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Where in USA is most like UK?!

Where in USA is most like UK?!

Old Apr 21st 2015, 9:45 am
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Default Re: Where in USA is most like UK?!

Alabama or Mississippi.
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Old Apr 21st 2015, 2:32 pm
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Default Re: Where in USA is most like UK?!

Originally Posted by MarylandNed
I assume you left the UK because you were looking for something different.
Actually... no. Purely a lab research-based decision

I agree with all or most of your points, including the one about it's generally a bad idea to take time off. This is why I didn't do this till now, even though I've really needed to for a while. It is generally a bad idea, however I have a pretty unusual circumstance really. Unusual enough that my supervisor and I have come up with this plan together, amicably, with a full plan to return later.

Well there has been a sudden update in this situation. My boyfriend has persuaded his supervisor to let him graduate earlier than we'd anticipated to come with me, so I guess I'll spend a lot of the time in the place where he's going to postdoc. Probably somewhere in California! Advantages here are of course that there will definitely be a big-ass library! However, I probably won't spend the entire time with him. Everything is up in the air again!

Luckily, I've now learned that I have no visa issues or anything, specifically because of bureaucracy surrounding the summer semester (which ordinarily is no different to us than any other). I can just reduce my credit hours to zero, stop getting paid, and otherwise continue as normal! It's eerily perfect.
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Old Apr 21st 2015, 8:47 pm
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Default Re: Where in USA is most like UK?!

Originally Posted by SuperScienceGrl
I agree with all or most of your points, including the one about it's generally a bad idea to take time off. This is why I didn't do this till now, even though I've really needed to for a while. It is generally a bad idea, however I have a pretty unusual circumstance really. Unusual enough that my supervisor and I have come up with this plan together, amicably, with a full plan to return later.
I never said it was a bad idea to take time off - that must have been someone else. Actually, I think taking time off to travel is a great idea if you have the opportunity. I've done that myself in the past including a 3 month jaunt around Canada, the US and Caribbean when I was in my mid 20s. I wish I had done more of that.
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Old Apr 22nd 2015, 12:02 am
  #49  
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Default Re: Where in USA is most like UK?!

I thought Alexandria, VA was very British-ish.

But anyway, not in the US but the most British-like place I've ever been in N America was Victoria, BC. If it wasn't for people driving on the other side of the road, you'd think you were in Plymouth or nearby. And bear in mind - they did used to drive on the left side of the road up until the early 1960s. I saw several old RHD British cars there.
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Old Apr 22nd 2015, 12:16 am
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Default Re: Where in USA is most like UK?!

Head for southern California. I am sure CA is one of the most 'civilised' places in the USA and while the US stereotypes you speak of certainly exist here, people are in general more laid back and open than I've seen on the East Coast.

It's not cheap but if you live in some of the smaller towns on the train line you will have your public transport. After an Illinois winter, you might be suprised how much the weather on this side will help you mood/life/health/general outlook on life.

If you're on savings you might want to look into house/pet sitting?
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Old Apr 22nd 2015, 7:48 am
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Default Re: Where in USA is most like UK?!

Originally Posted by sherbert
Head for southern California. I am sure CA is one of the most 'civilised' places in the USA and while the US stereotypes you speak of certainly exist here, people are in general more laid back and open than I've seen on the East Coast.

It's not cheap but if you live in some of the smaller towns on the train line you will have your public transport. After an Illinois winter, you might be suprised how much the weather on this side will help you mood/life/health/general outlook on life.

If you're on savings you might want to look into house/pet sitting?
The entire west coast of the US is like the polar opposite of the NE coastal states.

The southern east coast states are different, but not as bad as the NE and their uptight attitudes compared to the west coast.

Suppose it helps the west coast only consists of 3 large states vs a bunch of small states clustered onto the coast.

Gets more laid back the further north you go on the west coast, Oregon and WA by all accounts I find most laid back of any state except Hawaii which had to be the most laid back place I have gone.
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Old Apr 22nd 2015, 1:30 pm
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Default Re: Where in USA is most like UK?!

Originally Posted by Jsmth321
The entire west coast of the US is like the polar opposite of the NE coastal states.

The southern east coast states are different, but not as bad as the NE and their uptight attitudes compared to the west coast.
Have you ever been to the NE???? In actual fact, the two coasts have much more in common than the section down the middle.
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Old Apr 22nd 2015, 2:33 pm
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Default Re: Where in USA is most like UK?!

Originally Posted by Nutmegger
Have you ever been to the NE???? In actual fact, the two coasts have much more in common than the section down the middle.
Not to all of them, but the one's I went to were all fast paced, less then friendly to downright rude.

NY, NJ, DC, BOS, and Pennsylvania.

Laid back and easy going those places were not in my experience.
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Old Apr 22nd 2015, 2:56 pm
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Default Re: Where in USA is most like UK?!

Originally Posted by Jsmth321
Not to all of them, but the one's I went to were all fast paced, less then friendly to downright rude.

NY, NJ, DC, BOS, and Pennsylvania.

