Living in America 2011

[MmeBucket]

We were a few messages away from being closed on the other one. Hope everyone finds me here.

Mum and Dad have gone off to look at cameras so I have 5 mins to catch up! There are no direct flights to the UK at all from Oregon so we have to change at least once in the US. I can't find anything for less than $1000 and it is just an endurance test!

There is some great cheese in Oregon, but you're right,it is not affordable! You can get some good thick sliced bacon here too, but you have to pay through the nose for it! You can get frozen steak fries mdazva that are pretty similar to chips in the UK but usually in restaurants they are thin fries.

Good luck with all the trips and flights everyone!

We're flying tomorrow

I am seriously excited about first trip to Sainsburys.... decent cheese, pesto, normal bread (that isn't sweet!), ribena, cadburys etc... Also desperate for some veggie curry and chip shop chips

mdavza lots of foods taste different even when same brand...??? like Rice Crispies! tis weird. Kids moaned the first few months till they adjusted. When we first arrived everything tasted either very salty or very sweet.

tad our flights for family of 5 were $7K ..... gulp. It's one of my 'issues' about living here - going home is SO expensive for us.

My parents have had a lot of health problems this year, both have been in hospital and it's been hard being so far away. None of family have seen kids for 18 months either. So am totally happy about trip home

soooooo, it would seem I didn't make it further than the airport. major storm cancelled the first flight. I shall have to stay up til 2 am to ring my parents & let them know, then try again tomorrow evening.

oh not kickass that's a bit crap. Happened to us at xmas but at least we knew it was a possibility. Hope rearranged flights work out OK for you

Sorry, kickass, that happened to me last year too, but that was February. Hope you get it sorted quickly.

tbh, i'd rather NOT be flying through a thunderstorm. hopefully will leave tonight & the rearranged flights are no longer, just a different route. however, there is the possibility of more storms tonight - eek.

Hi Doublenegativepanda! I live in Houston...was in Austin for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Nice city!
On the luggage allowance, dd and I flew BA in spring break back to London, and I upgraded to world traveller plus on the way back (too expensive to do it both ways), and in world traveller plus you get 2 cases each... both ways, even though we were regular fare on the way out. Not that I needed it on the way out, with a few girl scout cookies to take back home, but most certainly needed it on the way back with all that galaxy, milky ways, aero bars etc for me the dcs.

wentshopping another MNer in Texas? I really was starting to think I was the only one! I haven't been to Houston yet, but my stepbrother lives there; he and his wife have a new baby so I imagine we will be visiting soon. A friend has a condo on the beach in Galveston that we can use so I think we may combine it with a mini vacation.

Are you an expat or American?

Have a nice visit, earlybird!

I can't seem to keep up but am very glad this thread has gotten such new life :) There was a point where it got way too quiet.

double yes, and expatinsingers has just moved here too.
I am most definitely an expat. (Sipping a cup of pg tips). The dcs have picked up a slight twang as they went through elementary school, so whenever I volunteered at school their friends would remark on my strange accent.
The dcs make lists of things they want to eat when we go back each summer - muller fruit corners, mushy peas, bacon crisps, pom bears, skips, revels, unlimited ribena ($7.99 here), so a trip to Sainsburys or Tesco is a treat for them. A couple of years ago they discovered French supermarkets, and that is almost a requirement too.

arghh we're trying to sell stuff on craigslist and people keep not turning up [grrr]

any other tips on how to sell a crib and tryke?

Yard sale?

I don't think that will work where we are, which is a shame. It's a shared house with no front garden space. Good idea though, we don't have a lot, these are the last two bulky items.

Try a consignment store? Some resale shops actually buy the items from you on the spot which is even better!

I made it - I got to England!! (on the third attempt)

Would have been quicker to drive (if there were a bridge).
Still, it got so desperate that we ended up in business class which was fantastic as I got to lie down & sleeeeeeep. (had a few free drinkies first.

dd & I were both so tired. W've been here nearly 4 days now & she's still grumpy.

So far, we've eaten/drunk: lucozade, tea, strawberries, jaffa cakes, shortbread, sausages, bacon, sliced white bread (and other stuff, but this is the 'british' food we've missed.)

also been for a walk on ashdown forest (Pooh bear country) & to a school garden fete. eyed up some cath kidston stuff & bought dd some union jack stickers.

also stocking up on Goldeneye & Migraleve. will be buying tea.
marmite not an issue, easy to get where we live.

anything I missed?

well done kickass! Have a great trip!

Well done kickass - sounds fabulous. I am very jealous. But have you had fish and chips yet? I want that the first night we are back in the UK.

One of my DH's friends used to believe that when he went over the bridge in Bristol as a child, they were driving to the USA, instead of Wales. His dad would tell them he was going to drive them to AMerica!

Anyway, have fun.

I'm moving to the US (san diego)in sept with 2 young dc's.

