Hugh Jaas

yeah I'm concerned that the kids are ok in the heat. Mind you I guess you just stay indoors during the midday hours? Police everywhere?? cheers.

Police everywhere!Damn, cancel the crime spree I had planned

Hugh Jaas

thanks mate. where you working at now Bobz?

Hugh Jaas

wow SUPER SMALL WORLD. My littleuns go to 'busybees' preschool on ThornGrove Rd.

Hugh Jaas

[QUOTE=honeymommy]Hey Hugh... Tour guide here again... LOL

Yes we had H1b.... Looong story, but due to USA screw ups we had to leave....


Hi (TourGuide)HoneyMommy, You had to leave, oh you didn’t really want to leave. Planning a come back?

I feel more reassured about the crime rates thanks. I had in my mind that stuff gets really exaggerated whenever one hears bad things about an area. I’m convinced that you can go to the safest of areas and get your car broken into. Yet I know friends, family who have lived in Salford or MossSide and never heard a peep. Granted your odds of encountering crime are less in a better area, hence why I’m not looking in Compton.

Generally when friends hear I’m going to LA, they are like, ‘ whadayounuts! it’s a war zone out there!’ cause what they know about LA is from gang movies or news from Compton and Inglewood. I think people forget that there is gun crime in the UK and we have more than our share of non-gun related crime. I hope Chief Bratton can help get LA sorted the way he did NYC.

Oops sorry HoneyM, I mean the rest Of Ventura County as opposed to Ventura City/town/thingy. I mean which area did you like the most.


Wow 14 suitcases?? How did you manage to and from airports. We’ve travelled with 2 suitcases and sprogs in tow and that’s a chore. I’m hoping that we take bare minimum and ship the rest. I guess you need a fair old chunk of change when you get over to kick start the lifestyle.

I’ve been recommended Warner Center Apartments. We are going to have to go pot luck for the first 6mths and hope we find a nice place, that doesn’t have mountain lions, fire ants, killer bees, roache sand landlords that try and rip you off with deposits. What me worry? Lol. I figured Apartment would be good as you have chance to get to know neighbours and thus get a better knowledge of the area.

Oh something I wanted to ask, Is AirCon standard in apartments/homes. It must cost a bomb to run? especially in summer.


Yeah my wife realises that she can’t work or have a SSN and her life is going to be pretty different. I’ve been to the US about 5 times now and she’s never been but she’s looking forwards to it. She is a housewife right now, but career wise she was Human Resource officer. She has done a bit of charity work and is keen to get into voluntary work or something to help the community. Maybe years to come study. Can she ever work in the US with out being sponsored by a US company? Maybe in years to come? Anyways, thankyou all for the info, it’s given me tons to think about.

More questions later.

ladyofthelake

If you can get your company to sponsor you for a green card once you are here, then the rest of the family will get theirs too. The whole process from start to finish could take up to 5 years. So plenty of time for volunteering or study your wife. I'm in the same position right now.

The preschool must be near to the main school at the Woods Lane end, right?

USBound

Hi
that apartment complex is Warner Pines and they are pretty nice places, the site has a full rundown of the different apartments available to you and they are all rather nice and about 500 yards from Genuine Games.

Bob

Still ain't working, though Neversoft just got back to me and asked for my folio again, which was nice....they were interested before for a while...
Did work at Rebellion for most of a year as my "industrial placement" year at uni..

Bob

Hey Neversoft....they almost held a position for me last year for a couple months...and just got another email from them lastnight....
Put in a word for a Brit

honeymommy

Hi again.....

No we are not planning on a return.... I would die of stress... LOL

Moorpark, Camarillo, Port hueneme... All nice areas.... Moorpark is very expensive though housewise.... The area I liked the best other than Camarillo for the outlet shopping... LOL.... Was Ojai. Ojai was a lot more rural and friendly, much more of a community feel, but it would be a hell of a drive to work......

