I just realised that it's been a year today since I slipped the I-130 and G-325a's in the outgoing work post. Back then, I had no clue what VJ was and I certainly didn't know anybody else doing something as crazy as thinking about quitting their job and moving 3,000 miles away because it seemed kinda like a good time to try something new.

Although I think the big anniversary (and big long post about My First Year) will come when we've actually been over here a year, I still think: wow. We did this!

You'll be lifting conditions before you know it!


A chill went down my spine when I realized that wasn't so far away for us - more paperwork! more bleeding of money!

Ouch - how much does it cost to remove conditions?!

It's $545 right now. No telling how much it will be by the time we get to it, though. I've been here over a year, but my AOS took a while so I won't begin the process to lift conditions for another 18 months. Actually, I'm not that upset. I know it could be worse. I'm just happy to have the break from the paperwork.

Yeah - tbh I kinda can't wait to take a break from it all - at the moment I feel liek I am running around like a maniac trying to get everything up together - moving, wedding, visa... it is crazy! I can't wait for some normality but I know even that might take a while - moving to the desert in the middle of summer isn't going to help me relax I am sure!! I just want to give myself a chance to settle in and I don't know how long that will take!

My husband and I feel the exact same way about the break from the paperwork!!

The time goes by faster then we think huh!! Congrats on making it this far! Continued success for the future!

For me it took a year. The challenges were a combination of adjusting to a new country and their way of doing things (and talking), and learning to be married. I'm not quite sure which one was harder. Probably sharing my space and accepting that things don't have to always be done my way. I remember my girlfriend calling me and asking if I had any regrets. I said "Sometimes I'd just like to sit on the couch and not have to respond when someone walks by and says something." She said "Oh, that'll come. Give it 10 years."


Thank you, AJames. And the same to you!

I'm sorry, Maven. I feel like I'm hijacking your thread.

No worries! One of the beauties of VJ.

I mentioned to the boy last night that it had been a year. His response, "Oh. You keep track of that stuff?"

Oooh - we have a hostage situation here!!

Yeah - I know it will take time to settle - I know I will find it hard and I just want to make sure that I persevere long enough to give things a chance for me to adjust!! This place will be a huge help I am sure

Men.


VJ has been a lifesaver for me. Well, not at first. People were pretty mean. But then a whole pile of really nice people joined and now I have virtual friends! It's weird.

TOTALLY OT but..... I'm online with my sister in West Yorkshire. Well, not online. She's at work and we're emailing. She and her husband arrive in two sleeps! She's doing a last shop this evening and is asking if there's anything else I want. My order's in for:

• Yorkshire Gold tea
• Weetabix honey nut minis
• treacle
• curry ketchup
• stem ginger biscuits, dark chocolate digestives
• Cadbury's, Toffee Crisp, Maltesers
• Everton mints
• Lovely soaps (the kind you wash with. lol)

Is there anything I'm forgetting? Or have I got it pretty much covered?

Oooh.... umm... any ingredients you need for that recipe book of yours!!! Decent cheese perhaps... mustard? (I hate it - Jeremy loves it)... decent chocolate... ok not very good if you are on a diet but...

I asked for cheese but she said no. The last time she was here they specifically asked her about it.... it's banned. I so don't get that. It's going straight into my stomach. How is that a threat?


Oh good idea! *runs and gets recipe book*

As for making friends - I know there are a lot of people on here who are quite opinionated but then they have been around on VJ enough to form these opinions - and to each their own I say!! I think that my July/CSC K-1 group have been lifesavers and we have grown realyl close in the process - I am really looking forward to moving onto the next stage with them all and finding out how we are all getting on (as well as providing ears/shoulders for venting purposes!!!)



Since when has cheese been banned?!?!? Jeremy takes it home with him everytime and I always take some with me when I visit!!! I even got sniffer-dogged once and explained I had cheese in there and the customs person said that was fine and asked if I had any plant life, fruit/veg or meat!!! (Which I didn't so I had to go have my case x-rayed - joy!)

Maybe that's the difference. We didn't have any monthly filer groups when I joined. But I ended up bonding really well with the people in the Canada Forum. They're really nice in there.

