All those in the US, sign here...

[mamama]

I see all these threads for Aussie people and thought we should have our own thread too. Not sure why, I just felt the need to make us feel special too!

So, who's stateside and where are you?

I'll start:

Mamama - in Chicago

Hi science teacher,
Just a guess but are you a teacher?
I am a primary teacher - I don't intend to work for the first year but do you know how easy it will be to get work with a Scottish teaching diploma? Cincinnati is pretty close. We didn't see much of it when we were over but the airport was good! The whole area seems great for families and we are all really excited about the move. Hope you're liking the UK!

Hi DK,

Yes, I am a teacher I didn't work in the US because of my particular family situation (too many little ones). I did look at working though, and decided that it was really difficult for an expat. You have to basically sell yourself to the school districts and get your qualifications recognised, even though they are desperate for teachers. If you go on the unqualified scale (which includes all supply teachers), you get paid a real pittance - something like $40 per day.

I have to say that I had a real problem with the school system we were in - it really put me off education, and it took me a few years back in the UK to step foot in a classroom. I know there is such a thing as school refusing families, but I was a school refusing parent, LOL.

As for the area, I don't want to prejudice you too much. We moved from London area to Cincinnati and it was a real step down in terms of location. We were on an expat package which softened the blow. There are some really nice things, such as friendly people (as a Scot, you should be used to this), and kids playing on the streets on their bikes.

Springboro is very, very suburban, so you would likely be driving into Dayton or Northern Cincinnati to get to places of interest. Day to day, you will have lots of nice neighbours, and if you join a church, plenty of midweek activities.

Can I join too please - we're in Manhattan Beach, LA? Been on Mumsnet for years as know one of the girls who set it up, but been rather distracted struggling with life in LA recently!

Met up with LATyke early on and Califrau was soooo helpful last November when I was over on a recce and having a crisis about schools. Thank you for all that stuff about the city having to find you a place at school if you lived there and stuff - made all the difference to where we chose to live - school for the most part is great for my DD - Grade 2 - been harder for my DS now a Kindergartener - altho' very expensive here to live.

Hi Jabberwocky - sorry, been largely offline for a few days. Your mystery email wasn't from me, so probably good that you didn't click on it. I've been caught out a few times with those 'do I know you' emails. Did you have a nice holiday?

We're settling in fine. It's been very busy with one of the major tasks being lots of research on cars atm as we'll need to acquire one. I haven't thought much about cars for quite a long time.

DD seems to be adjusting - with only a few major wobbles along the way. She met her teacher today (lovely woman who everyone tells us we're extremely lucky to have), and now dd is very excited about school. We've also had a few playdates with a couple of the new classmates and that has gone a long way toward making dd look forward to school.

At this point, I'm a bit overwhelmed but coping fine....mostly just melting in the heat. Even with AC everywhere, this is brutal. And I'm trying to decide if the house isn't very cool at the moment because it's just too damn hot and the system can't keep up, or if the system is in trouble. I'd been told that there is a slow leak in the coil, which at some point will require more than just a top up of freon. Please don't let it be giving up the ghost now....

How are all of you coping with the heat? And how's everyone doing in general?

The heat is worse than usual atm, earlybird. Even those of us who are born and bred Southerners are melting.

As for a car, we just purchased two (I know that sounds really odd, but we happened to have two very old vehicles that needed replacing within months of each other). I have a terrific contact at the Toyota dealership in Murfreesboro - it's about 30 minutes from you I think. Give me a call or CAT me if you are interested in her contact info. Just fyi, if you are looking for a family car, we love our Sienna minivan - never thought I would hear myself say I loved a minivan . I drive rather far on the days I work and have a Scion for that. Great gas mileage, headroom and legroom. We have the 06 model, they did not put out and 07 and the 08 is quite different. Nice looking but not as good on the gas.

HTH

Thanks for that kind offer jabberwocky. Will let you know if I think a personal contact in Murfressboro will be helpful.

So far, I've looked at the Toyotas in Nashville (I think Highlander is probably the top contender but it just seems so big yet the RAV4 seems on the small side), Honda Pilot and CR-V (reliable but initial thoughts are perhaps too utilitarian), a gently used BMW wagon and a mid size Lexus SUV owned by a Titan football player who decided it was too small for him (very 'bling' with blacked out windows and extra shiny hubcaps). I've wondered about the practicality of a minivan, but have resisted because it does seem a giant step toward becoming a 'soccer mum'.....but maybe that's who I am now!?? What made you choose the Sienna?

It's tough to figure out which vehicle might suit us best, but will keep looking/reading/driving, etc.

Have just changed all the air filters in the house (they were filthy), so am hoping the cooling improves miraculously....

