Notwhereiwanttobeinlife

Yes, because I don't want any conflict and decided to keep everything in one post since I can't quote everybody's posts. but since there is conflict now anyway I will rewrite what I did post, it's extremely hard to even communicate when peoples first language isn't English, regardless of their race or colour, it's common sense and I experienced this first had in college and university and this is very frustrating.

And "woe is me"? Have up just read over what you just posted? About how tough life was for your husband? Anyway..I was stating the realities of living in London, everyone thinks the education system great because you don't have to pay for it like in the U.S. and it's great living in London ect ect. what's the point when crappy colleges and unis fail people and close down across the country? Throughout my academic life most people have dropped out or have been failed. Plus a degree alone is useless here along with the crappy social life (at my campus anyway)

But I do agree with one thing you did write, your husband had to move away - exactly my point, why build a life somewhere where you aren't happy and it won't work out for the better, sometimes it's best just to get out (if you can) and move on.

I hate being pitied upon, so I did NOT write this for pity, if this really was a woe is me post I would just give up and quit my education and stay stuck where I am and complain on Facebook or some other forum instead of trying to better my life and make plans hence why I am posting on here, for advice, not a massive lecture from people who have never experienced london or even visited and say how it is better when they have no experience of it! but I thought I would write this to make people realise that London is a sh*thole and the education system here is also *****ed even though education is funded, well for me anyway. Plus in terms of the languages in LA/California.. I'm shocked because immigration laws are much tighter in the U.S. Than the UK, and look at the size of the UK compared to the USA, the UK will soon be too overpopulated and the quality of life will be even worse (not enough public transport, food to go around, houses ect), London is too dense now

I wanted advice not a "who is worse off - the UK or the U.S. Competition"... At the end of the day, everyone is trying to better their lives and that's what I am trying to do. It may be better OR worse in LA or anywhere in California for that matter, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. It is better to explore the world than that stay put in the same miserable place or living a life you are constantly trying to escape from (booking holidays all the time to escape your job and life at home for instance).

And after my mum almost losing me and having to have me delivered prematurely when she was pregnant with me due to a cold and damp flat, fighting councils to fix it and now ending up in a house with structural/insulation problems which are creating havoc on my mums joints, you cannot blame me for wanting to move somewhere sunny!

But in all seriousness, after what you have told me, I will book a trip after graduation next summer to see for myself, just like people making out London is great I can't do the same about California but it sure as hell will be different from this current bulls**t and that's a risk I am willing to take/explore

dj6372

Good Lord what a bizarre world you live in, I live in LA, and believe me its a scary city, I think you've been watching the Kardashians too much!!
Yeah there are nice areas, I am lucky I live in one, but my god does it cost me.
There are large areas I won't even drive through!!
You do realize that LA is California which is close to Mexico????.............where I work I'm a minority, I'm white and I speak English, 90% of my colleagues are Latino, and some speak reasonable English.
I suggest you refocus your goals, sort your life out before thinking LA will cure all ills!!
Don't get me wrong I love living here, but my wife and I earn good money, we can afford to live in a nice area, we are very very lucky. I can drive 5 miles and I'm in ghettos, the streets are lined with graffiti, wrecked cars, drive thru burger places with bullet proof glass, homeless line the streets, LA is not for the faint hearted or dreamers!!

Twinkle0927

Then prepare to be even more frustrated in LA. Have you looked at a map and seen how close it is to Mexico?

I am well aware of what I have written and I didn't say anything about it being tough for him. I gave you a cold, hard fact. He became a drug addict because life was anything but tough. He grew up in a beach-side mansion in one of the nicest parts of town with very, very wealthy parents and was spoiled.

You make your own social life. You surely aren't expecting the university to organise it for you?

You totally missed my point. He had to leave LA because it is a cesspit.

OK

OK

I lived in London for 10 years

That's your opinion. My experience was completely different.

Are you being serious? You're shocked that there are Spanish-speakers in a city a bus ride from the Mexican border? Immigration rules are not strict for those that qualify - many of them will be qualifying family members of citizens. Also, this may come as a huge surprise to you, but there are illegal immigrants all over the USA but particularly in big cities and border areas. Why do you think so many of middle America voted for Trump to be president? It wasn't because of his dress sense.

