Re: How is your life in the US better than the UK?
 

I went to help a turtle off the road a while back, and the little ****er hissed at me, then started running. They're lying bastards, turtles, they really can move fast :D

Anyway, I managed to pick him up and move him to safety but I wasn't expecting that to happen.

Re: How is your life in the US better than the UK?
 

Overall, I like living here in the US.

If you like decent junk food like I do then moving to the USA will be very disappointing. No decent kebabs, fish & chips, Chinese or Indians anywhere. Most food here is bland, unseasoned and just boring, in my experience thus far.

As an animal lover and someone who studies zoology generally, I am in my element here. I will never tire of watching hummingbirds feeding in my garden (I refuse to say 'yard') nor cease to be amazed at the rich diversity of wildlife here.

Watching birds feeding well into the evening twilight, something that would never happen in the UK (because there is more daylight there) is amazing for me.

I'm lucky that I live near the mountains and can watch black bears in their natural habitat along with the antics of their cubs!!

I do find the culture here of 'trophy hunting' (as opposed to considered animal population control) extremely upsetting but I just block it out, tbh.

House and land prices here show how crazy the prices are in the UK. It's all supply and demand though, isn't it?!

I find the fact that the concept of defensive driving doesn't seem to exist over here, coupled with the police not appearing to enforce distracted driving laws, incredibly irritating but I don't want to go down that rabbit hole as I will get too negative!!

The one big issue for me is affordable healthcare and that will in time dictate how long I remain over here. Healthcare over here knocks UK healthcare into a cocked hat - as long as you can afford it.

Re: How is your life in the US better than the UK?
 

(excuse the snip)

Overall, I do too. It took me a good 7/8 years to realise that though. At first I liked it, but then the honeymoon period wore off and I spent quite a long time very unhappy to be here. Plenty of posts floating around BE from 2010/11ish to back that up :lol:. A while back though, I sort of stopped feeling like that, then I got a new job and wasn't under as much stress and I started actively liking it again.

On the food - I'm in the minority among ex-pats, I think, but I like it. Not sure where you are in Virginia, but if you're close to a reasonable sized town they may have an Indian restaurant you can try. I'm lucky that we have one quite close to home and it's really very good. That being said, I've found Mexican food does a great job of filling in the junk food gaps.

Re: How is your life in the US better than the UK?
 

:rofl:

You probably disturbed his daily tarmac treadmill workout!!

Re: How is your life in the US better than the UK?
 

Quite possibly. One would think he'd have been happier in the grass anyway, there was a culvert nearby so he's closer to water.

Re: How is your life in the US better than the UK?
 

I think the outrageous property prices are a UK thing. Frankly, I don't know how they do it.

We've been watching Kirstie & Phil a bit, and it's shocking what people pay for an attached 2-3 bedroom flat - not even anywhere near London.

For the 400-600K (pounds) they pay for that, we could buy a 5-bedroom, 5 bath villa on 5 acres of land, minutes from the beach (and we're an island!). I reckon that would buy far more than just a big house in much of the US.

Re: How is your life in the US better than the UK?
 

Watch out for snaping turtles, we get them round here, though I have never seen one. The shell of a snapper is flattish, it can grow up to 12" across, its neck can spring out quite a way and it has a "beak" that is capable of removing a finger. :eek: ..... They're mean ****ers! :frown:

Re: How is your life in the US better than the UK?
 

Anywhere near Annecy? The French police are still trying to investigate the Annecy shootings that took place in 2012, and they're still drawing blanks. I imagine that's why they were stopping cars that day.

Re: How is your life in the US better than the UK?
 

I've heard of them. My wife apparently stumbled across one when she was a kid, and it sounded like a vicious specimen. The one I found was a painted turtle. This one:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-...ted-turtle.jpg

Pretty innocuous, I think I just pissed him off.

Re: How is your life in the US better than the UK?
 

I probably get stopped at a checkpoint about once every couple of years on average, usually run by sheriff's deputies in the county, I think only once "in town" by police. They look at my licence and I'm on my way, though I did notice that at an in town checkpoint a year or so back a police officer stepped behind my truck to look at the tag while another officer checked my licence; maybe he was checking for the tax sticker. :unsure:

I think I was stopped once at a sheriff's deputies' checkpoint on the same sort of basis when we lived in Virginia.

Re: How is your life in the US better than the UK?
 

I have to agree with the house prices in the UK. I also don't know how people manage. Used to live in Kent and had a look at house prices online:eek:
I still get job offers online and when I look at salaries an average salary gets you nothing. Then again, US is very expensive too, in areas where you have good employment opportunities.

Re: How is your life in the US better than the UK?
 

They don't have $5-10k property taxes to pay each year :)

Re: How is your life in the US better than the UK?
 

Round you're way they're probably looking for illegal liquor though, aren't they?

Presumably, because you drive a truck, you're at suspicion. Just don't haul around a lot of sugar, or Mason jars in the back :lol:

Neither do I. I pay $3K :p

Re: How is your life in the US better than the UK?
 

The shell and tail look similar to a snapping turtle, though more colourful. I could see they might be related, hence the ornery attitude.

Re: How is your life in the US better than the UK?
 

'Snaping:

Kind of a cross between snapping and sniping at someone, must be delivered in a manner akin to Hogwarts legend and all around sex bomb, Professor Severus Snape.'