my love story

[Wilfred Motosue]

Wow, beautiful pictures with a beautiful wife. I hope ours looks as nice as yours. Congratulations and best wishes for a very, very happy marriage and a long life together!!!!
wilfred

[shaun]

Gerry I was only joking with you.  More power to you.  People winning and getting their wives home gives me hope.

[Arnold]

:)On my way to pick up the Passport with Visa soon

[David E]

John

I dont want to rain on your Parade...but please dont get too exited yet.

They called for Mings passport in Feb....she got her visa in June.

At least you can be sure of one thing...she has been approved. I suspect your "maximum" wait time now will be 4 months...but it could be earlier, depending where she is in the queue

Cheers...David

[Scottish_Robbie]

Congrats on making progress !!! 

She has been APPROVED !!!!! 

And not only for the visa but by us...

[Jason B]

Great stuff, the visa will be in there soon, congratulations mate as others have said she has been approved.  She will recieve all the info in an email from the embassy but it will be English so it maybe an idea to get her to forward the email to you so you can read through it and pass onto her the important bits from the email it will also give you the date that she must enter Australia for the first time.  Make sure you use the excess luggage allowance that is mentioned somewhere in the email. Extra luggage for someone migrating upto 40kg for no extra charge.  I think Xia bought 45kg but they were willing to overlook this......one less place in Oz for a boat person.

[john1964]

Well trip number 5 is almost over, Not much was said between us both this morning as we both could feel our pending departure growing closer, MinYing kept looking at the clock and giving a depressed sigh, We took a taxi to pick up some photos that we were having developed and then off to the train station, It was  only 1pm and my train did not have to depart until 3:45, I do not like the goodbyes so I told her to leave me and go home as I did not want to get a little flustered in front on a thousand Chinese people, She wanted to come inside but I told her that it was better we parted there and then, She reluctantly left me there and I proceeded to the waiting room.
About 15 minutes later I sent her a message to her phone and she replied that she had arrived home and was missing me too, I sat in the waiting room feeling sorry for myself but was also happy for our good news with the passport request and know that this will be the last goodbye.
About 20 minutes passed and I happened to look over at where the ticket lady was taking tickets and guess who was there, I was surprised but very happy to see her again, The ticket lady would not let her pass because she did not have a valid ticket, She protested and pushed her way past the attendant and we were reunited again (so much a non teary goodbye), She said that she though I would be hungry so she brought me a Donkey burger,(my favourite), We sat and talked for about another hour and then I had to board my train.
I was very happy that she came back to the train station and this time parting was not so bad, she kissed me several times in the crowd which I was surprised about but every kiss is very welcome.
I  am now sitting on the bullet train one hour out of Handan with very good memories and many hundreds of photos again for my collection, Tonight will be the first time for us both to sleep in a cold bed alone but I am sure we will both be happy that knowing that her visa is now 1 step closer to being fixed in her passport.
When we had our interview back in September we was both told that it would be around 3-4 months to be approved or denied, exactly 4 months to the day I got the call requesting MinYing’s passport from Shanghai administration, I was very quick to give our case officer a call and tell her that we gave her MinYing’s passport when we had the interview, She looked in her file and found it straight away and said she is happy to pass it on to admin that day, I also asked her about final processing times and was told 4—6 weeks, Of course I am not holding my breath for the time to be exact but we are hoping around March/April, Depending on the airfare prices at the time I might go back to China to accompany my wife HOME.
Well guys and girls this was a very happy trip #5 and I will update soon with some photos of the places we travelled, MinYing and John.

[Peter Arnold]

Thanks for the update John. BTW, you don't look so bad in the photos mate. Good news that her application has been approved. That must be a big relief for both of you. So you will have a nice 2012 with your wife in Australia. I'm looking forward to seeing some more photos of your trip.