Here's a site for Ventura county... http://www.countyofventura.org/index.asp

OK... Appartments.... Yes air con is standard, and you will need it. LOL.. Our bill was enormous at first, but in time we adjusted and the bills went down....
If you go for a 6 month contract you will probably find they charge a higher monthly rate. I have seen that done a lot. As far as deposit... You must be given it back if there is no damage/unreasonable wear and tear..... We lived in our appartment for a year, then moved to a house. I cleaned and scrubbed till it was spotless... The day after we left, they stripped the apartment, painted and put new carpet in... LOL We got our full deposit back....
As far as making friends in the complex..... It does take time. I did find that people are not as forthcoming in the US as they are in the UK... Also beware that the overly friendly people you meet could have some serious issues if you know what I mean.... I would get a guidebook... LOL
People on here can help you with getting to know the area... USbound lives nearby, for one....
Your wife will probably get most of the info about the area and make friends, if your kids will be attending an educational or play facility(expensive). Moms are very enthusiastic for play dates and things......

WIFE..... The reason I asked what your wife will be doing is that I had some problems over change with our move.......

I had allways worked as a nurse.... Part time nights for about 5yrs before we move from the UK, so very busy with work and 4 children.... Not to mention feeling more independant and contributing to the home financially.....
Moving to the USA we were told I would be able to work as soon as the green card was approved in 3 yrs.... So I looked forward to the break. Time with the twins especially who were 2 at the time.... Long story, but I hated it. I missed intellectual conversations the most. Theres only so much barney a person can take you know. LOL..... There was also the best mommy in the world competition which I did not want to take part in.... I found it very hard to fit in.... I would get complements about how wonderful the children were, polite, friendly, clever etc.... They would then get to know me and not like the way I bought the children up as I was strict.... Not hitting but strict... 'Don't do that darling, mommy doesn't like it' was not part of my vocabulary if you know what I mean.
I did make a couple of good friends, but it took about 2 yrs...... I tried for a long time, and I thought it was me for a while.... LOL Should I really love Barney????? No..... Thank god.... I have a couple of very good friends there and we are keeping in touch.......

Volunteer work is fine if you can get it, but you have to show that you are not earning anything! As far as being able to work... She could find herself a sponsor which is a slim chance..... If you are going to progress to green card status, then she will be able to work once that is approved (A few years though) Other than that.... NO she will not be able to work for the duration of your visa.... I take it she has H4 visa..... Basically H4 says she is on holiday and dependant on you....... My husband had to sign a form to show he was providing for the children and I........

If your wife is fine to stay at home and doesn't have that I need to provide and work thing I have, she will be fine in time... I am stubborn ya know ... LOL

I will advise her to get out and about asap though... with 2 kids, apartments can get very claustrophobic...... 4kids was a night mare.... :scared:

STUDY....... University and College..... She will have to pay as an international student ($42 a unit instead of $14) and be very careful... H4 visa doesn't include schooling.... She may need to change her visa type.... then you may have a problem if you choose to stay for green card..... I was told that better to go to an occupational center that didn't need student visa..... I got my USA nursing license after a yr at an occupational center.... There is one in woodland hills that offers a load of courses......
West valley Occupational Center...... http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/WVOC/

They are very inexpensive.... There is also childcare on site for a fee......

Hope this helps.... Please excuse spelling and grammar... Kid woke up early so I had to type fast....

Hugh Jaas

Hello there,

Cool stuff, lots to take on board! I heard great things about Camarillo on my last trip in March we drove through it. I know one guy who commuted from there and it takes him 40/45mins.

Port hueneme and Oxnard, I always hear loads stuff about gang activity over there. I’m sure it’s isolated to a few neighbourhoods. Oxnard especially, the local gang is called the La Colonias. There’s an injuction on out on them at the moment to prevent them gathering in the streets after 10pm and wearing their gang colours( which is Dallas Cowboys attire) It doesn’t seem as bad as South Central though.

