No, because when you marry a Cuban you are 'liberating' the poor soul.

aravis - that's a very polite and diplomatic answer you give. And I agree with you on the gay marriage stance. Thank goodness Alex is male and not female...

Blake - actually, my mother calls the toilet the 'loo' and it drives me potty. (!) I think it's a really ugly word.

Also, whoops - I'd best head home. My boss thinks I'm doing overtime, and I'm not (don't worry - I won't claim any!). Peanut butter on bagel and fried turkey steak with vegetables for dinner, I think.

That's the problem with Democracies - every voice carries the same weight in the voting booth, like it or not. We could always go with the Dictatorship of the Proletariate approach where people are told what to think is right and wrong, but that didn't turn out so well either. I don't like the whole morality theme from the right or the left very much - I don't need someone who doesn't know me trying to tell me how I should think or feel. Although I do talk like a 5 year old sometimes I can occasionally decide for myself. For example: I want the chocolate cake not the vanilla one.

I think it's kinda cute Lunch time for me...

As if the USA was the only good country in the world and everyone wanted to leave everything behind to go there... Bryan told me no-one ever made a 'green card' comment. I guess we're lucky so far


so, what's the best way to call the toilet? I know that in the USA it's easy to avoid the problem and say "I need to use the bathroom" since it's always in the bathroom, but i've always wondered what the different ways to say it are...

Dennis and I have talked about this...he says that if there isn't a bathtub/shower in it, then it isn't a bathroom. Where I am it's almost exclusively called a bathroom, no matter what's in it. Sometimes people say "restroom", especially in public or a formal situation (don't ask me why "restroom" is supposedly less crass than "bathroom"). Pretty much anything will work. I keep telling Dennis to just use whatever word he's used to...people will figure it out and I think it's cute.

the words Can and Crapper come to mind, but those are rude and something guys usually say to each other. Other words are not repeatable in polite company.

I think we like Cubans cause we would like them to leave Cuba. We probably don't feel the same about Canadians.



Mens Room - Ladies Room

I think I will only use bathroom and restroom, and nothing else. that way it will be safe

You can always use "John" or in your case "Jean" (As in "where is the jean") - might be good for a few laughs. Then, of course, you could always say "Donde esta el casa del pipi." I'm sure with the right accent that one will sound quite sophisticated.

Ohhh...or you could always ask in several languages that you know they won't understand (make them up if necessary!) and then finally ask in English...they'll be so impressed by your vast knowledge that anything you say will sound sophisticated and intelligent.

Blake - sorry; I'm a little funny when it comes to words. I also think 'toe' is an ugly word - and try to avoid saying it!

I'd be interested to know if other languages have as many words for the toilet as we do - or whether the English-speaking people are just potty-mouthed!

Alex has skived off college in order to play GTA 4 - I'm jealous! I'm getting to hear all about how gorgeous it looks and how fun it is to play while I sit in my lonely study and eat cheesy mash.

Once you get your visa and he will be working, you can spend your entire days playing to GTA 4! then he'll be the jealous one, even though he's already played it
Or a better way to do if you don't want to buy it but you still want to play soon, is find a friend who is going to buy it, and spend all your time at his/her apartment/house.

fheew , it looks like CSC is back on track.
i don't wanna jinx it, but People, ready for moving?

Oh I am SOOOOOOOOO ready for movement! LOTS of it!!!

I may have asked this before but do u get an email if they "touch" your file? Or is this where the obsessed logging into USCIS comes into play? haha.....

No e-mail when you're touched - only the date changes on the USCIS webpage. The only time you get an e-mail is when you're approved (and sometimes that doesn't happen either)

Any movement is good movement - We've actually received 5 approvals the last couple of days (but they were updates to prior weeks) I think the next 4 weeks should be very interesting for us January filers. Pause, take a breath, and buckle your seatbelt.

ha-ha, got ya!
the obesessed logging in is the main ingredient here.
Oh, and if you've seen one touch you have to be checking like 7 days in a row, to get the plesure from each one. Otherwise you may only see the first and last one

I hope we see lots of January approvals...and, dare I wish for it? A few February approvals.

Hold your horses now, let's not get over zealous We got lots of January to get through over the next 4-5 weeks (I think we've got 67), and there are still boatloads of December filers, but since you're a honorary January filer I'm sure the visa gods wouldn't mind moving you into the group as well.

