29 Months of OPT

2008年4月8日, 美國國土安全局（Department of Homeland Security, DHS) 發佈了一項關於F-1 Optional Practical Training (OPT) 的最新政策. 很多學子目前都對於這項條款不慎了解, 以下是我對於這項條款的整理報導. 在看這篇文章之前, 有一個很重要的事你必須知道, 如果你的OPT 在4/8/2008之前就過期了, 那很抱歉你並不適用這項條款.

• OPT extend to 29 months (Limit to STEM students)
  學士, 碩士或博士學位in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics(STEM), 而且, 需要在指定的領域裡, 並不是所有的STEM degree 都可以, 例如, Master of Science, Accounting major 就不行. 到底要怎麼判斷你的major是不是有被包括, 很簡單, 在你的I-20上, 找到 #5 item, 如果你能在SEVIS的STEM List 找到你的major, 那你就符合這項資格.
  
  其它要求: 找到你的major並不代表你就完全符合申請的條件, 同時, 你也必需符合以下要求: 你的OPT還沒過期, 而且你的職位必需是和你所學相關.
  1. 你的學士, 碩士或博士學位必需是SEVIS核准的學校所扮發的. School List
  2. 你的employer必需是E-verify的 user. 目前, 大部份的公司都沒有加入E-verify, 如果你需要申請這個extension, 你就必需向你的employer解釋這個東西, 或是請你的代理律師跟公司談.
  3. 跟學校要你新的I-20, 上面必需要有extension的日期. Extension的起始日是接著你目前OPT的最後一天開始算17個月, 不能指定新的日期. 而且, 就算是核準日期是在你OPT過期之後的一個月, 你的17個月還是從你OPT過期後的那天開始算.
  4. Form I-765, 費用是 $340 (As of today, May 5, 2008) 當DHS收到你的package之後, 你可以合法的工作最多180天, 或是到結果出來. 例如, 如果你5/20/2008 OPT過期, 而DHS在5/10/2008就收到你的package, 你可以不用擔心5/20之後該怎麼辦, 因為你可以合法的工作. 如果, 180天之後, 你的case 還是pending, 你將不可以工作. 必需等到你的OPT下來才行.
  5. 你的employer有義務要通知學校, 如果你被layoff, 或是你無故連續五天沒上班

• H-1B cap-gap extension of D/S and work authorization until October 1.
  以往, 我們都要算什麼時候畢業才是最佳時機, 因為我們有gap的問題, 通常八月畢業是best timing. 但是, 我們不用再擔心這件事了, 因為你的OPT可以延長到10/1. 這項規定適用於所有的學生, 不只限於STEM students. 然而, 這當中還有更細微的規定, 請自行做research或是和律師諮詢.

• Limited Periods of Unemployment to Maintain Status
  在OPT的期間, 你的F1 status是取決於你的employment status的. 從你OPT開始的那天算起, 你不能90天以上沒有工作. 如果你是17 months extension的學生, 在你OPT的期間, 不能120天以上沒有工作.
  注意, 規定是說總計天數, 不是說連續天數. 例如, 你OPT開始後2個月才找到工作, 半年後, 你被layoff, 之後1個月你都找不到工作, 那你就逹到90天沒工作的標準了. 目前, 並沒有明文規定說, 你會被趕出美國, 但是, 有說, 你或許會被deny future benefit. 到底是什麼樣的benefit, 我並沒有看到詳細的規定

以上, 是我參考NAFSA 網站所整理出來的. 還有很多的細節, 我不在這裡多做解釋, 如果你有任何相關問題, 請找律師諮詢, 以維護自身權利.

It's all about apples...

On October of 2007, ATANY had an apple picking event, which about 50 people attended. We had a lot of female friends join us for the apple picking event, but the afternoon activity should be the reason that they came - Woodbury Common Premium Outlets. Oh, don't think the whole bag of apples is mine. They are for 5 members of my group. I was on my duty for the event initially. By the time I joined them, the bag was almost full. They must love apples, I would say. It was my first time to apple picking, and it was fun. However, I prefer cherry picking, which I did in Idaho three years ago because I love eating cherries.

By the way, I bought two cufflink shirts at CK and Geoffrey Beene, one polo shirt and one T-shirt at Ralph Lauren. It's just too hard to come back with empty hands.