Laid back and easy going those places were not in my experience.
Just as not everyone on the west coast is Jeff Spicoli, not everyone on the east coast is Gordon Gekko. I recall the staff of the west coast offices of the NYC companies I worked for being just as driven as the east coast ones!
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Old Apr 22nd 2015, 5:00 pm
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Default Re: Where in USA is most like UK?!

Originally Posted by MarylandNed
I never said it was a bad idea to take time off - that must have been someone else. Actually, I think taking time off to travel is a great idea if you have the opportunity. I've done that myself in the past including a 3 month jaunt around Canada, the US and Caribbean when I was in my mid 20s. I wish I had done more of that.
That was me! Time off before launching into a program is a great idea (I did it myself). Less so, when you've started and hit a bunch of issues and are generally feeling miserable about it. Walking out on an unresolved problem will (a) not fix it; and (b) keep it ready and waiting for you when/if you return.

Originally Posted by SuperScienceGrl
Well there has been a sudden update in this situation. My boyfriend has persuaded his supervisor to let him graduate earlier than we'd anticipated to come with me, so I guess I'll spend a lot of the time in the place where he's going to postdoc. Probably somewhere in California! Advantages here are of course that there will definitely be a big-ass library! However, I probably won't spend the entire time with him. Everything is up in the air again!
Does he already have leads on postdocs? There are no guarantees of getting something, much less of it being somewhere you want to live...

Also, I'm a bit baffled about all this talk of libraries. Don't you have electronic access to everything through your current school? Why would you need a library (except for its pivotal role in your romantic image of your time off...)?

Also, having spent some 4 months without my supervisor, who had buggered off with a promise to "be on email" (he may have been, but he sure wasn't replying to me!), I can assure you that 'having time to think about things and read lots of stuff' is not all it's cracked up to be. That was one of the most (clinically) depressing periods in my PhD, even with the rest of the department AND the library at my disposal. I have heard similar reports from people who attempt to keep up a Skype supervisory regime while their advisor is on sabbatical.

Sorry to be a downer - I just want you to make sure you're not looking at all this through rose-tinted spectacles
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Old Apr 22nd 2015, 9:18 pm
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Default Re: Where in USA is most like UK?!

Haha I really would agree it's usually a bad way to go. However, people here (profs, administrators... me) are all for it this time around.

Some leads, re: postdocs (nothing too official). I would say things are likely to be positive. But nothing's set in stone yet.

When I first posted this, I was deeply concerned that I would no longer have journal access, because that's what happens in an official leave of absence here. Can you even imagine trying to work?! Paper journals?! Luckily, I've been able to get an 'unofficial' leave of absence. I was pretty concerned for a bit, though.

Yep. I actually need this though. I'm going to check in with the supervisor every 3-4 weeks, which is as often as we have individual meetings anyway. I don't even require replies - just to make notes on what's going on. Also... he's pretty good, with, well, everything. Note that I'm not remotely miserable with my lab/supervisor/research situation - I haven't even left yet but those are making me want to come back already!
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Old Apr 23rd 2015, 3:08 am
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Default Re: Where in USA is most like UK?!

Originally Posted by SuperScienceGrl
When I first posted this, I was deeply concerned that I would no longer have journal access, because that's what happens in an official leave of absence here. Can you even imagine trying to work?! Paper journals?!
In my previous life as a chemist I would hit the road with my SciFinder account linked to electronic journals via a proxy login at the institution's library. Hopefully you could do something similar.
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Old Apr 23rd 2015, 6:45 am
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Default Re: Where in USA is most like UK?!

Victoria BC is the most British city I have been to on this continent so far.

What you could do is head to Seattle, base yourself there and jump on the sea bus to Victoria whenever you feel the need for high tea.

Seattle, in addition to being my favourite city in the US, has the added bonus of an excellent independent coffee shop scene (shocking, right?) - perfect for writing papers and so on. Worked great for me.

Parts of Seattle are pricey, but I was able to live there within my meager postdoc budget just fine. It also has good public transit.
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Old Apr 23rd 2015, 2:14 pm
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Default Re: Where in USA is most like UK?!

As soon as I saw the thread title, Boston immediately came to my mind, and saw it has been mentioned several times already.

I live just 20mi from Boston, and wouldn't even think of moving to a different place- this place reminds me of UK in all aspects and we even get a decent Fish n Chips here!! Especially Boston Public Library- cannot get more British than that!
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Old Apr 23rd 2015, 2:28 pm
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Default Re: Where in USA is most like UK?!

Originally Posted by SuperScienceGrl
Some leads, re: postdocs (nothing too official). I would say things are likely to be positive. But nothing's set in stone yet.
If there's one thing I've learnt since I've been here: the academic job market is a bitch. Not just because it is competitive, but because it can be so breathtakingly random. Hope for the best; plan for unemployment; believe nothing until an offer is in writing!

Originally Posted by SuperScienceGrl
Note that I'm not remotely miserable with my lab/supervisor/research situation - I haven't even left yet but those are making me want to come back already!
Well, if your reasons for needing a break are entirely unrelated to your studies/location, then hopefully there won't be a mental barrier to your return.

Best of luck to you
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