Does your Tee Rak hate the US?

[heiko 0]

Hey Gang,

Well my Teerak has only been stateside for 6 months and finally broke down the other day and said she really misses Thailand. She thinks it is sooo boring here in America. No street food, nobody walking on the streets, etc. etc. I really miss Thailand too even though I was only there for about two years but we are already talking about moving back. I understand how she feels. When I am in THailand I feel so alive yet now that I am back in America and working I feel like I am on auto pilot. We are both different people here.

Would love to hear your experiences and perhaps what things helped your teerak adjust to the American lifestyle.

Cheers,

H

[payxibka 10,044]

moved to:

Moving Here and Your New Life In America

Post your experiences after arriving in America. How has your life changed? Share things like if you got work authorization; is it what you thought it would be; are you happy, etc.

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

When did she get to the US? Anecdotally people say that the hardest period is around 6mths - 12/18 mths. It's after the novelty has gone, most people have found work or begun a regular daily routine but have not really made too many friends or put down roots really.

HOWEVER, after a coulple of months you should know if the place you live is really somewhere you actually want to put in the effort for. If it's somewhere you will want to have roots. I'm sorry that this is just no advice, but you guys should have a really good talk, and figure out what you want from the place that you live, and where is the best option for this to happen. Maybe there's somewhere else in the US that fits the bill, or maybe you guys will go back to Thailand. I wish you guys luck.

[trinket 30]

Hey Gang,

Well my Teerak has only been stateside for 6 months and finally broke down the other day and said she really misses Thailand. She thinks it is sooo boring here in America. No street food, nobody walking on the streets, etc. etc. I really miss Thailand too even though I was only there for about two years but we are already talking about moving back. I understand how she feels. When I am in THailand I feel so alive yet now that I am back in America and working I feel like I am on auto pilot. We are both different people here.

Would love to hear your experiences and perhaps what things helped your teerak adjust to the American lifestyle.

Cheers,

H

Well I am not from Thailand, but I can relate to your wife. Its been 1 month that I am here and I can feel the same things, no street foods, no people walking down the lane.

You know its funny but the other day I just realised how I didn't hear any car horns going on in US, I told my husband that and he thought it was amusing that I miss sound of horns.

I don't enjoy the food out here, my husband is trying to do everything to make me feel comfortable, but I go through those emotions and meltdowns time to time. Every other dish seems so bland out here, fish at supermarket are fresh water fish and I am used to sea food. You don't get real crabs, you get imitation crab out here. I don't like all the frozen meat, it has this distinct smell and I am so used to everything fresh. There isn't a large variety of vegetables out here.

The other day my husband took me to the only Indian restaurant in town, I was really excited to go there but when we went there it was bad experience. The restaurant changed the flavours to suite more of American taste than real authentic Indian taste, again everything was so bland; it was the same case for even Mexican restaurant.

Basically I have given up the idea of eating out anymore. Thankfully though I did find a place where they have Indian spices and types of lentils, so I am continue cooking at home.

It hasn't been all that bad though, there sure are good points too. But yes, for now I am a grumpy whining woman who is missing India.

[Imua 0]

Hey Gang,

Well my Teerak has only been stateside for 6 months and finally broke down the other day and said she really misses Thailand. She thinks it is sooo boring here in America. No street food, nobody walking on the streets, etc. etc. I really miss Thailand too even though I was only there for about two years but we are already talking about moving back. I understand how she feels. When I am in THailand I feel so alive yet now that I am back in America and working I feel like I am on auto pilot. We are both different people here.

Would love to hear your experiences and perhaps what things helped your teerak adjust to the American lifestyle.

Cheers,

H

Well I am not from Thailand, but I can relate to your wife. Its been 1 month that I am here and I can feel the same things, no street foods, no people walking down the lane.

You know its funny but the other day I just realised how I didn't hear any car horns going on in US, I told my husband that and he thought it was amusing that I miss sound of horns.

I don't enjoy the food out here, my husband is trying to do everything to make me feel comfortable, but I go through those emotions and meltdowns time to time. Every other dish seems so bland out here, fish at supermarket are fresh water fish and I am used to sea food. You don't get real crabs, you get imitation crab out here. I don't like all the frozen meat, it has this distinct smell and I am so used to everything fresh. There isn't a large variety of vegetables out here.

