Britfrombristol

Just a short posting to introduce myself to you all.

I lived in the US for 6 mos. last year on a tourist visa, and am about to move over with my American wife, hopefully by Christmas.

We'll be moving to my inlaw's property and thereafter wherever work takes us.

Judging from the topics, I guess I had better bring a plentiful supply of HP sauce and decent chocolate! Apart from these essentials and the obvious, is there anything else that anyone recommends that I should bring?

I look forward to hearing from you all.

Cheers,

Andy

BrigieDarling

Where in the States did you live Andy? (I said Hi before in another thread) ô¿~

Pimpbot

A Union Jack vest top always goes down well with the locals

Hello! and welcome to the board.

BrigieDarling

The matching boxers should complete the ensemble naturally!

Britfrombristol

I lived in Mississippi, where my wife was finishing off her degree.

During the 6 mos. however, I travelled around quite a few states.

Thanks for the tip about the Union Jack vest. If the locals don't like it, perhaps I could cover it up with a **** sweatshirt.

Nice to receive responses so quickly.

Cheers,

Andy

PrincessofWales

- Prawn cocktail crisps, scampi fries, and other great British snacks!

- Your favourite toiletries, there is nothing as good as Boots here.

- Enough money to get home when homesickness kicks in

- An up to date CV, minus the hobbies and marital status info.

- Clear from your mind all conceptions of easy banking, safe driving, 2 week holidays to the Med or anywhere else, good beer, good curries, good bread, good coffee!

- Forget everything you thought you knew about customer service and queuing!

ukemigrant

Agree

Disagree - all the favorites are here, cheaper and in greater quantities.

Agree

Agree, especially the bread bit - prepare to get ripped off for crap bread....

Not sure where you're going with this - I get great customer service, and people queue like civilised people where I am in PA.

Sam.

Pulaski

There are plenty of good micro-brewery beers around now, most groceries stock a fair selection, even Walmart has a few, and most restaurants seem to sell at least Sam Adams and sometimes a local micro-brew. .... Just avoid the fruit flavored ones!

We did find one half-decent Indian restaurant (it wasn't quite seedy enough to be truly great) when we lived in Virginia, but that was close to the university.

I used to think that all US bread was bad - way too sweet, but then I found "sugar free" bread. It isn't the best bread I have ever heard, but it makes much better sandwiches than regular "sweet" American bread.

I can't explain your problem with coffee. I only usually bought coffee from Starbucks even when I was in the UK, now I have a choice of a couple of Starclones to choose from too, all make great coffee.


I agree with Sam on queing and service.

PrincessofWales

Ooops....

Yes you get great customer service in the US, you do not in the UK, therefore Brits have misconceived notion of what customer service is, based on UK experience. Queuing I maintain that Brits cannot queue they cram to form a bottleneck, in the US civilised queuing prevails. Unless that is you are approaching a "Yield" sign, at this point your average US driver loses it and just pushes in.

jaytee

whoa.. i beg to differ, because sometimes service is better in Britain. I noticed right at the airport (Gatwick) last time how much smoother things ran there than some big airport back in the States (Atlanta International) where you had to get your baggage then line up to hand your baggage back again for some sort of centralized security screening, then trek all the way over to the other side of the airport by the airport train to get it back. This took over an hour last time and none of the personnel knew where you were supposed to go and were not friendly... all while your ride is circling outside the airport and the cops were slapping tickets on vehicles that even just slowed down. At Gatwick, right after you get off the escalator there is actually a friendly lady who ASKS YOU where you are going and is helpful.

Ok, but then there are problems with service in Britain. Imagine if you stopped at a Wendy's and there was no one there except one person who tells you that it is closed right now because there are "staffing problems." Never in America, but this happened while I was in the UK. Also, to get the rental car there was a wait of about 30 minutes due to a "computer problem today," but then the customer service rep. was very friendly and joked around and showed concern.

Also, this was my first time driving in Britain and I found it to be easier. If I was used to driving there, I'd say it is easier given that the roads are well-marked, signed and roundabouts instead of stop lights keeps the traffic flowing for the most part. Yeah, there are rude drivers too, but in the States we have the craziest and also the stupidest drivers (including truckers) who do not know how to drive safely thanks to relaxed testing.