[Mark_in_Canada]

Congrats John on the visa. I hope to be in the same boat one day as well.  I just got my AOR yesterday....
Happy New Year everyone!!!
Mark

[john1964]

I can not remember the name of the town we visited but it was in a valley some 3 hour bus ride from Handan, We were to visit MinYings auntie for the afternoon and then return home.
We started off early that morning and arrived by taxi to the bus depot and we found ourselves being huddled in to an old bus that was about 15 years old, The conditions outside were not so good with snow falling and having trouble seeing out of the windows , The bus was packed but the driver kept stopping at every stop for more passengers, There were people everywhere and almost no standing room left when a lady and her 1 year old child entered the bus, I was just about to offer my seat to her where to my surprise she just sat her ass on my knee and made herself comfortable, MinYing thought this was funny and we continued our journey with this child staring in my face for the whole time.
We arrived in aunties home town and she greeted us from the bus stop and we walked back to her home,The first thing i noticed was the mountains that surrounded this poor town, I saw about 3 cars and many vehicles carrying bricks to a new construction site, The mountains were covered in heavy fog but it was a sight to see, We went for a walk and took many photos and then made our way back to the homestead for a feed, The home was very small and freezing but as usual these people were happy as are many of the Chinese people i meet.
Some of the auntie and uncles friends arrived as they heard of a westerner in their home and they came to take a look at me  , After spending a few hours with these people it was time to go and get a bus back to Handan.
What, no more buses ?, We missed the last one  , We waited about 15 minutes and then a guy in a 20 year old Toyota Liteace van pulled up and said he could give us a lift to the bus station for 1 Yuan each, He slid open the side door and we was greeted by 8 people crammed in this vehicle which had seating for 5 in the back , On our trip to the bus station the driver still stopped to try and coerce others to join us so he could make some money, We made it back to the bus depot and got our bus to Handan without any dramas.
 

[Arnold]

Hahaha .. sat on your Knee ! Here, you would have been SLAPPED silly by your western Wife .. if you allowed that.

Nice Photo's and update !

[Peter Arnold]

Hey John, thanks for the photos. I had a similar incident in India on a bus. The bus was fully packed and still kept picking up passengers. There was a woman with a baby who needed to get on, so they passed the baby to me, as I was seated. So I got to carry the baby! India is probably more interesting and unpredictable than China. It was the biggest culture shock I have had. Anyway, it's good to see how the other half live. It gives us some perspective on our lives and gratitude for what we have.

[maxx]

Peter well said

[Willy The Londoner]

I also found that India was more of a culture shock than China.

 I was even more suprised at the number of Albino people there was there. Now that IS a hard life to contemplate in a very sunny country. 

I saw more real poverty there than anywhere in China and it will get worse as very soon, they will overtake China in Population terms.

Willy

[john1964]

Why did i choose a woman from another country,Why did i fall in love with a woman 12000 kilometres away when i was just looking for a holiday to China ., It was just to be a bit of fun and MinYing was to be my guide, Things transpired from then and here we are today 1 year in to our marriage.
I find myself thinking about her every minute and waiting for her next message or photo on QQ, Just to see the smile on her face and the expression she gives me and also those beautiful eyes are enough to make all my worries fade away.
Many times each day i check QQ on my phone and there are always messages or photos waiting for me, She knows how much i like the photos of her so she sends me many, I have close to 2000 photos of her and will never get sick of new ones.
At this moment we are waiting for good news about her visa approval and then we can plan her arrival to Perth, She does not seem too excited about leaving China but more excited about us both being together permanently, Her friends are very happy for her and some a little envious as they are also wanting Western husbands as they have had enough of Chinese men.
She never asks me for anything or even money, She is very happy to just "survive" in China without any luxuries, Every time we are together it seems her main concern is my comfort and my happiness, (never met a western woman like this), Every night she waits for me on QQ and is full of smiles and we talk for hours, No-matter what her plans are, She always makes sure we have hours every day to talk and see how we spent our day apart, I wonder if it can get any better, John.