Getting to know you (again)!

Went on another US expats website some years ago to try and promote a Philip Glass opera that my son's youth opera group were performing, stayed on the site because I was quite intrigued by the comments (especially as I work with foreign students).

OMG, HME!! Was that the Leeds Youth Opera Akhnaten??  Both my kids were in that (first production) DD was one of the daughters and DS got to carry a canopic jar in the first scene. They loved it (in spite of getting yelled at regularly by Jonathan)

OMG, HME!! Was that the Leeds Youth Opera Akhnaten??  Both my kids were in that (first production) DD was one of the daughters and DS got to carry a canopic jar in the first scene. They loved it (in spite of getting yelled at regularly by Jonathan)

Major coincidence - but no it was The Voyage (quite a lot later than Akhnaten). They've also done 'Appatomax' (sp?) since then. Yes Jonathan was still yelling until last year when he was (forcibly) retired. My son left some years ago, but I was quite heavily involved in backstage help, and still go to performances - 'La Traviata' in February.

Well, I guess since I've been reading on here again I'll post. 

I originally came to York in 2004 as a MA student, but a banking error 'misplaced' my student loan cheque for nearly three months.  At Christmas that year I had to withdraw from my course because I did not think I would have enough money to complete the course.  During my brief 3 months here though, I met my future dh.  After being dumped by the crappy bf I had while in the UK, and my dh and I got very close.  After his mother died, I came to spend Christmas (2005) with him.  I told him I didn't want to do the long distance thing, so he said, let's get married.  And in July 2006, we did.  I finally got to complete my MA this past academic year, and am now just waiting on my results (fingers crossed).  I had to keep my head in my research so gave up most the internet except my research sites for about 4 months.  Right now I'm looking for a job (I know, silly in this economic climate) and doing volunteer research at a few historic properties around York.  Oh and this was my original handle on here, but previously I have been internet addict as well.  And that's just me! 

...no US connections...

Now that's simply not true - you've got me as your US connection! 

  Work wise I have been lucky but I start a new role next month and seems I will have to spend quite a bit of time in NYC, Turkey, Spain and Australia... let the traveling begin.

Sounds exciting, but probably a lot of hard work. 

Oh and this was my original handle on here, but previously I have been internet addict as well.  And that's just me! 

Yay!!!!  Welcome back. 

I think I need to update the Quick Links guide to the thread again soon - will try to do that sometime this weekend! 

Great thread! Im a bit late off the mark (been very busy with work) but i'll add my story as I never posted in WW either.

My name is Emma and I am the UKC in our relationship. I met DH in Australia in December 2007, we were on the same tour bus travelling down the East Coast and we hit it off straight away. We spent about a week together before the holiday was over and we went back to our own countries. I never expected that we would stay in contact and the first couple of months that we were back we hardly spoke. Then everything suddenly changed and we started chatting on MSN everyday. We both went to Canada in Aug 2008  to visit some friends and spent 2 weeks together - that time sealed the deal and i knew he was the man for me.

He proposed in Jan 2009 and we started planning our wedding for Feb 2010. I found this site in the middle of 2009 whilst researching his fiance visa and im so glad I did as I found a major flaw in our plans - our honeymoon was booked for a week after the wedding and i hadnt even considered that he wouldnt be able to leave the country and return after we were married. After a lot of stress we made the decision to have our legal ceremony in the US and turn our wedding into a blessing. We got married on 11 Sept 2009 (not an ideal date but it worked best for us!) and he moved into my flat in Hemel Hempstead in October 2009. We had our amazing wedding day on 27th feb of this year and i am sooooo happy! The novelty of him being here still hasnt worn off.

So i decided to hang around the forum - mostly to keep up to date on immigration rules and now posting in the food thread (especially the baking thread - i love to bake!). Ive lived in Hemel my whole life except for my 4 year uni course where i lived in Sheffield. I love spending time with my family and friends and am incredibly close to my parents and sister which is why DH came to live here.

Hi everyone! Been meaning to make my updated WW post for awhile now!

I am a Connecticut-born, but most of my school years were spent in Chester Co and Reading PA. I went to university in PA for Graphic Design and Weaving, where I literally learned to weave underwater(a Panama Hat not a basket).  I went to a summer abroad program to London in there and fell in love with the city. The next year one of my good friends went on the same summer abroad program and fell for a Brit, who she moved here for. I actually learned about UK Yankee while helping her through her visa process (her name on here is castabear).

We graduated in 2007 and my friend moved to Herts while I moved to Philly to work in advertising design. In 2008 I flew to the UK to visit castabear and ended up meeting my DH that first night at her flatmate's mother's 50th birthday party.  I ended up pretending my flight was cancelled (bad!) and stayed in the UK for 2 weeks instead of my planned 5 days. We were totally crazy about each other and he came to Philly a couple months later, where he proposed the idea of me moving in with him. I tried getting the Irish Ancestry (no dice since I needed my birth fathers current ID and couldn't obtain it) and a work permit (tried but the employer failed to get one). So after lots and lots job apps and 3 job offers that did not end in WPs, we sort of figured that our relationship wasn't meant to be.

