life in america

[vicks5721 18]

its official I feel like one of like 1% of people who love their life in America! I know myself and I know I will always love it here.. yeah little things will get annoying just like anywhere you live in the world. But overall America is where I belong with my true love my husband and our dog we got together. I am tired of people telling me my feelings will fade over time.. no they won't! When you know you belong somewhere and it feels like home.. you rarely get homesick and you have the time of your life!! I just wanted to put something positive on here after all the threads that are complaints and concerns people have. I am so happy and know I always will be!!

[Maritah 77]

I understand very well what you are saying! I got here in Dec, 2014 and I still have the best time of my life with my husband and 3 pets!

I adjusted very well here in America since the first week and I don't know at all the homesickness thing even when I can't drive yet! I communicate with my family almost every day in skype and whats app everyday and I don't feel so far away from them!

And I don't think that the feeling of took the right choice to be with the love of my life gonna fade at all because I feel loved and save with him because. thank God, my hubby do everything that he can for make feel comfortable and happy every day!

Best regards!

[Elle&Kev 120]

Home is where the heart is

[kevz900 5]

I totally agree with this. I get somewhat confused when people on here keep going on about what they miss or have lost from the UK when they move to the US. Think of all the things you gain!

Being with your loved ones is a given so apart from that I personally will gain year round sunshine, In and Out burgers (the best burger and fries in the world!) air con in the home, great cinema experiences, smooth roads with no potholes, Slurpees, fantastic National and State parks with BBQ's already set up for use, (they would get vandalised in no time in the UK) cheap petrol... the list just goes on.

So anyway, the US is where I want to be and that will be my home.

[Chalandrae 29]

I totally agree with this. I get somewhat confused when people on here keep going on about what they miss or have lost from the UK when they move to the US. Think of all the things you gain!

Being with your loved ones is a given so apart from that I personally will gain year round sunshine, In and Out burgers (the best burger and fries in the world!) air con in the home, great cinema experiences, smooth roads with no potholes, Slurpees, fantastic National and State parks with BBQ's already set up for use, (they would get vandalised in no time in the UK) cheap petrol... the list just goes on.

So anyway, the US is where I want to be and that will be my home.

I have to agree about slurpees haha! We have slush puppy and another Brand in Quebec, but slurpees are so much better, and not as sweeter!

As of right now, I love my new life, I love waking up when my fiancé has to go to work and being there when he comes back.

I've been in the states for 2 weeks now. Not enough to judge, but I have been slowly adapting. I went from to a town to a village, much quieter and not as much things as where I was living before.

[Yanirose 64]

Home is where the heart is

^ This!!!

I fully agree with the OP and I just can not wait to be with my fiancé. I get so depressed when I go out lately specially in the summer and I see all these loved up couples and my fiancé is miles away and the closest I get to him is by touching my ipad when we're skyping SAD I Know lol!!

I'm just counting the days!!! I also think with long distance we are going to learn how to appreciate the smallest thing such as a simple hug lol.

Again home is where the heart is at <3

[AnGeLxX 154]

I agree with you too

I'm here since April 2014 and I'm not homesick at all. I don't have a driver license yet or work. It took almost a year before I got my green card. But this Friday I'm going to get driver license Anyways Life is going great and I'm so happy to be finally with my husband.

Edited July 8, 2015 by AnGeLxX

[KS_Jayhawk 5]

Anyone who says feelings will fade over time might want to assess their definitions of love and marriage. I have been in the US for a couple weeks shy of 3 years and although I do get homesick from time to time, my love for my bride and our mutual happiness only gets stronger with the work we put into our marriage and the life we are creating. Haters gonna hate regardless. So awesome to hear about your happiness!

[rlogan 2,036]

its official I feel like one of like 1% of people who love their life in America! I know myself and I know I will always love it here.. yeah little things will get annoying just like anywhere you live in the world. But overall America is where I belong with my true love my husband and our dog we got together. I am tired of people telling me my feelings will fade over time.. no they won't! When you know you belong somewhere and it feels like home.. you rarely get homesick and you have the time of your life!! I just wanted to put something positive on here after all the threads that are complaints and concerns people have. I am so happy and know I always will be!!

Hooray! And a big Amen to that! Likewise for all the later posters.

There's just too much drama for my tastes on VJ with victim-playing on how awful it is to have left your mommy and how much of a martyr we are, how it is everyone else's responsibility to entertain us after we arrive, etc.

Same with me in the Philippines. I love being there. I don't want American food, I don't want to see Americans, I don't miss my mommy - I don't need other people figuring out what to do with my time... Why are people so subject to homesickness immigrating? Part of the whole experience for both of us is the joy in experiencing a different culture.

Some say all the "hard work" of the relationship begins after you arrive. Lol. If by that they mean the bedroom marathon - okay. But geez to have the nightmare of immigration over and be TOGETHER! Wow, what a relief! I told my wife in the beginning it was a false honeymoon and that life was going to be harder than this, to not expect that for the rest of our marriage. I was wrong. The honeymoon hasn't ended.

We're more in love now than we were eight years ago. Children added a dimension with real depth to it. To see what kind of parent they can be. Hey, we could play martyr with that too! Boo hoo hoo, it costs so much money to raise them, I can't party like when I was single, the crying and whining, years of poopy diapers, etc.

And should the people from VisaJourney tell everyone to be understanding, that giving up my international playboy life for a wife and children should be given a lot of empathy, that eventually I will learn to adjust to this difficult new life, etc.? No, they should plant a boot in my rear end and tell me to grow up and accept the responsibility of the choices I freely made, and if I didn't expect the poopy diapers and throwing up in our bed in the middle of the night then I was not very smart about my choices.

