Would you move to Texas for USD 5k more a month

[Constance17]

DH has been offered a job in U.S, we have children aged 6 & 8. What concerns you most?

...the only over indulgent loud parenting I’ve come across has been with UK families( a fair bit of whining too).

Thank you for that OwlBabies - glad it isn't just me who notices the whining.

.........

My DCs all did Spanish in elementary school, then ditched it and the DDs took four years of French, with DS taking German for a year and then three years of Latin. Languages on offer in my local HS are Japanese, Mandarin, Italian, French, Spanish for native speakers and Spanish as a second language, German and Latin. They are going to add Russian in a few years. They offered Greek until about 30 years ago. The school facilities are gobsmacking, and the professionalism of the teachers is incredible. Special Ed provision is wonderful, and there is a creche for the babies and young children of students and teachers plus members of the general public.

• Owlbabie5

I’ve lived i the us (around 10 years ago, Chicago though) and a good friend of mine moved to Texas (now back). I’d say do it as it’s great to get to understand the states better and you’ll probably find living conditions amazing (but also sometimes). However;

1. what are your health insurance terms looking like (I’m assuming dh’s company is paying)
2. can you work (do you want to?) on his visa
3. what happens with the exchange rate and his salary?
4. what do his company do in terms of moving costs, storage etc. International moving costs are not cheap and you cannot take tv’s, electrics, etc as they’re all the wrong voltage so need to buy/ borrow when you get there.

I would go just to get a green card.

I’m a brown Muslim. I don’t think Texas is for me

Wow, and people are saying Americans are poorly educated!!!

My friend relocated to Houston because her brown Muslim husband's work took him there. They've been there 10 years and absolutely love it. Their kids got a great education and are now at Uni in the states.

So much ignorant rubbish on this thread, about the only accurate thing that's been said is that it's hot!

I’ve gone through about 10 pages and maybe I’ve missed it - but has anyone mentioned one of the biggest culture shocks of all?

SUING.

The constant and real threat of being sued by individuals and companies is immense and shocking when you come from a country like U.K. that doesn’t allow you to sue for tens of thousands for emotional distress.

Lightly bump the back of another car at 5 miles an hour? You better believe there’s going to be whiplash, emotional pain and suffering, loss of income, etc. Despite tests showing it’s physically impossible, insurance companies will settle and put your premiums up.

Have an argument with another parent in a park? Good chance you might get told you’ll be hearing from their lawyer. It’s just another litigious world when compare to the UK

One of our biggest regrets was not taking an opportunity for a 5 yeat contract in UD when kids were similar ages (about 20yrs ago). At time my oh said his parents were "too old" (mine were older and he has siblings and was not close to parents). His father died last year, his mother 2017. My bff movex to US on a 3 year contract 30years ago and is never coming back. She lived in Texas and on west coast. Great life and still loving it. Go for it you only live once and regrets can last a lifetime x

5yr contract in US........

My DH applied for a hospital job in Texas that literally paid 8 times as much as he makes in the NHS, and we could have afforded a huge house with pool, but it would NOT have been worth it. The working culture in the states is different. He only got offered 2 weeks holiday each year OR double the daily rate of pay for any days he didn't use. The implication being "you don't take holiday". Here, he gets 6 weeks of holiday. Not worth it for us, and we have stayed in our tiny cramped house with no pool because we want to be with each other more than we want money.

Lazydaisey that hapoens in thd UK daily, just ask my dd who was just moving around a parked car following another at about 3 miles an hour when another car came at the car in front (blame parents/school/parking) hd stopoex she rolled into him. All I can say is good job there were witnesses.

Go for it you only live once and regrets can last a lifetime

^^THIS

People tend to regret the things they haven't done more than the things they have.

Just do it. Ignore all the rubbish on here, it's mainly uneducated tripe from people who have never been. I bet half the people saying they would never take a job in Texas struggle to get a job in their own town!

You know what, if it doesn't work out, you can come back.

Loads if massive sweeping generalisations here.

