To wish it was easy to move to the USA

[Highway65]

I've been watching The Pioneer Woman on Sky the past few evenings. It's utter drivel but I LOVE it!! It's this blog writer/cook living in Oklahoma and it just looks ace! All cowboys, horses and massive ranches. I want to live there.

Infact, there are loads of places in America that I would like to live. Europe has plenty of highlights too of course. Not where I live, it's just grey!! But I reckon I should have been born American.

I have family living in California. They both married Americans to get their green cards. I would be up for that if I wasn't happily married

But it's a bit unfair to paint the entire US with that brush too.

Well, it's more than a bit unfair to paint the entire South with that brush.

Dozie, I live in a city of more than 2 million people in the USA. I live in a great family residential area (think kids playing soccer and riding their bikes in the street) but am less than a mile's walk to my village which is made up of lots of little independent shops, pubs, cafes and restaurants.
We have a good bus network and an excellent tram system ... we tend to drive though as parking is free everywhere and there's lots of it, cars and petrol are cheap (unlike the UK)
We are not religious so haven't met people through church. We've got to know some amazing friends through neighbours, school, sports and community events.
TV and radio ... you got me there, but I watch and listen to the BBC through a VPN / Apple TV etc. Not my thing but Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Friends, Modern Family ... all American you know....
Socialising is as much about food here as it is in the UK. We might also go to a concert or basketball game with friends etc. We don't eat with friends more than we did anywhere else - not sure what you mean by this.
Education can be great here. My kids go to a school with an IB average score of 37 this year. Not too shabby. I used to work in educational equivalence and it is possible to spend a year in a UK uni as part of a US undergraduate degree - there's not much difference in a lot of non-cultural specific courses (business, engineering etc).

I have issues with the US medical system, gun control, law enforcement etc but I think the NHS needs a huge amount of help and I am at a loss to explain law enforcement and light sentencing in the UK so the grass is not always greener. I love the way all kids seem to do extra curricular sports here and how parents are always involved in coaching, fund raising, supporting etc and how team spirit and sportsmanship are not just encouraged but expected. I love community events (trick or treating, pumpkin patches, father and child camp-outs on the recreation field etc) that bring neighbourhoods together. I love the feeling (sorry, not very good at describing it) that you can do and achieve anything, the sky is the limit. I found the Uk to be vaguely pessimistic with jobsworths and so-called health and safety / nanny state overkill. We just got our green cards after a year here so maybe this is the honeymoon period but so far so good.

Well, it's more than a bit unfair to paint the entire South with that brush.

You're right. I'm sorry.

I do love many things about the south, and there is something to be said about Southern hospitality. :)

Hazing are the tasks freshman are asked to complete to gain entry to the fraternity or Soriety houses. Some of these houses are very powerful and being a member can dramatically improve your future career prospects.
Some of the 'tasks' are truly awful.

Couldn't agree with threesound more. I've stayed with my friends in the states and also spent quite some time there.
You're right in one respect - they have a beautiful spacious home with in a large spacious road. But once you get beyond the superficial (and there. is SO much superficial in the US) it's such an isolated existence.
One day I decided to nip to the town centre. It was literally impossible to walk there - the pavements were none existent once you got beyond the parking lots. Honestly people literally DO NOT walk at all. So there's no chatting on the corner/school gates etc. There's just no random socialising at all. Everyone is driving around in there huge fume inducing cars (don't get me started on the country's lack of participation on issues like pollution/recycling etc.!).
The other thing I found depressing was the insular news coverage. Honestly the whole Syria nightmare was kicking off when I was over there and I never once saw any reference to this in the media. There were loads of paranoid local news stories about how to keep your child safe (over protection is such a huge issue for parenting in the US - there's such a paranoid fear for children it's almost humorous) - inward inward inward.
V depressing culture but yes beautiful, spacious living space. So much room compared to our living on top of one another.

I am sure that it does still happen some, but hazing is almost universally prohibited these days by colleges and universities and is a crime in many states.

