kins

Yes the choice is very limited. We've found that cable internet (Time Warner in our area) is much much faster than ADSL (ummm I think Fairpoint in our area) but it costs about $50 a month.

kodokan

Unless there's a compelling reason, like one of you is a live sports nut, don't sign up to cable TV just yet. We decided to leave it for a while when we arrived and just watch Netflix - the cable was SO expensive, about $80 a month compared to Netflix's $8, and even then you had to pay more to add on all the good channels like HBO. We haven't watched any live TV for years anyway, as we timeshifted everything with a recordable box to better fit in around small children. And then we discovered that we really like watching box DVD sets, so we can gorge on a whole series over a week, 3-4 episodes a night.

Netflix is a brilliant extension of this viewing habit. We thought we'd run out of stuff, but they just keep putting new things on: the next season of a popular show, recentish movies, brilliant documentaries, etc.

The kids (13 and 9) are vaguely aware that some of their friends have 'different' TV, but couldn't care less. There's plenty there for them - my 9 DD like family-based sitcoms like Malcolm in the Middle or twee movies like Ella Enchanted, and my 13 watches eclectically across the offering; I think yesterday he watched Futurama, a war film from the 60s called The Battle of Britain, and then from there drifted onto a documentary about using a C-17 as a flying hospital in Afghanistan. The 'if you enjoyed that, you might like these' function is really helpful to the kids and often takes them on viewing paths they might not have otherwise considered.

We also recently discovered that if you have a VPN and redirect through the UK (we do this for BBC iPlayer) then you get the UK Netflix offerings, even on a US-based account! UK Netflixers have different stuff, like Outnumbered, and they also have the the new Hobbit movie that only came out a few months ago.

The handful of times we've wanted something on live TV - presidential candidate debate, Superbowl match - we've easily found it being streamed somewhere on the web for free.

Zez

We have Netflix over here and have considered it Especially with these prices! What is a vpn routed via UK? X

kodokan

VPN = Virtual Private Network. It's a way of masking the source of requests for connections from your computer; from an expat point of view it makes it look as if your computer is based in X country rather than Y country. BBC iPlayer, for example, won't show any content to a computer not in the UK due to licensing, so you log into a VPN and select 'UK' from the usually long list of countries to pretend to be in, then go about your browsing/ viewing as normal. Voila - the BBC now thinks you're in the UK, and shows you the Olympics and Dr Who.

http://lifehacker.com/5940565/why-yo...for-your-needs

We've used one called Overplay for many years (firstly in Switzerland, and now here), and it costs about $100 a year. You can get free ones, but you get the connection reliability and smoothness that you pay for...

(Yes, yes, we're not paying the license fee, I know. We actually would if there was a way to do it without all the stoopid copyright laws getting in the way. In the meantime, we work out the annual BBC license fee in dollars, and donate that to our local public radio station, which seems to get most of its content from the BBC anyway. That sorts out the moral ambiguities in my head.)

jackattack

So when you get a craving for British food (although more expensive than you'll pay back in the UK), you can go to Cost Plus World Market in the Hillsdale Shopping center. Just a short stop from San Mateo.

Zez

Ooh a way to watch casualty and holby!!

A world market in hillsdale? That shopping centre is a mile from our house. Happy!!

Zez

You have made my day. Just been on world market page. Expensive but marmite....phew!!

jackattack

Until we moved about two months ago, I used to go there just to get Tunnocks tea cakes, hob nobs, and other random biscuits and chocolate that I didn't know I missed until I saw them on the shelf.

Now to try and find the nearest one in Maryland.

Zez

Tun nicks caramel wafers!!!

kodokan

Amazon's probably cheaper, and more convenient. I get Marmite, Golden Syrup and PG Tips tea bags from there. They occasionally excitingly have Twiglets too.

MsElui

i had some medical vaccinations stuff printed off from our uk docs but as it wasnt 'officially stamped' and signed they wouldnt take any notice.

MsElui

order extra copies of all families birth certs and marriage certs etc. (MUST BE LONG AND NOT SHORT FORM) you can do it online in uk for far less hassle. then when you arrive and you need to send off stuff for visa renewal or gc applications or passport renewals etc you have spares and are not desparate if one gets held up somewhere. I literally got 3 or 4 copies of each.

Bob

Can/bottle opener is handy...as well as PJ's/underwear and a change of clothes, so you don't have to faff about with a big suitcase that first night.