Flothera

Hi Kaffy & Flothera,

I've only lived here for less than 2 years so my opinion may not be the best ... But I do ride my bike and walk all over town including late at night. I've lived in North Portland, which many people here think is badass ... I'm not sure why. Maybe because much of Portland's small ... (gasp!) black population lives there?? I understand it was a bit rougher fifteen years ago, but Portland is so popular (more and more people move here each year although the economy can't keep up with them) that all of the "center" (we're talking many, many square miles here) has become somewhat gentrified and every neighborhood has been improved and looks fairly decent. Maybe you can still find scary stuff out in the suburbs and "satellite towns"; being European, I can't stand American suburbs, so I don't go there.

My only personal experience with crime is that my bicycle was stolen one night. (Fortunately, I got it back. That's a whole story in itself.)

We do have a pretty large population of bums. (The PC word is "transients", these days. Which is a strangely inaccurate term, as most don't seem to be going anywhere.) I've never heard of anyone having real problems with them, but it could make someone uneasy to walk by a group of them when they've set up camp for the night or so.

If you are a musical omnivore (like different styles) and if you like live shows, you will have no problem filling your agenda here.

Many of the festivals are held outside the city in beautiful locations.

Oh, and here's to your original post : Americans LOVE foreigners. You will not get any of the rubbish that Californians might get for crowding the unspoilt PNW (Pacific Northwest). You will be adored, hit on, talked to, and generally treated with lots of interest and admiration in any thinkable or unthinkable situation. Before long, you will grow weary of telling genuinely fascinated people where you're from, and of hearing it's so cool that you're from wherever you're from when they don't have a clue of what where you're from is like. You will entertain plans to have t-shirts printed that read "Yes, I'm from X. YES, I KNOW THAT'S SO COOL. Have a wonderful day, too." You will get hit on four times as much as your new American friends even though they're just as hot as you are. (Portland standards of hotness are not on the high end of the scale, by the way.) You will start to understand why Americans think Europeans are rude (they're right), and at the same time, you will occasionally crave rudeness. (You get used to the inexhaustible friendliness after a while. I promise. You'll even start to mean it when you say "Have a nice day!" to everyone and their dog. And when you go back to Europe, you'll find service inexplicably rude everywhere and will think things like 'good thing they don't work for tips here!', but you'll still feel bad about not tipping the customary 15% ...)

As for the stripclubs - apparently, we have laws permitting to show full nudity, whereas many other cities don't allow this. I've been only once and had a good time - meaning it was not creepy or yucky, and hardly cost more than going to a bar for a drink. I haven't been in Europe, but I imagine it might be different. It also doesn't have much of a social stigma here. (I have 2 friends who work as strippers, and no-one simply seems to care much.)

Man, I never meant to write this much, but here it is anyway

Remind us of when you'll arrive here?

Kevin

PS I hardly follow the news here ... American media are generally so incredibly bad (with a few exceptions - since I live in Portland, I obviously *have* to like DemocracyNow and such (not that I listen to it, liking is sufficient ;-) )) that I ignore them. I find British newspapers are a good source of information : the British are still so obsessed with the US that they write about it more than other countries, but the news is much more neutral and truthful than American media. I did read the NYtimes for a while and it seemed okay, but then I noticed how they write the same stuff over and over again, and I got tired of it. I'm glad to not care about the frantic politics of the day anymore; I do like to read up on 'slower' publications, like an article in The Sun or The New Yorker, or something like that.

You're awesome! What you've said so far actually makes me *want* to go and see the city instead of doubting the move. And I want to hear that bicycle story, if you don't mind o_O

erm... and yay for the strip clubs.

Hi,

I live in Portland and it's a fun place to live.

Comments about Portland being unsafe are fairly ungrounded. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a much safer city. I'm not aware of any places that need to be avoided.

As for activities, events, ... It would help if we knew what you're looking for? There's certainly a lively music scene, arts scene, lots of bars and restaurants. There are festivals and such too, but again it would help to know what makes you happy!

People talk about "community" a lot over here, and there is some reality to back up all the talking.

The weather : the amount of rainfall is much exaggerated. This is mostly the fault of the natives, who use complaining about the weather as a way to bond. There's certainly appreciably more sun and less depressingness here than in Seattle (I've lived in both places). Nevertheless, winters are fairly grey and (imo) depressing. Summer means 2-3 months of no rain and temperatures of 80-90 degrees - perfect for me. Spring and Fall are variable seasons, where you can have hot, cold, and wet in one day. The rain that we do get is what makes us not look like California (ie green instead of brown). Personally, I'd love to be migratory and live in Portland April-October, and somewhere south November-March .