What can I do with the apples? I would get sick if I ate apples day after day. "An apple a day keeps a doctor away" doesn't apply on my case. Therefore, I decided to try something fun, adventure, and truly new to myself - cook the apples. It is hard to make fruits for dinner meal. When I went over the recipes online to find out what I can cook with the apples, I found there are people like me who also went to apple picking and also tried to cook the apples. I am not alone. :D

When I was cooking "Sweet and Sour Chicken with Apple," I was worried about the taste. This is a brave try because the idea was based on my cooking experience without recipe. The result came out to be good. It was delicious! The sliced apple one was also good, and it's easy to make. While I was trying to think what else I could cook, an excellent one came to my mind - Curry Rice. Because of the curry, I had to buy a bag of potatoes. By the way, as you can see in the photos, the curry dishes were good. I mean really good. Then what should I do with the rest of potatoes? I made two more dishes to finish them. Fortunately, I didn't need to buy more stuff just to finish the potatoes. Otherwise, you will see endless dish chain. The following is the flow chart of my cooking. No more apples......

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Apple (糖醋蘋果雞)

Sliced Apple with Green and Red Peppers in Light Sauce (涼拌蘋果絲)

Curry Beef Rice with Apple (牛肉蘋果咖哩飯)

Curry Beef Noodles with Apple (牛肉蘋果咖哩麵)

Beef Stew with Potato (馬鈴薯燉肉)

Minced Potato Shortcake (可樂餅定食)

Mets Game

I am a Yankees fan because of Chien-Ming Wang, of course. Therefore, I had never been to any Mets game before that night. The reason that I went to the Mets game was because I got free tickets, and I invited Michael, who is a Mets fan, and his girlfriend to join me.

In terms of style, Mets stadium is quite different from Yankees. While watching Yankees game is all about those stars, Mets game is more fun to watch. They gave out T-shirt, which made people all crazy about. It's not because the T-shirts are expensive, but fun, you know. Also they sang a song that every Mets fan could sing during the short break at 7th inning. It was so fun. I couldn't join though. Maybe next time I will be able to sing the song when I go to Mets game.

It's all about cooking...

If I were in Taiwan, I wouldn't make the following dishes at home, most likely. A lot of them were my first try. If you would ask me why I could cook, it's all about sense, I would say. And of course, the experience does help. The more you cook, the easier you can get it through.

Living in New York City, besides the incredible taxes, the rent and the food take a huge part of my income. One way to spend as less money as possible is to cook for yourself. Ideally, if you can get company on board to share the cost, that will be the best way. As my host mother said, cooking for one more person doesn't make a big difference.

Sometimes cooking can make you very tired; especially after working a whole day, even just think about it. I always count myself to finish cooking within an hour, hopefully. The thing that is frustrated is that I spend an hour cooking and I will finish my dinner in 15 minutes. Afterwards, I need another 5 minutes for cleaning up. I wish I could eat slowly, so that I won't feel "that's it? that's my exhausted one hour?"

Cooking is not all about the down side. When I successfully made new dishes, I feel good about myself because they are like my accomplishments one after one. Thanks for those of you who give positive feedback.

Steamed Spareribs with Rice Flower (粉蒸排骨)

Baked Salmon with Lime (香檸烤鮭魚)

Shrimp ball with pineapple (鳳梨蝦球)

Cold Noodles with shredded Chicken on Sesame Sauce (雞絲涼麵)

Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐)

Assorted Braise Meal (什錦燴飯)

Braised Tofu (紅燒豆腐)

Oden (關東煮)

Brownie Trilogy

I am not a big fan of sweet cakes, such as brownie or cup cakes. I had a very terrible experience of the cup cakes. I have no idea how the Americans can eat the cup cakes. Are them eating sugar directly? I doubt.

Since the brownies are all so sweet, I decided to make the brownies that I can eat. After stirring flour, oil, water, chocolate powder, and eggs, I tried to put the starch evenly in the backing plate. But it’s hard.

After 40 minutes, I anxiously opened the oven and was unsure about the big brown piece in front of me. After I had the first piece, I was sure that it’s not so sweet and could be eaten.

Are they good? I can’t tell till someone tells me. Colleen had three piece straight; Angela, who has the same reason of not eating brownies with me, ate them; two coworkers gave positive feedback; additional two people were happy to have them. According to the feedback I received, I can now tell you that the brownies are really good.

Housewarming

Supposedly Yen and Angela would attend my housewarming party, but Yen totally forgot that she had an appointment with her friends on the same day. That’s her, I would say. Someday during a conversation with Angela, I said that the set of salt and black pepper bottles made by MOMA is so cute. And there it is – my housewarming gift. Thanks, Angela. But they are cute to be the salt and pepper bottles, so I have to use them as decoration.

I think someone still owes me a gift...

2007 NYC Neighborhood Achievement Awards

NYC Neighborhood Achievement Awards was on July 19, 2007. Colleen said the mayor would take pictures with the participants on that day every year. I was so excited about that, so I put my CK suit on for the special photo I would have. When I got in office, I saw everyone who was going to the event all dressed up. I think everyone was excited as I was.

