M&Pooh

But it's perfectly legal to collect EI when one permanently moves to US for marriage ( K1 or IR1/CR1 ). Just an FYI.

That thread is extremely weird. The OP asks a particular question, explicitly(!) requested the discussion to be civil and what does she get? "Huge disaster", "sh*t", "your relationship is doomed"...
First of all, it's EXTREMELY RUDE. Did OP ask anybody to judge on her marriage?? Do you not think that such a behavior is much worse than accidentally using a taboo word? Or are you sadists enjoying trying to destroy OP's marriage?
Second, those remarks are not only extremely rude, they are also extremely biased. I consider it to be well-known that Indian people have quite a different standards and customs when it comes to marriage ( ever had of arranged marriages, btw? ) and are much more willing to search ( and find! ) for compromises and reconciliations in their family lives. What I see in that thread looks like some VJers trying to impose on OP their way of thinking and their standard of what is considered "abusive" and "unacceptable". Very ironical they are the same people who say such nice words about being open-minded and politically correct... Shame on you people.
rkk1, good luck to you! Don't pay attention to those saying "your relationship is doomed"! Fight for your marriage and succeed!

That thread is extremely weird. The OP asks a particular question, explicitly(!) requested the discussion to be civil and what does she get? "Huge disaster", "sh*t", "your relationship is doomed"...
First of all, it's EXTREMELY RUDE. Did OP ask anybody to judge on her marriage?? Do you not think that such a behavior is much worse than accidentally using a taboo word? Or are you sadists enjoying trying to destroy OP's marriage?
Second, those remarks are not only extremely rude, they are also extremely biased. I consider it to be well-known that Indian people have quite a different standards and customs when it comes to marriage ( ever had of arranged marriages, btw? ) and are much more willing to search ( and find! ) for compromises and reconciliations in their family lives. What I see in that thread looks like some VJers trying to impose on OP their way of thinking and their standard of what is considered "abusive" and "unacceptable". Very ironical they are the same people who say such nice words about being open-minded and politically correct... Shame on you people.
rkk1, good luck to you! Don't pay attention to those saying "your relationship is doomed"! Fight for your marriage and succeed!

That thread is extremely weird. The OP asks a particular question, explicitly(!) requested the discussion to be civil and what does she get? "Huge disaster", "sh*t", "your relationship is doomed"...
First of all, it's EXTREMELY RUDE. Did OP ask anybody to judge on her marriage?? Do you not think that such a behavior is much worse than accidentally using a taboo word? Or are you sadists enjoying trying to destroy OP's marriage?
Second, those remarks are not only extremely rude, they are also extremely biased. I consider it to be well-known that Indian people have quite a different standards and customs when it comes to marriage ( ever had of arranged marriages, btw? ) and are much more willing to search ( and find! ) for compromises and reconciliations in their family lives. What I see in that thread looks like some VJers trying to impose on OP their way of thinking and their standard of what is considered "abusive" and "unacceptable". Very ironical they are the same people who say such nice words about being open-minded and politically correct... Shame on you people.
rkk1, good luck to you! Don't pay attention to those saying "your relationship is doomed"! Fight for your marriage and succeed!

Good we agree on most of the things. Just couple of things to note.
No, I am not. Just read this thread. For example, take the refusal to call "ketchup" "ketchup" from the original post. Or quite agressive and rude post from another member proclaiming everything Australian is superior to everything American. I don't have any stereotypes about this matter and was actually quite surprized to observe such an attitude.
Your experience as you described it looks like normal and healthy adjustment process... so, obviously, my remarks should not be taken personally.
Please dont't distort my words. Where did I say she "hates" that?? She actually couldn't care less... she just accepts that the norm here is "color" and "theater" and it doesn't cause any negative emotions for her. The same way if I am in Toronto I will be asking for "washroom" and postpone saying "restroom" until back in the US.
My bottom line is ( for the record, I am an immigrant to US, too - 12 years ago ): I honestly believe - attitude is the key. When one immigrates to any country, he/she should be ready to accept the norms and customs of that country and to assimilate him/herself to a certain degree. When a person constantly ( not temporarily; for some period it happens virtually to everybody during so called culture shock's "second phase" ) refuses to do that, he/she can expect failures in life in the new country and a negative attitude from the new neighbors. And he/she will be well deserving both failures and negative attitude.