By the way, you will find that locals ###### about the weather all the way from the Canadian border to somewhere around the OR/CA border ... It must be traditional or something, it doesn't seem to depend on what the weather is really like .

The roads aren't in the greatest condition. Highways etc. are fine, but the small, residential streets can have serious potholes. I don't ever go downtown in rush hour unless it's really important, but most of the time, traffic is much more bearable than in many big(ger) cities. Luckily, there are many bridges across the river.

You'll be fine when you make it here. Try to arrive in Summer for optimal first impressions.

'Kay, that's enough

Kevin

Thank you! That seems very informative. I meant music/arts mostly with events. Being that I'm currently pondering heavily on how to arrange my work shifts to suit the intensive gigage schedule that's going on in the next few months in Istanbul, I would really love to have that as a problem there as well Though I think as long as there isn't just one or two major events in the city per year, and I'm not really having a hard time finding somewhere that's open past 10pm, I'll be fine. "Community"?

And the comments about crime make me giggle, given where I'm from. It's probably one of the most chaotic "planes" to find, there's NO telling what might happen the next second.

The weather seems to go by as "10 months of rain, 2 months of breezy summer". I guess I can't know without experiencing it first hand...

The easiest way to induce stress is to drive a car through Istanbul. The easiest way to get better is to take a walk though one of Portland's parks. How's that for a comparison?

Some of us actually like our cities crowded and busy. I can see your point since my hometown had plenty of that to offer, but in comparison, I can't help but go for the first, ignoring how dense the population is... In any case though, I'm not in any way trying to take what Portland has to offer in terms of a green environment for granted, quite the contrary, but just curious about what *else* there is. A bit clueless.

At the very least we could celebrate public transportation, both in Istanbul and Portland's cases ;P

Portland is a beautiful City! My wife and I live just up the Freeway in Seattle. She is also from Istanbul. There is so much to do if you like the outdoors, great shopping malls and just about anything you want. We often will go to Portland for long weekends and to just relax. As far as crime goes, it is a "metropolitan city" for American standards. There will be no more crime in Portland than Taksim at 2:00 AM. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck on your journey!

Thanks for the info! Do you know how frequent/diverse "events" are in Portland? Is there a large enough international crowd, perhaps in PSU something? All I keep hearing about is the rain and the "outdoors"... the green and the common use of bicycles seems great, but is that ALL that there is to do? If you know about this stuff, at least... a resident would probably be able to give a better idea about everyday life. Has your wife had any trouble adjusting to Seattle?

I live across the river in southwest Washington and I really like the PDX metro area. Not sure I'd live in Portland proper though.. some areas aren't particularly safe and if you have kids, the school system is hmmmm

Why Portland? Does your spouse live there now? And have you visited before?

Yeah, he lives there. And nope, I haven't visited. And having a LOT of doubts, probably mostly due to that fact. :/

Hey there Flothera...age difference? me and Hamit are 7 years apart and they didn't even ask! I don't think it is much of an issue...I think the only time it becomes an issue or anything else for that matter is when the relationship isn't genuine and they will sniff that out correctly about 99% of the time...so no need to worry! Just be yourself, be honest and provide proof and oh yea, try to be there if possible!

Try to be there..? Oh, you mean the USC? %) %) I don't know. The age difference is 25 years; I'm 21, he's 46. Perhaps this fact will be all the more visible when/if he's there with me. I can only hope that it works out at this point... *sigh*

Hello everyone. First of all i would like to tell you that i am not quite sure if its ok to post this question in here, this seemed to be the only right part of this forum;if i did it wrong however,then i am sorry.I am from Romania and i am in the middle of the process for an IR-1 visa, so i hope everything will work out fine and i can move to US next to my hubby anytime soon.I have a dog, its a teckel female and of course i would like to bring her with me in US also.I would like to ask you if there is any quarantine period for dogs coming from different countries.I have medical certificate and a valid passport for her and will soon give her a microcip shot,just like the law everywhere requires.I am worried though about the quarantine procedures, any of you know if US has this policy and is it different from state to state ?Any answer from you would be greatly appreciated. Thank you .

Aside from US requirements, be aware that if you're going through any EU country, you will need to fulfill their requirements as well. Which could be a REAL work. Best idea is to try and get a flight that transits within the US, and fulfill the US requirements, which would be way simpler. At the VERY least they don't have the "blood test plus three months after test results" thing. I was baffled upon hearing that when I was attempting to send my cat to the US with my fiancé (transiting through Amsterdam). Total and utter fail right there, needless to say.

I hope this is the right forum for this. Any current residents in the Portland area? Any information to give about the city? If all goes well with the K-1, I'll be moving to Portland from Istanbul... a little worried about adjusting, when it appears I'm moving from such a chaotic, overwhelmingly crowded, noisy city to one that seems to have transformed into the idea of a "green haven" for residents of bigger cities. And I've heard a LOT of stories about the treatment Californians/New Yorkers get over there %) And Powell's plus the strip clubs, but that's pretty much all I know about the area so far...