The other day my husband took me to the only Indian restaurant in town, I was really excited to go there but when we went there it was bad experience. The restaurant changed the flavours to suite more of American taste than real authentic Indian taste, again everything was so bland; it was the same case for even Mexican restaurant.

Basically I have given up the idea of eating out anymore. Thankfully though I did find a place where they have Indian spices and types of lentils, so I am continue cooking at home.

It hasn't been all that bad though, there sure are good points too. But yes, for now I am a grumpy whining woman who is missing India.

Try Patel brothers or ishopindian.com online, you can order ingredients you cannot find locally.

I can sympathize with Thai or Indian/desi people moving here though I am American - I would be very unhappy in a 'typical' American suburb or exurb for the reasons described and that is why I hold on in NYC even though I can't 'really' afford to live here. I Have spent time in Nepal and also I visited Bangkok so I know the color and smells and street life that you are missing - I miss them too. My mom is in Fresno and when I go there it is like culture shock for me, everything sprawled out and newly built and bland, bland, bland, NOBODY walking on the street, no mom and pop businesses. In Queens NYC there are some Indian communities and especially in Jackson Heights 74th St. it is a good place to go if you are missing home, the smells and music and colors are the same.

[Thai family 0]

Hey Gang,

Well my Teerak has only been stateside for 6 months and finally broke down the other day and said she really misses Thailand. She thinks it is sooo boring here in America. No street food, nobody walking on the streets, etc. etc. I really miss Thailand too even though I was only there for about two years but we are already talking about moving back. I understand how she feels. When I am in THailand I feel so alive yet now that I am back in America and working I feel like I am on auto pilot. We are both different people here.

Would love to hear your experiences and perhaps what things helped your teerak adjust to the American lifestyle.

Cheers,

H

I am concerned about this with our DIL. It is especially hard while she can't work. I cannot imagine how difficult it must be for them. It' been abnormally cold here, too, which does not help. We can't even get fresh Galangal here without having it flown in!

If anyone has anymore suggestions, I'm sure they would be appreciated.

Thai Mom

Edited December 31, 2008 by Thai family

[KHPerfectMatch 1]

My husband has been here almost 3 months and can't believe what a boring place the US is. He says he thinks once he gets his EAD and a job he will feel somewhat better, but says he even misses high rise buildings in addition to PEOPLE and people walking in the street 24/7. noise, traffic, and of course foods from back home.

Whenever he sees New York on TV he says, AH now THAT is a CITY! If it was possible, and it is NOT, I'd consider moving to a larger city... but it's not. I warned him so many many times that it was a lot quieter here, but he saw too many movies...

I am very disappointed that nothing here seems to have made him feel happy to be here except for being together. It's much harder I"m sure at his age (48) than for the young bucks excited to start a "new life" in a new country... He also is SICK of speaking English and sometimes refuses to speak it for hours...

I hope when he has a job and the weather is better he will like it better... time will tell... not too many places in the USA that 8 million people jammed into a small space like Alexandria...

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Hey Gang,

Well my Teerak has only been stateside for 6 months and finally broke down the other day and said she really misses Thailand. She thinks it is sooo boring here in America. No street food, nobody walking on the streets, etc. etc. I really miss Thailand too even though I was only there for about two years but we are already talking about moving back. I understand how she feels. When I am in THailand I feel so alive yet now that I am back in America and working I feel like I am on auto pilot. We are both different people here.

Would love to hear your experiences and perhaps what things helped your teerak adjust to the American lifestyle.

Cheers,

H

Well I am not from Thailand, but I can relate to your wife. Its been 1 month that I am here and I can feel the same things, no street foods, no people walking down the lane.

You know its funny but the other day I just realised how I didn't hear any car horns going on in US, I told my husband that and he thought it was amusing that I miss sound of horns.

I don't enjoy the food out here, my husband is trying to do everything to make me feel comfortable, but I go through those emotions and meltdowns time to time. Every other dish seems so bland out here, fish at supermarket are fresh water fish and I am used to sea food. You don't get real crabs, you get imitation crab out here. I don't like all the frozen meat, it has this distinct smell and I am so used to everything fresh. There isn't a large variety of vegetables out here.

The other day my husband took me to the only Indian restaurant in town, I was really excited to go there but when we went there it was bad experience. The restaurant changed the flavours to suite more of American taste than real authentic Indian taste, again everything was so bland; it was the same case for even Mexican restaurant.