DD's best friends came here from Houston. The family miss it terribly. They went to a local school and are streets ahead. The mum is pretty appalled by the level of education and the communication from school here (our school has the best inspection report in the entire city)

In the time they were here (they've recently moved on again) the children have been evacuated twice because of bomb threats in school , you pass armed police up town and frequently have to walk through anti terrorist barriers. There has been a school shooting here in the past too... and this is Scotland. She certainly felt no less safe in Houston and the huge house with a pool and nanny compared to the 6th floor flat without even a balcony she had here obviously helped, having to juggle multiple inflexible wraparound childcare has made it difficult to run her business as she did there. Medical insurance was covered by her DH company.

Of course it won't be for everyone. They have lived all over the world and are used to major culture changes. Perhaps visit and get a feel of the place, find out about what package the employer is offering on top of the salary. Think about how you and dc cope in hot climates, but I'd not listen too carefully to people on here, many of whom have never even been to America let alone Houston trotting out sweeping and often incorrect facts.

Confrontayshunme

10 days is just the holiday days, how many PTO days were there in total.

I know there are brown people there. And Muslims.

DH has family in the states. At one point this included Houston. They moved to Canada later.

It’s not that I don’t think there’s a vibrant thriving community there. Yay for all the mosques and all that.

But I just couldn’t live with the constant fear of police brutality and discrimination that is just not the same in London. I know all about racism believe me.

I never have to worry a police office will
kill my child here. 🤷🏽‍♀️

People tend to regret the things they haven't done more than the things they have.

Not so sure about that. It's just that we never know what could have happened.

Apart from being the US, is the state of your marriage so good that you won't want to return to the UK and be stuck there because husband doesn't want to and the children are already settled?

LazyDaisey

Suing isn't always a bad thing. If your life is in your doctor's hands, you want him to be a little afraid of making a mistake or being negligent which will get you far better care than the randomness of the NHS followed by "lessons will be learnt".

There has been a school shooting here in the past too... and this is Scotland.

And hand guns were almost immediately banned as a result.

There has been a school shooting here in the past too... and this is Scotland.

Over 25 years ago. We haven’t had one since because we banned guns. The US has a mass shooting literally every day.

Doesn't stop the drive by shootings though.

I think we should not think of ourselves as being problem free from violence , racism and all the other stuff being levelled against the US on this thread.
We are far from perfect.

I would take my chances in Texas if it meant once I got my Green Card I could then live anywhere in the US if I didn't like it in Texas.

The different states in the US are so big it is like dismissing the whole of the UK because you thought a town in the Midlands was awful.

It would depend where in Texas.

Blue and liberal areas of Austin especially, Houston and Dallas could be OK. Out in the sticks red state territory, no way.

Ok the shootings were a long time ago but the bomb threats were both last year. The need for terrorist barriers and armed police in pedestrian areas is current.

It would depend where in Texas.

Exactly. I don't think some people have grasped that Texas is 3 times the size of the UK. If you look at the UK, there's a big difference between living in Tower Hamlets and Chipping Norton. Or Bootle and the Isle of Skye. It's the same in Texas.

OP would be going to a nice part of Houston. So a posh bit of a big city. Think Hampstead.

happycamper11 drive by shootings happen a lot more frequently.

I worry for DD as her bf and a lot of her friends live in an area of London where knife and gun attacks on people are common.

Only a few weeks ago they got in an Uber from a certain place and 10 minutes later a guy was knifed to death within yards of where they were stood.

I do feel a lot safer in the US than I do here.

SUING.The constant and real threat of being sued by individuals and companies is immense and shocking when you come from a country like U.K. that doesn’t allow you to sue for tens of thousands for emotional distress.

More rubbish!

The UK has FAR more suing than where I am in the States!! I said this on a thread just the other day actually.

We were talking about UK schools refusing to put suncream on and teachers on the thread were talking about how they could be accused of touching, not putting it on properly, scratching the kid. All of the Americans on the thread were shocked.

Pavements in the UK. If you trip over an uneven bit of pavement you can sue. Can't do that here.

And many other things, dh is always shocked at the suing in Britain and the (often ridiculous) red tape and rules surrounding so much.

People in the UK are FAR more quick to take things to a lawyer.