I posted on the Living in America thread about how, even though Oklahoma if a VERY "red state", the electoral district I live in Oklahoma City is so liberal that the Repulicans didn't even run in the last local election!

I can honestly say the whole "God and Guns" reputation the state has doesn't really effect me much. I think wherever you live you naturally attract or gravitate towards people who share at least some of your views, so we've ended up making friends with educated and liberal folks, and living in a liberal and diverse neighborhood.

The people who represent the state on a national level make me cringe (is Mary Fallin stupid or evil or both?) but on personal level I've been very pleasantly surprised by Oklahomans.

Shit, I mean it doesn't AFFECT me much!

Living here may well have affected my grammar. I do find myself copying the locals and saying "good" when I mean "well".

Thanks, Bulbasaur. There are actually parts of the South that are fairly enlightened (3 Southern states voted for President Obama in 2008).

Mrsfrumble makes a good point. I am a lefty hard-core feminist Democrat living in a fairly conservative community in the South, and I have many like-minded friends. And with people I disagree with politically or on matters or religion, there are still often many areas of common ground.

That would be "matters of religion, y'all.

I genuinely don't recognise the country I live in by some of these comments.

Where I live, no, you don't walk to town or to the store, but literally everybody walks around the neighbourhood just for the walk. There are literally a million and one times a day I get to have normal interaction with my neighbours (and by Neighbours, I mean in the bigger aspect than those who live next door), be it walking, at the soccer/football field, etc.

The community spirit here is second to none. As an example, In the UK, the PTA of the school my kids went to consisted of less than 10 of us. 10 of us that did all the organisation and 99% of the work. Here, there's probably only 10 people that haven't worked for the PTA by the end of the year.

Yes, health insurance sucks. But, so does waiting on a list for 2 years whilst your health declines because the NHS don't deem you a priority.

I've never ever seen a gun except on a policeman. Thanks to a local newspaper who, post Sandy Hook, listed every gun holder in the Tri-State, I know exactly which of my friends have them, but they're safely locked up. I don't particularly like teaching my kids gun safety awareness but them's the breaks.

AND on top of that, I live in a big fuck off house. I love America!!

I have family and friends in the US. My parents began taking my brother and I (aged 2 and 4 respectively) as soon as we were old enough to travel. We've been all over and there's not one bit I wouldn't happily move to.

I've just come back (yesterday morning) from a 3 week trip.

I would love to have the chance to live there. The quality of life is so much higher. I could cry with envy (and very nearly have done on many occasions when thinking about whether or not I have a future that doesn't involve living with my parents for the next decade) at the house prices A 3 bed, 2 bath in a nice area of WV for $170,000 (~£105,000)?? I saw a beautiful little one bed next to a national park for the princely sum of $87k (~£55k). If I lived there I might actually be able to afford my own house in my lifetime. As it is I don't think I'll ever own one here. How the hell are you supposed to scrape together a £25k deposit (assuming I could get a 10% deposit, ofc) on a £15k pa salary?? And I'm not even earning that at the moment as I lost my job and now work as a waitress.

I have come back to the UK thoroughly depressed. I was very nearly in tears leaving.

It's great as long as you never get ill or old. And you're rich.

I genuinely don't recognise the country I live in by some of these comments.

Me neither.

Plenty of people who aren't rich get ill or old in the US and manage fine. Most people I know aren't rich and are living normal decent lives just like people at home. Medicare covers health care for seniors -- it is government health care. It isn't a perfect society - lots of things to change - but neither is UK or Ireland or France or wherever. There is plenty of unbiased excellent news coverage available through National Public Radio - it is up to people to listen to it. If someone only reads the Daily Mail and never turns on BBC or reads another newspaper, they won't exactly have a true grip on world events either.

Everyone

If you want the chance to live in the US, work for an international company. I work for one, and could go one day if I wanted to. Manager seems very keen to export his charges. He's lived there for years and years, too, but came back a few years ago. It's NOT impossible. Especially if you're young.

