Britons in California

[AFQuaid 18]

Hello,

I wanted to create a discussion thread specifically for Brits who now/or who are planning to reside in the state of California.

I'm from North-West England and moved to California via K1 Oct 10th 06.

What cultural/health/job/society/belief/diet etc challenges have you faced?

I'll start off by talking about the climate change. Being particularly pale skinned the California weather has been tough. Even baby sunscreen isn't strong enough. When I was here for a visit I thought it was a *nice* heat because it's not the same as the heat in Britain. But after being here for a whole summer I had to totally change my dress sense and worry if people notice how much I'm sweating buckets. I'm glad now it's over just about. I wore a *sweatshirt* for the first time last week since Feb. Plus have a nice BIG blanket back.ooh home comforts.

Fiona

[edchels 5]

Almost completed at NVC. Just waiting for them to send me an Interview date.

I lived just north of LA for about 5 years on a student Visa, met my wife at High School. My student visa ended so i came back to England. We got married last year (1st July 2006) in Chichester,(South Coast of England, close to Portsmouth) then earlier this year we decided to move back to California, and so we began the visa process. (I-130 sent to CSC in late Feb. / Approved July 6th)

She left in July this year to find a job and a flat for us. Little did we know it would be taking this long. So, i am now here in England, by myself just waiting for that interview date so i can actually plan something. Been away for almost 4 months, and its starting to hit me really hard. I just dont get why the US cant figure out a way to speed up marriage visas. Husbands and wives deserve to be together!

Anyway, hopefully before Christmas i will be living in LA with my wife, and both of us can finally get on with our lives.

Good idea starting this thread!

See you in SoCal. !!!

[Jasman0717 8]

There aer a lot of Brits in Orange County. There is a place called the Olde Ship in both Fullerton and Santa Ana that cater to the British.

[AFQuaid 18]

Ye I know what you mean. You wait for what seems like a lifetime apart, unable to plan or prepare your future then when ya finally get there ya do a headless chicken dance with the world on your shoulders trying to get everything set up. Suppost you need a few nightmares to get a really good dream.

It's good too edchels that you had that time already in America and such a decent amount to get a good feel of living here. When I visited it was for 3 weeks.

Jasman, thanks for sharing about the Olde Ship. That sounds awesome. Can you give us anymore details even if it's no long relievent?

I once heard on VJ (cannot for the life of me find the thread now) theres a pub in San Francisco that does *proper* fish and chips. Any idea folks?

Fiona

[Jasman0717 8]

Jasman, thanks for sharing about the Olde Ship. That sounds awesome. Can you give us anymore details even if it's no long relievent?

They have a web site: http://www.theoldeship.com/

My British friend goes there a lot and says the food is up to British standards

[elmcitymaven 9,711]

If all goes to plan, we'll be in LA next spring, probably April or May (depending on when I finish my research fellowship here in the Elm City). We chose LA not only because my husband is an actor so we sorta kinda have to give it a shot for a while, but we also wanted to live somewhere as unlike London as possible. Yep, LA is suitably different!

[bakofoil 27]

*hoping* to move to California next year sometime

[Jasman0717 8]

*hoping* to move to California next year sometime

If you get a chance, try the Olde Ship. Did I mention that they have about 20 or so beers on tap?

[bakofoil 27]

*hoping* to move to California next year sometime

If you get a chance, try the Olde Ship. Did I mention that they have about 20 or so beers on tap?

Thanks for the tip. I'll definitely give it a go when I'm next out there. You do know you're not supposed to try all 20

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

I don't know if I count - I'm Irish so not a Brit, but I'm filing in London, where we both live.

We're hoping to move to LA before summer next year (depending on work and everything), we've just filed so there's a long way to go, but I'm still obsessivly looking on Craigslist at the very nice apartments and on Google maps streetview to find a good spot for us to park ourselves when we get there.

Great to see there's English pubs, they always look more like actual pubs in Ireland than so-called 'Irish Pub's' where they've got nonsense green streamers etc.

Well hope to see you all there in the New Year

xxxxx Poiteen

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

Hey all you guys in the LA area, did you find any good websites for looking for an apartment in LA? We'll be looking to rent somewhere relatively cheap, but not in a terrible area.

I know about CraigsList, but I'm trying to see what's on offer in a few places so I can tell how much savings we'll need for the move.

thanks in advance!

Poit xx

[elmcitymaven 9,711]

Hey all you guys in the LA area, did you find any good websites for looking for an apartment in LA? We'll be looking to rent somewhere relatively cheap, but not in a terrible area.

I know about CraigsList, but I'm trying to see what's on offer in a few places so I can tell how much savings we'll need for the move.

thanks in advance!

Poit xx

There is a charge for it, but when we were out in LA last month everyone said Westside Rentals was the way to go: http://www.westsiderentals.com/ You can do a basic search for free, but I decided to get a sub so I could look into things more fully.

I was really surprised to see how far my budget would stretch in LA after living in London for 12 years... For the price of my poky 2-bed flat in Archway (including council tax), I could have my pick of 2-bed HOUSES with a garage and a yard in West Hollywood. And I was hardly living in glamourous surroundings before -- one night, the boy came home to find a junkie in the stairwell of the building. Nice.

[Jasman0717 8]

Thanks for the tip. I'll definitely give it a go when I'm next out there. You do know you're not supposed to try all 20

At least not at once, those tankards they have are 32 oz