Because the proverb says "When in Rome, do as the Romans do".
Why evrybody else coming to US just accepting the way people call things there, and only Aussies seem to intentionally refuse that approach and take it as a personal insult when people around them dare to still prefer American way to Australian way?
You are in America - you ARE EXPECTED to speak "American", that's quite natural. When I was in Australia, I tried to pronounce words as Aussies do ( and I was just a tourist, not an immigrant! ), and it's natural. My wife here says "restroom" and writes "theater" and "color", despite deep inside her she considers that bad spelling... so why Aussies in this thread instead of adopting "the American way" ( something every immigrant does while not complaining about necessity to do this ) think their way should be accepted in the U.S.?
The posts in this thread leave exactly that impression: The Great Conspiracy against Australians. The issues that EVERY IMMIGRANT from EVERY COUNTRY is faced with are presented as "Americans don't like us Australians, our accent, our education, etc."
I think, this one has already been answered somewhere earlier in the thread. And I agree, immigrating from a first-world English-speaking country isn't harder than coming from a third-world state. If one is coming here with a feeling of their country's supremacy and exceeding inadequate expectations - they're heading to guaranteed adjustment issues.

I thought, we are at immigfrant forum. Those issues are basically the case for EVERYONE ( no exceptions! ) here. Why we don't have multiple posts with such compaints every single day?.. this thread surprizes me: looks like several Aussies sincerely believe that the adjustments and culture shock for them are harder than for everybody else. I don't think it's the case.

You can stop here. This is the major flaw of your argument. Inside your mind, you think of a health insurance as of something optional, a kind of luxury, the thing that you might be buying when you have some extra money. This is absolutely wrong approach, and the PPACA finally intends to fix it. The health insurance MUST be thought of as something as necessary as food, housing, car insurance and other mandatory expenses. I bet when driving you're not arguing with a cop giving you a ticket for driving with no insurance: "But I just can't afford car insurance!" If you're not driving, I have even better example for you. When you've lived in Canada [ where healthcare is funded by the government, i.e. from the tax revenue ], have you ever complained to Revenue Canada - "I can't afford paying taxes!" I bet you haven't. Read the Supreme Court decision. The majority of judges treat this penalty that you're so unhappy about as "tax". So, legally that means that you're refusing to pay your tax. The consequences are obvious.
Obviously, nobody ( except probably Ron Paul & Co. who plainly state that "healthcare is not a right" ) would advocate letting people die outside of a hospital. It would be obviously ultimately immoral. And here is the great contradiction of a current system: that everybody is getting health service, but only some [insured] people are actually paying for it. Economically speaking, this system can either go broke or getting reimbursed somehow - read: have other people pay for the services hospitals giving away for free. This is very unfair, and the reform is intended to fix that "hole" by creating a system when everybody gets healthcare and everybody pays for it, and if you REALLY can't afford it, you're getting assistance in obtaining an insurance [i am not sure whether that would or would not be considered a "public burden"]. And, again, it implies that from now on, EVERYBODY should stop thinking of a health insurance as of a luxury.

G'day again!
One thing that, surprisingly, wasn't still mentioned [ probably people are too politically correct? ] is the "mentality fit". If you consider yourself liberal ( I mean - by American standards; I'm not sure about Australia, but when compared to Western Europe, US society is more conservative, therefore European political/social "mainstream" = "liberal" in the US ), think twice before moving to Texas. If you feel you're conservative, think three times before settling in San Francisco.
You can see very regularly people crying out on VJ complaining about their neighbors' way of life...

G'day again!
One thing that, surprisingly, wasn't still mentioned [ probably people are too politically correct? ] is the "mentality fit". If you consider yourself liberal ( I mean - by American standards; I'm not sure about Australia, but when compared to Western Europe, US society is more conservative, therefore European political/social "mainstream" = "liberal" in the US ), think twice before moving to Texas. If you feel you're conservative, think three times before settling in San Francisco.
You can see very regularly people crying out on VJ complaining about their neighbors' way of life...

3-4 weeks might mean a serious problem for you. Many insurances allow adding a family member during 30 days after qualifying event ( in your case, marriage ) ONLY. If I were you, it would be the first thing to find out - whether your insurance carrier has a similar policy.