MarkCowan

OK, so I made a mistake on my first post, sorry - I did not read the rule. Genuinly it was not meant to be an advertisment, I run a soccer team in Orange County and we are in the process of arranging many meetups.
So again I am sorry, but if there are any Brits out there from San Diego to Santa Barbara then contact me and I can give you any information on sports clubs, bars, friends, and much more - we are a great group of people from all walks of life and from all accross the UK originally.

rypin

I posted in your other thread, I didn't take it as an advertisement but oh well

I work out in Irvine OC and live in Long Beach, have been in Cali now since June this year. It would be awesome to meet up with some fellow Brits and make new friends. Hope to hear from my fellow countrymen soon!

Ryan

MarkCowan

Hi Ryan, I run an over 30's soccer team called ****, Football Club United Kingdom.
There is a Man United supporters club in Huntington Beach.
The British Dominion Social Club has many events weekly, nightly etc.

Sue

No worries, but please remember this is a community for expats, not for people to use as a plat from to get people to join their community

So feel free to post here and connect with other and share the info of your soccer club etc here, rather than direct folks elsewhere (and another wink here in case you didn't catch the first one )

MarkCowan

Hey Rypin, we should meet up soon, there is about 100,000 brits in California, in all walks of life, the majority are in LA but we have a large enough number in Orange County and usually Football is what brings us together from a starting/talking point then everything else comes into place.

rypin

Hey Mark that would be awesome!

As you are only up the road in Costa Mesa would you like to meet up for lunch one day? I am working in Irvine.

MarkCowan

Yes no problem, I live and work in Costa Mesa - I ride my bike to work everyday so my options are limited haha.

rypin

Lucky you... I sit in traffic everyday to and from work. However it does give me time to catch up on some great podcasts from stitcher radio

Let's arrange something for next week, I will make contact with you before then.

Cheers

Greg California

Hi Mark (and others),

I've very recently arrived here in the US (just last week) as a permanent resident. Living in Orange County (Huntington Beach) currently.

Keen to get to know a bit more about my new surroundings from a fellow Brit perspective Really looking to dive into this experience of living in a new country head first.

Feel free to drop me a PM or post sometime.

Best,

Greg

Phoodilicious

Welcome Greg! Well although Huntington Beach is some distance, you might like to know there is a place called Nina's on El Toro at Lake Forest which is a huge British/Indian grocery (and great Indian curry cafe/takeout). This place stocks all the British goodies you might start to miss. Also grocery chain Fresh 'n Easy is apparently owned by Tesco (some of the good actually have Tesco labels on) and you will find some British stuff there, particularly the British bacon!! I believe there are other British grocery stores probably nearer to you in Fullerton I think.

Greg California

Phoodie,

thanks for the info. I'll keep it in mind. Surprisingly, I don't really miss British food that much, the food here is abundant (understatement) and I've never been too fussy anyway.

The things I'll miss more are British sports (I am a man after all) - the buzz around town on a match day, the pre and post game drinking down the pub etc,

British TV (so few less adverts, far subtler programming in general)

and good old fashioned HONEST British cynicism

However, I already like/respect the general positivity of Californians. Yeh it might not be deep and meaningful, but generally the customer service here is exceptional everywhere I go.

Looking forward to living here immensely

MarkCowan

Hi Greg, if you support Man United then you can watch all games live's in Killarney's on main street - my friend Martin Carrington runs the supporters club there.

If you support any other club then the British Dominion Social Club, on Valley View just off the 405 freeway.

If you play football yourself ( decent level ) then you can come to our games, all British lads.

There is plenty to offer and we have a lot of our community living in HB - so welcome to the OC, you will enjoy it I am sure.

Cheers, Mark.

ThomasCaldwell

Living in Garden Grove for at least another 3 months. Always up for abit of football action. Missing watching and playing it with "the lads". Would love to meet up with some brits!