nuttyandfruity

Hi everyone, I thought I'd pop on here with an update for you. We have been back one week today and it's been a busy tiring but wonderful week!

Our son had a bit of culture shock to think (we all did actually!) but his was the worst, everything is smaller and squished together compared to being in Florida but we are already getting used to it, plus you forget how close the 'fancier' estates are to the council houses whereas in Florida that was not the case where we lived. We found that towns were either nice or not so nice, wheras here you're all lumped together! It's funny what you forget.

We have found a school that thinks they can accept my sons PSAT results and accept him into school to start on his A-Levels which is awesome because we thought he'd have issues with his GCSE's etc or lack of them, also there is a californian boy in the same situation in the same school! It is a private school though which tends to cater to international students as the local authority schools didn't really have a solution for us but I will have to suck it up and fork out the money for him to get sorted. If anyone has education concerns I'd be happy to help if I can and if I can't I can ask someone here that can.

We have registered with the doctors which was so easy that we thought they had forgotton something! lol

The weather was cold and wet for the first couple days but for the last few days it has been sunny, still cold but everything is so pretty! We are in the welsh countryside and the scenery is breathtaking.

Food is cheaper and fresher and there is a lot of choice. One funny thing that happened though, it was my birthday on Monday so my hubby and kids went out Sunday afternoon to get me a card and pressies only to find that everything closed at 4pm! Forgot about that! So they got up at the crack of dawn on Monday to go to Tesco's and came home with some wine and lots of chocolate bars for me! Yum, Whole nut!!

We are living in a rental right now which we rented over the internet, we paid 6 months in advance because we didn't really have any credit here as we haven't been here for a while. The rental agency were really accomodating and met us at the house the day we flew in to save us going into the office etc so that all went well.

We are now in the process of trying to buy a car and have started looking at houses to buy, we originally were looking to buy in Kent but you get so much more bang for your buck here in Wales and it has everything we need with a 5 mile radius!

We have met our neighbours and had the best conversation we have had in years, had a real good chinwag and laugh, they are refurbishing the local pub and have invited us to opening night so I am looking forward to that.

It hasn't been all plainsailing and there are things that are going to take a while to get used to, like having to order money (over 500gbp) from your bank for withdrawel, didn't know about that and we wanted to take money out to buy a car so that's been delayed until we can get the cash on Friday. But I think it's a case of become accostemed to how they do things here, we are so used to the American way that we need an adjustment period.

Overall, it has gone really well and I feel right at home where I belong and I can see a very promising future here for my family.

If anyone has any questions that I can help with then please let me know, I know what it's like when you are considering a move back, full of fear and dread and a million what if's so if I can help in a ny way I'd be happy to!

NiHao

Hooray, what an exciting week for you! I loved reading your update, can't get enough of these updates! I know I will have lots of questions at some point but for now just wanted to say congrats and thank you so much for your post, its all so interesting, the good, the bad and the "just different".

mikelincs

If you had a credit or debit card, then I'm sure they would have accepted that for the payment as your bank balance is checked to see that the funds are there for the debit card, and your credit limit is checked for the credit card. Even though you are only renting, get onto the electoral roll, it helps with credit checks etc, and if you haven't got a credit card, get one, using that, and paying it off also helps build up creditworthiness.

Mummy in the foothills

Well done it sounds like it's off to a good start.
Wales? North or South?, we are heading there too.

nuttyandfruity

Hi, We are working on getting on the electoral roll etc and building credit, it's a bit of a pain as it's like starting from scratch but it's achievable with time. We are in South Wales, a sweet little village called Llannon which is about 5 miles from the local town. I love it!

Mummy in the foothills

Sound ideal.
We will be Up North. small village too, 5 minutes from three towns.

Perth

Sounds just grand! More than likely that we will be heading for Wales too, but to Cardiff. Looks like there are enough of us for a decent reunion in a few years

MissBetty

Well everything sounds great - so happy for you and that you feel right back at home too!

Thanks for the update, its so great to read posts like yours and happyglow's for those of us who are limping through our final few weeks of stress overseas. Makes me feel like it will all be worth it - home in 21 days!!!

morayeel

Happy things are going well. Of course there will be some set backs but all in all it sounds great. Thankyou for the update.

ElizabethK

So glad to hear you're enjoying it there in Wales


I'm quite shocked though that you mention you have to give notice to the bank to withdraw more than £500 ?? That seems a bit odd, but maybe is it a small village bank perhaps?

Also, the whole thing with shops closing at 4pm on Sundays, I got a panicked husband ring me a couple of weeks ago (he's already there whilst I wait here in USA getting everything packed up) asking me to google when the local Asda closed, as he was stood outside at 4:15pm, the doors were shut and he had no food!
I wish they'd get rid of the archaic Sunday trading laws but I suppose in a way it still keeps Sunday somewhat special.

Again, really pleased to learn that you're all happy despite things being small and squished together. I know what you mean too about the nice housing estates being a stonesthrow from the not so nice places. It's just the way it is in UK though

ElizabethK

Where in N Wales will you be? My mum & dad used to have a cottage in a tiny village outside Bangor years ago, so I know the surrounding areas well. It's beautiful there and especially the beaches in Anglesey too

Mummy in the foothills

We'll be closer to Llandudno in very small village.

ElizabethK

Oh I love Llandudno and the surrounding areas of Conway, Deganwy and is it Rhos-on-Sea?

We will be spending many days out in Llandudno eating ice-cream and fish & chips on the sea front once I'm back. It's only a quick drive of about an hour or so from Wirral where I'll be living

Mummy in the foothills

Smaller, so small I'll out myself if I say, you could ask in the pub and they'd tell you where we are
I'll be eating the fish and chips on the prom too.

brits1

Hi, it all sounds like things are falling in to place and your taking things slowly (ish) lol, just a thought, when I want to take out a large some of money I just write a cheque with cash written on it and the bank has no problem with it. Good luck with everything