Ok, back from vietnam but need some help

[Josephs 0]

ok, so i am back in USA va nho phi rat nhieu (and miss Phi very much) now that the interview part is over and now we are just waiting for her TB test results, and maybe waiting treatment for TB. I was wondering about calling cards. We dont need evidence anymore. my cellphone bill this month was soooooo high. it almost made me sick(400+USD). we talked alot and we sent MANY MANY SMS to eachother.

Anyone know of a good calling card, and maybe a program other than Skype for SMS? I sometimes use yahoo to send her SMS. that is free for me and costs her less. but she needs to be signed on yahoo on her yahoo account for her phone for her to get my SMS.

My Phone contract is up, so I can also look for a new company if it has better SMS rates. I am with Verizon Wireless.

SMS send =$.25 USD

SMS Rcv'd =$.20 USD

International Long Distance - Mobil = $0.56 / min

TXT Messaging-Int'l Sent messages -- 301 301 75.25

TXT Messaging-Int'l Rcv'd messages -- 235 235 47.00

International Long Distance - Mobil 165.76

[Huong and Phung 0]

hey, welcome back. It's great to hear about your wife's interview.

As of the phone card, I use to use lots of them but they dont keep the record of who you're calling. Well, you said that you dont need it anymore so I guess I can suggest you to use "Mambo" That's the phone card that i use. Lots of minutes for such a good quality card. You don't loose minutes if you stop talking like some of the other cards.

I don't know much about text messaging because we don't use them at all.

Great to hear you're back safely. How is the situation over there with the H1N1 stuff? I'm coming back there in three days.

[Dakine 26]

Talkloop works for me.

[ScottThuy 140]

ok, so i am back in USA va nho phi rat nhieu (and miss Phi very much) now that the interview part is over and now we are just waiting for her TB test results, and maybe waiting treatment for TB. I was wondering about calling cards. We dont need evidence anymore. my cellphone bill this month was soooooo high. it almost made me sick(400+USD). we talked alot and we sent MANY MANY SMS to eachother.

Anyone know of a good calling card, and maybe a program other than Skype for SMS? I sometimes use yahoo to send her SMS. that is free for me and costs her less. but she needs to be signed on yahoo on her yahoo account for her phone for her to get my SMS.

My Phone contract is up, so I can also look for a new company if it has better SMS rates. I am with Verizon Wireless.

SMS send =$.25 USD

SMS Rcv'd =$.20 USD

International Long Distance - Mobil = $0.56 / min

TXT Messaging-Int'l Sent messages -- 301 301 75.25

TXT Messaging-Int'l Rcv'd messages -- 235 235 47.00

International Long Distance - Mobil 165.76

I use jaxtr when I call her from my cell.... .072 per min using the US # associated with her VN # we also have iphones and can use Fring to call over Wifi connections free.. its a VOIP app. I get beat up on SMS that I send her on my Tmobile plan...

[johncali9 6]

ok, so i am back in USA va nho phi rat nhieu (and miss Phi very much) now that the interview part is over and now we are just waiting for her TB test results, and maybe waiting treatment for TB. I was wondering about calling cards. We dont need evidence anymore. my cellphone bill this month was soooooo high. it almost made me sick(400+USD). we talked alot and we sent MANY MANY SMS to eachother.

Anyone know of a good calling card, and maybe a program other than Skype for SMS? I sometimes use yahoo to send her SMS. that is free for me and costs her less. but she needs to be signed on yahoo on her yahoo account for her phone for her to get my SMS.

My Phone contract is up, so I can also look for a new company if it has better SMS rates. I am with Verizon Wireless.

SMS send =$.25 USD

SMS Rcv'd =$.20 USD

International Long Distance - Mobil = $0.56 / min

TXT Messaging-Int'l Sent messages -- 301 301 75.25

TXT Messaging-Int'l Rcv'd messages -- 235 235 47.00

International Long Distance - Mobil 165.76

I use jaxtr when I call her from my cell.... .072 per min using the US # associated with her VN # we also have iphones and can use Fring to call over Wifi connections free.. its a VOIP app. I get beat up on SMS that I send her on my Tmobile plan...

Hello

very one same things my bills some time go $950.00 month

john

[Josephs 0]

hey, welcome back. It's great to hear about your wife's interview.

As of the phone card, I use to use lots of them but they dont keep the record of who you're calling. Well, you said that you dont need it anymore so I guess I can suggest you to use "Mambo" That's the phone card that i use. Lots of minutes for such a good quality card. You don't loose minutes if you stop talking like some of the other cards.

I don't know much about text messaging because we don't use them at all.

Great to hear you're back safely. How is the situation over there with the H1N1 stuff? I'm coming back there in three days.

no worry N1H1, If you feel worried, then wear a mask when you fly, I saw people wearing them on the plane, but most were children and elderly people. also when on the plane, wash your hands often with soap, bring small bottle of hand sanitizer. (less than 3oz remember for carry on!!!!)