Basically I have given up the idea of eating out anymore. Thankfully though I did find a place where they have Indian spices and types of lentils, so I am continue cooking at home.

It hasn't been all that bad though, there sure are good points too. But yes, for now I am a grumpy whining woman who is missing India.

Are there any Korean supermarkets in KY? You can oft get saltwater fish (such as Red Snapper, Beltfish, ...) iced--and some of these have LIVE blue crabs (and some varieties of live freshwater fish) available.

[MrsAmera 41]

I think that for people who have been here for a short time the change is very difficult. My husband was very depressed for a long time. We moved from our small WI town to Washington DC in hopes of making him more comfortable. We both do like living here better, we have more familiar things readily available, he has friends to speak Arabic with etc. BUT - he's been here 3 years now. And his tastes have started to change. I cook Moroccan food as much as possible, but he's settled down, sure he misses Morocco but he also has started to appreciate what we have here. I always encouraged him to not just look at what he was missing but to make every day a new experience. I also told him the longer he kept his mind at home the longer and harder it would be for him to make a life for himself here.

I remember when he was only here a few months and all the complaints NOTHING was as good as it was in Morocco. Now he's pretty much adapted to living here, sure he still misses the way some food tastes, or misses being out with his friends and the street crowds but he also understand he has a family and even if he were in Morocco he wouldn't be doing those things anymore.

[Nikita2Charles 31]

That's the great thing about VJ. you can hear so many stories, people experiences and so on. Being in the bay area there's a large indian community out here, so you can get basically any kind of masala you like. You can even get Indian mackerel fish at this chinese supermarket called Ranch99.

Moving here is a major burden and it takes awhile to get used to it. The 1st few months are the toughest, homesickness, feeling of guilt of leaving her folks back home, so much emotions going on during that time, and to all the husband/wife that's the time THEY NEED YOU THE MOST, Things can get really rocky during those 1st few months, What I did when my wife 1st got here was to teach her to to drive, that way she's mobile, bought her a car, that was she's mobile, she can go anywhere she likes, she can go to the mall, do grocery shopping but after awhile even that will get boring so to keep her busy, knowing it would take awhile before the EAD comes, so that means lot of time in the house alone, I signed her up for some software courses the refresh and upgrade her skills. IT accomplished 2 things, 1st to get her out of the house, meeting people, that's where she met her chinese best friend of 3 years now.

Once the EAD came then she could start looking for a job, it took awhile but got her 1st gig at one of the Major defense companies as a software analys, a lot of the stuff she had studied from the school came very handy.

We bought so much masala that it took us almost a year to go through them, so when my sister in law was visiting she had to tell her you don't need to bring me masala, I can get them out here. The important thing is to keep in mind what brought you 2 together and how sad you felt when you were so far away from each other, at time counting the days until you 2 can be reunited, but now that's it's there we stop to cherish that. HANG ON TIGHT it will get better as time pass.

Edited January 4, 2009 by Nikita2Charles

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

My wife still hates it here. I remember on Christmas day, we drove to my parents house and she remarked with a look of disgust on her face, how quiet the neighborhoods all were. Just a bunch of blinking lights but no actual people, no sign of life. Just complete quiet. In India if there's a holiday of the magnitude of what Christmas is here, the festivities spill out on the streets. You can tell there. Here, the only outward signs are the christmas lights on some homes and when you're in a mall parking lot looking for a spot.

ps. She's been here almost 4 years.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

The other day my husband took me to the only Indian restaurant in town, I was really excited to go there but when we went there it was bad experience. The restaurant changed the flavours to suite more of American taste than real authentic Indian taste, again everything was so bland

You need to move to Jersey It's the real deal out here

[john & jean 37]

my wife misses the trycycles and jeepneys as well as the street food!!!

[Imua 0]

The other day my husband took me to the only Indian restaurant in town, I was really excited to go there but when we went there it was bad experience. The restaurant changed the flavours to suite more of American taste than real authentic Indian taste, again everything was so bland

You need to move to Jersey It's the real deal out here

Or Queens....

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

The other day my husband took me to the only Indian restaurant in town, I was really excited to go there but when we went there it was bad experience. The restaurant changed the flavours to suite more of American taste than real authentic Indian taste, again everything was so bland

You need to move to Jersey It's the real deal out here

Or Queens....

Yeah but Queens is so ghetto

j/k