[vicks5721 18]

I love all your positive replies!! It is such a breath of freshis air to know that I am not alone, as it sure seems like it 99% of the time. I joined a group on facebook called Brits in the US of A and so many people compla in about the American lifestyle, the food, taxes the list is endless and how much they miss Britain. Well I don't feel any of those things at all, I love knowing I can honestly say nothing gets to me hardly at all and that is a wonderful feeling and heartwarming state to be in!! I know some people move to America already not liking the country and culture simply because they want to be with their lover ones or to study at a university to get a bether education but they should keep their negativity to their self as they still made the choice to immigrate at the end of the day, everyone has that choice and it was their decision. Yes I agree the people should be focusing on their happiness that they are finally with their loved ones after months or years of being apart. I am a generally an always opmisitic person and look on the bright side of everything. We should appreciate everything we are given and take everyday as it comes. In my experience I lived in Austria for a year and I lived in Greece for 8 months both times were for work looking after children as a nanny. I remember my boss in Greece used to say I should live their permanently, but I knew I struggled to feel at home there and I couldn't speak Greek, my point here is I could have tried to but I never felt at home like I do in America. I feel I have always belonged here I grew up loving everything about The United States and people have said to me my thoughts and feelings would maybe change after living here. But I know for certain they were wrong and I am the happiest I could ever be! This is some of the things I love about America:

people are friendly, love to help you, our church family always is there for us.

The food! I wasn't sure about stuff like biscuits and gravy but I tried it and now I love it! America is so creative with new food ideas and I love all the choice of different foods and restaurants.

I love mountain dew and gatorade!

the candy and chocolate, doughnuts, cakes!

the Healthcare is much better and more organised in my opinion than the UK.

I think the groceries and general price of living is cheaper overall than the UK.

America has such a diverse culture and landscapes, there is so many outdoors places and historical sights I would love to see! So many different species of animals and nature.

I love museums as it is like living history and art galleries.

I was never a soccer fan back in England and I find cricket boring. I enjoy the pro basketball and American Football and hockey here, I need to watch more baseball to really understand the sport better.

Where I live in Minnesota I love how we have all seasons here, I am not a fan of the cold weather in general but I love snow and winter sports like skiing and ice skating and sleigh rides and christmas.

I love how they put a big effort and deal into holidays here, like recently I celebrated 4th of July, I am excited for thanksgiving when it comes round.

On a personal note my husband'a family are lovely people and I love how we see them often and how I really feel at home and part of the family, I love having my first nephew, my husband's sister's son. I have nieces back in The UK.

We got a dog together two months ago and he is our furbaby, we love him so much.

I love how there is so many different things to do and a lot of choice of activities etc.

I love our local library we can borrow books, dvds, cds and audiobooks for free as a member and read ebooks through their website.

I moved from a large town to a small town here in America, I am happy as I feel it is more peaceful here, nice community and safe environment and beautiful lakes, it's handy all the outdoor spaces. But also we can drive easily to bigger towns if we would like more to do, the twin cities are only an hour drive away too.

I could go on for ages listing things if I put thought it it! Lol

I love American TV and films, I don't miss British TV at all.

Anyway this is going to be too long a post if I carry on.

[Kroni473 10]

I am from the Caribbean and people always ask me why I left there to come here. I would do that again to be with my wife. At first I must say it was rough cause of the cultural differences but now we formed our own in house culture. I love it here, got my license, now looking for a vehicle. But as everything in life it takes time and having someone by your side makes all the doubt, fear and homesickness go away.

[rlogan 2,036]

One thing that strikes me about your post Vicks5721 is that you liked American culture before you met your husband.

That's VERY true with me too, in being so enamored with a lot about Filipino culture before I met my wife. After my first trip there, I said to myself that this is where I would find my wife. It was many years later before I met the right one, but she was perfect for the things I loved about Filipino culture that first trip.

Anyone who has been on the Effects of Major Changes page or this page, has seen posts from either an immigrant or a sponsor that is surprised to find out basic features of their spouses culture. It would be like you saying "wow, I had no idea there was this thing called snow in MInnesota". It really makes me wonder what people are thinking when they are doing international dating/marriage. It doesn't take very much time at all to read about someone's culture and prepare yourself.

Then there are those who say that they were surprised to find out it wasn't like whatever shows they watched on television. lol. That would be a huge red flag to me - someone who thought watching television was tantamount to doing research.

To a significant degree, your spouse is a reflection of the culture they grew up in. So it is a part of them to either love or dislike. I traveled a lot in many different regions of the world and I won't mention specifics in order to upset anyone, but I saw things in some cultures I really despised. I dated women in those cultures while there, and yeah - I didn't like them.

As advice to others, we should of course study the culture our significant other is coming from - immigrant or sponsor - but really more importantly we should understand the culture someone is coming from before we even meet them. It seems that with the internet you can meet people anywhere in the world without actually going there first and seeing what the people are like. I didn't do it that way, but a lot of people do. Were I to use the internet though I would not be looking at pictures or selecting which countries have white skin or blonde hair - I would be selecting cultures that produced the kinds of people I like.

I found cultures where frowning and having little respect for life was rampant, where lying was ubiquitous, where putting other people down was cultural sport, where showing up on time was laughed at for being stupid, where showing outward signs of affection were unacceptable (and others, holy toledo people practically screwing in the public square). These are things that will be reflected in your spouse, and if your initial internet search was for women with white skin and blonde hair you are going to find out in the end that beauty is as beauty does.