Ooh yes LOTS of January approvals! Man oh man oh mannnn I sooo want mine before my birthday (june 8th) so yes if I could see our approval in May we would be tickled!!!!

And well glad I log in each day then to USCIS as wouldn't wanna miss my touch if i got one haha! Which I haven't since January sighhhhh

Hope is what separates us from the animals! Even if it's ridiculous hope...I told myself I wouldn't really expect to hear anything until 3 months after filing because that's the quickest we've seen out of CSC since I joined VJ. I'll hit that next week. Plus...if CSC really does hit those 60+ weeks that they did this time last year, they could get all of the January filers done!

[/quote]
Hope is what separates us from the animals! Even if it's ridiculous hope...I told myself I wouldn't really expect to hear anything until 3 months after filing because that's the quickest we've seen out of CSC since I joined VJ. I'll hit that next week. Plus...if CSC really does hit those 60+ weeks that they did this time last year, they could get all of the January filers done!
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Well a ton of us are already over the 90 day and 100 day mark for waiting........ We are at 101 currently and I know there are loads more of us that have been waiting over 90 days! Some sadly over 200 days!!! So yeah here's hoping Cali starts kicking them out here in May and ends some of our misery!

Hello everyone!

This is my first post here. I've been reading the whole thread though as my sweetie and I are January filers. I'm starting to feel the anticipation even more, especially since it seems like things could pick up in May. Great!

I do have a question though. I'm planning to travel to the US (I'm the beneficiary) to see my sweetheart at the end of June and I'm wondering if that's a good idea since from all I've read here, it seems like some of the papers in the package need to be filled ASAP. Am I dreaming too much in thinking it might get here while I'm in the US?

we call the toilet CR or comfort room ... maybe becoz you will feel comfort after you use it, I'm not really sure why though.


As for the CSC movement, I do hope and pray that Blake's previous predictions will eventually happen and that there will be showers and storms of approvals from CSC in May!

January Filers....

We've officially broken the 100 mark on Igor's List!!!!!!!!! Tonight during the 10:00pm update (Seattle time), Ayako and Nathan busted through at #99.

Let's wrap up these poor October and November folks, and start flying NOA2's out the door for December's and January's!!!! I can feel it, May is OUR MONTH!

Hello and welcome!

It may certainly get there while you are in the US - but that shouldn't be a problem unless you're planning to stay more than a couple of months. I believe your NoA2 remains valid for four months so you can take your time in preparing package 3 to send back.


Hurrah! May'd better be - because April certainly wasn't!

Welcome Pandora01!

There are 18 October filers, 22 November filers and 58 December filers left from what Igor's list says. And then, it's our turn! (well, that would be if CSC was processing in the right order of course). It feels so good to wake up and see some new approvals!

I've been having troubles to sleep lately. Thinking too much isn't good I guess

So, it seems that Bryan and I will get an apartment instead of living with at his friends' house (where he's currently living) He said everyday there are more things he dislike about being there, either the barking of the dogs, people waking him up in the middle of the night, the mess, etc. And I made a list of our future expenses and all in all, it should be feasible. And that way we will have our own place yesterday one of his emails said: "I'm so very happy that we are really starting to plan our life together!" It makes me so happy too

Awesome! If you can get your own place I think adjusting to living in a new country and enjoying the first year of your marriage will be so much easier. I hope he manages to find a good apartment!

I'm having no problems sleeping. In fact I'm having trouble waking up in the mornings!

Sometimes it is difficult having technology-illiterate bosses. Usually problems occur when I'm attempting to explain how e-mails work. Today I'm worrying about a particular computer.

Our office recently finally replaced our old, obsolete machines with new models and a couple of the old ones were taken away, wiped clean and given a fresh reinstall of Windows XP. One of these computers was taken home by my boss to give to his son. Now, his son's a teenager and I'm presuming that he'll be wanting to use it to play games. I ordered a monitor for it last week (a 19' TFT with a decent response time) and today I've been asked to order speakers and find a lead for the power supply. All of this implies his son hasn't had a chance to turn the computer on yet and I'm really worried he's going to be severely disappointed. Having been familiar with the old computers I can tell him that it has no graphics card, no sound card, (only onboard for both) only 256 mb of RAM (so XP is going to run horribly slowly) and I'm not even certain that it has so much as a DVD drive (it may only have a CD-RW). He'll be lucky to be playing games that are 5-6 years old, let alone anything recent or even watching DVD movies.

