Living in America 2014

[rootypig]

Shiny new thread. After an epic visa fuck up we are starting out (again!) in LA in a few weeks. I am English, DH is American (from southern California), DD is 21mo. I am going back to work after several unintentional years out and terrified. No clue what I want to do, which doesn't help.

Come chat about all things American!

I wish I had read some of the advice in here before we moved over six weeks ago! I thought I was being really blind not being able to find nappy bags anywhere! I would have also stocked up on underwear etc if I had known! We got dragged into the whole 'it's all cheaper in the US' myth that everyone back home kept telling us!

I'm glad we're not alone in struggling with the food here. We're buying all organic dairy (where possible) and we're vegetarian anyway, although that raises it's own issues! I'd be buying a bread maker straight away if we were staying permanently. We're living on flatbreads ATM.

On the plus side, we're also living the space. We have an apartment in Jersey City but it's nearly as big as our 2bed terrace back home.

Can anyone recommend brands of shoes for small children please? DS has been wearing SeeKaiRun back in the UK, but are there even better options here?

wanttobe, is the shoe shop you mentioned in Hoboken on Washington Street?

never ever complain about America to an American

x 1000. I need to learn to rant in my head. Day to day life doesn't bother me, but the politics does my head in. Need to learn to tune it out .

Speaking of which, anyone else finding it odd to be away from home during all this independence stuff? I have siblings and a parent in Scotland so possibly more interested than most....must stick BBC radio on.

Re underwear MrsF, a relatively large breasted English pal in LA swears by Target, says it's exactly the same as Nordstrom. Though shopping there is so hit and miss, it's a pain.

Well I certainly wouldn't describe myself as large-breasted! They're a C cup at most .

I quite like Target for homewear - I bought a very cute rug for the children's room from there - but I never get a chance to look at the clothes.

I've had plenty of Americans moaning to me about the state of things! I think it comes from living in such a red state; more liberal residents feel embattled and assume as a European I'll be a sympathetic ear to vent their frustrations to about the ludicrous healthcare and daft partisan politics.

relatively! I suppose I just meant she thinks they're adequately supportive - and I have reason to believe her

Can I join belatedly? Just landed (well 3 weeks ago) in LA on an E2 visa (dependent of an E2 'investor') and loving it so far. So much info and sound advice in this post, thank you. I'm heading to Costco pronto and am chuffed that I already have some Old Croc cheese in the fridge . Something I've been wondering about to do with the dreaded topic of tipping.. Do you tip the guy who packs your groceries badly at the checkout? If so how much? There was a bit of a pregnant pause last time I went but I was typically British and did nothing... . Also I'm hoping I can soon make it round the supermarket in less than 2hrs for a week's shop. Amazon Fresh sounds worth investigating for online groceries but it's a three figure annual membership fee. Ouch. Agree it takes so long to read all the labels, stand in front of the yoghurts looking for full fat with nothing added, and find randomly placed items. My top moan for the week though is the state of the road surfaces in LA - practically third world! Is it earthquake related I wonder or just heat and density of traffic?

String have you used Uber yet? the taxi app? it's a bloody godsend in LA, for nights out. Probably the best thing I've worked out since I've been here. My top tip!

Ooh sounds great. I was a big fan of Halo in London. Thanks!

Mine is red tricycle - sign up at redtri.com for kids' what's on weekly emails. A bit like hopscotch if you ever came across that in Ldn though I'm sure there are plenty of others.

Equi Yes the shop is on 4th and Washinton. They have a good range of shoes in terms of fit more than $. They prices are very fair and the same as what you would pay online. I love that they have wides for my son in lace ups (required as he loves the sound of velco) and narrows in pink with sparkles for my daughter. The striderites are $40+ and the other brands run from $40-$100.

String I tip anyone on below min wage. So bag packers don't get tips as they are on at least min wage or more. Taxi drivers, hairdressers, wait staff etc don't get min wage so I tip.

Phew! It had never occurred to me to tip bag packers. There really needs to be handbook, doesn't there?

I wish someone had warned me about what is affectionately known by locals as the "Noonado"; when the tornado warning siren is tested every Saturday at noon. Our very first Saturday in Oklahoma, DH went off to meet a client and left me and the DCs in a local park. Suddenly this klaxon-like wail started and scared the crap out of me! The sky was clear blue without a cloud in sight, and the only other people in the park - a group of teens playing basketball - seemed unfazed, so I decided against huddling the nearest ditch while fearing for our lives. I did feel quite nervous and jumpy until DH came to collect us!

