My wifes Home country of Japan is beautiful sh elives in the sourth part Kyushu,
she is from Obi (a small castle town Samurai Villiage) in Miyazaki Prefectur
It is known as the Little Kyoto of Kyushu.

Laid back quiet town nestled behind beautiful rolling hills just off of the crystal waters of the pacific. I love it there! We often talk of moving there to raise our daughter in a safe place at the same time imerse the japanese culture, th eonly thing holding us back is the lack of available Jobs for me there. I have taught English before and may do that if we move back there.

Sure beats the crazy over price over-populated crime saturated corners of Los Angeles with Homes priced to over 1/2 million dollars for a card box in Reseda! Education standards lower than the national average.

Hell no.

hell no What ???

the question was Do you wish you had moved to your SO's country instead of America?
hell no was his answer.

Well I think my husband and I are planning on moving to Morocco in a few years.

I did it. There were a lot of reasons why. I was finished with uni and he wasn't. Uni was until next semester free here and I didn't want to drag him into the joy that is student debt needlessly. I didn't make any money in past years because I was a student and since our relationship was still cookoo to a lot of people, no one would obviously sign the affidavit of financial support. I didn't even bother asking. The whole immigration process just seemed so overwhelming in general. All I had to do was convince the German authorities to give us permission to marry, cough up 120€, and voila. I automatically got a residence and work permit for free.

Living in Germany isn't too bad for some things. Health insurance is certainally awesome. I learned how to speak German to a level of fluency I wouldn't have imagined when I first came here. I mean, I only understood 20% of what was said then, and now it is 90%. Reading things like Der Spiegel still give me a headache though, but I can zip through most other periodicals.

We're leaving because my husband can't decide what the hell it is he wants to with his life after he gets his degree. He doesn't like what he is doing now enough really to do a Master's in it. Without a Master's, there is about zero chance of getting a job in his field in Germany. Everyone is putting on the serious pressure to continue with studying, but he just is not interested. In the US, he could get by in an entry level geology job with just a BS, if that was what he wanted to do. Ideally, he'd like to just work full-time doing honestly whatever and take some different classes at university at night to figure it out. They don't make that idea a particularly easy one in Germany. In some ways, he'd like to try an ausbildung, but I am not sitting on my ### another 3 years (child care difficulties) while he gets paid basically nothing for something he isn't even sure he wants to do. So, screw it, we're coming back. I can't wait to get back to work, seriously.

Our game plan is to finish school and work like crazy here....pile our money, raise the kids, and then retire in Jamaica

While we were both born in India (I immigrated to Canada with parents and sister at age 8), I would have a hard time "getting used to" having to pay bribes for many basic services.

I did move to my husband's country (United Kingdom) and I hate it here. I can't wait to go home.

YAY AMERICA! The grass isn't greener, y'all.




Weird, with me it has been the complete opposite.



We live in a village maybe 3 miles from the city center. A car is an absolute necessity; we'd have a much sh!ttier life without one.

Well my statement IS overly simplistic I realize. I'm sure it wouldn't work for everybody.

We could actually live in our town without a car if we HAD too. Not where we live now (10 minutes outside the city) but once our house sells and we get moved into town, I expect to be taking the bus a lot. After I had done so in the UK, it just seemed to make a whole lot more sense to me.

In Londonderry we could do nicely without a car - in fact Wes hadn't owned one in years.

There are days when I feel like I live in my car. I found not dealing with one (in the UK) very much a stress reliever. But that's me - I've got years of 'moms taxi' syndrome so maybe that's why I feel the way I do.

I'd go back to the UK in a heartbeat, it's been almost a year since we left and I really miss my life there.

I'm sure in some British cities it would work. However, it won't in this one. Not all transportation systems are created equally. The bus system in this city is horrible, horrible, horrible. Plus, you cannot get anywhere in this city without first going into the center and coming out again, which is time-consuming and wasteful. I can ride the bus for free as a fringe benefit of my job, but I choose not to because the service is abominable. Living where we live without a car is simply not doable if you want to have a decent life.




Egads woman, I can't wait to leave.

