My wife had wanted to trade our condo in for a house for years. Upon returning from China, we threw out a lot of our accumulated possessions, including a lot of my teaching supplies. (That last one was a huge mistake.) We wanted to get it ready for sale and find a place in the provinces to purchase.

Plan A didn't work. Moving out of a pristine condo proved to be a lot of work, and we'd by paying rent on a room for a long time while waiting for a buyer. We anticipated a wait of over a year.

Then, she started to realize how much she'd miss her home for so many years. She changed her mind about moving, at least for now. Plan B was short lived. As soon as she changed her mind, we found a buyer who will take the condo as is, and I have found both a part time gig that comes with a WP and a room to move into that is both near work and that my wife loves.

So, we've backed into an unplanned and unforeseen Plan C. Sell the condo as is. Rent a room near both work and an MRT station.  Enjoy the new digs for the foreseeable future.  Build a home in the provinces at our leisure.

Going to China at all over three years ago was an adventure that went better than I ever could have hoped for.  I'm beginning to feel the same way about our return.

Contracts for selling one condo and renting the other might be signed with twenty hours.

gungchang wrote:an adventure that went better than I ever could have hoped for

Which aspects went better than you had expected?

I found part time (10 hours per week) work that I enjoy and that doesn't interfere with my retirement benefits.

We found a buyer for the condo. We've been able to continue living in it until we sell it. We're selling it "as is."

I'll work on weekends until the Isan palace is ready.

Our temporary room where we'll live until the Isan palace is ready is near an MRT station and that station is two stops from work and nine stops from where we live now.

One niece has lived with us for four months. Another stayed for a couple of weeks. Those were two more unforeseen adventures. I'll miss both the big monkey and the little monkey.

Our next, and  probably last, border bounce is going to include Hong Kong Disneyland. We had originally planned to do this on our trip back to Bangkok from Inner Mongolia.

Update:

We went to Hong Kong.

The marriage visa bank account is open for business.

One last border bounce is planned, this one to California.

We've found a house under construction nearing completion.

I expect to teach my last class in Nonthaburi in April and move to Buriram in May.

Not quite everything has gone well.

I won't know if my wife will get her visa for the US until her interview at the end of the month.

We had to get Chinese visas just to change planes at a Chinese airport that is not set up for international transfer flights.

I've been diagnosed with Parkinson's.

But, for a scheme hatched 17 years ago that involved real estate transactions, things have gone well overall.

Sorry to learn of your Parkinson's, Gungchang. I hope your retirement is long and enjoyable.

I've already registered my left hand as a sex toy.

Sorry you received that bad news, Gungchang.  I'm sure you will do lots of research.  There is more understanding and control of the condition than there used to be.  Lots of information out there.

That video is now one of my favorites, right along with those others that I can't mention on a teacher board.

Part of returning to Thailand from China and moving to Buriram is visiting California right before the actual move. A trans-Pacific flight is enough of an ordeal without tacking train trips onto the flights.

The US visa interview is in 22 hours. I just noticed that I made a mistake on the visa application. When asked if you're traveling with anybody, I forgot that "you" meant my wife, not my wife and I. I answered "No."

I'll mention this to the consular officer, and will have a letter of invitation and airfare and Chinese transit visas, all for both of us, as evidence that we'll travel together. I just hope that the mistake I made on the application won't have Draconian consequences.

The fugitive from a mental hospital who masquerades as my wife freaked out when she learned that I couldn't be by her side during the visa interview process.

She was so nervous that her hands shook so badly that her fingerprints couldn't be taken. It was as if she, not me, had Parkinson's.

Her dyslexia must have been a challenge for the consular officer. I'll never know what went on in the officer's head, but it might been have something like: marriage 14 years - has house - spouse is US citizen worked in Korea China Thailand retired - letter of invitation - round trip air booking may have been verified using passport number. Again, I'm just speculating wildly.

We should have her passport back, with a shiny new USA tourist visa to keep the shiny new Chinese transit visa company, in about a week.

AFAIK, this was the last uncertainty in the 15-Year Plan that saw me go back to work, buy a condo, return to Korea, get a CELTA and teaching license in Thailand, work in China, return to Thailand, sell the condo, and buy a house.

That same 15-Year Plan will soon see us visit California, move to Buriram, retire and live on social security.

That plan has also provided very memorable and fulfilling stays in Lampang and Nonthaburi.

My wife's visa has taken 16 years to get.

It took me 19 years to get the Cambridge CELTA.

It took me 25 years to start work at Inlingua.

By comparison, my wife hasn't waited long at all!

Congratulations on the visa.  You guys are sure to have a blast.

Her passport arrived early. To say that she's excited is an understatement.

Best prep your lady for friction at the border.  My partner got pulled away to a back room out of sight, and I was not allowed to follow.  A very tense and worrying 45 minutes after a long, disorienting flight.  Best to be prepared and know how to behave, what to say, what not to say.  It's good you're married, although the visa itself is not a promise of permission to entry.  It will probably be fine, but I don't think anyone breezes through nowadays.

We'll carry the basic documents from the interview:

- marriage certificate and translation
- letter of invitation from my sister/her in-law
- title to her house (we need to get that translated)
- return flight booking
- a copy of my expired teaching license and translation

I don't foresee a problem, especially with our last names matching.
Korea and China both welcomed her in spite of our age difference.

But, one never know, do one?

Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like  there's much chance you would be refused. Only that it is the INS people's job to make everyone uncomfortable and defensive. It's good if you guys expect this. It would be a shame if your gal expected an aloha welcome from the INS. Better to know beforehand that they will try to make you feel like shit, and to be prepared to respond calmly. My parents' German friend's welcome to Seattle-Tacoma International was to be pulled aside into a back room and subjected to a humiliating full cavity search, because she was carrying an official EU ID stating that her pacemaker could not go through the scanning machines. She is an older lady, a university professor in Germany, and entered the US sobbing in anguish.