georgiaw

Hi peeps

For anyone on the immigration forum we recently were successful through the DV lottery and are planning to move to the US in oct / nov next year

My hubby is a health correspondant for the BBC (regional not national - in US speak regional not Network) and we are putting our feelers for where's the best place to relocate too

Ideally we'd like to be in the NE massachusetts area as that's our favourite place but realise that NY and Washington DC seem to be the hubs news wise ???

We're over in MA in May to verify visas and start the process of finding somewhere to live etc - we'd like to move then but he can't be released from this contract until after that date - but we'll see

Any journo's out there that can give any advice

lastly i'm an accountant so any advice on my profession gratefully accepted

thanks peeps

Georgia

PS merry christmas & happy new year to all

penguinsix

What sort of visa do you have that is going to let you in to work?

georgiaw

We won the DV lottery so we have a green card

penguinsix

Ok. Sorry to ask but about 99% of the people who ask questions like the one you did haven't a clue on the visas.

Washington and NY are the news hubs, with LA and Atlanta (CNN) also somewhat important. Washington is quite a mixed city in that with all the embassys, the World Bank and IMF, and the media and whatnot you'll meet people from all over the world doing all sorts of odd things..What would be a great package would be something like this0:

Come to DC, hubby works in journalism or for a 'think tank' or 'trade association' (lobbyist) in their media relations department. You get a job with the World Bank or IMF (with great time).

Unfortunately the reality is that most journos don't make that much and there are far too many of them already in the US. As an accountant you'll probably fare better, but the accreditation system is a bit different (there are many threads on this on the board).

Good luck in your job hunt. The http://www.washingtonpost.com has a very good job section for DC so you can see what is out there.

Thydney

If he's involved in news reporting he's better off getting a new line of business because I don't think they have journalists here just bush suck ups

georgiaw

Thanks for this I appreciate the pointers - sometimes knowing where to start is the hardest part of the whole process

georgia

georgiaw

Had heard a small rumour that this was the case = he's definitely a news journo with morals so I've been a little worried about exactly how he'd fair !!!

NC Penguin

You both had better start brushing up on American English, especially your husband if he wants to continue working in journalism. The lingo here is similar to British English but there's grammatical differences as well as the obvious spelling differences.

Do you have kids? If so, you will have to look for good, affordable education and this may help determine where you live. e.g. MA vs. CT vs. VA vs. MD sort of thing.

georgiaw

Thanks for the heads up - he's already onto the american english and my cousin lives in MN so her and her american hubby are helping us loads - we're also books fiends so are trying to be as prepared as possible

We have a 5 yr old and 2 yr old and education is extremely important to us so we are looking into the education in the states we are looking at - it appears that MA is ok for education - dependant very much on the area or locality you live in obviously

are there any online resources for getting the grading for each district etc ??

thanks again

penguinsix

Read the WIKI on education, and then check out sites like http://www.greatschools.net/. You have to understand that the US is tremendously huge with different cultural values in different cities. There is no set national curriculum that applies to all schools as local school districts really chafe at 'some bureaucrat in DC deciding what their kids will learn', so kids in some states learn about one thing and kids in another learn something else. It can be hard to compare apples and oranges.

It's not the state that is important, or even the city, but the neighborhood you live in that often determines the quality (or lack thereof) of the schools near you. You really have to choose your housing wisely (i.e. down to the right street) to get into the school of your choice.

Forbes (business mag) just did a list of the top 20 areas to raise a kid. DC / VA is #1 actually. Some of the high schools in the wealthier DC suburbs are amongst the top in the country.

http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2007/...ate_slide.html

NPR is also based in DC (National Public Radio). Many jobs with them. http://www.npr.org

penguinsix

You would be wise to believe about 0% of the rumors you hear in Europe about the USA, and trust about 0% of expectations of what you will find when you get here. It's not like Hollywood makes it out to be, nor is it like the European media makes it to be. And it certainly isn't what a the chattering classes make it out to be.

HoosierDaddy

I was also going to suggest NPR.

AlienUk

I suggest brushing up on your grammar - you already managed to mess up the title of this thread....

snowbunny

That would be a typo -- she left out the 'h' in "where" Mr Picky.

Atlanta might be interesting as a health correspondent since that is where the CDC is (Centers for Disease Control). Just a thought.

Also -- a journo with an English accent is well received so long as it's moderated enough that an American can understand.

AlienUk

I'm a Ms Picky lol....I have BOOBIES dammit!!