Reply With QuoteWell, maybe when I get up that way we can have a Tea, or if your game soe more local bit of life. The bike sounds good never mind the others on the road and they will never mind you as well...
There's "Turkish" (really pan-Turkic, drawing Turkic ethnic groups from all across Asia in the -stan countries) schools all over the place in pretty much every country on the planet. Well over a thousand, mostly run by people motivated ideologically by Fethullah Gulen and Said Nursi. Those are very... controversial figures... in Turkey. But yeah, you'll find them all over the place, particularly in the U.S.Originally Posted by Mister Bule
New Orleans has its own charm somewhere in mix of vomit, booze, urine, and broken dreams that collects in the gutter on Bourbon Street. We often call it the "Mardi Gravy".
I sorta enjoyed College Station despite the unbearable weather. There's a small masjid and a relatively large Muslim population there. I seem to recall there being a butcher that sold halal meat, and I know we had halal foods available at the local H-E-B. It was pretty nice, definitely not the stereotype of cowboys and intolerance that people (who haven't been to Texas) associate with Texas.
Texas was home for me following Katrina, so Yuli (my wife) and I ended up together precisely because of mutual disaster. She had the tsunami (she was in Banda Aceh for it, terrifying) and I had the hurricane (which demolished my home). Just last month we had our first child here in Banda Aceh, so I suppose it's all coming full circle.
Yep. Let me know if you plan to visit Banda Aceh and I'll arrange to meet with you and have you come by the school. Don't be surprised if you come home with multiple job offers, native English speakers who are qualified to teach are in extraordinary demand here. Most teachers are afraid that if they come here they'll end up getting decapitated in an al-Qaeda video or some goofy crap like that. I suppose the fact that none of the schools are willing to pay much more than 10 - 15 juta per month (which, in Aceh, is a LOT of money) also deters them :P
Well, maybe when I get up that way we can have a Tea, or if your game soe more local bit of life. The bike sounds good never mind the others on the road and they will never mind you as well...
Menanti seribu burung di udara, satu di tangan dilepaskan.
Dan:
I'll try to educate myself more about that... hm.. Kemalists, Islamists, and Turkicists, oh my! Looks like a big mess o' forest to negotiate there. Speaking of Turkic peoples in (or near) the -stans, Do you think much of a chance some of these folks in Aceh or elsewhere could provide any help (in the form of advice, information, or contacts) to some of my Uyghur former students in Xinjiang, PRC? I got an email from one of them recently, he was in Junior Two (eighth grade) when I taught him, now in high school... wanting to know if I can give help about doing higher ed in Canada or the US, how to apply for schools, etc. (I don't have much of a clue, to be honest) This is a bright kid, whose parents invited me to their house at Eid' and Corban that year.. Anyway I digress, but let me know if you think anybody can help or any info I can try to pass on to this kid about studying abroad, visas etc.There's "Turkish" (really pan-Turkic, drawing Turkic ethnic groups from all across Asia in the -stan countries) schools all over the place in pretty much every country on the planet. Well over a thousand, mostly run by people motivated ideologically by Fethullah Gulen and Said Nursi.
Selamat Eid'l Adha, by the way.
Donkk: Sure, sounds like a good idea to me.. let me know if you make a plan to come this way. As for the tea, I believe I tried to make it clear as beer that I still consume... just more sparsely than before. I have not had hard liquor since I got my Islam card however and probably won't. I have a cheap bike for casual (short-distance) riding - Aleoca sepeda lipat. I like it though it seems doubtful at times about supporting my weight. Yes, traffic here is basically a series of more-or-less narrowly avoided accidents it seems... so far I haven't been taken out by an angkot or any other hazards. Are you teaching now in Papua?
The folks who teach here are certainly very... religious. It's a conservative, revivalist movement that stresses education, particularly in maths and sciences. There was a somewhat good piece on "Turkish" schools in America on 60 minutes last year.
As to the education opportunities, I doubt they can help him get to America, Australia or Western Europe. However, they may certainly be able to direct him to universities in Turkey or Russia. I don't know how difficult it is for students in Xinjiang to travel abroad for studies. I'd recommend schools in Taiwan, but I think that's an even further shot than schools in the West coming from the PRC!
I believe that he could, independently, look into receiving a Fulbright scholarship. They don't generally offer full undergrad scholarships, but they have programs that are essentially "launching pads" for gifted students.
http://exchanges.state.gov/ugrad.html
That's their 1 semester undergrad scholarship program. Encourage him to apply, but make sure that his expectations are realistic.
Basically if you getting married in Indonesia, you need to register your married license to the closest US consulate. Since you are a US citizen and if you married your wife up here (US), you need to register your marriage to the closest Indonesian Consulate right away. This is very important to know, if you didn't do any of this, your marriage won't be recognize to the other country. To be legal in both country you need to follow all this things. Me an my EX husband was fly to Vegas to get married to avoid this religion differences bull crap in Indonesia. We don't know that we should go to Indonesian LA consulate and registered our married license there. Soon as we got back to Jakarta, we went to the US consulate and re register our marriage. Well... things not so great and we decide to get a divorced. Indonesian court house had no record of our marriage, it's sucks but by law.. we are never been marriage in Indonesia. So we flew back to Vegas to get divorce, since we have a little son (US Citizen), the US family court decide that my son has to remain in the US and can't leave the country till he at least 10 yrs old. Shocking!!, they kept his passport and we both stuck in Vegas.
