Getting to know you (again)!

Maybe I should have called it the WW Amnesty Thread!  

I'm giving Rep Points to the first 10 people who participate, apart from myself, btw.  We're up to 8 now!

I have things to comment (or put stuff in relation to) on others' posts, but just waiting on the hubs to make lunch right now & don't want to get involved in anything longer at the mo' that'll get interrupted, by food!  

ETA:  And Balmerhon is your Pregnancy & Parenting board moderator - I think she used to be Politics too, are you still, C?

I also skipped the WW thread, mainly because I didn't realise it existed until I'd already posted a bunch.

Anyway, I moved to the UK in February 2010…no partner, no job, just wanted to try something new. I'd always been interested in living abroad (though I'd figured on Ireland, not England), and when I found out I could get citizenship pretty easily (albeit not cheaply!) through my mom, it just seemed to make sense. That said, I think I tentatively decided to pursue it in 2004-5, and actually sent off the paperwork in mid-2009, so it was a rather slow process!

I dragged my dog and cat along with me, and we've all managed to settle in to life in the UK pretty well. I really like the pace of things here, and the general attitude of people is a welcome change from the rush-rush-rush/career-building in the US. I don't know how long I'll stay, but for now, I wouldn't rule out staying for quite a long time.

I keep meaning to join the UKY bookclub, as I read a bunch, but haven't actually done it yet (bad me!). I have done some hiking, though, and frequent a board games meetup group which is fun. I still need to work on getting out and being more social, as well as taking advantage of everything London (and the UK/Europe) has to offer.

I never posted in Welcome Wagon either  .  I came to UKY for visa advice, and by the time I'd even noticed that WW existed, I had over a hundred posts, and it felt like the moment had passed.  So here's to making up for that, two years late!

Me, too on all counts...
I think I've told my story here a million times, but here we go:

I met my lovely DH in a Friends (the show) chatroom when I was only 12. We were just friends for 4 years. We decided we had feelings for each other when I was 16 and he 19. He came to see me for 3 weeks and even my parents (though cautious at first) adored him! We entered into a long distance relationship for the next 6.5 years. I went to college and got my degree in Music Education. In my last year I joined the International Student Teaching program, where I did my primary placement in London to be with him. The school where I was training was going to sponsor me to come over on a work visa, but it was then discovered they did not have a license to sponsor Americans. That's when I found UKY, in January 2009. We couldn't bear to live apart and were willing to do whatever it took to be together. We had already been engaged for 2 years by that point, so I joined here and thanks to advice here we got married in the US 2 months later and by June I was settled in the UK!

I love my life here. I teach music at a primary school in North London and I really love my job. I just started branching out to teach non-music classes as well, as part of gaining QTS (qualified teacher status). I really enjoy it. Not to mention, I love the English school holidays.

Something you might only know about me if you have me on FB.... Shortly after we got our own place, DH and I started fostering rabbits through the local rabbit rescue, which happened to be right around the corner! It's become a big part of my life. I always had bunnies growing up, and I really missed having them around. We were only going to foster one, but a few months later wound up taking 2 pregnant females who both gave birth. We had 18 in our house at one point!   Raised them all and they have gone on to good homes. All but 3 of them, who we adopted! (Pinky, Evander Hops-in-a-field - he has 1 ear, and Scruffy). The girl who owns the rescue has also become a great friend, and it was one of the biggest helps in making me feel more at home here...

Probably worth a mention that shortly after moving here I was diagnosed with MS. It's coming up to my 1 year anniversary of my diagnosis in just a couple weeks (day after Thanksgiving). I manage well, and try to stay pretty positive, but I admit that I tend to moan about it now and again. Usually in the IA section.

I don't know what else to write here! I like to think of myself as an open book, so most of it has probably come up in my posts. I'm really grateful that I found UKY. I came for the visa advice, but I stayed for the friends/love/support.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm from Pittsburgh, PA! Born and raised. Go Steelers/Pens!

Oh yeah, I'm from CA originally (Palo Alto), but spent high school onwards in Maryland/Virginia/North Carolina.

ETA:  And Balmerhon is your Pregnancy & Parenting board moderator - I think she used to be Politics too, are you still, C?

Yes.  Politics is slow usually, except for when it's the US Presidential elections.