Buy my house, it comes with all the furniture and appliances.

I'll bet you come back to America and find out certain things aren't really how you remembered them to be -- trust me, it will happen.

Probably, but I've lived in the UK for five years and I can say in all certainty that it sucks ### here.

It isn't as if we didn't discuss the move and weigh the pros and cons. I don't think it's appropriate to taunt me just because YOU don't want to live in America. If you want to leave, leave.

Exactly how am I taunting you? Is that chip on your shoulder a bit heavy to carry around?

I lived in the UK for 10 years, and I am back now in the US for one year. I know that like any place the UK has its pluses and minuses, and when I was experiencing the minuses it was very easy to think things were a lot better back home. But when I actually got back to the US, it was a real adjustment and I realized a lot of the time that I may have been thinking about "home" through rose-colored glasses.

I've know other people who've been through similar situations and felt the same way - one day you might be one of them.

Anything's possible. I doubt the day will ever come when I become nostalgic for this place, though. The whole country is like one big giant Wal-Mart. I can't wait to leave.

we will definitely go back for retirement... can't wait!

Just out of curiousity, what is so bad about your area in the UK? I have only been to London for a few days, so really have no opinion about living there or anything. Still, I can't believe though that there is so much to really hate about the UK. I mean, is there nothing redeeming about it at all?

I am not really going back to the US because I hate Germany. I could see living here for a longer period of time in theory. I like the health insurance here, social net, recycling, public transport, open air festivals (oh the open airs...*sniff* I will miss those), the plethora of organic products, ease of family-based immigration, and bread you could break a car window out with.

The US isn't perfect and I didn't originally sit around and dream of the day I would return. I don't really miss the responsiblity of a car, though I do miss the freedom I had with it. I am not looking forward to the immigration process. I am not looking forward to getting raped by health insurance companies. I am not looking forward to the possiblity of being totally out on my ### if I lose my job. I am not looking forward to having to put my daughter in daycare. I am not looking forward to having to pay a lot to go back to uni like me and my husband want to. I have no idea where you can get a döner in Indy (heh). I am not looking forward to having to see my mother again on a semi-regular basis. Brrrr....

However, since my husband and I are not interested in being on Hartz IV or working 400€ jobs the rest of our lives (we have our pride, you know?) with the way things are looking now, we are going to try our luck in the US. Unemployment is high here, employers are fickle, and you can easily fall into the welfare trap. School system is pretty outdated overall. I think the odds are bad that we would ever own our own house. I want better for my family than that. I have my family, friends, support in the US. They are ready and willing to accept my husband as one of their own. I am grateful for that because, even after two years, I still don't have much of that kind of real support here. Both of us really have a chance at getting good jobs in the US like we just don't have here.

So what I guess I am trying to say is that no country is perfect. Although we have decided to leave Germany, possibly forever, it isn't because we can't find any good in it at all. I am sure the same has to be true even just a lil bit for the UK.

I wanted to move to the Philippines but we felt it would be better to have the children here so they would have dual citizenship. Bascially, the only reason to live here is to make money and leave. I really would like to live in a more progressive country like the Philippines.

Um, if the kids are yours, they're dual citizens wherever you live. You just have to register the birth.

The Philippines is a "more progressive country"? What planet are you from, dude?

I was wondering about this too. I couldn't find anything that made it that special. Well, 40% of the population lives below the poverty line special. I also found this that appealled to my immature sense of humor:

My husband wo is still in Morocco knows we will have a better life here in the U.S. Also easier to save money here while making good money to go visit his family. If we lived there I know we would have a hard time being able to ever save up money to go see my family.
Lavon

London is practically a different planet from Yorkshire. You can't even compare the two. I wouldn't live in London either but for completely different reasons.



See, I'm tired of all that. Food festivals here suck anyway.




We have to have a car; can't escape from that. Instead of getting raped by health insurance companies, we get fucked over by the NHS and its sub sub sub sub standard care. I got tired of going to the GP, asking a question and them saying "I don't know, why don't you see a consultant" then waiting months and months to see said consultant just so they could tell me what I already knew. Doners are so nasty, I can't believe you eat those.