I got really lucky on my flight home. from Hong Kong to Chicago my ticket didnt have a seat number on it. they over sold economy and economy Plus.... (united Airlines) so I got to Fly 14 hours in business class at the cost of Economy!!!!!! it was like sitting in my living room. and Im 6' 1" so the leg room was great!

but I have to say, my 1st time I flew Korea Air, and this time was United. I would fly a non USA airliner if you can. the flight attendants on Korea Air were so nice and polite. but United were rushed and not polite. (but the ones in business class were very polite on united)

just my 2 cents

Good Luck on your Trip!!!!! and watch out for dunk honda's!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ScottThuy 140]

hey, welcome back. It's great to hear about your wife's interview.

As of the phone card, I use to use lots of them but they dont keep the record of who you're calling. Well, you said that you dont need it anymore so I guess I can suggest you to use "Mambo" That's the phone card that i use. Lots of minutes for such a good quality card. You don't loose minutes if you stop talking like some of the other cards.

I don't know much about text messaging because we don't use them at all.

Great to hear you're back safely. How is the situation over there with the H1N1 stuff? I'm coming back there in three days.

no worry N1H1, If you feel worried, then wear a mask when you fly, I saw people wearing them on the plane, but most were children and elderly people. also when on the plane, wash your hands often with soap, bring small bottle of hand sanitizer. (less than 3oz remember for carry on!!!!)

I got really lucky on my flight home. from Hong Kong to Chicago my ticket didnt have a seat number on it. they over sold economy and economy Plus.... (united Airlines) so I got to Fly 14 hours in business class at the cost of Economy!!!!!! it was like sitting in my living room. and Im 6' 1" so the leg room was great!

but I have to say, my 1st time I flew Korea Air, and this time was United. I would fly a non USA airliner if you can. the flight attendants on Korea Air were so nice and polite. but United were rushed and not polite. (but the ones in business class were very polite on united)

just my 2 cents

Good Luck on your Trip!!!!! and watch out for dunk honda's!!!!!!!!!!!!

Korean Air is my choice unless the others are half the price... I am flying AA in Nov and not looking forward to a US airline for that long flight.... Delta blows bigtime going to Korea.. they partner with Korean Air and have to be careful of the flight # to be sure its not a Delta flight...

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

How is the situation over there with the H1N1 stuff? I'm coming back there in three days.

When I flew in the beginning of August they made everyone fill out a goofy two page health questionnaire on the plane. They herd everyone like cattle at the end of the hallway leading into the customs area to collect the forms. Actually, this is just the Vietnamese concept of standing in line - they queue up just like they drive - if you see a vacant space then fill it. They tear off half of one of the sheets and give it back to you. It says "This registration form is for monitoring your health at your place of residency in Vietnam", and "Keep this form. You will need to show it when registering where you are staying". None of the hotels I stayed at in Hue, Hoi An, Da Nang, Da Lat, or HCM asked for the form. I tried to give it to the hotel staff at the first hotel I stayed at in Hue. They just glanced at it and gave it back to me.

Phuong told me to buy surgical masks and bring them with me, and she made me wear them on every flight. I'd guess about 15% or 20% of the people were wearing them on the domestic flights, but only a small handful on the international flights.

If you believe the rumor mill, the flu problem is a lot worse than the Vietnamese government admits. Everyone seemed to know someone who was sick. Nobody is going to the doctor, though. I think they're afraid they'll be quarantined and experimented on by Dr. Nguyen Josef Mengele. I never saw anyone who was sick, though, and none of the people I'd seen on previous trips seemed to be missing from family gatherings.

Josephs, why the obsession with SMS? It seems silly to get dinged every time you send a few words back and forth. Why not use email or instant messenger?

[Doug and Jessie 0]

ok, so i am back in USA va nho phi rat nhieu (and miss Phi very much) now that the interview part is over and now we are just waiting for her TB test results, and maybe waiting treatment for TB. I was wondering about calling cards. We dont need evidence anymore. my cellphone bill this month was soooooo high. it almost made me sick(400+USD). we talked alot and we sent MANY MANY SMS to eachother.

Anyone know of a good calling card, and maybe a program other than Skype for SMS? I sometimes use yahoo to send her SMS. that is free for me and costs her less. but she needs to be signed on yahoo on her yahoo account for her phone for her to get my SMS.

My Phone contract is up, so I can also look for a new company if it has better SMS rates. I am with Verizon Wireless.

SMS send =$.25 USD

SMS Rcv'd =$.20 USD

International Long Distance - Mobil = $0.56 / min

TXT Messaging-Int'l Sent messages -- 301 301 75.25

TXT Messaging-Int'l Rcv'd messages -- 235 235 47.00

International Long Distance - Mobil 165.76

Try Speedypin.com, they have many options for calling cards.

