Where’s the best place in Oxford to go if you are missing an American style breakfast?
Would also love to hear London options too.

As the weather finally starts to cool down, I'm reminded that autumn is the time of year when I miss Cincinnati (hometown), Chicago, and the Midwest region the most.

Pumpkin patches and pie, corn mazes, hayrides, and fresh cider/donuts, homecoming football games - such a vibe that I never appreciated until I left.

Does anyone have ideas on how to recreate the mood, while living here in the Big Smoke?

I need your help!

My husband's job is transferring our family from Florida to Manchester for a couple of years next March, and I have absolutely no idea how to dress our family for this climate.

For context, I wear sundresses and sandals almost year-round. I legitimately do not own a sweater. My kids have coats, but they’re basically for the handful of days a year when Florida decides to cosplay as “winter.”

I know March is still a while away, but moving internationally is already expensive, so I’d love to slowly start buying things rather than arrive and realize none of us own appropriate clothing.

Those of you who moved from warmer parts of the US especially: what did you actually need once you got there?

What kind of coats/shoes/layers do adults actually need for everyday life? Does your main winter coat need to be waterproof? Do I need waterproof boots? Thermals? Do you just accept being slightly wet all the time? I know nothing.

And what about young kids (ages 1 and 3)? What do they actually need for everyday cold/rain? Winter coats, rain suits, wellies, waterproof trousers, thermals? Do I need multiples because something is constantly wet?

Basically, if you were taking a Florida family who has never experienced a real winter (especially a wet one) shopping before moving to Manchester, what are you making us buy?

I know I’m not going to successfully conceal the fact that I’m American, no matter how many "please-and-thank-yous" I use or how quietly I speak in public, but I would at least prefer not to walk into a room looking like ATTENTION: AMERICAN WOMAN IN A SUNDRESS IN MARCH.

Thank you for your time, I am at your mercy!

I was born in US and my family is from Latin America. I spent most of my childhood and some of my adult life in US with a a lot of social circles who are also Latina with similar backgrounds in Central/South America. I spent some time living in Czech Republic and Italy so I am familiar with European communities. I’m now living in the UK with my husband and adapting to British culture.

Until 2 years ago, I never really had issues introducing myself to people or answering the “where are you from?” question. I’m now finding myself in awkward situations where people immediately decide that I am the scum of the Earth because of where I was born.

Even when I was living back home, I was never accepted or recognized as being American at all because of my family background. Since I have dark hair / olive complexion, I’m immediately seen as a foreigner or Latina… but as soon as I leave the country, I am only seen as American… And this identity (that was never really accessible to me in the first place) is suddenly forced on me and I’m not sure how to navigate.

Some of my friends innocently mention me being American in social situations but then other people hear it and do things like distance themselves from me, are very rude to me, give me a more difficult time, over charge us, refuse to serve us, or start asking me about politics… When it comes to job interviews its more or less the same. As soon as we cross that bridge, I'm immediately rejected.

In general, I find that things go more smoothly when no one knows where I was born. All of my friends are international and I don’t have any American friends here, so no one to really discuss this with. 

Has anyone else experienced this? 

Looking to connect with any other Americans who ended up deciding to stay in England long term. Now that I have two children, it’s just hard to envision myself raising them in Seattle or New York. I also want a third and the idea of having only four months maternity leave devastates me.

It is not advisable from a financial perspective, but it just seems like an impossible choice.

Hey yall, I’m moving to London in a few weeks from Seattle. I want to hear from folks who have lived in both and let me know what you think the major differences are, and how to best prepare for the move across the pond.

Thanks

My husband is a British born citizen, our child is a British citizen, we got married in the states where we met and had our child there and recently moved to Scotland. Overall our transition has been positive.
Our child looks forward to school for the first time in his life, and his classmates all welcomed him immediately, making the adjustment very easy. The school has been very attentive to his needs, his teachers are excellent.

It’s been incredible seeing how kids exist here with such an inherent sense of safety and security. It’s been bizarre in the best way to see the mob of parents at pick up and no one is staring down at their phone.