Maybe it's just this airport? (Orlando)

Possibly - although I flew into LAX and get a grilling by Immigration each time - sniffer dog lady didn't seem to care about the cheese or dried dates though so!! Very odd... ah well - maybe you can talk someone else into bringing cheese with them or pick some up when you're back in the UK - worst they can do is confiscate it

I think what has been helpful with the July bunch is that there are so many of us - it has made life so much better - we can all find out answers to questions and help each other out with things we don't understand without just being given a link to a guide . We can ask newbie questions without repercussions or being treated like we are igorant and it is generally brilliant I've even set up our own little thread in the Moving to America forum so we can keep in touch

I saw that thread and was jealous. But I agree about the group thread and helping each other out. I was just thrown to the wolves.

Ouch - that canj't have been good!! I must say I do like the social side of this site and I am glad for the large July group!!!

Even if it did mean my NOA2 took 150 days or so

I must agree with Aly - the July filers thread rules!! I love my July buddies!

Krikit, there are definitley some wolves here on VJ, and even some wolves in sheep's clothing! But there are also some really good people here, so I stick around! Kinda like your custom title! I love your Vini, Vidi, Velcro! It always makes me laugh!

Regarding food items, I always bring back some Branston Pickle. I love that stuff!

Oh yeah!! And decent vinegar for your chips Vegetable stock cubes were always a bit of a challenge to find as well...

I re-christen this thread: General UK VJ Chit-Chat!

And in that vein, ugh! They are actually making me work today at this here job! Don't they know I come to work to go on VJ?!?!?!!?

me too I have so much real work to get through today and tomorrow as I'm on holiday begfinning Friday! Can't stay away from this place. I think its a sickness!!!

This site is an addiction. As I have yet to find a local group of VJ Anonymous, I have to keep coming here

Speaking of work, how did everyone break the news to their employers that they were emigrating?

I work for a very small (7 employees) company and we're all pretty friendly with one another, but I've been hesitant in bringing up the prospect of moving abroad. I'm sure my boss won't mind (his daughter is in California and he teases me about visiting the US a lot) but I was going to wait until I had a firmer idea of when I shall be moving.

Also: The only food requests I get from Alex's family are Jaffa Cakes - and lots of 'em! I have, in fact, sent out over 15 Jaffa Cake parcels to various people in the US. Everything else I may miss I've either managed to find in a store/British food store or have found a good equivalent for, but there's nothing to match Jaffa Cakes.

Work wont be a problem for me, I ran my own business.
Jaffa cakes however will be a problem, when Randy came here in September he got hooked on Jaffa cakes. He took some back with him and I sent some over at Christmas. I can see me moving there with one suitcase full of clothes and the other full of Jaffa cakes

I did almost exactly that over Christmas - I only had one suitcase, but half of the space was occupied by 8 packets of Jaffa Cakes!

I started talking about leaving about 18 months before I actually did -- to everyone but my direct boss. Even the chief exec knew! I just couldn't bring myself to tell him, because I am so fond of him and I knew what a blow it would be to him as we were a department of two people. And it just got harder and harder... and then I called him into a meeting the day before I was due to go off on a business trip to Washington. I told him we had applied for a visa, and that the first forms hadn't been approved yet, so we didn't even know if I would be quitting as my husband might not get the visa.

My boss was really, really sad, but said he always knew there would be a risk that I might someday want to go back to America, particularly as the more fun stuff in my field is happening over here right now. He accepted my informal resignation, contingent on the visa being granted. That was 5 months before I actually left, as I waited to give my 2 months' notice until we had an approval at the Embassy. I had two (!) going-away parties at work, which were both awesome.

Telling my boss and my ex-husband that I was leaving the UK were two of the hardest conversations I have ever had to have. I felt, in a small way, that I was letting them both down. Silly, huh? I knew I had to get on with my life but I still felt that they both needed me. And yes, they both still email me and call me to ask stupid questions only I know the answer to, but they're both fully capable of living without me. Funny, that.

I know exactly what you mean about letting them down - I don't have an ex-husband but it was hard abandoning work for three weeks over Christmas. It's sweet that they still both e-mail you! It's a real compliment.

Thank you for sharing. Five months' informal notice sounds about right; plenty of warning, but not so far off that they'll forget about it!

