Getting to know you (again)!

The quick reference links have been moved to their own separate thread, located here:

Quick Links – Key to the Getting to know you (again)! Thread on Chit Chat

That guide is for reference only purposes (locked to reply), that I will maintain from time to time as new folks join in on this thread.  

I'm slightly different from the majority on here in that I'm not American and I didn't meet DH online, here goes...

I'm Caroline and I'm Scottish by birth and have lived in Scotland all my life.  Born in  Edinburgh but living in Glasgow (for now).

In 2005 I met my (now) DH whilst on a road trip with my best friend.  We did the normal Las Vegas - Los Angeles - San Francisco route in a convertable.

Half way through the holiday we stopped off in a small town called Pismo Beach and went to a local bar called Harrys Bar (this must be the best bar in the world!).  I was a smoker at the time so went outside to have a quick ciggie.  DH was outside at the same time and asked me where I was from, when he heard I was from Scotland he decided to tell me a story about his Irish grandad then asked me to dance, so I agreed.

Well, I have never seen anyone dance like DH does, I didn't stopped laughing and smiling and at the end (having cleared the dance floor) we got a round of applause!  And that was that, we ended up in a LDR until he came over in December 2006 on a Fiance Visa - which is why I joined UKY   

We married in 2007 and, although he did have a few months of not being able to settle, he loves it here and has made a great success of his own business.

We're both over 40.  I'm an accountant but not one of those grey ones 

I have no children but DH has a 21 yr old son who still lives in California so I'm a Stepmum.

I'm a lazy computer user so I hardly ever post here but I do check in every now and then...next task for us is to apply for DHs citizenship so will be keeping my eye on the visa board.

But I did sign up for the Holiday Gift Exchange   

I think this is amazing towing 2 kids around! I am thinking about getting DSD's involved in girl guides and I would love to volunteer my time to it but I am not sure their mom would keep up with it.  Hummm I may have to pick your brain on how much time is involved for the kids.

My daughter was a Brownie, Guide and Young Leader and then eventually became a Guider in London which was very rewarding. She was chosen to accompany a group of UK Guides to Peru and had a great time (although nearly everyone else had various sicknesses!) I think Guiding became even more important to her than her career and was very comforting to her through her illness.
Her Guides met one evening a week and there were occasional church parades but don't think that lot were very likely to attend. They went to outings such as "Wicked", had wide games, went on camp holidays for which they raised money by packing groceries at Sainsbury's and loads of other things I've forgotten. Good fun!

Holy Crap Carolyn, that was brilliant!! Maybe that should just be stuck on its own in a sticky topic that no one responds to? For easy access??

I've only been on UKY since last February or so, when DH first got his job offer, but it has proven to be an incredible resource! I'm so happy to have found it!

I'm Oona, 30something years old, currently living in Norwich. DH is a senior lecturer at the UEA and the primary reason for our move here. We arrived in Norwich in mid August and have had been settling in ever since.

Prior to living in the U.K., we spent a year living near my family in Cleveland, Ohio (where I was born and raised). And prior to *that*, we were in Texas for 8 years while my DH was a assistant professor there. We moved to Texas from Chicago, which is where I attended university, he attended grad school, and obviously where we met.

I am sick of moving, but that's the nature of the game when you're an academic family.

Currently I stay-at-home with my son, who will be 3 in January, but I am a certified primary school teacher. My certification is due to expire soon, however, so I don't know whether I'll look into getting credentials here (hate to put in the effort and have DH take another prof position somewhere else) or just dabble in something new. I'll most likely head back to work (doing what? who knows...) once my son is in school fulltime, in another 2 years.

But I did sign up for the Holiday Gift Exchange   

Yay!  Great to see you stopping in here - not having seen you on here for a little while. 

...currently living in Norwich. DH is a senior lecturer at the UEA and the primary reason for our move here. We arrived in Norwich in mid August and have had been settling in ever since. 

My lovely hubby is Norwich born & bred!  It's really nice there.  Although having grown up there, he was bored with it (the familiarity - that sort of thing) so he's happy for living up here now.  But we go back to see his parents usually 2-3 times a year - they live in a small village outside Norwich, not too far from Taverham.  He grew up in Horsford there, until they moved to where they live now. 

Holy Crap Carolyn, that was brilliant!! Maybe that should just be stuck on its own in a sticky topic that no one responds to? For easy access?? 

Aww, thanks!    I'll let this run a bit, and maybe see about setting it up like that another day. 