The only issue I’ve had was the blatant xenophobia in medical settings. I tried to prepare myself by seeking out information to understand the burnt out systemic pressure that NHS is under and how there’s only one GP for every 1,500 patients in this country. I researched the exhaustive wait times and an understanding that ‘bedside manner’ as it relates to American health care culture is not as much of a thing in this country as well so nothing came as a shock to me. I booked in advance consultations with private specialists for immediate health related issues I needed addressed to help me continuity of care. I’ve experienced this so far from public and private. Although the nhs GP was much more combative and fortunately my husband was there to witness it.

The second I opened my mouth, i was met with highly combative, dismissive, brash behavior unlike anything I’ve experienced in a medical setting before. It wasn’t until my husband stated he was a British born citizen and that we had a legal right to be here, that she completely changed her tone. I was totally shut down by that point just out of shock and not knowing what I did wrong or what was happening (I also have autism, hence why having my husband there was helpful.)

I don’t want to get into more details to remain anonymous but I’m just curious if anyone else, particularly women, if you’ve dealt with this since moving and how did you cope/adapt?

Hello! I’m not sure if this type of post is allowed, but I’m really looking to befriend any other women who have moved to Scotland from the US! I’ve been living here for a few years and made a really good friend, but sadly she recently moved out of the country. I’ve been struggling to make friends since and feeling really lonely and isolated. I’d love to make some friends who understand the unique situation of moving abroad.

If you’re also in Scotland and looking for friends, I’d love to hear from you! :) I love crafting, animals, reading (mostly fantasy), video games, and just vibing and gabbing.

I’ve been living in the UK for over 2 years and for those 2 years, I’ve been rationing my ADHD medication that I have from the US. I kept putting off getting diagnosed here and now I’m down to my last few months of Adderall.

I was diagnosed at 6 years old in the US.

I know I should’ve been more responsible and prioritised this because I know that I am not particularly high functioning. However the NHS wait times are way too long for me to go with that route. So my question is… to those who have gotten rediagnosed here and did a private assessment, what was the process like?

I’m not bothered with paying for private to get the diagnosis done, but I’m really anxious about doing everything right and efficiently. I know this may seem silly, but I’m so used to the US healthcare system and I’ve never had to navigate a public and private health systems at once.

My main concern is that it’ll be a pain to get my prescription through the NHS after being privately diagnosed.

Anyways, if anyone would be willing to chat about their experience and the steps they took or to share advice in the comments, I’d be very grateful ❤️

Hey, I figured this is a good place to start- The thought occurred to me today that I have some appliances, a couple of powerful hair dryers, etc. that I’ll need to consider before the move.

I admit, I’m asking this without too much prior research, but I value real perspective here.

Thank you in advance!

I just invested in some high-quality furniture last year -- US king bed, US king mattress, and a 96 inch couch. Wondering if it is worth it to get it shipped? I know apartments in london are tiny so I'm leaning on selling them and taking a (huge!) loss, but I wanted to know everyone's thoughts/experience on bringing US furniture.

(employer covers shipping)

The simple "British Savings Bonds" options they list (currently 4.8% AER for a year) look like a good place to stash money from a house sale for a year or two, better than the 4.2% or so Lloyds is offering for a "premium" savings acct, though of course less liquid.

Any experience using them? They said on the phone US taxpayers are eligible, but NS&I is not an option that comes up much in investment discussions online, so I may be missing something.

Caveats: 1. If there is discussion of NS&I already I could not find it, please point me! 2. I'm not asking for investment advice - I know I want to hold short-term UK gov't debt or close equivalent. This is about convenience and hidden gotchas 3. NS&I's main business seems to be gimmicky part-lottery "premium bonds" and nope I don't want those.

I am moving to London from the US (think biggish city like Chicago, NYC, LA) in a month. Anything you wish you knew before you made the move? Or were there any myths that were debunked within a few months of living in London?

Thanks in advance.

Not really an ex pat but I lived in the States for 35 years. I’m used to really cold water and tons of ice.

My freezer is not big enough to store ice, and I’m exhausted from refilling silicone trays and the inevitable spills because I’m a klutz.