Having our own place would be awesome, yes. At the same time, being close to his friends would have had its advantages too: I wouldn't feel too lonely while he's at work, there would always be someone with a car to drive me wherever I want , and it would be easier to become friends with all of them. Or we would all hate each others and end up killing someone
I'm sure he will find a wonderful place

Yes, your boss's son is going to be very disappointed if the only games he can play are minesweeper and solitary... :S

Good morning all
A little hello to say that I'm still alive.

I know I don't post so much... its because... you know... it's hard

I prefer right now to post on my blog, like that I don't see VSC approvals...

So, I hope this week will show a lot of approvals from CSC!

Hugs and Kisses

Hello MissYoko
Don't worry, the approvals will start again and soon we will be telling all our friends that we are approved! (even though half of them won't know exactly what it means )

Good morning Miss Yoko!

I am sorry the lack of approvals is getting you down. *hugs* Thank you for stopping in and saying hello - I love to hear that you're okay.

Ooh yes getting your own place to start off in will def be best move in helping with the whole adjustment process!

I need to remind myself a lot that Gareth has never done this before etc...I am an ex military wife soooo I moved at 18 and lived overseas for 10 years so I am kinda numb to it all. I know he is going to go through some adjustment patches! I think us having our own space and own "life" so to speak to get on with will def help him through!

Thanks for the welcome

I'll be there only for three weeks so I guess it won't be a problem then. Good! Makes me feel better. I'm so eager to be with my darling again. I miss him so much!!!

I know...I just meant that when I hit 90 days was when I would admit that I was hoping to hear something. I'm not sure if that makes sense when I say it out loud...it was just pointless to even hope before that. I figured I would start admitting to myself that I hoped to hear something at three months...and I'd start really looking for something at four.

I understand what you mean aravis227. When we hit 3 months I started telling myself: "ok that will be 4 months then". And now, we are going to hit 120 days soon... so I'm going to hope for an approval before 150

if the csc is slow like this we would not hear anything before 6 months so everybody gets ready for 6 months ..there is nothing we can do as you see they do not move at all lately and waiting line getting longer and longer ..

Maybe I'm stupid but I still have hopes...

I don't think it's stupid Missyoko. I definitely have hope, too! A lot of people get approved without any problems...there are some who are get held back and we'll never understand why, and I pray for them that they get their approvals soon...but I don't think it means we should give up hope. CSC has been really slow...but that's happened in the past this time of year...then they suddenly speed up. They seem to be doing that again, it's Wednesday and we've already seen two approvals...plus all of the approvals from the last couple of weeks that suddenly showed up. I think we have every reason to hope we'll see four month approvals.

AH! Speaking of hope...I broke through the 200 mark sometime last night! I'm now 198 on Igor's list. YAY!

OMG why do I feel like it's Tuesday today? I was going to tell you that you were wrong, but then I checked and yes, it's already the middle of the week. bah my mind is probably playing tricks with me...

Congratulations on being 198! that's a small victory, but one small step, followed by another one, and then again and again, makes a big victory in the end (and a beautiful wedding in that specific case )

Good Morning All - ready for another big day of approvals?

MissYoko, I think Rachel said it very well yesterday or the day before about adjusting to the immediate aftermath of a visit. It took time for her to adjust back to the state of seperation, and I'm sure that you have had to go through the same thing. Like you, I do not spend much time in the VSC thread, however, my sense of "injustice" has largely faded and my focus is on the future. You're not stupid for being hopeful at all. Your approval will come, that is not in question - it's just the timing that is unknown. You can believe in that.

Cecile - I am so happy for you and Brian. While there might be some advantages to living in the same arrangements in his friend's house, the disadvantages are so much larger. I think one of the most important things that newlyweds can do is create their own identity ( a sense of "us" rather than just you + me ). That means the in-laws and sibs, friends and aquaintances should back off and allow the couple to find their own way. I've seen many times where couples have run into problems because of too much involvement by well meaning friends and family. Having a space of your own will allow you two to grow together. I don't think you'll have any problems making friends (you have one here already -me!). Congrats also for reaching 101 - by the end of the day you'll be sub-100, fantastic.

