Britlover

Hey everyone,

I was just curious if people from the UK like living in the USA? My fiance and I have been working on a K1 visa for him, and as its getting closer to him moving here, I worry that he will like life over here.

He has stayed over here with me to sample everyday life for a total of 7 months..and thats with me going to work every day and doing the normal daily routine. I still worry tho.

I worry because where he is from in England, I think that area is absolutely wonderful and cant imagine anyone ever moving away from there. I would love to live there, but I have a child in the USA that is not allowed to move.

Just wanting some feedback about the likes/dislikes/difficult things...

Manc

the first few months are great. like being on permanent holiday

after that, the novelty wears off and you realize that "this is it......... hershey bars and Glen Beck for the rest of time........."

Bob

Yeah, it's alright.

There's good and bad with everything though ain't it and it's different, not necessarily better or worse.

Plenty of threads on the subject to mull over though but how it affects you really depends on where you're moving to and from, what kind of work you can get or do to what kind of stuff you look for in life.

avanutria

My DH loves it; he's been blogging about various aspects of American life, both the good and the weird. A link to the blog is in my signature. Where in the US is your fiance moving to, and where is he now? Has he expressed any concerns or are you worrying on his behalf?

HumphreyC

It's pretty good in all but there are a few undeniably shite things about living here such as the cost of healthcare, the Republican Party and Glee.

SultanOfSwing

For me, it's just OK, but this is where my wife lives and thus so do I. Living in the UK isn't an option for us either so I just try to make the best of it. I wish I could say I love it here and it's the best in the world but I just can't . Of course, I spent 26 years in the UK versus just over 5 and a half here, so I'm bound to be just a little biased . . .

Your bloke, on the other hand might see things differently. Try not to worry about it - however he feels in the end won't be your fault, just like it's not my wife's fault that I sometimes don't like it here.

Duncan Roberts

It's OK. I don't like the working culture or the general fakeness of everything though.

SultanOfSwing

+1

It's weird how the exact time the novelty wore of for me coincided with the day I started my first job . . .

Sally Redux

I think it's nice that you're sensitive to how he may feel and have considered this. When I arrived here I was surprised how many people said, "You're from England? Why on Earth would you want to move here?"

I struggled with the differences for years and still find myself shouting at newscasters on TV, however I'm quite old and my husband is also British. I think as he has a US partner he will throw himself into the lifestyle more.

Squirrel

He could love it, dislike it, or as others have said, a bit of both. My husband went through extreme depression the first year of life in the UK, then he learned to accept it.

It's great that his feelings are upmost in your mind. If he does happen to struggle at first, it might be an idea to have a set goal (like him attaining US citizenship so that when your child is older you could always move to the UK without him having wasted all the effort to immigrate to the US).

meauxna

My DH likes pretty much everything here. He had already moved away from the UK before coming here, and his attitude is that his home is where he chooses to be. He did not have any family to leave behind in the UK and doesn't pine for anything but pork pies occasionally. He's not hung up on "being British", doesn't compare things much (less than I do), he just finds what he needs and likes in the local version and gets on with things.
I think it's totally individual, and the most important thing you can "do" for him is just keep checking in about what makes him comfortable & uncomfortable.

I read him things I've read here every now and then to get his opinion or to find out.. omg, have you been thinking this all along, etc and he just gives me this one: Maybe you, like me, will give up asking after 10 years, finally believe him that he likes it and just let him be.

AmerLisa

+1 here as well. Although DH's extended family (mother, father, sibs, etc) are in the UK. But he's always says his home is where his family (me and our daughter) is.

When I first read this thread, I remembered why I originally became a member of BE, so very long ago. I thought it would help my husband who I was sure was going to be homesick (I was after moving to the UK, wouldn't he?) After moving to the US, it was I who was homesick for the UK... But that's complicated me!

Anyway, here I am (land of BE) so many years later. I've stayed for the fun of it..... But he's never ventured here and probably never will. I, like Meauxna, tell him about things that are said here, but he can't relate. Everybody is different. I hope your guy finds the transition easy and he finds a job quickly, that seems to help.

lansbury

I like it here, don't worry about the difference just get on with life. I have always been you play the hand you are dealt kind of guy and make the best of it. Life is too short not to get the most out of where ever you are. But then I had a great time on a farm out in the bush in Zimbabwe when the occasional trip into town delivering vegetables to the local market, was the main form of entertainment.

It is different and I think a lot of Brits don't realize just how different life is here until they arrive, and it comes as a shock. The expect it to be England on a bigger scale and it isn't.

America is a great place to live, and so is England but I'm not in England so the fact they have pork pies back there and you can't get them here isn't something which occupies my mind until meauxna mentions it.

Britlover

It sounds like there are varied results, I guess I wont know if he likes it until he is here for a while. He says he loves it over here, and Im sure he does right now, but when reality sets in...he will realize that the USA has its problems like the rest of the world.

He is moving from Manchester to a smallish town in Ohio or Indiana, so a big difference.

I just wanna make sure he is happy, and we are happy. If it werent for my daughter we would already be living in Manchester, but thats life. :P

Thanks everyone! I hope that I can help him adjust ok.

meauxna

He loved the ones my mom sent him for b-day.. finally found a place with decent shipping charges & he gorged himself sick on them. Count yourself lucky because he's still working the extra weight off, and you know how hard it is for the oldies to do that.