Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Living overseas

Whether you're considering emigrating or an expat abroad, you'll find likeminds on this forum.

Living in America....... summer 2010!

999 replies

redflipflops · 24/05/2010 16:47

So.... new thread.... please join me

introductions:

redflipflops - California (central Coast)

OP posts:
fridakahlo · 10/02/2011 20:02

Congratulations Penguin!

MmeBucket · 11/02/2011 02:15

Congratulations Penguin.

I have a MN lemon drizzle cake in the oven as I type. Hopefully it lives up to the hype.

Grockle · 11/02/2011 09:18

How's the baby?

MacMomo · 11/02/2011 09:26

jabberwocky thanks for the info on Vegas and its property market. We will be renting not buying, so hopefully that market will be in our favour, too. I haven't found a good website that shows available rental properties like we have here apart from plenty that show condos but no houses.

I'm thinking about training for a new career so I can work part time during my time in the US, something that will work around a very young dd (she'll be 8 months old when we arrive).

Lemon drizzle cake sounds fantastic, have been living mostly on toast as bf constantly through growth spurt - 6 weeks old today Smile. Looking forward to being able to cook again properly soon.

jabberwocky · 11/02/2011 13:36

My friend lives in a "condo" but it's really more like a house. She is renting and says it's very reasonable. Beautiful area and nice backyard.

Lemon drizzle cake, mmmmm. I save the recipe when Mars posted it but have never made one.

tadjennyp · 11/02/2011 16:52

My baby is lush! Also BF constantly as he will be 6 days old today! Ds1 was 8 months old when we arrived here too MacMomo, can't believe that is nearly 3 years ago, either!

Grockle · 11/02/2011 18:14

I love LDC. Must make some soon. I bet Califrau makes it all the time, what with her citrus trees.

All this talk of lush babies makes me broody.

fridakahlo · 12/02/2011 04:27

MacMomo
My husband and I spent the first year living in an avalon apartment community. For the year whilst we were getting settled this worked very well. The rent was reasonable, the maintenence is included, you get gym facilities and pool facilities. Most have a choice between apartments and townhouses. If you are looking to rent, something equivalent is probably worthwhile investigating.
Best of luck.
Tadjennyp babies grow so quickly, six days already!

mdavza · 12/02/2011 13:24

Hi there, I'm slowly working my way through this thread - best reading to get an idea of living in America. So this is our situation:

My Dh recently got a job offer to move to Sunnyvale/San Jose. So I have a few questions for those of you who moved from here or are already there:

  1. The company asked us what he would want in terms of a salary. For his type of job and experience, we're thinking at least £100k. Is this a type of salary that we'll be able to live on comfortably in that area? It seems very expensive! We have one DS, aged 2, and I won't be able to work due to visa restrictions.
  2. How much is food really? We like eating well so I need an indication of how much it would be a month. We now spend between £300-$450 a month on food. (But don't drive a flash car or live in a smart area).
  3. How good is the childcare, like nurseries? Any recommendations?

In a way we would be crazy to leave here, we're originally from another country and the thought of moving again, uuurrrrrgghhh. But on the other hand it seems like a good adventure and we could alwasy come back if we don't like it.

Any feedback would be great, thanks!

jabberwocky · 12/02/2011 14:05

Califrau would be really helpful but she doesn't post on MN anymore. You can look at some of the older Living in America threads and see where she was considering the move to CA from Germany. Her posting name was Hausfrau then.

fridakahlo · 12/02/2011 16:13

Ok, as far as childcare goes, the ymca/ywca are good providers. If there is one near to where you would be then that would be on the top of my list to look at.
As far as food goes living in NJ, we spend around $200 a WEEK on shopping, but San Jose may be cheaper foodwise?
As for salary if they are asking what he would like, really try and be cheeky. You will need the extra income to help you get settled.

tadjennyp · 12/02/2011 22:35

Just asked dh whose company HQ are near San Jose and he said no way would he move there for $100k. You would need two cars as you prob couldn't afford to live close to work and commuting is necessary. Be cheeky and ask for more.

MmeBucket · 12/02/2011 22:54

There's no way I would move there for that amount, either. DH has friends from his company that was making more than that when they moved up here from that area 7 years ago, and they chose to move here, because they didn't have that great of a lifestyle there, and live really well here on that amount.

whiteflame · 12/02/2011 23:37

Hi everyone! Sorry to just burst in, but I'm thinking of doing a road trip from San Francisco to Portland in a couple of months' time. I was wondering if all you knowledgeable ladies had any suggestions of things to see/places to stay along the way?

We're thinking of stopping in San Franscisco, Yosemite, Redding, Medford and Portland along the way, but are felxible if there's somewhere else we should see!

