Ideas to help ease the boredom of "hurry up and wait"?

[MNCouple 3]

My husband picked up and moved from New Zealand to be here with me in the good ole USofA... but lately, I think the days of sitting at home doing nothing while I'm working as been starting to wear on him. He's the kind of guy who likes to be active and doesn't like many leisure activities, he doesn't watch tv or like to read much.

He doesn't really know anyone and he can't work yet while he's waiting for his EAD card. He's started riding his bike more and trying to get people from a local dirt bike club to go out on trails with him...

We've had a couple of disagreements and some of it comes from the fact that he's just not happy during the day. And other things just seem to come from cultural differences.

Anyway, what are some things that you or your spouse did during the waiting period to help alleviate some of the negative feelings that come from being lonely, bored, etc?

[redglasses 1]

I mainly studied for the DL written test, went grocery shopping, and got used to driving in the city with my international driving permit.

I thought of volunteering at a local hospital, but my GC arrived before long.

[MNCouple 3]

I mainly studied for the DL written test, went grocery shopping, and got used to driving in the city with my international driving permit.

I thought of volunteering at a local hospital, but my GC arrived before long.

Volunteering is a good idea. We actually live right next to a medical clinic that has urgent care and we also live near a library. I'll mention volunteering to him and see if he likes it. Studying for the DL written test is also a good one!

Thank you.

[jle930sl 0]

My husband did some volunteering while he waited.

But most of the time he spent just doing some housework (dishes etc), watching movies (we have netflix but no cable), and playing computer games. Occasionally he'd read. He also spent some time hanging out with some friends he met through me.

We had some disagreements as well during that time - we had to adjust to being together again, being married, and him having just moved across the world - that's a lot for anyone to handle all at once. Now that he's working again he's much happier and we disagree less. His drive for things in the bedroom (and mine as well) diminished during that time of waiting as well - even though we were (of course) newly weds.

All of those issues did go away when he got a job. Not immediately at first, but very quickly afterwards. So just keep that in mind when you guys have issues related to the waiting/adjusting. It helped me to remember that.

Another idea is to maybe find some online classes - there's a lot of free stuff online. Does he enjoy learning? Or maybe he could use this time to do some stuff to further his career/future job prospects?

Hope this helps!

[movingsoon2 0]

Hi,

I've been in your husband's situation for the past 4 months. My husband did some things that helped me out a lot as I stayed home the whole day:

- got a gym membership, I have never worked out so hard but felt great after

- he got us a cable tv, can watch anytime, anything ..

- we have a notebook so I'm online a lot on my favourite websites, especially on this one he he...

- got us a good phone plan so I can call home anytime

- got us 2 cats, which drove me crazy the first few months but now I like their company

- took me out to a nice restaurant once a week ,it made me feel special like we were dating again

Beside the above entertaining ..., I spent time cooking, cleaning, weeding, studying for dl - but was turned away until I get a green card.

Now I got a job, and it feels amazing!

hope it helps

[Nik+Heather 121]

http://www.volunteermatch.org/

Has a LOT of things for Phoenix at least. I was just sort of curious and put in 5 miles away from the house doing something with computers and came up with dozens.

You can narrow it down based on your skills or what sort of group you'd like to help - homeless, kids, or even immigrants!!

It reminds me a lot of things like monster for jobs.

Anyway, hope things work out soon!