Talking about getting a US visa for your spouse, if you already legally marry her, all that you need to do is to get her a US permanent resident card. That 5 years re-entry visa is sucks!. By getting her a permanent resident from jakarta, she can in and out US anytime for the next 10 years. Easier, I got my parents that 5 years visa, I hate it and I am currently getting both of them a green card. One more thing.. have you ever seen the non US citizen line in the US border at the airport lately?.
Jenny
DaninAceh wrote:
I checked the email that he sent me and it was Canada or Malaysia that he specifically mentioned, but probably he is not gonna be too too picky as long as he can get out of PRC to study somewhere abroad. (Malaysia or Indonesia might be doable, seems like, if he could get admission to a school and iIF he could get a visa.)As to the education opportunities, I doubt they can help him get to America, Australia or Western Europe. However, they may certainly be able to direct him to universities in Turkey or Russia. I don't know how difficult it is for students in Xinjiang to travel abroad for studies.
I feel really bugged whenever I think about these kids - they are basically screwed, no matter how much they try, struggle or study... the end result in terms of teaching them seemed to be that there were ones who were among the very best students in their class, totally determined to prove themselves, and there were the total wasters who had already given up and really didn't give a crap. They face very real and institutionalized economic, political and religious discrimination as well as basic (and sometimes quite nastily expressed) ethnic racism from the Han Chinese, and part of the reason Xinjiang became a depressing place for me was the fact of seeing this firsthand but feeling quite powerless to do anything productive about it, other than helping them to improve their English and just being a friendly and sympathetic face.. it was the first time I've experienced that subtly yet clearly implied expectation / desperate hope that just because I am from a certain country, I will have access to some power, influence or connection that can help someone (because I'm "from America") and the frustration of having to tell them I don't and just hope they believe me and don't think that I just don't WANT to help them.. Of course part of the problem is that the internet is so tightly controlled and monitored there, it's somewhat doubtful whether information sent that way will get to them at all. Basically the government does not want them to leave the country, since it's the Uyghurs outside the PRC who have freedom to speak and politic who are in their eyes causing most of the trouble, trying to agitate those still in China, and the ones who leave can tell the story as experienced from the inside, so yes, it is quite difficult for them to get exit visas.
I can send you his email address by PM (I already asked him and he gladly gave permission) if you could pass it along. Or. if you could give me any contact info (email or website) for these Turkish folk, I will pass that on to him.
Jennyhonse wrote;
Sad story there... hope things will work out okay for you and your son.Soon as we got back to Jakarta, we went to the US consulate and re register our marriage. Well... things not so great and we decide to get a divorced. Indonesian court house had no record of our marriage, it's sucks but by law.. we are never been marriage in Indonesia. So we flew back to Vegas to get divorce, since we have a little son (US Citizen), the US family court decide that my son has to remain in the US and can't leave the country till he at least 10 yrs old. Shocking!!, they kept his passport and we both stuck in Vegas.
We got married here in Indonesia, Seems clear that we need to register / "consularize" our marriage certificate through the embassy in Jakarta. As for the visa, I'm still thinking the B-2 (Visitor Visa) is the more suitable way for us to proceed, just concerned about the interview process and "documentation". Guess we just have to go for it and see what happens. I'd try to talk to a lawyer specializing in expat issues, but I really can't afford it...Since you are a US citizen and if you married your wife up here (US), you need to register your marriage to the closest Indonesian Consulate right away. This is very important to know, if you didn't do any of this, your marriage won't be recognize to the other country.
I really don't know where people get their information from but a U.S. Citizen does not have to register their marriage at the embassy. The United States with a federal type of government does not maintain a central registry of family relationships. This responsibility largely falls to the states most of which maintain their own records of birth, death and marriage when these take place within their borders. The Department of State maintains records related to American citizens who are born or die abroad, but there is no organization or department in the United States that tracks marriages involving U.S. citizens that take place outside the U.S.The general recommendation the embassy/consulate makes in the American Citizen Services Unit is that American citizens who are married overseas maintain an original or certified copy of their foreign marriage document along with a notarized translation or authentication. Marriages which are legally performed and valid abroad are also legally valid in the United States. So if your marriage in Indonesia has been legally registered in Indonesia, your marriage is valid in the U.S. The only service that you will get at the embassy is a consular will authenticate your marriage documents, but since the U.S. already recognizes the validity of your marriage then save the $32.00 authentication fee and travel expenses.We got married here in Indonesia, Seems clear that we need to register / "consularize" our marriage certificate through the embassy in Jakarta.
jave2001: Thanks for the post, it seems there is some difference of opinion with a few saying the process is absolutely necessary and others say it is not at all, and the Wizard is just an old man in a mask, (who would've gotten away with it all, if it wasn't for those darn kids)...
Some of that information comes from the parent/ sibling (?) site of this one (expat.or.id), but I don't know where the person who wrote it there got it...I really don't know where people get their information from
... and that is what the information on expat.or.id says also, as best I can tell. The question being who does the certification. If just certified by KUA is enough, we have that (he says while he is asking his wife to check the sertifikat), so you are saying we just need to get notarized translation or authentification, but it doesn't matter if we get that from embassy at Jakarta or just any local notaris....?The general recommendation the embassy/consulate makes in the American Citizen Services Unit is that American citizens who are married overseas maintain an original or certified copy of their foreign marriage document along with a notarized translation or authentication.
PS: What is the point of having a US Consulate in Medan (apparently there is), which provides no Routine Citizen Services? Supposedly it can provide "emergency services only" but I'm hoping I won't have to test that theory.
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