  He grew up in Horsford there, until they moved to where they live now. 

Horsford to Horsforth?!? 

Horsford to Horsforth?!? 

That's it!  Believe me, the strange coincidence of it isn't lost on him. 

It's really the same town name when you consider it - back to the times when people just used different spellings as to what took their fancy/convention.  Where we live now has been referred to (in the past) as Horsforde - we've seen it on documents in the local museum.  It has the same meaning:  a ford (river, body of water) for horses to cross. 

Yay!  Great to see you stopping in here - not having seen you on here for a little while. 

Thanks...I do check in almost every week day but never have much time to contribute since I only access the site at work and i'm busy these days  (which is a good thing I guess), will make more of an effort in future, I do really enjoy being part of this forum.  Especially when there's threads like this one, good job!

I like your avatar!   

Beautifully said!

Thanks, Courtney.

Well and as some of us are finding, there's the other side of that too - people who have ailing parents in the US or whose parents are aged. 

You're so right, Carolyn. I'm facing that now. My mother has had some serious health problems since we moved here, and it kills me that I'm not able to spend more time with her. We're eight miles away from my in-laws but thousands of miles away from my mom. That's the thing about these transcontinental marriages: no matter what, one of you will always be far from family.

Good to hear from you again, Karen. So glad things are working out well for you!

thanks C!  Good to hear from you too!!

That's it!  Believe me, the strange coincidence of it isn't lost on him. 

It's really the same town name when you consider it - back to the times when people just used different spellings as to what took their fancy/convention.  Where we live now has been referred to (in the past) as Horsforde - we've seen it on documents in the local museum.  It has the same meaning:  a ford (river, body of water) for horses to cross. 

According to all the road signs, it's actually H'fth.

I'm a little late on joining the thread but better late then never right?!? 

My name is Lucie, I'm a Cuban-American born and raised in Miami, Florida. My journey to the UK started when I was 15 and my parents sent me to Spain to live with relatives for a few months as my "quinceanera" present! That trip opened my eyes to Europe! The history, the culture, just a totally different way of life. I was hooked. A little while after I came back, my parents bought me my first computer and I started communicating online with an Irish guy the same age as me who I found via Yahoo profiles (after they had told me never to speak to strangers online, naturally)!

We were great friends throughout my high-school years, but things changed when I moved to Gainesville to go to college at the University of Florida - his best friend was moving to England to go to Uni at Cambridge - and he didn't have time to keep up with his two best friends online separately - so the three-way chats began (which I resented at first)!

From the first time I chatted with Ed (my now-husband!) online - there was an instant chemistry that is hard to explain, we had loads in common even though we're really different and couldn't get enough of talking to each other! We started chatting on our own, and decided early in our first year in undergrad that we wanted to date exclusively, and would find a way to meet each other in person. I applied for a summer study-abroad at Cambridge Uni and got it! I met him for the first time in person on July 2nd, 2003 and that only confirmed what we both knew already - we were made for each other!

We dated long distance until we got married in Jan of 2006. He moved to the US while I went to veterinary school, although we knew that we wanted to move to the UK when I was done with my training.

And we have managed to get it done - with the fabulous and invaluable help of UKY, which I found in 2007 I think. I managed to get my ILE, and we made the move with our four cats in July of this year! We started out in Cambridge, a place I still hold so dear in my heart...but unfortunately the job market for vets in Cambridge (especially new vets!) was appalling (as it is most everywhere, actually!) and Ed got a job in Chiswick so we couldn't stay!

I just recently found a job with Medivet - which despite its Panorama infamy is actually a company full of hardworking, ethical, lovely and really intelligent vets although my position at the bottom of the totem pole as a "floating" vet (essentially filling in where I am needed, not in a permanent position) is less than ideal for my personality (I like continuity, to get to know people...to get settled and see my patients more than once)!

I am having a very overwhelming time at the moment, adjusting to the long hours and continuously worrying about not knowing enough...living in a small, not-so-great flat above the clinic in Watford (it came with the job and we couldn't find anywhere to live in London fast enough!!) and just sorting out all the day to day bits and pieces that I can't seem to find time for....

I miss being settled, and can't wait until we're in a position to find a flat in a hopefully nice area and where we can finally get all our stuff out of storage (I miss all my little knicknacks and pictures of family and friends...).

So that's me in a nutshell right now...maybe I can update my bit of the thread in a few months once I'm more settled!!!

Also...geez....this is long!!! Congrats to anyone who made it this far