Leeds_Lass

The differences I've had to overcome, aside from the missing friends, family and familiarity (the 3 F's? ) were pretty big. First off, the sheer size of the place. You have to drive down here in Tennessee/Alabama because there is no public transport. The bigger major cities have it but not the smaller rural towns. I also have to echo Tourist Trap's comments about socializing. People down here don't just go out like we do back home. There are no pubs or even bars for that matter, well the couple bars in Huntsville are such dives I wouldn't go in if I was dying, if you want a drink you drink with dinner or at your local Applebees. Dropping round for a cuppa is out of the question for us because of the distance between us and friends but even if they were next door, we wouldn't because I get the impression that just dropping in is frowned upon. If we meet friends we have to arrange it weeks in advance, we sometimes go to their house for dinner but most times we go out. This took me a long time to get used to. Heck, even going to a movie can take weeks of planning.

The way people talk to each other over here is different. There's rarely sarcasm used as a form of humor, I used to upset my DH when we first moved in, I'd tell him to piss off and he'd get upset.

About the vacation, I've not come across an employer who gives more than 2 weeks of vacation from the start. Sure you get more the longer you work there but the initial vacation is very small, ditto public holidays unless you work government. They work to death over here too, longer work week (40 hours+). The lifestyle is faster over here. More people eat out that at home, lots and lots of fast food and eating healthy down here is a joke. If it's not deep fried or covered in brown sugar, they don't consider it food.

The differences I do like down here in the south is the politeness. People in shops and stores are very polite and give great customer service. Likewise when we go to someone's house, very polite. Strangers opening doors for you isn't an uncommon thing. It's a shame the politeness does not extend to on the road, which brings me back to the driving.

Get ready to experience road maniacs the likes of which you have never seen. I don't know how bad it is in Texas but down here in TN/AL it's awful. People cutting you off, swerving over 3 lanes to get to their exit, road rage. I hate hate hate driving here.

I hope this has helped you. One thing to remember is don't make the mistake I made and assume that because the US is a Western culture, you will fit right in and feel at home. You won't.

Elvira

Lynne - thank you so much for your 'report'. I think you have summed up so much of what we are all experiencing.

One thing I never thought I'd miss when I moved here was pubs. I'm not a habitual pub-goer, but boy do I miss them now! Back home, my girlfriends would occasionally go for a lunch at a pub by the river. Yes, mothers drinking at lunchtime, and nobody batting an eyelid!

I have never, ever been to a bar (other than a hotel-bar) in the US. As you say, not even if dying of thirst. They are such forbidding places...

Last Saturday, a few girlfriends and I went for a pleasant walk along the creek. Now, had it been in England, we would have had a relaxing drink down the pub before heading home.

As it was, guess where we ended up?




















Borders

How sad is that. And they serve lousy coffee too... :curse:

Leeds_Lass

Oh Elvira Borders! Been there, done that, bought the hat.

Thanks, I'm glad I made sense to someone!

penguinsix

I've heard from a number of expats about the lack of a pub culture. Not in the sense that you can't get a beer, but you don't really go to a 'local' with your mates here in the US. Pure US bars are dark and dank, or generally themed for something else (i.e a sports bar or a restaurant with a bar). If it is something you do quite frequently, you're in for a bit of a change coming to the states.

There are a lot of reasons, from the number of teetotlers in the US (49% of Americans abstain or consider themselves 'light drinkers') to the hyper-emphasis on families and kids (school is but half the day, the rest is piano and soccer and plays and birthdays and the ever so scary Chuck-e-Cheese). It can also be a factor of distance as in many places you simply have to drive to get a bar and the cops just park outside with the breath tester.

jumping doris

We haven't got that far yet Our PERM aplication has been submitted and our lawyer was expecting it back/approved by mid March but it hasn't surfaced. She is chasing it up. She had hoped that it would all be approved and then it would take her about 4 weeks to prepare the documents for the next stage I-485 etc then their ages are locked at that point.
We are EB2 which is all current at the moment but I am on pins in case that category retrogresses
Also, because it wouldn't do to have things go too smoothly we realised that some of us haven't had the Hep B vaccine and that takes 6 months from start to finish (3 jabs). We have been advised not to just have it done because the Dr. who does the medicals may decide we don't need it. But if we do need it I assume it will delay things even more.