Size has nothing to do with it. Large parts of the USA are empty of people because they are uninhabitable or inhospitable to human life - deserts, mountains, volcanos, swamps, etc. Just because it's bigger, doesn't mean they can fit people on every square inch. If you think London is too densely populated, you won't like LA. London has 3900 people per square mile. LA has 7000 per square mile. See those big parks in London? Look on a Google earth picture of LA and see if you can find as much green open space in the city centre.


Here we go again. What was that about not wanting pity?

Noorah101

Since your mom will not be able to come to the USA with you, doesn't that kind of disqualify the USA automatically? You need to find a place that you can both move to, don't you?

Rene

Pollyana

Do you have any idea what the immigration rules for the UK are like? Pop in to our UK forum and see for example how many people cannot take their spouse and children home to the UK because of the immigration rules. Its tough, in many ways tougher than the USA.

Pulaski

Why do you expect to find life to be wonderful in LA, or even in California, when you can dismiss the whole of London as "a §4!t40lë"? I lived in London for 15 years, but you probably couldn't pay me enough to want to move to California.

Shirtback

I'm not going to quote, because Holy Wall of Text (several times over) Batman!

"Drug culture": California practically invented it (as far as the US goes - *facetious* comment)

Where on earth in London are you studying that your fellow students can't communicate adequately in English????

Back to being sensible: you've been given good and solid advice about ways to immigrate to the US. You've also been given good advice about your feelings and thoughts/mindset.

My *opinion* is that you might need to sit down & FOCUS. Go visit LA, California, etc. More than once. Do some more research based on reality, not on dreams/fantasies.

TL: DR: if you're having a hard time in London, the US could be 1000x worse.

Twinkle0927

It's not California she needs to move to, it's the Cotswolds. Lots of white middle-class people there who all speak English. No black men with dogs. No people who speak with even a hint of a foreign accent. Surrounded by people who think UK immigration rules are too lax. No damp flats. Not over-populated. OP, get yourself a copy of the Daily Mail and a train ticket to the Cotswolds and you will have found your utopia.

Shirtback

Yup. I wouldn't want to move to either London or California (& I did have the choice at more than one point), but I'd probably take London if those 2 were my only options.

Bob

I really wish you the best of luck, but you will be in for a massive shock if you think the bucket of shit you have been dealt with will be any different in the US.

It's the same shit, different bucket. Location won't change that for you. It will be tougher.

It's worth a punt if that's what you want, but you've got to take those rose tinted glasses off and get realistic.

You'll have a shit time of things here if all the reasons are to escape what you think is bad about the UK. If the things you are looking for out here aren't related to escaping the UK, you'll have a better time of things.

Shirtback

Has this been posted yet? It might be of practical interest to the OP:
An Overview of Licensure as a Psychologist - California Board of Psychology

ian-mstm

Umm... visiting California isn't going to be like living there - and it never will be... just the same as someone from the US visiting London and loving it isn't going to have the same experience as living there. Do you not understand that simple analogy? I'll forgive you because you're only 22 and seem to have had a rough life so far... but thinking that California is going to cure things for you is a completely stupid idea.


You're the only one who cares about why you want to move. I, for one, don't care why... so please stop giving irrelevant information. Your reasoning is completely baffling. You've already discovered that your mum can't get a visa to live in the US and yet you go on and on about how great California will be for you and your mum!

Newsflash: She's not moving to the US... so perhaps you should take a step back and rethink your plan.

Ian

Nutmegger

Are you missing the point that this is British Expats? Everyone here has "experienced London" and a large number of us worked there before ending up, for various reasons, in the US. You are getting advice -- from people with first-hand experience of both London and LA. And the message that you are determined to ignore is that any problems you have in London will still exist in LA, except that there they will be greatly multiplied.

username.exe

You think a degree is useless in the UK, wait until you hit the streets in California. My wife was competing for admin roles with her Masters degree here - currently she is in school part time (whilst working full time) to get her second Masters in an attempt to secure under-compensated employment as a teacher (don't forget about the myriad of state-specific credentials and certifications you need to study and pay for as well). You need an bachelors degree here to sling a cappuccino and muck the toilets out at the local Starbucks.

scot47

Perhaps you should visit LA and get a feel of the real place. Travel broadens the mind they say.