Assanah

Hi guys,
I have a greencard and loved living in the US I am in Germany right now. Unfortunately, my partner has no visa for the US. That is why we are applying for a residency permit for NZ. I have been reading a lot in forums about NZ and OZ and have to say that there is a lot of negativity which I have not found in US forums. Now, that worries me. Are immigrants happier in the US than in NZ/OZ? Or I am to dump to find the "2 years here and still it is crap-" threads here.
Ann

HumphreyC

Haven't got there yet, am taking the plunge later in the year.

I do read these forums quite a bit though to find out what the pitfalls are and what people are complaining about. You can check out this thread for example:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=280218

Cost/uncertainty of healthcare seems to be the biggest worry for people, then there is also lack of holiday/safety net etc. I was amused to see that some people even think the cost of food is higher in the states and the quality is worse. This is because my American misses has been complaining about the U.K's 'high cost of food' and it's 'piss-poor quality' ever since she moved over. Since we decided to move all she has been doing (aside from looking at property sites) is going to grocery store websites from the U.S and trying to show me how much cheaper everything is.

Personally I am not expecting my life to be significantly better/worse living in the U.S. I'm moving for family/job reasons and staying in the U.K just isn't a live option.

confusedgirl

I moved to Northern California and hated it. I think if I had moved to the East coast, somewhere a bit more 'grounded', I would have fared better. But the major things I hated about the US were things the poster above mentioned: the lack of mandatory paid vacation time, less job security, lack of a safety net. And the worse thing...healthcare. I always had issues with the idea that healthcare in the US is for profit....it seemed unethical to profit from something which is essentially life. I had also worked in the NHS and expected american hospitals to be made out of gold, as far as I was told the NHS was dire and the US was the best in the world (although tellingly, I was only ever told how great the American system was by Americans).
I came out of it thinking the NHS is magnificent.
The food in California (don't know about other states) is dire. Full of sugar, salt, and not much taste. Much less choice than in the UK. And it IS more expensive than the UK. I had to eat out every day as I couldn't afford to buy fresh food to cook - well I could but it was expensive. I can buy Californian grown grapes in England cheaper than I could in California.
I was not happy in the US, although it did make me appreciate my own country , so in a way the US made me happy by enabling me to truly appreciate and love living in Great Britain.

jayde

It probably depends on your mindset and where you are coming from, what your expectations are.

Be prepared for a but of culture shock, the basic language may be the same, but often there are subtle differences.

I didnt understand half what was being said to me, and people had trouble understanding me too, at the beginning.

The "stuff" you can buy seems very low in price, but not being that materialistic, it doesnt make up to me for the lack of healthcare and feeling safe. It may be the area I live in, but I miss the friendliness and have met few people to make friends with.

Although the country is huge I have done a fair bit of travel and found some wonderful places to visit. The trips I have done here are great, with beautiful scenery different seasons and have been truly memorable.

All in all, I cant say I am happy here, but that obviously is an individual thing and you may love it, especially if you have a young family that grow up as Americans. Then when your children grow up, I have heard others say it is difficult to leave!

HumphreyC

Ah excellent. I can't wait to tell my wife this tonight to wind her up. Methinks she will be frantically comparing UK/US grape prices till 3 in the morning. My impression based on Massachusetts is that the price of food is cheaper, probably due to the sheer amount produced in the Midwest. I've found a bunch of local farmers markets to check out but I have no idea how good they are.

Eating out seems to be on a par with here (by which I mean North London ; it's diabolical where my parents live in Essex and getting worse), but cheaper; although you can't really get good Indian food. You also get far too much of the stuff at U.S places and have to take most of it home.

robin1234

I think, in terms of comparing food prices, some things are much cheaper in the UK but other things are more expensive in the UK. I think part of it is historical; older people may remember that there was price support (until some time in the 1970s?), or some form of government subsidy, in the UK for various forms of staple foods. I believe this included bread, tea, milk, cheese and other dairy products. These are among the things that are still much cheaper in the UK than in the US; perhaps because even though many years have gone by, retailers still feel there is an expectation those things should be cheap. I think many vegetables are also cheaper in the UK. The main thing I can think of that is cheaper in the US is meat, but that could be because it is generally low quality - not sure. So I think a family could find they spend more or less on food in the US as opposed to the UK, depending what they buy - whether they are vegetarians or meat eaters, for instance.

HumphreyC

Ah, now that's interesting. I had no idea we had brought in that kind of price support. Of course we do now have the 'tesco value bread' which costs only 24p. It lasts about 2 days and goes stale almost instantly when it comes into contact with air, but at least it's cheap. I almost always bake my own with my trusty breadmaker. I find it almost always comes out far better than the supermarket stuff and I can put the things in that I like.

Veggies, I think (and this is based on my wife's experience growing up in the U.S, living in the U.K and some 'google research') are cheaper. But that might not be the case for all varieties. In any case I generally try and grow my own when I can.

With the meat I think it gets a bit subjective. I generally find the steak to be a lot better. However some people prefer grass fed cattle to corn fed cattle (some herds in the U.S are now switching over to grass fed as it is more eco friendly). Sausages appear to be very different to the ones made in the UK and I think ours are a lot better.

Thing I am looking forward to in New England is the seafood.

Zonie

That's why the antipodeans call the Brits "whinging poms". There's quite a few in the US apparently.

robin1234

Yeah, to get back to the original question; I suppose part of the answer is the significantly different group of people who go to live in Australia versus USA. Most who go to live in the USA either go because they are married to an American, or because of job transfer/specific professional reasons. Many go to Australia because it is (I believe) a bit easier to get in. So they have a different set of reactions, pro & con.

Dan725

Plus I think the distance is a factor. Even though the US is by no means a short hop from the UK, it is significantly shorter than the distance down under; it may contribute to the cut off from family feeling.

To the OP, if you haven't already, you might ask this as well in the Oz/NZ forum, as a lot if us in the US here can only speculate on life in NZ and the pitfalls, etc. Good luck with it all

For me, I'm generally very happy here, but of course miss a few things about the UK from time to time; mainly family/friends etc.

Ash UK/US

Home is where the heart is and life is what you make it.

I am happy here, if my husband and kids were with me in the UK I am sure I could be happy there too.

Ash UK/US

Might wanna plan on buying a bread maker when you get here because that bread that taste off after 2 days, that is how the bread here tastes when you first buy it. I do not eat white bread here for that very reason it is too sweet and tastes stale. I miss Warburtons.

Jerseygirl

That's what I used to think...but I found it wasn't that simple. Even after 14 years the UK is still my home. I miss the US when I'm in the UK but being back there is like wearing a pair of old comfy slippers.

HumphreyC

Oh I intend to.

Home baking all the way

And to think, when I got the breadmaker as a gift I thought it was going to be like those pasta maker thingmys you get for christmas and have to pretend to use.

Ash UK/US

I often find myself referring to both as home, when I am in the US I talk about going 'home' when I am in the UK I will say when I go home.

You are right about the comfy slippers thing but when I am in the UK I do miss the US too.

I really do think I could be happy in the US or UK.