We couldn't afford kids here; we'd be living hand-to-mouth, it's pathetic. If you want a good job in the UK, you have to live in one of the big cities where the cost of living is obscene and any extra money you make is eaten up and more by the extra cost of living. If you don't want to live with a four figure overdraft, then you take your chances in one of the small cities as we are doing. I make less money now than I did six years ago in the US. It's pathetic. Money is a huge factor, I will admit.



The thing is, the things I used to like about the UK are some of the things that now drive me nuts about it. I guess I got older and changed. I'm sick to death of mamby pamby political correctness and nanny state-ism. Puke. Of course the United States isn't perfect, but I'd rather deal with its problems than struggle to survive in the UK. "Making do" seems to be the national sport here, but I'm fucking tired of that. ###### 'making do.' I want a little luxury in my life.

You're a 'half empty' girl aren't ya?

I think you're caught up in just complaining a lot imo....Yorkshire is lovely, and speaking for someone who's lived in the NE for years, I have to say that a lot of what you're complaining about may be down to luck, not the area as a whole.

NHS suck? Go private.

As I said, I lived there for years and never worked, and although my D has a very very good job, it's not like he's a millionaire or owt, and we were able to live very comfortably there on one salary. We took trips all the time, went out every weekend, had the best kit as far as tv/sound systems (D is an audio snob),etc....on one salary. Granted, he'd prolly make triple or more if he had his job in London or somewhere bigger, but as you said cost of living's higher too...so it's all relative

But hey, I'm not here to tell you to stop hating it, but I do think it would be a shame if you spent the remainder of your days there just thinking how sh!t it is, because when you move here, that part of your life is going to be over. And most people *yes, you can reply with 'I'm not most people'* would regret that, instead of being able to look back when you're older & be all 'hot damn, I did that. And it was fun'

But the crux of my post was basically to give a shout out to the NorthEast, cos it's the second best place on this earth to be And to add to this thread, we're looking to get a winter home there...prolly in about 5-10 years. Yes, I said winter home...cos FL sun just spoils the holidays sometimes

I don't think you know me well enough to comment either way.



Perhaps, but we're still leaving.



With what money? The shrapnel left over from my pathetically small pay packet after I've paid out the monthly obscene costs of living here?



Well, I'm very pleased for you. I don't know anyone here in York who can afford to live on one salary. We sure as hell can't, and my husband makes over 30,000 pounds a year...a high salary for this area.



It sounds like you're trying to tell me how to live my life. I get enough of that in my mother's weekly phone call.



Good; I hope you can afford it. Real estate values in the scenic areas of North Yorkshire have skyrocketed. Our house has doubled in value in the last 4.5 years, and we live in a bog standard 1960s semi in a bog standard part of town.

housing prices have skyrocketed in the US in the past 5 years too, you know


I honestly don't know how I managed all the years in the UK (with all my holidays, nights out, gadgets, etc) I really don't

Yes yes, robin, I've been told about the US real estate boom. House prices have been pretty steady in Texas, though, and the city we're moving to is one of the most affordable in the country. We could buy a mansion for what our house here is worth.

I don't know how you managed either. My husband and I make nearly 60,000 pounds a year combined and we would have trouble affording children. I can't wait to get out of this hellhole.

Homesick - you certainly have expressed you dont like where you live numerous times. Just a quick question. Why didn't you DCF to leave?

Yes, and I am... but only for a year.

Then, we're coming back to the US.

What on earth kind of question is that? My husband's visa should be issued any day now and as soon as we sell our house, we're out of here.

Our application was sent to the US Embassy in London and we have dealt ONLY with them. If that's not a 'DCF' then I don't know what is.

well your profile says CR1/IR1. You do not have to rudely reply. I was going on the information you provided.

Yes, because that's the visa we applied for. You can get those from the embassy in London too, you know.

People assume way too much around here.

You are such a rude cow

So are you.

...just wanna lash out at everyone, dontcha?

LalBrandow was only trying to help...which is a lot more than a lot of people would have done....oh but you're Ms Entitled Girl, arent ya?