I'm starting to get nervous dh will be working and I will be with DCs all day...at the moment I work part time mornings only and DC 1 goes to nursery and DC 2 stays at home with childminder.

when we move I won't be working and the kids will be home with me...what will I do all day? where can I take them playgroups??

any advice/reassurance would be great!

dazed it will be fine

I'm about to become the SAHM as well (DH has done it up to now) but moving back to the UK with DC2 on the way.

Playgroups aren't quite like the UK ones, less coffee and chat and more structured activities. There are lots of 'classes' music, storytime, dancing, arts etc. There is a playgym in our town but it's very expensive (membership rather than pay as you go) but I bet you'll have loads more options in San Diego, which is full of kid friendly day out (zoo, legoland etc.). Church or other socially motivated groups are bigger over here. Since I was working I never really checked these out (not sure I could have brought myself to go to a church). Around our way there is a post-natal group akin to NCT as well abbreviated to PEP (post-partum education for parents). I don't know how wide/local that group is, but you can google ones for SD. If they have one you could send an email to see if there is group around your DCs age still going.

Anyway we've all panicked about the move, but it's really fine. When you feel panicked, just have a cup of tea and sit down :)

DH has 3 set things he does a week (inc swimming) to give him some structure, then the others are washing and shopping. The weather is nice enough that you can get out most days to the park/beach etc.

Love San Diego - just went there on holiday with a pit stop at Penguin's on the way home! I'd move there in a heartbeat. Google Mom's Meetups and you should be able to find something local to SD. Check out your local library too as they often run free story times. The first time I went to ours I met another British Mum with dcs the same age as mine and we've been friends ever since. Good luck!

Hi all. DH is away in a business trip so am enjoying the peace (now that DS sleep through the night) and a clean house! No picking up after DH!! Hi penguinarmy. we've been here four months. Is it bad that I havent missed home yet? I love living in California!

stillsdazed I'm a SAHM too. I used to work back home and I did worry about what I would do. But there are so many classes you can sign up to. I think we only have Wednesday as a day with no activities planned. I second googling moms meetup, it's fab!

I've just opened our last Terrys chocolate orange, yum! I not a fan of American chocolate, it doesnt quite hit the spot! Though saying that, has anyone tried York pieces and Almondy pieces? They are so addictive! I had to put them down the waste disposal as I kept eating and eating and eating them!! Lol

I asked the same question, the honeymoon period lasts a while. I love living here too, although it's been a bit too hot to go outside much the last few days :)

i actually enjoy it more, particularly now that i have a job that i enjoy so much.

finding it hard going staying with family for so long. both sets of parent(s) are ok for 3 or 4 days, but of course they want to see us for longer than that. if i could afford it, i'd come over twice a year for a week, but that's ridiculous, so 2 - 3 weeks each summer is my limit.

i haven't found any US choc that I really love, in fact i seem to love chocolate slightly less than i used to - maybe it's my age? apart from on top of a jaffa cake, i haven't had any yet & we've been here 6 days. i may need to have some before i leave, but not really desperate for it.

i DID have a crumpet for breakfast this morning. mmmmmmmmm

penguin and dazed In the same boat as you - moving to San Jose in TWO WEEKS' TIME (aaaaaarrrrrgghhhhhhhh, so close!) and yesterday was my last day at work, I'm a teacher. I don't want my dsd to start nursery too soon, will be staying at home with him at first to help with the settling in etc. I also need to get permission on my visa before I can start work, although we'll do that as soon as we arrive. I'm also seconding(thirding?!) tad's advice. I'm not to keen to spend money on activities but maybe we'll have to get into the habit...

Thinsg are actually going swimmingly at the moment, the moving company is booked, we've booked a place in an apartment - with a pool - and we've decided to get loads of free stuff from Craigslist for the first month or two while we wait for our stuff to arrive. The cats are booked, our house is beging painted and will hopefully rent out, and for the first time I'm actually becoming excited at the prospect.

Some more questions: what is a nursery called over there? Is it kindergarten? Can't seem to figure it out on the net.
And a more specialised question. I teach music, and as some of you will know (or have done), I've always used Royal Schools of Music or Trinity College's graded exams for my students - and have done loads of them myself. What do they use in America? Is there something similar or does it differ from state to state?

And finally, how does one go about finding a doctor over there? I googled some doctors close to our home and on some sites you can actually rate your doctor or write reviews. Imagine that happening over here, haha!

Thanks and enjoy whatever!

(i) I think it's called pre-school (with kindergarden being akin to reception year)
(ii) No idea
(iii) yep that's the weird part. Once you get your health insurance you can find out which ones are in your network (which ones they cover) and yes then you can randomly pick. Ours doesn't really have a out of hours service so I was doing it again I would look into that. There were times just speaking to a nurse would have been really helpful. I think people do actually go around visiting them. Ours was chosen as we don't have a car so wanted one within a reasonable walking distance. I remember reading a few magazine articles about what to look for (expressing room at work had loads of parenting magazine and I was very bored - read them all three times). Might be worth a google.

Our library also does a free class, music/dance class are only $5 each in a local kids store and we only have the one. Swimming is the expensive one, but DH and DD both loved that.