Any advice/tips would be gratefully received!! Thanks Smile

MmeBucket · 13/02/2011 00:23

Hello, Whiteflame. Do you have children? How old are they? Are you looking for indoor things, or are you an outdoorsy type of person? Are you looking for "culture"? I can help with Portland and Medford, if I know more of what you're looking to do.

redflipflops · 13/02/2011 00:37

Congratulations tadjennyp !!! hope you're not too tired and able to enjoy that precious newborn time Smile

Also congrats to Penguin Wink

sorry not been looking at MN much recently Shock

Welcome to the new people. mdavza we are in CA - Central Coast so further south than San Jose. California is expensive.... things we found more expensive than UK; housing, car insurance, internet & cable (which is crap AND expensive!), pre school (which would be free ages 3-5 in UK) and also groceries (which I was surprised about!). Petrol is cheaper though. Make sure company also offers good relocation package with extra cash for start up on arrival etc..

OP posts:
jabberwocky · 13/02/2011 01:00

Was it 100K in dollars or pounds?

whiteflame · 13/02/2011 01:25

Hi MmeBucket! The kids won't be with us, a child-free holiday Shock! DH and I are into hiking (not usually overnight hikes though), and forests etc rather than towns. thanks for your help Smile

tadjennyp · 13/02/2011 02:55

Well, if it's hiking you want then you should come to Central Oregon on the way up to Portland. Check out www.visitbend.com for ideas!

MmeBucket · 13/02/2011 03:35

Ok, I'll do this in bursts. I have no attention span tonight, because we got our new dog!!!!!!

I'm glad you like the outdoors if you're planning on Medford. I really can't think of anything I'd want to do there, tbh. I mean, it is a nice small town, but I don't know anything about it I'd consider to be a "destination". Since you like hiking, maybe you'd consider the Oregon Caves? It is close to the Medford area. (I have to confess, I've never been there). There's some sort of hotel that's actually a tree house around the Oregon Caves, I think in a town called Cave Junction. People think that is cool. Again, I've never been there.

About 10 miles south of Medford is an even smaller town called Ashland. I like that much better than Medford. It's kind of, um, upscale hippy? It is famous for a Shakespeare theater company, and they put plays on throughout spring and summer. It has shopping, and much better restaurants than Medford does, and a really nice park in the middle of town.

About 30 minutes north of Medford is another small town called Grants Pass. That's actually where we lived when we were down there. Not much to do there, either, but there's a place called Hellgate jetboat excursions that takes you on a jetboat ride down the Rogue river. That's a lot of fun (to me at least) and they have options from 2 hour trips to all day trips to trips with dinner included. Grants Pass is also really small (but the biggest city in the whole county) and not much wow there either, but the best restaurant in the region, Summer Jo's is there.

Unless you want to do a lot of hiking, it really isn't going to take you very many days to see all that's there. I guess if you like wineries, there's a lot of them in the area, too, some of them are really pretty and have pretty good tasting menus. I'd do what Tad says and check out Bend. If you head up from Medford, there's a REALLY small town called Shady Cove where you can rent canoes and things and paddle around in the river, and you can check out Oregon's only national park, Crater Lake, which is really pretty. I'd definitely rather go to Bend than Medford if we didn't have family there. We love to go to Sunriver and golf, and Bend also has the High Desert Museum, and it has all the shopping cuteness of Ashland, and better restaurants. Lots of hiking, mountains, etc.

When were you planning on going? Medford and surrounding areas are really hot in summers. It starts to hit around 80F in April and from late June-September it is usually in the 90's daily, and it gets into the 100's about every 3rd day.

PenguinArmy · 13/02/2011 08:40

tad you getting yourself some visitors HmmGrin

and thanks for the congrats everyone. We're in the UK atm, so it will be a few weeks before I speak to my boss and find out if he'll renew my contract or not.

mdavza · 13/02/2011 13:32

Thank you everybdy for the replies. it's so hard to work out a good offer, something not too ridiculously (or cheekily) high that might put them off, but not too low to affect our living standards negatively.

jabberwocky I made a mistake, that's $100k. It's about what my dh makes here and we're thinking of asking more, because I'll probably be on a H4 visa and not be able to work.

Thanks also, tadjennyp, for asking your DH. We live quite comfortably here but I'm earning as well and I don't want to live in a great place and not be able to afford anything.

Although we have mixed feelings, we're seeing it as adventure at the moment, not a permanent move.

jabberwocky · 13/02/2011 14:53

What kind of dog, Mme? I would looooove to get a dog right now but I know dh is still against the idea :(

whiteflame · 13/02/2011 18:02

Thanks so much MmeBucket and tadjennyp, very useful information!

I didn't realise it got so hot in Oregon MmeBucket. We're in Seattle and it doesn't get so warm. We're not completely set on the date yet, but might try to make it April if it's going to be as hot as all that! Thanks again Smile

MmeBucket · 13/02/2011 18:47

It doesn't get that hot in all Oregon, mostly just in the South and East. If you come in April Crater Lake won't be open. It might be either not accessible, or you'll only be able to get to it at one point, and not be able to do much. I'll get back to you more about Portland later, we're getting ready to leave.

Jabber, we got a one-eyed doxie. Even though she's been her less that 24 hours, she's fitting in amazingly. We got her from a rescue that was a foster home, and she came housebroken, crate trained, and has a few basic commands down. We're already talking about going back and getting another one.