I won’t be so surprised if only one or two coworkers told me that I looked sharp. But the thing turned out to be surprising. About 8 colleagues said the same thing to me: You were sharp today. It paid off, I told myself. Everything was so expensive, so I had to struggle a lot when I purchased the full business suit apparel.

Many of us left office for the event together on 4 o’clock. By the time we arrived the mayor residence, there were already a lot of people waiting for the opening despite the slight rain.

This was my first time to be a place that was so business-orientated. Exchanging business cards, greeting, and social chats were so new to me. And it was a lot of fun.

At 6:30 the mayor finally arrived. He had an interesting and short speech, which is fantastic, for the opening. The awarding ceremony came off afterwards.

Okay, it’s time to take pictures, I expected. However, the mayor left the event quickly after the ceremony. We were all shocked. I guess it is because he ran out of time. He arrived one hour behind the schedule, but he didn’t make up for the time that he supposed to stay.

I was disappointed about it. Hopefully I will have another chance to take a picture with him someday.

About Emily

Emily has always been one of the important persons in my life. Even though we didn't communicate so often in the past years, I have never forgotten her besides her phone number and address. LOL~ I didn't mean it; it's just because I lost my address file. From the recent chats, I kind of figure out there are some misunderstandings between us...

When I heard that you were going abroad to study, the first thing came up to my mind was she was leaving me and I was totally shocked. At that moment, I didn't think I would study abroad someday as well. Indeed, I am the one who is working in the U.S. now. On the other hand, you said I was the one who didn't contact at all after I went to Tainan. I was afraid to contact you because I wasn't sure about your feeling, and also we never talked about our relationship. (Doesn't the concern you have take the biggest part of this? Only you care about it personally~)

If I were not the President of the graduating students association, I wouldn't know you; if you didn't accompany (well, kind of force) me to study in the library, I might not get in that school; if without you, I might not be here now.

You always only show the strong side of you in front of me; your profession make me admire you; you are very organized and clever; and most importantly, you care about me. But it's time to rely on me when you need help because I am no longer a kid. I worry about that you are there alone. Although you have Ema around, but sometimes it doesn't help. Since I am here alone, I understand this kind of feeling. Sometimes I really need a person to talk, someone like you.

You said, it is a pleasure to talk to me about the recent life and the past. I wanna tell you same here. And I really miss you. I will be waiting for your and Ema's coming.

By the way, I had my hair cut yesterday.

First Baking

Couple days ago, I had the first baking in my life: Blueberry Muffins. They are not only good-looking, but tasty. I ate only one of them; the rest of them all went to some people's stomachs. Hey my dear friends, I know you like the food I made, but could you please do not take orders when you still have my muffins on your hands? I wanna post a conversation from my friend here: "Oh! This is good, so what's the next flavor? You can try chocolate." Yen, that's you.

The other thing that is totally unexpected. "I want to eat this badly. Can you make this(a colored copy of recipe)?" Ge~~ Angela, am I your personal chef?

Since my first baking was quite successful, you may expect that I will bake again. How about lemon cheese cake? Orders are accepting now!

After a month working

Time is flying; time is a thief, Emily added. In the last month, a lot of things have changed. I became a full time city employee, moved to Astoria, went to a church the very first time in my life, waited several hours for a photo shoot, attended SBS agency picnic, and got depressed a lot as well.

Fortunately, my two friends - Yen and Angela - are always be with me during my depression period. Perhaps they didn't discover my depression till I told them yesterday. Apparently I seem to be a normal me, but I can't be happy from inside; I feel so lost...

Emily recommended me to go to a church for experience long time ago, but because I am a atheist, I didn't feel want to go. Since I didn't want to go home right after work, I went to a church with the two friends last week. The church is different from what I usually see on TV or movies. Yen told me it is because before it became a church, it was a theater. As I observed the service and the songs they were singing, I came up a conclusion: they are really passion for in what they believe. It is also quite amazing that the songs with simple lyrics, and even just repeating, can bring all the believers' heart together. The power of religion is really strong no matter which one. However, I only believe in myself.

Today's Menu...

I invited Yen and Angela to join me for dinner because Angela was going back to Taiwan after graduation, and each of them brought a guest. It was 14 months ago when we had a meal together last time, and coincidentally the restaurant was located at the same place called "Troy's home". Everything you saw on the above picture was gone in 30 minutes. I couldn't help doubting whether they were really hungry or my cooking was good. Afterwards, we had fruit, cheese cake, ice cream, and a special order from Yen - Latte. The dinner was good and I am glad that they all enjoyed. However, there is one thing I must tell them: my dear friends, I think you forget to leave a tip on the table when you leave.