Another Update

1. Mamama - Chicago, DS 21 months
2. Twirl - MD - married, DD 3 and DS 1
3. Califrau - Milpitas, CA - married, ds1 about to be 7, ds2 about to be 4. sahm
4. Greatgooglymoogly - NY State - married, DS1 (3), DS2 (17 mths)
5. Alipiggie - Erie, CO
6. Tinpot - North Carolina
7. Colinandcaitlinsmommy - Oregon City, OR A married SAHM. DS 4 in August, DD 2 in August
8. Earlybird - TN, DD (6)
9. SofiaAmes - LA
10. LATyke - Redondo Beach, CA
11. NannyK - Boston, MA - single, nanny for adorable 19 month old twins
12. Marls001 - Bentonville, AR
13. Hellish - Ottawa, Canada
14. Sunchowder - Florida - DD Girlscout age poss 14ish, SDS um late teens.
15. SittingBull - near San Francisco, CA - married,two children, 1 DS 3 years, 1 DD 18 months
16. ChiTownLady - Chicago
17. MKG - New Jersey -ds1 22 months,ds2 3 weeks (why I haven't been around much)
18. Yesthereare4ofthem - NY State
19. Albert, Brazil - married to Brasilian, DS(7)
20. Texan Dallas, TX, married to a Scot, DD (7), DS (5)
21. Tiggyhop - Houston. DS (4) DS (3) and DD (20 months)
22. IncredibleShrinkingMum - Seattle, married, DD 6
23. jabberwocky - TN married, ds1 3.10, ds2 6 months
24. Brooklynmom - NYC. DD, 14 months old...
25. Vixie78 - Houston Texas from August
26. TwinMommyToBe in Boston pushing 34 weeks!
27. Barefeete - British Virgin Islands
28. Dodgykeeper - Dayton, Ohio 29)Syd - Manhattan Beach, LA

I researched cars for six (yep, 6) months. The Sienna gets good gas mileage for a car of that size. It seats 7 or 8 depending on how you do the seats, so we can take the kids and another couple if we are going out to dinner, etc. It's on a Camry chassis, not a truck chassis, so handles much better than other minivans or SUV's. And it's rather sleek so I don't feel like I'm driving a utility van, lol.

You can get all sorts of family friendly things like the built-in dvd player - a lifesaver when a friend and I took our kids (4 boys in all) to an event in Nashville.

When we only had one child we looked seriously at the RAV 4 and the Honda CRV. Both good choices if you want something smaller.

All of the above get great ratings from Consumer Reports on maintenance, crash testing, resale value, etc. I would highly recommend getting a 3 month subscription to their online car buying guide. They have one for new and one for used.

And geographically...

The South
Earlybird - Soon to be in TN
jabberwocky - TN
Sunchowder - Florida
Marls001 - Bentonville, AR
Tinpot ? NC

East Coast
NannyK - Boston
Twinmommytobe - Boston
Greatgooglymoogly - NY State
Yesthereare4ofthem - NY State
Brooklynmom - NYC
MKG - New Jersey
Twirl - MD

Midwest
Mamama ? Chicago
ChiTownLady - Chicago
Dodgykeeper - Dayton, OH

Rockies & Southwest
Alipiggie - Erie, CO

Northwest
IncredibleShrinkingMum - Seattle
Colinandcaitlinsmommy - Oregon City, OR

California
SittingBull - nr San Francisco
Califrau ? Milpitas
Syd - Manhattan Beach, LA
SofiaAmes - LA
LATyke - Redondo Beach

Texas
Texan - Dallas
Tiggyhop ? Houston
Vixie78 - Houston from August

Canada
Hellish ? Ottawa

British Virgin Islands Barefeete Brazil
Albert, Brazil

lol, I thought SofiaAmes meant Louisiana, not Los Angeles

Does anyone know how twinmommytobe in Boston is? I was wondering if the twins had arrived.

DodgyKeeper - I am a primary school teacher and taught for 2 yrs when I first moved to the US. It was a bloody pain! Most states will not recognize British teaching qualifications (nor years of experience) so, if you want to work in the public school system (where you are likely to be better paid), you will need to check your local school district and their requirements for certification. They should have a website. You will need to get your British qualifications (from GCSEs up) 'translated' into American equivalents in order to become certified, or even to get a substitute teaching certificate, and that takes time and $$ and you are likely to need original or certificed copies of all your exam certificates. In both CT and IL, I had to retrain in order to become certified, which left me with no option but to teach in private schools. That worked out ok for me but it was never intended to be permanent.

If I can help, please let me know.

Oh Jabberwocky, maybe you are right... maybe SofiaAmes is in Louisianna

at heat and humidity again

Sofia is definitely in California.