[Mr. Leggs 0]

I am using startec 5cents to hcm, 10cents to outside of mr.ho

and 15cents to mobile. There's a viet phone company 30days/$30u can talk as long as u want don't remember the name should be in viet newspapers and sbtn

[thongd4me 69]

I just sent in my I-129F yesterday, but our relationship has been a strong one over more than

5 years. In the first few months after my first visit to BKK, I got a few prepaid telephone cards,

but we both agreed that wasn't working as well as chat and email for the sake of communication.

The connection between my land line and her cell was so bad that we figured it was best just

to drop that mode. The truth is there are so many other ways to keep in touch. We did video

chats, but then again the emphasis was on the visual element and not so much communicating.

There's only so many times that you can make faces and blow kisses, until you realize that's

not what the relationship is about. We value each other's opinion about every aspect of life

and lean heavily on each other for advice and emotional support.

I made over 111 pages of chats & emails for the package, but if they ask where our phone

logs are, we're just going to say that phone bills are not worth the expense versus the

communication benefit they give. She would balk at me spending too much for a restaurant

meal, because she felt as my wife, she was protecting "our" money not just mine.

So when they ask her in the interview about phone logs, she'll tell them something to the

effect that she didn't want me to spend the money because it was her money too. Since we

chatted twice daily on most days, I don't think there will be a problem in proving a "relationship."

Let them put that in their pipe & smoke it.

[ScottThuy 140]

How is the situation over there with the H1N1 stuff? I'm coming back there in three days.

When I flew in the beginning of August they made everyone fill out a goofy two page health questionnaire on the plane. They herd everyone like cattle at the end of the hallway leading into the customs area to collect the forms. Actually, this is just the Vietnamese concept of standing in line - they queue up just like they drive - if you see a vacant space then fill it. They tear off half of one of the sheets and give it back to you. It says "This registration form is for monitoring your health at your place of residency in Vietnam", and "Keep this form. You will need to show it when registering where you are staying". None of the hotels I stayed at in Hue, Hoi An, Da Nang, Da Lat, or HCM asked for the form. I tried to give it to the hotel staff at the first hotel I stayed at in Hue. They just glanced at it and gave it back to me.

Phuong told me to buy surgical masks and bring them with me, and she made me wear them on every flight. I'd guess about 15% or 20% of the people were wearing them on the domestic flights, but only a small handful on the international flights.

If you believe the rumor mill, the flu problem is a lot worse than the Vietnamese government admits. Everyone seemed to know someone who was sick. Nobody is going to the doctor, though. I think they're afraid they'll be quarantined and experimented on by Dr. Nguyen Josef Mengele. I never saw anyone who was sick, though, and none of the people I'd seen on previous trips seemed to be missing from family gatherings.

Josephs, why the obsession with SMS? It seems silly to get dinged every time you send a few words back and forth. Why not use email or instant messenger?

I just saw a DR report yesterday that has been researching H1N1 and he has noted that a significant percentage of H1N1 victims had "NO FEVER". Just think Jim most can have H1N1 and get through that heat sensor test as it looks for a non-standard indicator of infection.. really reassuring.. he he he....

[Josephs 0]

Josephs, why the obsession with SMS? It seems silly to get dinged every time you send a few words back and forth. Why not use email or instant messenger?

well I like to talk to her when i am on my break at lunch at work. or before I sleep. with the time difference sometimes i am not home or she is not home when i want to talk to her. Her speaking English is ok, not good. but her reading and writing English is very very good. half the time I have to send her a SMS while we are on the phone because she doesn't understand something i am trying to say. When we are together we have little problems talking. if she doesn't understand what i am saying and we are together, I just get out my phone and type it and show it to her. or if its only 1 word that she doesn't understand. I write it on my hand with my finger. So that is why we use SMS so much. and if i or she try to spell the word on the phone, that sometimes is worse. d sounds like b or she forgets how to say a letter or some of her letters sound the same. we are working on the whole B as in BALL D as in Dog system. maybe after we get that sorted out there will be less need for SMS.

communication will be the hardest thing in our relationship. but we are ready to deal with it. I think and her family agrees, that after she has lived here for about a year she will be able to talk English and understand very well.

So that is why we use SMS so much.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Phuong also has a problem with "d", but her problem is "d" (zay) versus "đ" (day). She learned from her daughter, who is taking English classes in school. The school actually taught her daughter to say "gooz" instead of "good"!

I told both of them that "d" in English is always pronounced like "day" and NEVER like "zay". They still slip up occasionally.

We use Yahoo Messenger, with video. When we want to practice English we'll also use voice chat. It would help your fiancee a lot if you could learn Vietnamese consonant and vowel sounds, and learn to spell English words using Vietnamese phonetics and accents. If you can write the equivalent sound in Vietnamese then she'll pick up on the pronunciation right away.

[jasonandhien 0]

check this out: https://savingcall.com/en/index.aspx . I've been using them for couple years. they take credit card and paypal. 7.7 cent/min to cellphone and 4.7 cent to regular in saigon. They have all your the records stored on their website for printing.