Almost year of not being together went by when DH calls me when I am in NYC with friends. He had just landed at JFK and wanted to know if I would like to see him the next weekend when he would be near Philly. I ended up seeing him that day and inviting him and his friend to stay with me when they come to Philly. He tells me he still loves me and a week later we ended up engaged, 2 months later married 3 months later I am in the UK!

Here we live in Hitchin (but will be in London soon) where I am employed doing graphic & web design for a small company. DH and I are starting the process of fostering kids which probably won't really happen until the end of next year. I knit, crochet, go site-seeing with my 5 year old niece, play with antique cameras, and watch overly-sexual US vampire dramas for fun. I also spend a lot of my free time fantasizing about Five Guys, Target and one day living somewhere with an outdoor space so I can get a puppy.

I am not always sure if I can or will spend the rest of my life here, and I am having loads of growing pains as I get acclimated to life in the UK, but getting married to my DH was definitely the best choice I have made no matter which country we end up in. UKY has been an immeasurable help in providing advice, inspiration and antidotes over the past few years and just want to thank everyone for making this little web community awesome!


-Danielle

Uh, I'm not even American! 

Joined UKY in spring 2007, just 'cause I miss North American things sometimes.

I met Mr MLG when he was living in BC on a working holiday visa and I had already planned to do a working holiday in the UK (Australia was my first choice, but student loans and exchange rates made that impossible!). He crashed a party held by some friends of mine that he wasn't exactly invited to (long story) and I wasn't going to go to, but had helped with preparations and somehow stayed on. We got to talking and only shut up when the taxi door shut as he went to his apartment, as we agreed to share a taxi home (even though we lived on opposite sides of the city!) and that was that.

I then moved to London and he got a job in the Netherlands. We did the LDR thing for 2 years in total and then decided to marry.

I left Canada over a decade ago!    I am quite happily from both BC and Yorkshire - 'tis a privilege! 

I've posted over in WW but I'll post again here.

My name is Jill and I'm twenty seven. I currently live in San Jose, CA but I'm from New Jersey. I met my boyfriend online in August of 2009. Around October of that year, after a few months of chatting and Skyping online as well as gaming, we decided we wanted to be exclusive. We kept on that path trying to figure out when to meet face to face. The time finally came in Sept of this year in Canada. We picked a third country mainly because it was my first time out of the country and Canada just felt safer and it was a lot cheaper. We met, had a wonderful time, and had a painful goodbye.

We're still in the beginnings of our relationship and have been taking things day by day. He feels so much further away now but we're holding on. We were going to try to meet up again for Christmas or New Years seeing as I'll be home for both and it be a shorter flight, but as things have it, it won't be happening. He's in the middle of buying a flat and it got pushed back since the person he's buying it from had to get a new place as well. As of right now we're planning for him to come over and meet my family for Easter. I'm hoping to visit his home town and meet his family next summer. I'm nervous but hoping what I learn here will help guide me through.

Hi everyone! Been meaning to make my updated WW post for awhile now!...

...UKY has been an immeasurable help in providing advice, inspiration and antidotes over the past few years and just want to thank everyone for making this little web community awesome! 

What a sweet story, Danielle! 

Uh, I'm not even American! 

You're a North American! 

My name is Jill and I'm twenty seven...

...I'm nervous but hoping what I learn here will help guide me through.

Good luck with everything!  LDRs are hard, but many of us have found them very worthwhile. 

I posted in WW earlier this year, first visiting UKY trying to figure out work restrictions on my student visa, but as I'm no longer a student, perhaps I'll give an updated version.

I'm an Ohioan who came to the UK just over a year ago to get my MA. The BF, from N. Ireland, and I both decided to do MA's in London to increase our job prospects and to finally end those long periods of time without seeing each other. We met through a friend online four years ago, met in person 1.5 years later when I studied abroad in Leicester, and then did the long-distance relationship for another 1.5 years until we both moved to London. The only thing I miss about our LDR is that he was doing his BA in Paris, so I was going to Paris every few months (he didn't come to Ohio too often because, well, not quite as nice as Paris!)

I finished my MA at the end of September, and two days after handing in my dissertation I started my job. I have a temporary position at Dorling Kindersley (part of Penguin Books) and absolutely love it. I decided I wanted to work in publishing, specifically at Penguin, at 14 and made most major decisions in my life on that goal, so to have accomplished it within ten years was exciting. Now I just have to get myself something permanent and into the right department...

So I work in London but live in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, due to the BF having a job in Bedfordshire. It's not ideal and I hate my commute, but I love my job and I love our flat, so I put up with the in between!

I have a temporary position at Dorling Kindersley (part of Penguin Books) and absolutely love it.

DK Books?  They are the best!!   

DK Books?  They are the best!!   

Aww, thanks! It's so nice to hear someone say that! 

DK Books?  They are the best!!   

Yes, we love them too. 

DK books are great! And I am super jealous of the Penguin connection. I was chatting with someone about publishers the other day and mentioned that Penguin has all of the irresistible swag for me: there's something about the bags, book covers, etc that I just LOVE.