I'm used to it now. There is even a "Noonado" twitter feed that gets updated every Saturday at noon with 140 characters of "WoooooWooooooWooooo"

Want2b that's a great rule of thumb, thank you

Oh yes String I scour Red Tri for free stuff! it has pointed me in the direction of Noah's Ark at the Skirball which is fantastic and free on Thursdays, check it out.

I'm about to investigate Google Express - apparently you get 6 months free, which I figure might be a relatively low stress way to acclimatise to all the shopping options. Looking around for deals and paying attention to coupons is so boring.

I paid $4 for a lb of mushrooms in Ralphs yesterday. 3x the price they are at home! gah.

I spent a delightful morning at the Social Security Office today (sarcasm works here, right?) to be told that I can not have a social security number because I do not have a letter from Homeland Security stating that I am authorised to work. Wtf? Is this normal? Is this right? Also my kids won't get one because they're not working age. I explained that none of us want to work but it didn't change anything.
Had anyone else had this?
Bought some licorice allsorts from World Market on the way home to cheer myself up!

I'm on a L2. My husband is an L1

Sounds about right MrsCRabbit. I would get on the phone to the person responsible for processing your visa. You need your authorization first then they can process your SSN. I would ask the immigration lawyer about your children and their SSN's. Tell the lawyer the kids each need one to open a bank account and 529 (college) savings accounts.

DH went through something similiar and was in the US for 6 months while his visa was processed. One day he lost it with HQ because they were insisting he travel out of the country. He told HQ he couldn't even drive to the airport to get on a plane with the current status of his work visa and told them that he shouldn't even be working given he didn't have the correct paperwork in place. Within 24hr HQ had fired the first lawyer and hired someone good who made phone calls. The lawyer was able to use their network to get a letter sent to DH the following day so he could get his DL back.

Sorry to interrupt immigration chat - though I agree the system is utterly opaque, Rabbit, and it's infuriating. I need a job and am tempted to offer my services to rewrite all the government web pages for immigrants! the number of times I've been to an office to be directed elsewhere for another piece of the puzzle

But in the meantime I have an utterly banal question . Can anyone recommend a mayo? I was just in costco and there were about 4 kinds. Jars are so giant I couldn't bring myself to commit I just buy standard Hellmans at home, so what would be good here?

Oh I haven't seen Hellmans - looked in Costco and Ralphs. Can't wait until I've worked things out and don't have to spend my days taste testing condiments

Thanks for the advice! I will get onto the lawyer ASAP. It seems so long since we dealt with it all that I assumed everything would be plain sailing from now on!

Hmmm, I'm an L2 and I don't have an authorization letter from Homeland Security. Not that I know of anyway.... DH's employers arranged all the legal paperwork for us (thank goodness) but I don't remember seeing a letter during our "delightful" visit to the Social Security office to get our numbers. Could they possibly make that particular experience any less pleasant?

L2 children can only get SSNs if you can provide what they consider a valid reason for needing one. They flatly refused for our children so we had to make do with ITINs for tax purposes. Our children are tiny and we're not staying here, so it wasn't a big deal.

Those struggling to find decent bread and cheap veggies, do you have a significant Asian population / Asian district where you are? OKC has a huge Vietnamese population who are concentrated in the neighborhood next to ours. As a result we have a giant Vietnamese supermarket 5 blocks from our house that self cheap, very fresh fruit, veggies and fish and THE most amazing baguettes (Bahn Mi). They are still warm from the oven if we get there early in the morning, and behave like normal bread and go stale within 24 hours so are probably not loaded with preservatives. Plus the kiddos love ogling at the tanks of live catfish and lobsters

Oh, and the Hellman's mayo with olive oil is the business!

Hello, I'd like to join please! After reading through this thread I'm thoroughly jealous of all your locations in the US. I'm a Brit, married to an American living in Mississippi! I have a 2 year old with another due the end of December. I started out living in Texas and thought that was bad but then realised it was a dream compared to Mississippi. As far as shops go there is NOTHING good here. Kroger is the best on offer for food and I've got used to it! I have to drive an hour to get to a Target, Walmart is where people go to hang out at the weekend because there is nothing to do here. I just got some curtains delivered from John Lewis and I was so happy I didn't mind getting stung by the custom fees! Anyway, we won't be here forever since my husband is in the military so that keeps me going. Glad I found this thread, it may just get me through the next two years!