I gave a month's notice, per the terms of my employment. They didn't even know I was engaged, let alone had intentions of emigrating. That's because a) it's none of their business and I didn't want to have to constantly respond to questions about who he was; where he was from; how did we meet; who'd be moving where; how was my visa coming along; why do I need a visa; doesn't that mean I'll automatically become a US citizen; why do you want to do this; are you out of your mind. I save stuff like that for discussions with my friends and keep my business relationships all about business. It came as a huge shock to them.


Hey! I just discovered that the characters b & ) put together makes this !

Hee hee! You're cool, then, I guess!

YAY!! I like general chit chat!!



Just noticed your siggie - YAY!! Let's bring VJ to the facebook masses! Or vice versa Jeremy's case is normally filled with cheese rather than jaffa cakes...

As for working - I am working as a temp so I only have to give a week's notice - it is good but of course they can also get rid of me with a weeks notice It's all ok at the moment though

Like Krikit, no one at work knows I am engaged yet either. I'm wearing an engagement ring but no one's noticed - I think it's probably because they're all men.

Although the office is small and friendly, I've never found a good time to say that I have a fiancé. The trouble is that I started dating Alex really soon after breaking up with my ex - and since they knew all about my ex I was too embarrassed to say anything in case they thought it was strange or made incorrect assumptions!

Every time I've been to California (all of two times, so not often) it's been to visit 'friends'. So I guess that I'm afraid it will come as a huge surprise, and I'll be bombarded with questions I won't know how to answer! I'm probably worrying about nothing, though.

You don't have to tell them that much - you can just say that you are moving away and that you will no longer be able to work there Say you had a job offer in Cali or something

You just made me realise something! There's no Yorkshire Gold tea in America *cries*

A nice cup of Yorkshire Tea is not right without the near equivalent of the Aussie's tim-tam slam - penguin biscuits (bite opposite corners off and suck your tea up through the chocolate) YUM!

I felt pretty much the same about VJ at first. I don't know what's up with people and the meanness - but I too found a great bunch of people here that have kept me sane particularly over the past couple of weeks.



As far as work is concerned I always visit 'friends' too I have no idea how long I'm going to need this job for so I keep quiet about it.

Hehe - well this time I am saying I am visiting my boyfriend so I hope they don't give me sh*t for it...

I took a packet of Yorkshire Gold tea along with the Jaffa Cakes to California last Christmas. Alex's family drink tea, just not the British breakfast kind.

Anyway, I noticed that although the his parents opened the pack, no one was really drinking it. Then a day or so after I'd left, Alex announced that he'd tried a cup. He said he didn't like it and that it was way too bitter.

It then occurred to me that I hadn't told his family that it needed to have milk added - they'd all had it black and decided it was too strong!

That list looks good - mm, especially the biscuits, we definitely have the world's best biscuits. I sometimes bring minstrels as well as maltesers. Treacle's a good one - I probably wouldn't bring it myself, but I would take Golden Syrup as I use that in baking - hard to make decent chocolate caramel squares without it!

Ooooh - you make chocolate caramel squares?!?!?1 Ok - you're invited round to tea when we both end up over there!! What part of Cali will you be in again?!?!?

You just made me LOL!

PG Tips Rule, OK?

You absolutely need to bring golden syrup! They don't have it here. I tried modifying my recipes to the stuff they have here but they didn't turn out. I ended up bringing some back from my last trip to Canada.

I'm not a big tea drinker - I like my herbal tea and coffee but normal tea gives me tummy ache - I just don't get it :/

Haha! You'd be welcome to visit. Alex and I aren't any strangers to internet meet-ups - I've met over 30 people that way, and they've all been lovely!

My mother has a good recipe. My brother also makes them - his usually turn out a little better than mine. My caramel's a little too soft. I think I may need more practise!

To be honest I don't drink tea much, either. I won't refuse a cup if a friend is making one, but if I'm making a hot drink for myself, it'll be a herbal. I used to drink tea in my early teens, though. My parents drink whole vats of the stuff.

Haha - ok well you can practise on me - I will happily be guinea-pig to your chocolate caramel squares

hello. there i am a yesterday filer so i have all that to come. i just wanted to add, that you can get all that stuff in the USA, i saw a "british " section in Meijers in Michigan, it was so cool, it had kit kats, pg tips hp sauce, it actually brought a tear to my eye. lol. dont know what state you re in though.

i will turn to you all for help when my time comes for the adjustment, i know i will miss some element of british life, but i'm ready for the change.