Been here two weeks and its soooo hard .....

[True Brit 10]

Duhhhhh - Oh dear I have mixed up my posts somehow. Anyway one reply was to Harpa Timsah about the washing situation (!) and the other to Scotinmass about Portree! Sorry folks.

[Holly2234 66]

Trudi! Im sorry you are still feeling so attached to the UK. I have the odd moment when i see something British and i have to go and buy it! Aero chocolate and smarties yesterday! I went to a reservation for lunch and we get gas and cigarettes (for my husband) tax free once every couple of weeks and i actually took a quick scan around the store for once and found them! They are actually from Canada so as soon as i can drive, im going across to Canada! I promise that when i do, i will get as many "British" Canadian favourites that i can find and mail them to you!!

[True Brit 10]

Trudi! Im sorry you are still feeling so attached to the UK. I have the odd moment when i see something British and i have to go and buy it! Aero chocolate and smarties yesterday! I went to a reservation for lunch and we get gas and cigarettes (for my husband) tax free once every couple of weeks and i actually took a quick scan around the store for once and found them! They are actually from Canada so as soon as i can drive, im going across to Canada! I promise that when i do, i will get as many "British" Canadian favourites that i can find and mail them to you!!

Awww thanks Holly!

[Holly2234 66]

The perks of living on a border!! And the perks of living near a reservation. There are several imports in the stores for VERY good prices! Drop me a FB message if you are an Aero fan!!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

About the laundry, I say just do it if it's that important to you. Who cares what other weirdos think?

(I do feel sorry for people who move to back-water or country places with people who are very close-minded. It makes me sad when people mistakenly assume that's "America." I mean, that comment "that's not what we do here" would make my skin crawl. I think the USCs should think of this before they make their plans, but usually the ones who live there think it's very normal and universal. As a historian, I also lament when the world changes and forgets what used to be... especially in less than a generation...)

Edited January 30, 2013 by Harpa Timsah

[Liam and Kara 6]

Ye we all go through the homesick thing, the feeling of "have I made the right decision coming here?" how am I ever going to get independent and less of a burdeon? It is not easy, most people that come to live in the states from wherever quickly come to find out about the HUGE cultural diffence to their own country, coming from the UK i thought it would be easier than it was, but over time it does get easier...

It certainly helps you to get to know your surroundings, read the local papers find out where something is on, like others have said, in your area and pop along, I am sure once they hear your accent you will be welcomed with open arms. yes there are alot og SMALL things here that are so different to your home country, at first they can be daunting, but i looked at it from a learning experience, keep in touch with family and friends from home and talk to them about the differences and the experiences you are having on a daily basis.Get your husband to arrange a night out with his colleagues and get to know them, also build up your own friendships and it will get easier i promise, once you can build the confidence to go on the road yourself and gain freedom things will change. after 3 years here i still have days where i miss home and family and friends, i am not sure if that ever goes away, but thankfully with the internet and skype the world is a much smaller place.

good luck

[True Brit 10]

Thank you! Can anyone reading this who has been in the States for more than, say 10 years, tell us if the homesickness ever goes away completely?

[markonline1 11]

Hey Mark the typing is going much better!

Yeah, I proof read before hitting post now LOL

God, it sounds like you're having a real tough time of it! Where abouts have you moved to? Somewhere rural miles from anywhere?

Hopefully I'll be lucky, by the sea in California, a tourist destination so I'll get my fix of British accents, plus there are 4 British pubs in Monterey so I'm hoping a bit of an expat community there.

I really hope things start to turn round for you sooner rather than later ; )

[True Brit 10]

Hey Mark - now I am REALLY jealous!

[Sam and Fen 41]

Thank you! Can anyone reading this who has been in the States for more than, say 10 years, tell us if the homesickness ever goes away completely?

I have been here over 20 years and counting.

The first few years I was miserable and wanted to go back home. Now 20 years later I am glad I did not. This is my home now.

[True Brit 10]

I have been here over 20 years and counting.

The first few years I was miserable and wanted to go back home. Now 20 years later I am glad I did not. This is my home now.

Thank you so much for your post. Do you mind my asking, how many years did you want to go back? Did you move here when you were in your twenties or older than that? Sorry, I sound as if I am conducting some sort of survey but I really am interested to hear different experiences.

