Originally Posted by Canveydave (Post 11668926)

This has been a really interesting thread to read and is a really good snapshot of BE in general I think, some excellent answers and advice, some blunt answers, but all given trying to help.

$197k in Texas will go a long way I am sure, but with that many children I am not sure quite how far! One thing though you will be paying very little tax!

Good luck with whatever you decide. Texas has this reputation of being a bit backwards. We live in the outskirts of Houston and it is nowhere near as redneck as we thought before we moved over. In fact dare I say it, in parts it is very cosmopolitan.

We have only been here 5 months, but our standard of living is much better. Food is a bit more expensive on the whole, eating out a lot less expensive.

In my eyes there is little wrong with wanting to move somewhere to have a bigger house and a better car. Why not? There is nothing noble in staying in a %$£thole cramped in a house that's too small.

One piece of advice though, with that big a family, join Costco

Originally Posted by Yorkieabroad (Post 11669033)

Don't worry - a city as diverse as Houston is something many others aspire to....



You're already a paid up member;)

You are clearly not looking hard enough. They are so prevalent and disruptive as to be a perfectly valid reason for avoiding all 260,000 odd square miles of Texas..;)



I miss that too - when we were kids we had "pick up games", (although we didn't call them that) every week, but it's pretty much non-existent here too. Unless you are in an "organized" sport, it can be pretty hard to just play something for fun. Fun? Well there's a novel idea, what?



I agree about the sexism. As a man looking after kids here, I have to say I came across a massive wall of sexism from some of the women who can be massively sexist and "exclusionary". We eventually found friends and baby groups willing to accept a man in their midst, but it took a while. I'm sure it would have been easier elsewhere - I've done it in Singapore and Yorkshire, and both were significantly more "accepting" - I suspect other parts of the US may be easier too. As the non-working partner, there were (and possibly still are?) other things I couldn't do - sign up for cell phones, utilities etc - without my wife's "consent". I suspect most of that was 'practical' rather than sexist, but annoying all the same. I couldn't say whether that was Texas specific, but I suspect not.



Must admit, I haven't been much on the receiving end of this, although I did have an interesting conversation with our PTA president who seemed to have forgotten that my wife was Chinese:lol: I suspect my experience may be different if I were Mexican, or African American......




We've just finished a barbie, and wife is currently ferrying home a few folk that we persuaded to stay longer than intended. Her car was exclusively Brit and Scandi....the Americans drove themselves. Small sample, but interesting nonetheless....



I reckon less than half the houses I/my kids visit have guns, but that is still waaaay too many. We started about 4 or 5 with the safety talks, and my kids have all been on gun safety courses (the Boy Scouts do a much better job of this than the Girl Scouts) and are all better acquainted with gun safety than me or my wife. Very close second to swim lessons..............



I've mentioned before on here about the mom that dropped her 6 yo kid off at a swim party at our house and 'forgot' to mention that she couldn't swim, or provide her with any flotation devices....WTF??



I think a lot of people actually living here may agree with you. Out-of-staters probably not so much.



I think the recent floods drowned most of the cactus, and the cowboys are still too busy digging their chuck wagons out of the bayou to really impact our daily life....;)

Originally Posted by Boiler (Post 11669122)

How about Squash? I know they play it in Arizona.

Originally Posted by loubiblu (Post 11669275)

Try this link for electrics advice - http://britishexpats.com/forum/usa-5...ics-us-858988/

There's also a wiki article about electrics. The search function also brings up lots of advice. Good luck with the move :thumbsup:

Originally Posted by stockhall (Post 11669155)

Ok this is likely to be a daft question but what about hay fever is it prelavant? 4 years in the country and first year i have symptoms.

Originally Posted by Weeze (Post 11669352)

Allergies here, not hay fever. I suffer more. Possibly because it's different pollen, possibly just because the pollen count is higher. Allergies are a very popular talking point between Americans I find.

Originally Posted by Weeze (Post 11669352)

Allergies here, not hay fever. I suffer more. Possibly because it's different pollen, possibly just because the pollen count is higher. Allergies are a very popular talking point between Americans I find.

Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 11669384)

I'm not sure about down your way, but round here there are "seasons" for different pollens - trees, grasses, and "weeds", though the seasons overlap. People's sensitivities to each vary, and can get worse over the years. Forecasts for pollen are often included in the weatherforecast.

Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 11669384)

I'm not sure about down your way, but round here there are "seasons" for different pollens - trees, grasses, and "weeds", though the seasons overlap. People's sensitivities to each vary, and can get worse over the years. Forecasts for pollen are often included in the weatherforecast.

Originally Posted by stockhall (Post 11669155)

Ok this is likely to be a daft question but what about hay fever is it prelavant? 4 years in the country and first year i have symptoms.

Secondarily what electrical items should we forget about taking (heard tvs here won't work there ) what about things like play stations. We are not taking white goods but littleven things. We have a few laptops and tablets which should be ok.

Originally Posted by Nutmegger (Post 11669476)

I never had any kind of pollen allergies until I came to the US. This year, it has been brutal.

You say "we are not taking" as if this move is all set. I was under the impression that you haven't started work to obtain the visa yet?