My cousin married an American. My sister, too. I guess that's another way to do it.

I also don't recognise the US I know by some of these comments.

I walk plenty when I'm there. The only reason you drive so much is because everything is a lot more spread out. Once you're there though walking is fine.

The healthcare situation isn't as bad as a lot of people seem to think. That's not to say there aren't major problems because there most definitely are, but the same goes for the NHS (Mid-Staffs, anyone?). Whilst the US healthcare might be more difficult to access, my experience of it when I've needed to use it has been fantastic. It's expensive (bad) but you can see a doctor within the hour (compared to a 2-week wait for a GP appt) and everything gets done very quickly. I do think it's horrible that people have to sell their houses to afford cancer treatment if they don't have insurance but then I also think it's horrible that people can die whilst waiting for treatment on the NHS, or die of thirst whilst supposedly under NHS care.

The gun issue doesn't really bother me. You see armed police but then I see them here too. Two of them were wandering through St Pancras with rifles yesterday morning. Derrick Bird owned his guns legally (had both up to date shotgun and firearms certificates) and that didn't stop him. Individuals having guns doesn't bother me (I have two myself - professional target rifle shooter here) although I find some aspects of American gun culture disturbing. When you see some of the wildlife they have though I can fully understand why many in rural communities have a firearm in their home. A 300lb black bear trying to break down your back door would be no fun.

flyingspaghetti where do you live? I'm interested in doing grad school in the USA. But I don't know where to start!

NoArmani which bit of the US do you live in where people can't afford to get old? Which part of getting old is unaffordable? So far my conclusion is that I'm better off getting old in the US because pensions on social security are more than UK state pensions but maybe I'm missing something?

I don't live there now wobbly but I'm from California

Medicare is government health coverage for people 65 and older, no matter their income.

Medicaid is government health coverage for low-income people.

I've lived in the US since I was a young adult, married to an American, my children are American. I will never return to Scotland, this is where my family is now. My husband is a police officer and carries a gun daily. We live in a rural area, he does not speak of his 'cop life ' but has only fired his weapon on the gun range. (Knock wood)
The cost of living is expensive. We own our on crumpling heap of a Victorian. We have but one car, which is an anomaly in our suburban neighbourhood but it works for us. My husband is an amazing shopper and could go on one of those extreme couponing shows.

The state we live in has mandatory health insurance and extremely high quality medical care. My husband has fabulous State provided health insurance through his job, we can see any physician in the state for any reason at anytime we choose. Getting an appointment for routine care is available online or through a quick phone call. My husband and I have both had major surgery in the past year which cost us nothing. I always laugh when I see people slate American health care, it is quick, efficient,and high quality.

If I could choose to live anywhere in the US, it would be in the west. There is no place more beautiful than Montana or New Mexico.

I live in California, have been here 2.5years. I don't want to stay forever, DH does - we've agreed to another 2 years to see what happens.

Both places have their pros and cons, there are things I would miss very much if we moved away and I'm aware the things I miss from home are full of nostalgia. And all the comments about walkability, gun crime, healthcare, it comes down to your own anecdotal experience doesn't it? The NHS has been nothing short of amazing in my experience - here I actively avoid seeing the doctor unless it's serious because (even though we have excellent healthcare coverage) I don't want to pay just for an appointment, let alone the additional stuff. There have been 3 gunnings in local colleges in the last year and at Back to School night the teacher goes through the lockdown proceedure should a rampant gunman be in the area. Ditto emergency proceedures for earthquakes.

But DH gets paid tons more here, we have about 4 hours of rain every year, we're outside, on the beach, hiking in hills, going to the desert all the time.

Day to day boring life follows you and my big problem here is I still can't work (green card in process).

At the end of the day though, America is just so fucking far away from everywhere else (except Canada and Mexico) and it's so expensive to see anywhere else. I miss the proximity to Europe more than anything else.

And what exactly is it about getting old that's so unaffordable? I'm genuinely interested.

You clearly work in a job with a good pension provision. Not everybody does, especially those in service industries