[Sam and Fen 41]

Thank you so much for your post. Do you mind my asking, how many years did you want to go back? Did you move here when you were in your twenties or older than that? Sorry, I sound as if I am conducting some sort of survey but I really am interested to hear different experiences.

I was in my Twenties when I first came here.

There are various answers to your question but lets rewind life to what it was 20 years ago; no internet, no skype and no cell phones so keeping in touch with your friends and family was almost impossible. Back then if I had to call home it was $2.64 for the first minute and $1.61 for every minute after that.

If you wanted to watch TV or sports that you grew up with..oh well forget about it.

You are here now and you have none of the issues I had 20 years ago.

At some level you never really stop missing your roots. The sooner you assimilate yourself with life in the US and learn American slang the easier it will be for you.

[pgmsc 3]

Thank you! Can anyone reading this who has been in the States for more than, say 10 years, tell us if the homesickness ever goes away completely?

I don't know that it ever really goes away. Obviously, I've lived in the US all my life, but it's a big place and I've lived in different regions. I grew up in Maine, moved to Florida at 19 and lived there about 12 years, and have been in Atlanta for the last 5. It took a long time for Florida to feel like home, and Atlanta is just starting to. There are things I miss about living in Maine and Florida - I don't know that it ever really goes away, but I don't hate Atlanta anymore, so I suppose that is a plus. (Although, if anyone knows anyone hiring for certified fraud examiners in the Boston/New England area - contact me!).

On the adjustment side of things for my hubby, he says he's starting to feel ok about being here, but there are some things that are really annoying. After 7 weeks, we've finally gotten him a state-issued ID (after a lot of runaround because Georgia requires a lot of paperwork to verify you) and having a hard time getting him established. We haven't been able to add him to any of my bank accounts. Two of them say it's because nothing comes up when they run his SSN (and luckily for him, his number was assigned out of the 700 block previously reserved for the Railroad Board, so it either comes up as an invalid number or no information at all), and to try back in 12 months once he's established himself. The other, my credit union, required a state ID, which he was having a hard time getting because he needed two proofs of residency (such as utility bills - try adding him to an account with a SSN that comes up blank), so we couldn't add him to that. Hopefully, now that he has the state ID, we can go back to the credit union and add him to that checking account and credit card account, and maybe in the next month or so it will finally look like he exists here. All of this baloney has really gotten him down because he knows it's partly why he's having a hard time finding a job, and he's tired of feeling like a leech (even though he's not and I really and truly appreciate what he does at home!). I knew it was going to be a hard adjustment, but it really gets to you when you're in the middle of it.

Oh, and the laundry thing - that might have to do with a homeowner association rule. Some places are incredibly strict and won't let you do certain things for appearances' sake, and they'll fine you if you're caught doing it. That might be what your husband meant. My husband wants to hang out our laundry, too, but I have to keep explaining to him that he can't because we live in the pollen capital of the country, I'm really allergic to pollen, and his clothes will all turn yellow .

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Two of them say it's because nothing comes up when they run his SSN (and luckily for him, his number was assigned out of the 700 block previously reserved for the Railroad Board, so it either comes up as an invalid number or no information at all), and to try back in 12 months once he's established himself. The other, my credit union, required a state ID, which he was having a hard time getting because he needed two proofs of residency (such as utility bills - try adding him to an account with a SSN that comes up blank),

Has he tried applying for a Capital One secured card? I too was "nobody" and I'm good to go now!

Give it a shot. Costs $49 for a $200 limit and then he'll be on the map

[Donna & Paul 4]

We had a bit of a time getting Paul established as well. We tried the BlueBird thing at WalMart and a couple of other prepaid credit cards. Nothing! They kept saying he wasn't showing up at all. I finally ended up taking him down to the local bank here and taking out a small loan and co-signing with him just to get him some credit history going(not the route we wanted to go, but hey). I'd added him to my credit card as an authorized user but that was also of little use. Good luck with getting him established, it will take some time, but it will happen. Within a month of him having his EAD/AP card he had a full-time job so that was fantastic!

We, too, are in Georgia. We had to wash the pollen off our cars last week...in January.