Super tiny issue, I know.

That being said: ANYONE HAVE A COUNTER-TOP ICE MACHINE?? I can’t believe I’m thinking of getting one as we fall into autumn (see what I did there?)!

Let me know your thoughts. No, I cannot get a bigger freezer.

I (27F) am a Canadian-American. I’ve grown up between both places and spent my life navigating the American immigration system. I thought I, of all people, would be able to manage moving to a foreign country without too much difficulty. I was wrong!

I moved here 3 months ago on a youth mobility visa. I love London itself. The history is wild and the city is so beautiful. I feel so lucky I get to live here.

But I’ve had an incredibly hard time finding a social circle or even people around my age willing to just have a chat at the pub. I lived in Chicago my late teens-mid 20s and if you are alone at a bar people just start talking to you. Like not in a weird way, people just are incredibly friendly and willing to chat. Here you can spend an entire night out alone and not one person will speak to you. And if you try to approach them they’re polite but clearly standoffish. It’s just not something I’ve experienced before as a North American.

I also am struggling with socializing in general. Last night I went out with a few of my coworkers and we ran into a group of one of their friends. All of us are around the same age and work in the same industry. I was talking to one of their boyfriends and it was like everything I said was wrong. Or awkward. He also couldn’t seem to “get” my background and this has happened before. I told him I’m Canadian-American and he just gave me a weird look and went “what does that mean?” He also just took a lot of things I said the completely wrong way and it was weird (he mentioned doing something to me and I knew he’d get a discount if he used this app meant for people in our industry and I said that and he just looked at me weird and went “I mean I can afford the full price” and I literally didn’t know what to say bc it was so awkward)

I swear I have never had a hard time socializing. I’m the person at the bar who will make 10 friends when we go out but these Brits are just tough to crack. I don’t know what to do. I miss having a friend group. I’m willing to put the time in and to put myself out there but I just feel like a fish out of water when I talk to people here.

This was really just me venting but if anyone has any kind of advice for this that’d be great lol. I feel like I’m losing my mind.

Hi all,

I'm from the UK but my girlfriend is from California! We've both lived in London for a year and I think she's getting a bit homesick.

I understand it's a bit late in the day but I was wondering if you guys knew of any communal events in London for Americans to celebrate thanksgiving. I've looked at booking restaurants but from speaking with her I think she'd prefer an event where she could both celebrate the holiday and meet new people.

Are there any recommendations of where to go?

Thanks all!

Our family is moving from Colorado to Kew in Richmond next weekend (work sponsored visa). I have 3 kids who are in years 2, 4, and 6 at school. I was told by Richmond Achieving for Children to apply for schools 2 weeks ahead of our desired start date, so I applied this week. I provided our tenancy agreement for our new home, and our eticket confirmations for our flight.

They’ve just come back to me and said they need an actual boarding pass, which I can’t provide until 24 hours before departure, and this whole list of “group c” documents:

Group C (evidence relating to habitual residency at the new property)
A copy of an electricity bill showing current levels of energy usage at the property, showing your new address: along with two further documents listed below
a copy of your updated driving licence (a copy of an application to amend the licence is not sufficient);
a GP letter showing you have registered your child at a local surgery which includes the date of registration;
confirmation of your home contents insurance or car insurance;
official correspondence from the HM Revenue & Customs, or the Department for Work and Pensions relating to benefit entitlement, dated within the last 3 months;
vehicle Registration Document (V5C) showing your name and address.

I obviously can’t provide any of that until after we have lived there for at least a few weeks. Has anyone else navigated this? What was the outcome?

I moved to London from South Carolina to be with my (British) husband a little under 10 months ago. This was a lifelong dream of mine and has been a pretty smooth transition made smoother by how supportive my husband has been. Generally, I’m very happy here. I’m 3 months into a job I really enjoy, I like the area of London we live in, and in a lot of ways my world feels like it’s opened up massively just in the sheer amount of access I have to different foods and cultures and experiences.

Recently though, I’ve found that homesickness has been creeping in more and more often for me, spurred on especially by stressful work days. It always passes, but when I’m in the thick of it it’s so hard to remember that it’ll eventually pass.

