New to Web Site
Nov 12th 2007, 4:09 am
#1
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New to Web Site
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Last edited by ElaineQ; Nov 12th 2007 at 4:49 am.
Nov 12th 2007, 4:49 am
#2
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Posts: 65
Re: New to Web Site
Hello, I just found this website. I'm 45 and originally from lancashire and have lived in the States for 12 years - 2 years in new Orleans and 10 years in the Golden Triangle area of Texas. Lucky me!!! Janis Joplin was from here. No wonder the poor bug-ger didn't make it to 30!
I came over to work for a year as an occupational therapist in 1995, ended up meeting my husband and staying. We have an 8 year old daughter. We are moving back to England in three years time - we were lucky enough to get a great little house at a great price (private sale), near my home town, in the wonderful Ribble Valley area of Lancashire. This has done a lot to assuage my homesickness, which, on occasions, has actually reached the Head-Hanging-Over-the-Toilet level. Husband ain't too thrilled, but at least he's willing - he can retire in a couple of years time, at 52 (he's a merchant seaman, so in addition to being a sad little Billy No Friends, I've had to endure him being gone for up to 7 months at a stretch - no fun for him, either)
I've never settled here, and have decided, after careful consideration and counselling sessions
that it's not me, it's them. There is no one around here who shares my sense of humour, compassion and intellect. Seriously though, I simply don't get along, on more than a superficial level, with the American women I've met here. It's not their fault or mine, it's just the way it is. What shocked me the most about America is just how FOREIGN it is! I know that may sound ridiculous, because of course, the US IS a foreign country to us, but I don't think that occurs to us. We share the same language and the same sit coms, etc., but we are not on the same wavelength. I understand other Europeans, even though I may not speak their language, far more than I understand Americans. Let me stress that is not to put Americans down. They are just so different, and it's a fact that can be difficult to get our heads around.
As for my friends in England - people I thought would be my friends forever, have either faded away or taken a few steps into the shadows, and I've either outgrown them or come to realise that they weren't ever there for me in the first place. On the other hand, a handful of people I thought would fade from my radar after a few months, have turned out to be really good friends, as I hope I am to them.
I guess I will stop here. If you've made it so far, thanks for listening
Elaine
I came over to work for a year as an occupational therapist in 1995, ended up meeting my husband and staying. We have an 8 year old daughter. We are moving back to England in three years time - we were lucky enough to get a great little house at a great price (private sale), near my home town, in the wonderful Ribble Valley area of Lancashire. This has done a lot to assuage my homesickness, which, on occasions, has actually reached the Head-Hanging-Over-the-Toilet level. Husband ain't too thrilled, but at least he's willing - he can retire in a couple of years time, at 52 (he's a merchant seaman, so in addition to being a sad little Billy No Friends, I've had to endure him being gone for up to 7 months at a stretch - no fun for him, either)
I've never settled here, and have decided, after careful consideration and counselling sessions
that it's not me, it's them. There is no one around here who shares my sense of humour, compassion and intellect. Seriously though, I simply don't get along, on more than a superficial level, with the American women I've met here. It's not their fault or mine, it's just the way it is. What shocked me the most about America is just how FOREIGN it is! I know that may sound ridiculous, because of course, the US IS a foreign country to us, but I don't think that occurs to us. We share the same language and the same sit coms, etc., but we are not on the same wavelength. I understand other Europeans, even though I may not speak their language, far more than I understand Americans. Let me stress that is not to put Americans down. They are just so different, and it's a fact that can be difficult to get our heads around. As for my friends in England - people I thought would be my friends forever, have either faded away or taken a few steps into the shadows, and I've either outgrown them or come to realise that they weren't ever there for me in the first place. On the other hand, a handful of people I thought would fade from my radar after a few months, have turned out to be really good friends, as I hope I am to them.
I guess I will stop here. If you've made it so far, thanks for listening
Elaine
Fortunately, I do believe there is a treatment which can yield positive results but it does involve frequent trips to a British grocery, slightly less frequent trips to and from airports and a constant mental effort not to morph into one of those "ghastly pseudo-Brits" who wear Union Jack boxer-shorts and stand up out of reflex when the National Anthem comes over BBC Radio on-line.
Nov 12th 2007, 5:10 am
#3
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Re: New to Web Site
Ha! Thanks for the reply to my posting, which, in my paranoia (another symptom of my isolated condition
) I deleted. As for British grocery stores - there is an international section at our local HEB. It's full of stuff well past the 'sell by' date and also home to dubious look alike items which claim to be be British but which aren't; it's crap which has been created by ruthless gits for ex-pats living abroad who get homesick. Honestly - you should try the Liquorice Allsorts, the ones with the Union Jack on the box. They're not Bassett's, I can tell you.
I go home once or twice a year, and I definitely haven't morphed into one of those awful Brits. I do talk to myself a lot, though, especially when I'm walking down the street. Actually, I'd say I'm caught between two cultures. Whereas I used to wear Doc Marten's all the time, I now wear Frye boots (as worn by soldiers during the American Civil War), and I wear them proudly. I've also applied for citizenship, but my married surname is Hispanic, so it'll probably never happen....
) I deleted. As for British grocery stores - there is an international section at our local HEB. It's full of stuff well past the 'sell by' date and also home to dubious look alike items which claim to be be British but which aren't; it's crap which has been created by ruthless gits for ex-pats living abroad who get homesick. Honestly - you should try the Liquorice Allsorts, the ones with the Union Jack on the box. They're not Bassett's, I can tell you. I go home once or twice a year, and I definitely haven't morphed into one of those awful Brits. I do talk to myself a lot, though, especially when I'm walking down the street. Actually, I'd say I'm caught between two cultures. Whereas I used to wear Doc Marten's all the time, I now wear Frye boots (as worn by soldiers during the American Civil War), and I wear them proudly. I've also applied for citizenship, but my married surname is Hispanic, so it'll probably never happen....
Nov 12th 2007, 5:13 am
#4
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 68,280
Re: New to Web Site
I go home once or twice a year, and I definitely haven't morphed into one of those awful Brits. I do talk to myself a lot, though, especially when I'm walking down the street. Actually, I'd say I'm caught between two cultures. Whereas I used to wear Doc Marten's all the time, I now wear Frye boots (as worn by soldiers during the American Civil War), and I wear them proudly. I've also applied for citizenship, but my married surname is Hispanic, so it'll probably never happen....
You will fit in quite well here ....
Nov 12th 2007, 5:19 am
#6
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Re: New to Web Site
Welcome
Nov 12th 2007, 5:21 am
#7
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Re: New to Web Site
(Um...I can explain about the psychiatrist....OK?)
Nov 12th 2007, 6:09 am
#8
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 88,104
Re: New to Web Site
Yep I know where you're coming from...been here since 1996. When we first came to the US a Brit said to me 'just remember it's different' and it is. Some good some bad...just like anywhere.
Nov 12th 2007, 7:33 am
#9
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Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 115
Re: New to Web Site
Despite this, I've decided to apply for citizenship (well, I couldn't afford to move back to the UK anyway, my husband's from here, and now my mother's died....)
I have wondered whether my views on living here have been coloured by the fact that unlike most people I see posting I didn't want to live here in the first place - I only came because I happened to fall in love with an American.
Jennifer
Nov 12th 2007, 9:43 am
#14
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 6,669
Re: New to Web Site
Welcome you loon! 
Some of my favorite people are from Lancashire
Some of my favorite people are from Lancashire
Nov 12th 2007, 9:47 am
#15
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Joined: Sep 2002
Location: Richmond Hill, GA USA
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Re: New to Web Site
