mother and start picking foreign words at random.

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Blake and Cecile; we three have over 130 posts in this thread! That's 70 more than the next poster (dbears).

[BlakeandOlha 0]

Blake and Cecile; we three have over 130 posts in this thread! That's 70 more than the next poster (dbears).

This is where I hang

[JeroenAndMichelle 28]

u bunch of chatterboxes

[Alex & Rachel 78]

I expect you and sunnybear to try hard to keep up with us, Jeroen

[dbears 1]

Blake and Cecile; we three have over 130 posts in this thread! That's 70 more than the next poster (dbears).

This is where I hang

I made a difficult decision a week or two ago not to post here until January CSC filer approvals start rolling in.... my medical and interview date is coming and its in my sig and I just felt so bad that mine is coming very soon while you guys are still waiting and yet I can't remove that countdown ruler coz that is actually my reminder how many days are left for me to be able to continue procastinating in completing all the requirements:( Ricky has not sent me the docs I needed from him yet, so its not entirely my fault )... but guys, would it be ok if I break my resolve? I do miss this thread and I miss all of you.. besides i am not yet going to the US until some of you are already there so more likely I would be adjusting status at the same time as most of you here... and I also need to catch up to that 130 post here

[Alex & Rachel 78]

It's absolutely fine by me - besides; I have signatures turned off! I'm just glad for the company!

[dbears 1]

About that expedited refiled I-129F, if it was really expedited... shouldn't BryantAliona deserve that treatment from USICS also? they messed up their application many times.. and there's estadia and some others... gosh i really can't understand how USCIS think and work.

Blake - I like your attitude towards books, too. I'm the same. I just love a large library! I can't comprehend how people don't have a large collection of books...there are so many fantastic stories out there; I can't imagine what my childhood would have been like if I hadn't had so many books to read. It's the best form of escapism and is great for improving language skills.

I can't understand why other people hate reading... my childhood would have been totally miserable if there was no books to read... my papa used to scold me coz there were times when i would just stay in my room and in the bed reading from dusk til dawn: no taking a bath and would just go out to eat and sometimes would even just eat while reading. It was my father's frustration that I read the set of encyclopedia that they bought for us or read newspapers but actually I did read the enclopedia (the mythologies, fables and fairytale parts) and I did read newspaper (horoscope, the comic strips & entertainment sections ). I was into horror and detective stories before but I would also devour love stories sometimes.. also loved history and wanted to be an archeologist before.

I was probably a weird and boring kid before coz when i go out with friends, I would bring a book, immerse myself in my own fantasy world while they were all laughing and talking and having a great time.

But my problem is that there are always 10000 things that interest me and I never go deep in any of them. I'd love to do so many things that I end up doing nothing.

You just described me cecile, I love reading but i am not reading as much as i did before and i have done different things left and right.... for me there is just too many things to do and learn and many part of the world still unexplored that even a lifetime on this earth won't be enough to do all the things I want to do.

For monday and tuesday (april 28-29) I would be into reflexology. I think i mentioned it months back but the training never pushed through but tomorrow would definitely be it.

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Mythologies and fairy-tales are the best! I also have a weakness for detective stories, especially if they're British and cliché. I love anything by Agatha Christie and I also have the complete Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Morse, of course!

My mother was always telling me off for reading too much, too. She'd keep telling me to 'go outside and get some fresh air!' She was very good at always making us sit down for dinner together and to go out together, though, so I never did get away with staying in bed all day. My dad used to encourage me - he was always fed up of me stealing his books so he bought me all of the £1 classics, hoping that the dense language and length would keep me busy. It sort of worked; instead of reading a book in an afternoon I took (for example) three days to complete Jane Eyre and a week to complete Mansfield Park, but I think he was hoping I'd take even longer.

Now it's quite nice because he, one of my brothers and I all swap book recommendations and compare notes on what we've read - but we all have our own copies and I'm 190 miles away so can no longer borrow his!

[dbears 1]

I LOVE AGATHA CHRISTIE! I grew up with hercule poirot and ms. marple as well as nancy drew and hardy boys, shakespeare's characters (the modern english versions) & other classics, sweet romances books, harlequin romance & classics, sweet valley high, which slowly paved the way for mills & boon, sheldon, grisham, s. king, r. cook, a. rice etc. and then comes J.k. rowling (whose life story, I could really relate to in many ways)... but i also love some good love stories from n. sparks, then there are some other authors whose books I read but I couldn't remember their names)... and I have also read some financial books and soooo many self help books on varied aspect of life (which actually do not help).. and when I was in 3rd grade, i read the bible (one in our vernacular) from genesis up to start of numbers or kings, then i got bored and skipped all the way to revelation.

When I was a teenager and even during my early twenties, i could always resist buying bags, shoes or dress but I could never go out from a bookshop without purchasing anything... I guess I have mellowed down now, I could resist book sale now (sometimes ).

Everytime Ricky comes here, he would always have a bag full of books for me and everytime he sends me package it would always have books coz that's the only thing I would request.. now, i would have to ship it all back to the US plus all my other books from way way back. Some of this books, especially the more familiar author would have to stay (except for the full harry potter collection) coz I know I could easily find a replacement there but for the really good ones from less familiar/popular authors, I would need to bring with me or ship it to the US soonest... I am really worried about the cost of shipment for these.

Edited April 27, 2008 by dbears

[Alex & Rachel 78]

dbears - you may appreciate this photo of part of my bookshelves, then:

I'm the same way when it comes to shopping. I actually visited a bookstore the other week and for the first time in my life did not leave with a book in hand! The big book chainstore here is called Waterstone's - they have a lovely shop in the centre of Sheffield and they always have a 3 for 2 offer on certain books. If I spy one or two books I'd like in that offer I simply have to find more so I can take advantage of it!

Yeah...I'm wondering what to do about my books. Most will probably be cheaper to ship over than to sell and re-buy. I'll give away any books that aren't in really good condition; I have a thing about liking my books to be pristine-looking.