Here you go: http://turkey.usemba.../k1k2102009.pdf

My wife said that at the interview the officer was mostly interested in our pictures together. I had sent along one that I took just before I got on the plane to leave her at the airport and we had tears on our cheeks. He said "What were you both so sad about?" She told him "We were sad because he was leaving and we didn't want to be apart." He said "Awwwwwwwwwwwwww..... approved!" There was no detailed interview for her or anything like that.

Thank you! And in all honesty - I "awwwwwwwww"ed too upon reading that %) It appears I must keep in mind to constantly remind my fiancé to actually USE his camera >_>

Flothera, I have packet #3 instructions, another VJ member passed it to me. If you would like to start working on it now I can send it to you:)

Good luck!!

Erika and Tayna...47 hours until take off:) I have a plan for us:D I will send you both a PM or maybe FB:)

Thanks! I would really appreciate that.

Congrats on your NOA2. You must be pretty excited by now. I also get the impression that most Turkish beneficiaries in this thread are male, but not so for me and my Turkish wife. Anyway, best of luck dealing with the consulate in Ankara and beyond. It will be a cinch.

Thanks!! &) The main hope here is that they don't grill me during the interview, when/if things get to that stage. I have NO idea what the Ankara consulate is like when it comes to age difference...

Hello, people! Thought I'd say hi another Turkish k-1 filer here. I've had a look at the posts related to Turkey, and it seems like the Turkish beneficiary is usually male? o_O It's interesting reading the stories of those that have managed to go through with the process. Makes me think about potential problems with adjusting... Our process is in the NOA2 stage, we've just received approval on the 15th. Pretty quick. I can't help but expect a late RFE or something. Sure hope not... also pretty clueless about Packet 3, I think we'll end up waiting for the consulate to send us the list before starting to collect anything...

Seems like delaying Packet 3 and entrance is the best way to go now (as the AP thing appears to take too long). Thank you for the (patient) replies

Sorry if this has been asked before, but with my NOA2 coming in today, my plans seem like they will have to be moved around a bit. As we had expected things to go much slower, seeming to be the trend when this side of the world is concerned, the plan was for me to remain in my current job (a fairly good one) and save the money for about 7 months or so at least until I actually go to the US. If things go at this current speed, that plan is going to fail utterly, which wouldn't be the smartest thing for my finances (considering Portland OR isn't doing amazingly economy-wise, and thus leaving a well paying job seems a little off for the time being...) Is it at the very least possible to continue working abroad after getting married on the K-1 and while the AOS process is ongoing, and how? What are the conditions to keep the temporary residence status - as in, entry every 6 months or something of that sort, perhaps?

Wow, this seems to be a wave after all!

I think CSC is starting to work on MArch, I saw one got approved 04/14..

Good luck guys..

I assume that's our case... %)

Good luck everyone!! I hope they've sped up the process for all filers instead of this being an individual processing. This is so weird right now. Still thinking of all sorts of potential pitfalls... >_>

A March filer here as well, we sent the petition in on the 4th and... well... this baby arrived in my inbox this morning:

Current Status: Approval notice sent.

On April 14, 2010, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E). Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was at work at the time, and thought that our case was most likely just "touched"... clicked on the e-mail, thinking "at least that's something" and... I was stuck for a good two minutes thinking if I'm hallucinating. Then my hands started shaking :| Our case being eeeever so slightly off the mill I thought we would take a lot longer than even the regular 3 months or so. Go California! Wow. This moves the case to a point a fair lot earlier than I thought, though, a little worried, but strangely happy at the same time.

Though being such a huge pessimist I can't help but think there might be an RFE hidden in there somewhere, or we'll totally fail to go through the NVC/consulate process, or, or, or... :X

Alright, I couldn't find a proper answer for this one. "Last occupation abroad if not shown above" - assuming that the abroad part means anywhere except the US for the fiance's form as well. I know it says "if not shown above" but should we still write it there, even if it's listed above? Or just N/A? Or nothing? And none of these occupations existed on paper - would get references, but legally, the fiance was never really employed, just freelancing. Should we list the jobs anyway?

I'm sure this has been asked before, and I've come across the umlaut problem while searching, except I am still a little confused about the "Foreign name" option in the initial forms. My name does not use a significantly different alphabet as Russian or Chinese would, merely has Turkish letters such as "ş". It does say that it should go exactly as it is on the passport, so me and my fiance have filled it out as that, but I wanted to ask for other people's experiences. I've heard of cases where the name ended up completely botched, hoping that's rare though...