ceresa

Thank you so much for the information and link !! ... Amazing that people here know more than the government workers that we have been speaking to on the phone.. every time we ask them a question it's "I dont know the answer to that" or we get different answers.

Thank you

My husband got laid off from his job and so our health insurance has stopped. I am a permament resident (been here 8 years) and 5 weeks away from giving birth !!

We applied for Medicaid but got turned down cus the woman from Texas Health & Human Services didn't know what she was doing and put that we are getting much more on Unemployment than we are. After spending days and days to get it corrected we were told the only way to get it corrected was to appeal which will take 60 days ! We logged a complaint and someone called us back today and said yes, the woman had completely messed up our application, but he also said that because I had only been a legal resident for 8 years I can't get Medicaid anyway, but should appeal to get CHIP which will cover our 3 year old and newborn.

Does anyone know if this is correct that Medicaid is only given to legal residents if they have lived here 10 years? - we keep being given different information by different people from Texas Health & Human Services - they need to get their act together.

To any lovely Spanish people,

Im in the US and desperatley need to get some stuff to my brother who lives in Spain - he was a victim of the flash floods in Almeria and lost everything. Im trying to find the best way to mail him a package. He has a PO Box - but Ive been told that if I send anything that requires a signature (such as Fedex or USPS with tracking) then the PO Box will not accept it. Is this true?

So I was thinking of sending something to his house which is in the campo - and he has never had post delivered there. I don't even know if the postal service delivers mail to people or whether everyone has to have a PO Box?

Any information would be great help !!! Thanks !!

I am a British citizen and lived here for the last 7 years with my husband (US citizen) and we have a daughter. My parents want to move here to be closer to us and their grand-daughter, but are concerned about health insurance here in the US. They are in their late 60s and have a couple of pre-existing conditions (high blood pressure, borderline diabetes). They are from the UK so are used to having medical care at no cost whenever it is required, and the thought of healthcare here in America(and all the horror stories of people losing their homes because of having a major medical bill) scares them.

Does anyone have any advice on the best thing for health insurance in their situation so that it would be more affordable? Who are the best health insurance companies for their age etc.

Has anyone else brought over their aging parents and what did you do about health insurance?

Any advice would be appreciated - thanks.

We came across two baby bunnies on the pavement (sidewalk), there were 4 in total but the other two were dead already. Their mom was nowhere around, and they werent in any kind of nest/burrow. We're in Texas so its 92 degrees outside, Im not sure if they other two died of disease or dehydration. But we took the 2 that were alive to our vet but they didnt want to help in any way. Silly me for thinking if you are a vet you like animals and wouldn't want to see two little bunnies die. I guess they werent making any money of this one so didnt care. We tried another vet.. same thing.

Is there nothing like the RSPCA here?

I wonder why British people love beans so much ?! I used to aswell... beans on toast, on waffles, on baked potatoes, but now I've gone so long without them (I refuse to pay $2.50 for a tin of beans!), that the thought of them makes me feel a bit ill !

But I agree.. what is with American soup - its really bad ! (and that whole mixing a can of soup with a can of water rubbish)!

I used my green card as ID to get into a bar here once, they wouldn't accept it cus it wasn't a drivers licence! I guess they thought getting a Texas Drivers licence is a lot harder than a United States government issued green card

I never used to carry mine, til I got stopped by border patrol and they asked for it! Now I carry it

When you parents or inlaws come to visit you in America, how long do they stay for??

And how do you cope?

I love my hubby but sometimes it's so nice to talk/type to someone who speaks British English (well me mostly British with a side of Aussie )! I was having a conversation with my hubby just the other night and used the word "faux" in a sentence. He had no idea what I was talking about. When I spelt it he knew the word but said (and I quote) "No-one uses that word". He then proceeded to talk to me about how occasionally I'll say a word he's heard before but it's WAY old school or something... yah, that's 'cause I speak "English" and you speak "American"

Hahah.. I told my husband this whole converstaion to reiterate the point that I'm not the only foreigner with issues about the clothes (especially jeans) here and I told him about the "faux #######" comment and he looked at me dead confused "fo?.. huh??" And I told him again about how if jeans fit my butt here, then there too baggy in the front cus theyre made for a big belly and he said "well most women here if they have a big bottom, they usually have a big belly too". Us British are just shaped different I guess

I am loving reading all your replies and its making me feel somewhat normal again, knowing its not just me with the whole jeans, big boobs and clothes not fitting issue ! When we went back to England for Christmas just gone, all I talked for months leading up to it was how I was gonna buy jeans jeans jeans.. it drove my husband nuts ! I agree that here, if they think you have a bottom then for some reason you have no waist and have a big belly too.. (haha @ Vannessa&Tony re the "faux ####### look"... I full understand that one !)

@ HoneyCrumpet "in the UK the sizing was far more along the lines of what a short British woman is shaped like, which more often than not includes having largeish ta-tas." - My husband, bless him, the first time he came to England to visit me, he told me he was embarrased but couldnt help but notice that most women have big boobs there.

@ RebeccaJo - I bought my first pair of ANA jeans from JC Penny today and they actually fit, which I am reallly pleased about. But I still don't like them as much as my Dorothy Perkins pair I brought home.. I should have brought more. And you are right.. it easier to find more trendy clothes in UK at all prices. It seems here if you want trendy you gotta pay a bit higher. Today I went shopping (first time in probably a year !) and I bought jeans, a top, a cardi and a new bag (Im tired of the diaper bag Ive had for 15 months and want to go back to a nice handbag) and it all came to $175. Doesn't that seem a little pricey? For this stay at home mom it is anyway.