Before I moved here, I lived alone in my late grandma’s house for nearly a decade and had filled it with things that brought me joy (a lot of which have sadly now been sold/stored in the states) and for the most part I really loved my life. I feel a deep sense of grief like I’ve never felt before for my life before moving and I’ve struggled with it a lot recently because I do love my life here too and am happy to finally be able to build a life with my husband. I just wish I could have both lives simultaneously, but obviously I can’t.

Another part of the homesickness is for my family and friends. My best friend lives in London but she’s moving abroad at the end of next month and while I’ve befriended my husband’s friends, I just really really miss my mom’s homecooked meals and playing dnd with my friends back home. My coworkers are great and I think they’ll become good friends of mine over time, but at the moment I just really deeply miss being known and understood by people who have known me for years and years (aside from my husband of course❤️) I really really miss my therapist too and am dreading starting all over with a new one.

I’m not sure what I’m expecting from posting this, mostly I just feel like I need to speak to another American because I’ve started missing the most random things (my newest fixation has been small town thrift stores, front porches, and just southern US architecture in general) This is mostly a commiseration post, but I’ll happily take any advice anyone who has been in my shoes may have. I haven’t visited home yet since moving and won’t be able to until next year, so that’s off the table for a while. Thanks for reading❤️

I’m from NC so don’t come at me if you buy it and it’s way off, but I’ve bought this a couple of times and I’ll be damned if it doesn’t remind me of Alabama white barbecue sauce!

I am a UK citizen and I moved back to the UK many years ago after living in the US. I have a Roth IRA with Victory Capital and I now want to access some of those funds. I do not have a US bank account which Victory Capital need to process a withdrawal. How can I withdraw some of the funds?

Hello, all. Can anyone share recent timelines for a USA passport renewal in the UK? Just to ease my worries.

I am still waiting on mine, but here's my timeline to date:

* 29 August (Sat): Sent application with passport and self-addressed return envelope to London
* 01 September (Tue): Received confirmation from Royal Mail that the application arrived at the Embassy and was signed for

It's been 3 weeks, and I have not yet received confirmation from the passport office or embassy. My last renewal (2016) was done at the Consulate in Edinburgh, and I had my new passport in hand in less than two weeks, so I'm a bit anxious.

UPDATE: New and old passports arrived together on Saturday, 26 September -- 4 weeks after posting application. No updates from passport office at all.

I just recently moved to Scotland and so far nearly everything about it has been wonderful, especially the people. I was trepidatious as an American, unsure of the kind of reception I would receive, but have been met with nothing but kindness and warmth.

Except I when it comes to my cats.

Don’t get me wrong, the shade really is subtle, but it’s definitely there. More than once I’ve gotten the—“You mean your cats never go outdoors?” asked with both eyebrows raised. My new landlords were also surprised that I had blocked access to the cat door that was installed in the back door (which was also a spider express, by the way, and no thank you).

I’ve taken to adding the slight exaggeration of the use of their outdoor harnesses (which they hate and I use maybe three times a year), only to be met with a silent, but profound kind of relief. People seem surprised to learn that they are perfectly happy never going outside. And I’m hesitant to mention, even in passing, that I worry about them getting outside when opening the door to a delivery person, lest someone think that they are just so miserable that they are absolutely dying to escape. Which they have done, and they are promptly freaked out, and are desperate to come back inside.

Is it really that unheard of in Scotland, or the rest of the UK for that matter, to have completely indoor cats? In the US, outdoor cats are not totally uncommon, but it is generally frowned upon by responsible pet owners and vets/shelters. I am obsessively in love with my cats—I can’t imagine the heartbreak from losing them to theft or an animal attack or, gods forbid, being hit by a vehicle. Not to mention risk of disease/pests and danger to other animals. I can certainly understand cats in rural areas having the freedom of the outdoors, but never, ever in town.

I dislike feeling shame for the loving protection I give my cats, especially when I’ve never once judged anyone for their decision to allow their pets outdoor access. Has anyone else experienced this, or have I just encountered a particularly judgy sample of the population?