That's just what my mother says! But seriously, it is very good advice. It's a shame that it's not really an affordable option for me.

Cecile - it's strange, I keep thinking it's Tuesday, too.

Alex said to me yesterday that there is a very, very, infinitesimal chance that his parents will be moving to northern California and would rent their house out to us. I'm not allowing myself to get my hopes up about it, but if it happened it would be amazing. We'd have a lovely, well-maintained house to live in for cheaper than we'd have any hope of finding elsewhere in the Bay Area.

Without hope we would all be dead. So yes, hoping is definitely a good thing.

Yes we believe it will be better to have our own place to create our identity, as you said. I told him it would be even better if we could move in at the same moment, that way I would not feel like I am coming in his apartment (I'm sure that's the feeling I'll have the first days), but it would be way too difficult to organize. It will be great to put his stuff and my stuff in the same place. And to wake up when he goes to work, wait for him to come back for dinner, and do all these little things that 'normal' couples do
He said he will buy a few ustensils he'll need (a few plates, forks and knifes, for example) but then I'll be the one choosing a matching set It's going to be so fun to go shopping to buy OUR items

So, CSC, back to work! We January filers need our approvals! (well, everybody does)
That way we can be together soon and start shopping

Yes, yes, yes! I can't wait to 'set up home'. Oh, it'll be so lovely to have new, matching kitchen and bathroom things (even if we have to buy them in stages over a couple of years).

Fortunately I can derive just as much pleasure from browsing through catalogues and websites and day-dreaming about what I'd buy than from actually buying them, so I'm not going to be running up a huge bill just yet.

You would have your own house! that would be awesome! You're right though, try not to think about it too much, especially if it is a "very very infinitesimal chance". Keep organizing everything with what has been planned (living with them), and then if they happen to move, you can start planning everything again!

Anybody else who keeps thinking it's Tuesday?! Maybe that's some kind of conspiracy, they brainwashed all of us to believe it's Wednesday, but they didn't reset our brains (yours and mine) well enough and we KNOW it's Tuesday! WTF am I talking about........ oh well, I'm glad it's the end of the day! I believe my brain needs to rest.

I'm sure Alex is happy about that

You're right about the Bay Area - it's a very expensive place to live. Hopefully the situation will allow for you two to set up house in his parents old house - that would be perfect.

I do that too! I've spent complete evenings on the Target website, looking at the kitchen/living-room/bedroom pages

Me, too! We've had family members clamoring for us to have a registry for our wedding (it was originally supposed to be in August, then I just couldn't handle the stress of worrying about whether the visa would come through and pretty much knowing it wouldn't), so we've been looking at dishes and stuff that we would like to have. I can't wait until he's finally here and we can have OUR space.

It would be so awesome!

I know that my housemate and other best friend have been feeling very detached lately, too. Perhaps it's something in the air? I really do think it's Tuesday...for some reason I've had it stuck in my head the past week that May starts on a Wednesday...ugh!


'Perfect' is correct; I can't think of a better arrangement. Still, we shall see. If it doesn't happen that way then I'm sure something equally good will come along. We'd probably need two people's salaries to pay the rent even if it was cheap for the Bay Area (especially as Alex is at college part-time) so
I'd still need to find a job first.

Alex and I have our relationship backwards in so many ways. For example, I'm the older, taller and stronger one. I'm actually probably slightly better with money than he is, although that's probably only because I've experienced living on my own and having to pay bills (and I've certainly made my fair share of mistakes in the past). But even with my weakness for shiny kitchen gadgets I don't think Alex will have too much to worry about.


Yes! Catalogues also make great bathroom reading material. As I'm pretty good at not spending money I don't have, let's hope I don't win the lottery...

Strangely enough the registry is the one thing I'm not looking forward to doing. But I'm sure Alex's mother will insist I make one.

For a start, I'm feeling pretty guilty about people wanting to buy us gifts when it's going to be such a cheap wedding, not to mention that some of them will probably be contributing food, too. Second, while I have no problems buying things on my own I have issues with making a list of things for other people to buy me. I'm always worried that they'll think I have bad tastes, or have asked for something that is too expensive, or that they'll wonder why I'd like this or that. It's silly, because I love it when other people make lists for me - makes buying Christmas/birthday presents a lot easier - but I still can't use that to justify making my own lists.