This was my second menu in a week. I don't know the reason of inviting this friend to have a meal. Sometimes your feeling drives your action, and that happened to me. While I was cooking, I was thinking maybe it's too much for two of us. And the result confirmed my suspicion. It's too much. The leftovers were even enough for two lunchboxes. And this was just the beginning of the amazing week...

Thanks for coming...

May 23rd of 2007 was the day of my commencement. Seven of you came to Radio City Music Hall to cheer me up and to be the witnesses of an important accomplishment in my life. It has been three years since I came here. During the period of time, I set up my goals and worked very hard to achieve them. However, only hard working is not enough. The finical support, which allowed me to study without worrying about the student loan, from my family was the other factor in my success of obtaining the M.S. degree. I am proud that I have reached an significant milestone in my life.

Finally, I would like to say thank you to those who attended my graduation: Kenneth, Allen, Yen, Angela, Colleen, Carolyn and the other Angela, and those who were unable to come: Heather, Don, Wakko, Mom, and Dad.

New York Yankees - Chien-Ming Wang

On May 21st, 2007, eight of us went to Yankees Stadium to cheer up Wang. Whenever Wang is in the lineup of a game, you always can see a lot of Taiwanese get into the stadium. Because of him, George Steinbrenner, the owner of NY Yankees, has taken a lot of money from Taiwanese fans' pockets, including myself.

A friend of mine took me to the Yankees game free of charge, indeed, it's Wang's game, of course. I want to thanks the person because I had a good time with the person despite Wang's loss.

I was interviewed

Every year the third Sunday of May, Taiwanese Week Festival, as known as Passport to Taiwan, takes place in Union Square. In this foreign country, it was very cheerful to see all the Taiwanese stuff gathering together. In the festive, you can see the beauty of Taiwan, experience the culture of Taiwan, enjoy the food of Taiwan, and feel the passion of Taiwanese people.
Since there would be a lot of Taiwanese attending the event, I was there to promote an organization, Association of Taiwanese Alumni in Greater New York (ATANY), that I've joined recently with some of the board members.
Unexpectedly, I was interviewed by a Taiwanese TV program host. I was a little bit nervous because it was my first experience, and the crowd made me felt even more nervous. At that moment, I felt I was a star. LOL~ It's a plus on the side that I didn't want. If you see me on TV, don't suspect what your eyes see because that's me with no doubt.

The end of internship

May 14th of 2007 was my last day of internship at NYC Dept. of SBS. Carolyn, left, and Colleen, right, gave me a gift, which is lovely, when my internship ended. Both of them really support me during my internship. I appreciate that they recognize the worth of me in the unit as well as the opportunity they gave me to show what I am capable of. During the 6 months period, I built a system that allows my unit to collect data and generate reports easily, quickly, and correctly. I not only applied what I have learned in school to the project I worked on, but also learned a lot myself while working on the project. It was a great experience, and more excitingly I am working in SBS as a full time employee now. Special thanks to my both supervisors. Without your support, I wouldn't have been here.

Too much going on... ( Part X )

Recently I have watched two musicals - Beauty and the Beast, and Mamma Mia! - and one ballet - Romeo and Juliet. The two musicals are good and I like them. As for the ballet, to be honest, I have to say it was a little bit boring and was not attractive to me.
I like ABBA's songs and Mamma Mia! does very well in terms of conducting the songs. Even nowI sometimes listen to the original soundtrack CD of Mamma Mia! From 8/24 to 9/6, Mamma Mia! will be performing in Taipei. If you like ABBA, I strongly recommend you to go.
I have bad news of Beauty and the Beast: the final bow is 7/29/07. It is a good musical and I wish it can remain longer, so more people can experience the magic on the stage. The characters of Mamma Mia! and Beauty and the Beast are different. While the former is more song-involved, the latter is more stage-involved. I really enjoyed the stage performance of Beauty and the Beast. Sadly, it is going to close out soon.

Too much going on... ( Part IX )

It has been 2 and half years since I came to NYC. As my friend said, there are still full of surprises here. Brooklyn Botanic Garden is one of the examples. If I tell you that I took this picture in Japan, you probably will believe me. I am telling you: no, it's not in Japan; it's in the United States. Last year I went to D.C. to see the Cherry Blossom Festival. This year, I went to Brooklyn Botanic Garden to enjoy the beautiful cherry blossoms. It is really joyful when the wind blow through the cherry trees and the leaves fall down to your body. At that moment, I couldn't think about anything, but the beauty of the nature.