Now, onto pubs. I never went to the pub much as I got older, mostly because I drink red wine and they never have nice stuff, but I did like to go to a nice country pub and sit in the garden occasionally and have a glass of good bitter.
We went out the other evening for a walk on a local trail and we just needed a pub at the end of it and of course there wasn't one.
Where we used to live we had some nice wine bars and you could have a meal there or just a bottle of wine. Here, I don't think you could just order wine but I'm not sure.

jumping doris

So have I. I hate drinking out of cardboard cups when I am staying in the place. We had a Borders near us in the UK but you only had cardboard cups if you were taking the stuff away.
I always end up in Borders or Barnes and Noble and there's always someone at the next table who listens to us and then has to come over and start asking if I'm Australian, German, Irish or English.

I like people to come round for a cup of tea or even some wine (don't let immigration find out!!!!!!) but everyone prefers the coffee shops.

Elvira

AND, of course, you cannot take your kids to a pub/bar in the US.

Family beer gardens - the concept just doesn't exist here, and Americans generally cannot even begin to grasp the idea that these are not the dens of the devil...

Elvira

Okay, Doris - IF you are serious about this GC malarcky - time to get your ducks in a row!!

- get the forms (download I-485, I-765, I-131 plus the biography form from www.uscis.gov) and start filling them in. You have to provide all the information to your lawyer anyway, so this is the most logical way of doing it.

- get all your documents in order (birth certificates, marriage certificates, tax returns............... the kitchen sink - there is a list on the uscis website...)

- unless you have reason to believe that you won't be filing within the next 6 months, get your medicals done now or soonish. Have you got your vaccination records - if not get those now.

- YOU won't need hepatitis B vax but the kids will - I assume they've had to have this done for school? Make sure your tetanus shots are up to date. Anyone who has been vaccinated against TB should get a chest X-ray done and take it to the medical. (All this is cheaper via your medical plan than through the surgeon who does the medical.)

This is sooooooooooo boring... - time for the pub.......... eh hm... :curse:

TouristTrap

Health clinics are free for kids and reasonably priced for adults (vaccinations) if your plan doesn't cover it all.

I'd call the civil surgeon (s) in your area and find out what kind of wait time you have. The appointments book up pretty fast - though some of them do do walk-ins.

jumping doris

Our ducks are in a sort of row.
We have childrens vaccination records and all the other stuff. We cannot get our vaccination records but I think we can have a titre test done.
I was reading the website the other day and they imply that we will be sent a list of approved Drs for the medical.
Can we jump the gun and get that medical done before we are asked to get it done ? (I need wine).

Time for a conversation with the lawyer.

Elvira

The medicals have to be done by a USCIS approved surgeon - that's why there is this list. But DO shop around - costs seem to vary widely.

AFAIK (but please do check!), medicals are valid for 6 months, so that should give you an idea of how to plan this.

TouristTrap

Here's where you can find designated civil surgeons in your area:


https://egov.immigration.gov/crisgwi...ffice_type=CIV

jumping doris

Thankyou. I couldn't find that page at all when I looked.

snowbunny

In Texas you can.... a minor accompanied by one or more parents or guardians may legally enter a pub/bar and even drink.... under supervision of said adults.

And I've taken my kids to a pub to watch footie.... during the day on a weekend. There's a family-friendly section and food menu. I'll admit this is not the norm.

You can serve alcohol to your child at home, too.... BUT not to someone else's child unless their parent(s) are present and supervising.

Of course, if you allow or encourage your child to overdrink, you'll be done for child abuse. Austin also has a lot of live music and a history of musicians whose parents took them to bars as children -- the children were performing in the bars long before they were even 16! (Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan and Charlie and Will Sexton, for example.)

Ray

Currently a misdemeanor $500 fine and loss of the providers
driving licence to anybody supplying alcohol to any minor
in Florida