Jabberwocky - I can't imagine researching for 6 months! I'm spending alot of my nights online researching various aspects, and also reading online discussion groups to see if people are satisfied after they've made their purchase.

I was given a copy of the April Consumer Report mag which is the car issue, so have been studying that. Would an online sub offer something different/more?

So far, I think my problem is that I drive a car/SUV and then a day or two later drive another. It's hard to compare as I think they're all pretty good vehicles. What made you decide against the RAV4 and CR-V?

Also, I thought I'd focus on factory certified/previously owned vehicles but find that generally speaking people hold onto their Toyotas and Hondas so most used cars of that make are older than I'd like. I'm also finding that a previously owned BMW/Lexus costs about what a new Highlander/Pilot cost, so now am wondering if new is a good/bad idea.......suffice to say, I'm overwhelmed with information and a bit confused at the moment!

Hi there - SofiaAmes first message says she's back in Los Angeles . Hope all is well there. I'm not having a good time with boys and their crummy father he ho. Take care all.

I checked earlier, and nobody was on. Now everybody has gotten into a big conversation.

It has been really cool here today. I doubt if it broke into the mid 70's. Nice.

DK--Not to be a downer, and I'm not and have never been a teacher, but I had a friend who moved here from abroad (not England, though), and she is now a nurses assistant, because they didn't recognize any of her credentials, and she was an English teacher from a very reputable school. I live in Oregon, though, and they could definitely have different standards.

Earlybird, I was wondering how it went with the car search. Minivans are definitely a slippery slope. I felt that if I drove one, it would be screaming my middle-aged momness, but I wouldn't go back. Except maybe to a CR-V (old body style) or a Lexus. I really like a Lexus.

I thought of you yesterday, Jabberwocky. For some reason Jabberwocky was the number 9 most searched thing yesterday on Yahoo.

wow I am so glad I found this thread.

Sitting Bull you may be my saviour in the future

DH has gotten down to the last 2 for a job in San Francisco and despite having encourage him to go for it I am now panicing at the thought of him getting it and having to move from the Midlands to the USA

Morning all, and thanks for the welcome Califrau...

About to go out and get us all registered at a medical centre...ho hum..there's been soooo much paperwork to do since we got here and it's all so tediuous. Also have to find out about getting ds (3.6) into a local pre-school - it's hard to know which would be a good one. The good thing is that the MOD pay for most of the fees for a private school. Ideal!

It's soooo hot here today predicting 100 degrees - eek! I'm from Glasgow - this is unreal!

Wanted to add - I'm in Falls Church, VA - anyone close by?

lol at the sudden popularity of Jabberwocky!

EArlybird, we decided against the Rav4/Crv b/c we decided on something a bit bigger after ds2. You would definitely benefit from the online sub with consumer reports imo as it lets you do all sorts of comparisons.

Toyota has a rental car program (different from its leasing program) where the cars go in for 180 days and come out classified as used. A good way to pick up a deal.

Also, I would consider repair costs and convenience to a BMW dealer even tho I do love beemers.

jabberwocky - interesting to know about the Toyota rental program. Thanks for the tip.

BMW dealer is 15 mins drive from my house, and they do loaners when a car needs repair/maintenance work - which makes it very convenient. They also seriously upped their warranty program a few years ago to be more competitive. The barely used wagon I looked at would be under warranty until end of 2012....which makes it even more tempting. I'm just not sure it has enough storage - only 61 cubic feet which really is about the size of a trunk/boot. On the other hand, it is only myself and dd most of the time and I'm not sure we need lots of storage day in and day out.

I spent a long time last night looking at the Sienna online and then comparing it to the Odyssey. Think I need to revisit the Toyota dealer and drive a Highlander, Sienna and RAV-4.

Decisions, decisions....

Odyssey is very nice. We looked at one and the only reason decided against it was the way our car seats fit in.

Highlander, nice as well, comes in a hybrid. The back seat is a bit small but still may work fine for what you need.

Can you tell that I really obsess over big decisions ?

In last night's research, I found the Odyssey doesn't get nearly the rave consumer/owner reviews as Sienna.

I drove a Highlander Hybrid a few weeks ago(California friends who own one have just moved to the area), but Toyota salesman was quite dismissive/negative due to expense and limited options for repair. No question that third row of seats in the Highlander is for kids only!

I obsess over these decisions too because in America people spend so much time in their cars. Cars have also gotten so expensive - it's a big investment.

I want a safe car that is dependable, suits our daily needs, will hold it's value, doesn't need lots of expensive repairs, doesn't cost the earth and has a touch of luxury too. For some reason, it's not so easy to identify!

By the way - have you been outside today? It's so hot, my skin feels as if it's literally burning when I venture out...