Radio City Hall is the place where my commencement took place. If my graduation didn't take place there, I don't know when I would go into there. Again, life is full of surprises here. Radio City Hall was not my destination. I just took this picture when I was on my way to Top of The Rock - the top of Rockefeller Center.

I went up to the top of Empire State Building about two years ago. By the time I was there, I had no idea about other buildings around it because I was new to this amazing city. Now I know more about the place I enjoy. Therefore, my feeling was totally different from what I had two years ago; I felt more enjoyable. Also, I think it also depends on who you go with. Therefore, shall we go up to there together?
Actually, I like Top of The Rock more than the top of Empire State Building because I could take a picture of it from The Rock. The other reason is that The Rock doesn't block visitors out by using partitions, so I could enjoy the view freely. On the other hand, it is more dangerous without the protection. By the way, the tickets of them make no difference.

Too much going on... ( Part VIII )

I was back to the U.S two days before my birthday. I was going to keep it as a secret. However, Yen and Angela suddenly remember my birthday after we had a dinner together three days after my birthday. Usually some of my friends either send me birthday gifts or hand out to celebrate my birthday when I was in Taiwan. But it does happen here. Stacey, a friend I met five years ago, always remember my birthday and celebrate it with me since I came. I really appreciate her thoughtfulness. Wakko is the other person who also celebrate with me during these years. Thank you, Wakko. Yen and Angela also thanks for celebrating my birthday this year. Also thanks Reta. You have never forgotten my birthday since we know each other. Year after year, even you are married. It is really good to have someone to be with you when some important days. Next year who will be with me? Let time tell us.

This is the uniform that I wore to work during the winter time. If I don't tell you how many degrees it was, you may think I was crazy to wear that much. The temperature was 0 degree centigrade. Don't be fooled by the sunlight. Work and study are the two things I had to deal with in the last two semester of my school time. It was very tired to go to school after a hard working day. Since I only worked 3 days a week, I could get some rest and time to do my homework. I am considering to go for another Master degree - MBA after maybe one year from now. But I am not sure about it yet. It's just my plan. I always have a question in my mind: Don't you think people spend too much time studying nowadays?

Madison Square Garden is a place I always wanted to go in NYC. Because the ticket of NBA is too expensive and also Knicks haven't had good performances, this plan had been postponed till I went to watch the Jordan Brand Classic event due to the cheaper ticket. My plan has accomplished eventually; it is not a NBA game though.

Too much going on... ( Part VII )

At the end of last year, I went back to Taiwan after one and half years hard studying and working in the U.S. I stopped by Japan for few days and sightseed some famous places in Tokyo. Tokyo Disneyland is one of them. Although the attractions are designed for children, adults also revel in them, including myself. It was a fun day in Tokyo Disneyland. The only disappointment was that Space Mountain was not under maintenance. I heard that it is the most exciting attraction in Tokyo Disneyland. Hope someday I will be able to take a ride on it.

Japanese sweet is one of my favorites because they are not so sweet and taste good. The drawback, however, is they are not cheap. In Chinese idiom we describe it as 一分錢一分貨, meaning the higher the price, the better the quality of the merchandise. A friend of mine told me that you won't feel uncomfortable wearing high-heeled shoes if they are well-designed and made. Usually those kind of shoes are expensive as well. Although I don't have any experience, indeed, I think I will never have anyway, I believe what she told me because they are expensive with reasons.

Tokyo Tower, the famous building of Tokyo, is so beautiful during the dusk. I waited in front of the tower for the best timing to take this photo. By the way, I was not the only person waiting there. I met an old man who had his professional camera set up on a tripod and waited for the dusk coming. It seemed that he has experience of taking photos of the tower because he tried to share his information with me. However, I don't speak Japanese. I just thanked his kindness and took photos around his spot. I am glad it worked out and it was worth waiting.

Rainbow Bridge, a place where I always see in Japanese dramas. It was so happy to see everything by my eyes. The feeling is like when I first time came to NY; everything was so WOW!! Before when I watched movies, I usually didn't care the where the scenes were taken because I don't know where they are anyway. Now when I watch movies, I usually recognize the scenes appearing in the movies, such as Spider-Man I in Columbia University, Devil Wears Prada - NYC, Inside Man - NYC ... etc. There are also a lot of movies made in Hollywood, California. Hope someday I can go there and Wow myself again. ( Don't I have too many places where I want to go? )

Unexpectedly, I was upgraded to Business Class without paying extra money when I was on the way back to Taiwan from Japan. How can I tell you how I felt abou it? See my photo; it tells everything. Wish myself luck next time.