OK, I have to get this off my chest. I apologize for the length of this text.
I have been corresponding with my lady since early May now and I have felt more and more confident that we will actually meet like we have discussed. Nothing has indicated so far that she is fake or that she is corresponding with other men (knock on wood). We correspond every two or three days (that is what I have time for right now) and write short emails in Chinese as well.
I only have one problem. From the very beginning she has been sending me studio pictures. We talked early on about meeting via webcam and talking on the phone. She seemed very eager to do it. Then she said that since the agency is so far away and she would like to have an interpreter with her the first time we meet on a webcam, maybe we should wait. I was disappointed but accepted that she was shy. I asked for her phone number and she replied that her phone didn't have an international service so I could not call her. I asked for her number again and said that I wanted to try anyway, I could send a text message and we would both see if she received it or not. No reply.
I have kept asking for REAL pictures of her, she has kept replying that she does not have a camera. I suggested that maybe she could use her phone to take some pictures. She replied that the quality would be bad and when I told her I didn't care about the pixel quality she finally sent me two pictures (apparently not taken with a phone but with an ordniary camera). I was very happy and thought that maybe she had borrowed a camera from a friend. But no, she suddenly "found" the pictures in her computer.
I sent her a hand written letter in Chinese. She was very happy and excited when she got it and took two photos of it. So suddenly she has got a camera now? About the webcam suggestion: She lives in a dormitory at her company but has a computer in her room which she uses to send the letters to the agency. So what is the problem? She apparently has a camera at her disposal and she does have her own computer, still she is not willing do to anything else but write EMF letters and emails. I keep sending her pictures of me but I never get anything back (she send romantic pictures and music but honestly I would prefer pictures of her, not hearts and flowers).
I have thought about these issues more and more and to be honest, I am pretty disappointed. I understand that she is shy. But if she can't even send me pictures because of it, what will happen when we finally meet (trip scheduled for December)? Will she hide behind a tree? As a student going to China is a big economic commitment for me. I don't want to go there not feeling entirely commited to her. If I am going in December, I would like to have more certainty about this woman. Letters are not enough. Just like a girl said to me recently: "People can write anything in letters, it's easy to write I love you. A child can do that."
She has sent me a "gift" in the mail, it would take up to two weeks to arrive so I am waiting to see what it is before I decide anything drastic. But right now, I feel the spirit is slowly fading away (the first sign is that the letters are harder to write).