Talking about rental deposits, some of the places I looked at in the apartment review sites, had complaints against them as they did everything to extract your deposit off you. One reason was cooking odours left in apartment, BUT all the apartments I’ve seen have the kitchen as a side room to the main lounge! You are going to get some sort of cook odours!


It’s interesting that you say that ‘… people are not as forthcoming in the US as they are in the UK...’ from my short visits I got the opposite impression. I found it easy to strike up a conversation. Maybe it’s different on a day to day basis.

‘…beware that the overly friendly people you meet could have some serious issues if you know what I mean....’ what so did you meet a lot of loonies? Maybe over friendliness is considered as a bad trait? It’s funny , cos on the TV/Movie shows it’s the eccentric OTT characters that are promoted as being the cool people.

Yeah I’ve been in touch with USbound and he lives very close to where I’ll be working.

Oh God, yeah Barney. Funnily my kids like it, I try and limit their viewing. Actually I dread my kids growing up on Barney-esque TV. So I’ve made sure we will take some good UK kids TV on DVD( Multi-region player is what I’ll be after). So we’ve got the BOB the Builder, Balamory, Thomas the tank engine collections ready. LOL.


Thankyou for all the info to help my wife. That site will be very useful! She has a 3 year degree which she got in the UK. But yes I have heard it’s a tricky thing to be changing your Visa. Thanks again.

More questions later.

PS. Lady of the lake, Yep I think that’s the same preschool! Cool!

honeymommy

[QUOTE=Hugh Jaas]Hello there,

Talking about rental deposits, some of the places I looked at in the apartment review sites, had complaints against them as they did everything to extract your deposit off you. One reason was cooking odours left in apartment, BUT all the apartments I’ve seen have the kitchen as a side room to the main lounge! You are going to get some sort of cook odours!

One thing about reviews..... Most people don't post a review so you only get a glimpse of certain opinions....... Like they say.... You do good deeds and not many people hear about it. Do a bad thing and it's on the News at 10....
I would take them with a pinch of salt.


It’s interesting that you say that ‘… people are not as forthcoming in the US as they are in the UK...’ from my short visits I got the opposite impression. I found it easy to strike up a conversation. Maybe it’s different on a day to day basis.

‘…beware that the overly friendly people you meet could have some serious issues if you know what I mean....’ what so did you meet a lot of loonies? Maybe over friendliness is considered as a bad trait? It’s funny , cos on the TV/Movie shows it’s the eccentric OTT characters that are promoted as being the cool people.

LOL... What I mean is that it takes time to make good friends... people are generally friendly, but some are overly friendly. Example... met a woman for the first time outside school... introduced herself... her daughter friend of my daughter... mother wants full weekend sleepover and playdate at my house for her daughter. dinner with me and all my english friends. then goes on to say she has a week vacation in a month and we could come along...... Never met her in my life before and our daughters only met earlier that day...... Lets just say it never happened.... I found out 3 months later mother was in detox, daughter in care, father in jail...... And thats only one example of overfriendly. I will say that hubby had few of these experiences as he was at work. I on the other hand had more out and about experiences....
OTT on TV, yup my kids love it and think it's cool.... LOL In public not so cool and sometimes downright scary..... Hahahahah....

Yeah I’ve been in touch with USbound and he lives very close to where I’ll be working.

Oh God, yeah Barney. Funnily my kids like it, I try and limit their viewing. Actually I dread my kids growing up on Barney-esque TV. So I’ve made sure we will take some good UK kids TV on DVD( Multi-region player is what I’ll be after). So we’ve got the BOB the Builder, Balamory, Thomas the tank engine collections ready. LOL.

Hate to say this, but you don't stand a chance and you will be assimilated!!!! resisitance is futile.....


Thankyou for all the info to help my wife. That site will be very useful! She has a 3 year degree which she got in the UK. But yes I have heard it’s a tricky thing to be changing your Visa. Thanks again.

If she has a 3yr degree which fits requirements for a job in the US she could find a job with sponsorship herself.... Gald the link helped.