Anyway, all the suggestions of the shops youve all mentioned Im gonna write em down and check them all out !

Now Im off to look at the Next website to look at the shoes

Yep definately the clothes for the kiddos are so cute here in the US. Gymboree and Crazy 8 are really nice shops (I think)... and they make everything match, from the bows down to the socks ! England can't compeat with the baby clothes!

So today I'm babysitting for a friend and instead of my usual tshirt and trainers look I'm wearing a top with jeans and boots...still extremely casual and my friend said I look really nice. Lol I feel overdressed and all it is is jeans and a top I got from the uk! I did likethe look of some of the tops at forever 21 (the modest ones) but sadly I am too old for there. My husband noticedthe first time he came to England he said even older people dress trendy whereas in the US once you reach a certain age you stop dressing fashionably. I agree that 40 yr olds shoudn't wear 18 yr old clothes but there's still ways of looking modest and trendy. It seems here the shops for my age expect us to wear boring button down blouses if we want to dress up alittle. Just cus I'm 38 years old and a mom doesn't mean I want to dress boring. But if anyone knows of some nice shops let me know

It's cool seeing all your replies To USArmywifey, thats great that you love the jeans here. Are you tall? I'm just 5.2 so they never seem to fit me right. As for the 80s... I dressed my 15 month old in some clothes from Next the other day and my husband too said she looked like she was from the 80s... lol, but he still had to admit he liked her little outfit. I do love the clothes they have for babies and children here though !!

To all the UK people

Im just wondering what you all think of the fashion in America compared to the UK? Do you miss the UK clothes, and do you find any shops here with similar fashions? I went back home (to England) for Christmas, I havn't been there in 4 years and it made me realise how I missed the shops there. While I admit some of the fashions there drive me nuts (too young etc), I did enjoy shopping there, and like the cut of the clothes. I've never really liked the clothes here that much and have ended up slumping into the tshirt and jeans culture, which is ok in hot and dry texas I suppose but not all the time, but Ive never found jeans to fit properly here and I still order them from Next !

Also, have you noticed how nobody dresses up here to go out to eat? My mom couldnt believe when they visited us the year before last, we went out to eat steak for New Years eve and she saw people in sweatpants and baggy tshirts

So I was just wondering on everyone else's take as I'm curious

No offense meant to the Americans here...

We are still putting in aps., but no luck yet. But we are taking the advice of some of the posters.

We are fine tuning his resume and he is working harder at making contacts at the mosque and at school. Actually a couple of these people have given him some leads just this week that he is following up on. Also, we are trying to find a place he can volunteer on a regular basis. (Possibly the Library in the Literacy Center, I have a good contact there.)

We believe this has been his biggest problem not having work exp. and contacts here in the U.S. Although, he does have some references from some odd jobs: It does not seem to be enough. We are also still considering changing his name, but we really hate to do that.

In the meantime he will continue with school and maybe he can get work experiece at the college next year, as he missed the opportunity this year. We are still undecided about the trucking school. We are afraid it is something we will not be able to handle.

If his English is good, then he will get a job in a call center easily. Have you tried the temp/contract agencies such as Spherion, Technisource? There are so many call centers here in America and they are always hiring through temp agencies, once in the door, then he can prove himself to get something better. But at least it will tide you over for now.

Hi All,

I noticed on the British Embassy Washington website that you can register your baby's birth for babies born to British parents outside of the UK. I'm just wondering if anyone did this?

Thanks

Hi all.. to those who have had babies here in the US - when did you first take your baby on a flight back home, and how long was the flight?

Our baby is just a month old, we're not planning on taking her right now... but would like to go sometime next year...would be nice to be in UK for the royal wedding ha, but really Im anxious to show her to my family!

Hi,

Im the British citizen (perm resident) and my husband is the USC. We just had a baby - how do I get her a British passport?

thanks !

thanks both If anyone else is able to answer I can PM you the questions !

Hey all,

My husband is doing a research project for his school on Maternity Leave Benefits in US compared to UK. He has a questionaire of about 20 questions and needs to find roughly about 10 US citizens and 10 UK citizens to answer some of these questions.

The questions are things like...

1. How much time did you take off work for maternity?

2. How much of your leave was paid?

3. How much of your leave was unpaid?

4. Do you feel your leave was adequate enough to recover?

5. Do you feel your leave was adequate enough to bond with your infant?

If anyone would be willing to answer the questionaire please let me know and I will email it to you.

Of course, this will be anonymouse and your name or personal information is not needed at all !!!

Thanks !!!

We met the old fashioned way.. in a bar

Yeh since I moved here 2.5 years ago Ive travelled outside the US several times and never had a problem with my passport being in my maiden name, but this most recent trip arriving back from England in Jan at the US customs a customs guy asked me if I had changed my name on my passport (he was looking right at it and could see I hadn't) so I said no I hadn't been able to get to it yet.. and he sarcastically replied back "You've been married two years and you havn't had time yet?".... I told him " I never said I havnt had TIME.. I said I havn't been able to get to it yet"...(meaning the embassy. Its in Washington I live in Texas). Then he gave me a mouthful about getting it changed but I wondered if there is a time limit or if he was just throwing his weight around... I wouldnt mind.. but he was foreign born himself and had an accent I could barely understand

I suppose I will acclimatise slowly. The flag thing really bothered me but I am used to it now so perhaps the religiousness will slowly fade in my perception..

People flying their own flags in their own country bothered you?

Are there any companies in the US that give more than 2 weeks vacation ?!! (without being there 5-10 years!).

Does anyone know what the time limit is on getting your passport changed to your married name ? In other words, how long can you go around with a passport in your maiden name before it becomes a problem?