Gimme a fkin break and get over yourself hon, you're really not that special cos you hate where you live


Oh and me? I'm selectively rude...I don't snip at ppl trying to help me...and to ppl I like, I'm a pussycat...but you wouldn know owt about that side

You're back on ignore where you're going to stay. You are the one who attacked me when you were thoroughly unprovoked, jumping in when nobody was addressing you.

Have a nice life.

[quote name='homesick_american' date='Oct 1 2006, 04:28 PM' post='482120']
[quote name='robinklake' post='481863' date='Oct 1 2006, 12:09 PM']
My husband and I make nearly 60,000 pounds a year combined and we would have trouble affording children. I can't wait to get out of this hellhole.
[/quote]


I really have to laugh out loud at how hard it must be to get by. And I thought people in the third world had problems. Does this hellhole have a jacuzzi and wireless internet?

wow - there is no reason for you to be rude to me. I was asking an honest question, again based on the information you provided, as most people select DCF if that is how you are filing as it is a special circumstance.

No matter I see you just want to throw piss around.

[quote name='robinklake' date='Oct 2 2006, 09:46 AM' post='482963']
[quote name='homesick_american' date='Oct 1 2006, 04:28 PM' post='482120']
[quote name='robinklake' post='481863' date='Oct 1 2006, 12:09 PM']
My husband and I make nearly 60,000 pounds a year combined and we would have trouble affording children. I can't wait to get out of this hellhole.
[/quote]


I really have to laugh out loud at how hard it must be to get by. And I thought people in the third world had problems. Does this hellhole have a jacuzzi and wireless internet?
[/quote]

Nope. And hey, you're hardly one to talk. You live in the United States, so don't go all Angelina Jolie on me.



Not really, but your mind's obviously made up; gotta follow the pack, after all.

Have a nice day.

[quote name='homesick_american' date='Oct 2 2006, 10:11 AM' post='483019']


Nope. And hey, you're hardly one to talk. You live in the United States, so don't go all Angelina Jolie on me.



You are actually hilarious -- seriously, get over yourself.


I've lived in the third world -- "struggling to get by on $60k" is definitely a first world problem.

[quote name='robinklake' date='Oct 2 2006, 10:21 AM' post='483052']
[quote name='homesick_american' date='Oct 2 2006, 10:11 AM' post='483019']


Nope. And hey, you're hardly one to talk. You live in the United States, so don't go all Angelina Jolie on me.



You are actually hilarious -- seriously, get over yourself.


I've lived in the third world -- "struggling to get by on $60k" is definitely a first world problem.
[/quote]


Good for you; I'm sure your Nobel Prize is in the mail.

I hope you get back to the UK soon, I really do. That way I won't run into you while I'm home in America.

Have a nice life.

i this thread!


The ignore button should be renamed the 'I can't trust myself enough to not be goaded into acting like a baby' button. You know, for people who can't govern themselves. )

Please learn to use quotes.

Anyway - I think the rudeness is a bit out of line. You ###### and moan about the UK...and we get it...we do...

but don't lash out at people here bc they are just trying to give you a balanced view...You'll be bitching about the same things here in the states in NO time!!

But if you didn't have something to complain about...what would you do??

seriously, I dont know why my question envoked the response that it did, thus my surprised and irritated response, and now I'm part of a pack? you're way out in left field as I never had any dealing with you other than in this thread.

good luck to you to get out of your self defined hell hole.

Prolly complain about it

Laura...I've noticed now in two threads(other was Islamabad the whole Jie Chen thing lol) where you were being helpful and then were "meoooowed" at (a mean meow, not a nice meow). Maybe people are doing selective reading?
Hugs!

I've never seen Laura be anything but nice and helpful to all and sundry.

But you can't win with everyone, especially when they make it all about them, lol.

I'm with homesick_american on this one.

I make more money in the US than I could ever dream of making in the UK (and I used
to make over £50K p.a.) No matter how much money you make in the UK, it seems to
dissipate into thin air, and you end up with a personal debt on a developing-world scale.