@historyenne, we love foreign languages in our house!  My husband did an O-level in French plus 1 more year of French as an adult learner - I think because he studied it more when he was young, he is still reasonably fluent in it when he needs to be.  Then he took 8 years of Spanish as an adult learner, so he is reasonably fluent in that as well.  I took both a year of French and a year of Brazilian Portuguese at university (so not really fluent in either - lol) and have learned some Spanish from DH and our travels - I tend to mix the lot all together in a weird mish-mash.  Ha ha!  My husband says I have a good instinct for languages - I just try to wing it when we travel and often end up speaking (however badly grammar-wise) to more people than he does & manage to be understood.  I find facial expression and body language are often better indications of what a person is saying than the actual words & frequently figure out what they're saying (in French or Spanish) before he does, which annoys the crap out of him.  He says I also have a good instinct for etymology - maybe because I've studied a bit of several different languages?  I tend to readily spot the roots (or sometimes just the 'feel' of a word - I don't know how to explain it) that link a word in one language to another word in another language...recent example, zellij (Arabic word for a certain kind of tiling) and azulejo (Spanish word for tile, in a general sense).  Immediately, I saw zellij and remembered azulejo, and I commented that I bet one of those words came from the other.  He looked it up and sure enough, I was right!  (Azulejo came from zellij, and it does make sense in terms of the historical cultural crossroads between the Moors and Spain.)

@ksand24 - that's cool about the meteorology!  You'll be a weather girl!    I was never very big on studying science - wish I would have been, but I *loved* meteorology.  Still have fond memories of drawing weather maps in university, using coloured pencils.  At one time I was a journalism student, we had to take a certain block of science courses, and they tended to direct the J-school students to meteorology.  So I took an Intro to Meteorology course, and an Unusual/Extreme Weather course, back at univ.  I loved learning about extreme weather especially - having grown up in 'Tornado Alley'...then I later moved to a hurricane prone area.

Oh yeah - I'm an alumnus of the University of Kansas (Rock Chalk Jayhawk!) but I was on a 12 year plan there...went to J-school for 3 years, dropped out, worked awhile, then ended up going back, took some Social Work courses, eventually got a degree in History.  Go figure!  Hubby has a Computer Science bachelors degree from Brunel University at Uxbridge, and a Software Engineering masters degree from the University of Teesside.

@princesslemons, I used to work with a gal who kept several giant rabbits as pets.  She was always talking about those rabbits - lol! 

@Andee - I never knew your name was Andrea!  Lol!  I just thought you were Andee & that's it.

Also, I was never an Anglophile, at all!  No one was more surprised than me that I ended up here - especially because I prefer hotter weather.  But I've never felt more at home than I do here - I have more friends & more social life than anywhere else I've ever lived - lol!  Life works out so weird sometimes!

Hi everyone! I think I may have posted on the WW, but, I can't really remember at the moment. Hee hee!

Anyway, my name is Abigail, I'm 38, and I live in Crewe,Cheshire. My DH is called Ian, and we met as pen pals way back in 1996. I lived most of my life in San Diego, Ca. There was a year that I lived in Chicago, Illinois, after falling out with my dad for a while, but, oh well, that's all just life experience.

This is gonna sound weird-because I even know how weird it sounds to me, but, I've known that I was going to live in England forever. It all started with Paddington Bear on PBS. I loved him, and I watched all of the programs every Saturday morning, before everyone woke up. And while watching the show, I just knew that's where I wanted to be, too.

I had answered the an advert in Rolling Stone magazine, for a company called Trans Atlantic Pen Friends. I had just broken up with my first long time boyfriend who said that he wanted to "see other people". What I didn't know was that he was seeing these other girls while seeing me. Yes. Well. Anyways, I answered the advert, sent in my details, and had already been getting letters from other guys. They all seemed like really nice guys, but, there was always "something missing". Then, I went on summer vacation to Chicago and stayed with my aunts. When I came back in September, there was a letter waiting for me. At this point, I was a little bored with it all, and I thought this letter was going to be like all of the other guys' letters. So, I took it to my room and settled in for a read. The letter(from DH) was a story, about me, taken from the information that I had given to the pen pal company. I thought it was super creative and sweet, so, I wrote back to him immediately. Eventually, when emailing got off the ground, we emailed each other. Even when I was going through some tough situations in life, DH and I never lost touch, and he stuck by me when I thought no one else would. In fact, few people did.

I came to the UK on a visit for the first time in 2005; he came over to San Diego in 2006; I went over again to the UK in 2007; he came to San Diego again in 2008, and I came over to live in 2009.

I came to the forum after being on a different forum that made you pay to have full access. I'm glad that I'm on this forum because I've met lots of nice people who are living in my same/similar situation, and it makes me feel better about living here.

Oh yeah, I work at a children's nursery. I think it's great, when I'm not ill. But, having said that, I do love all the kiddos that I work with. Some of the staff need a kick up the bum every once in a while, but, I've made friends with some good ones, and that's what matters to me.

@historyenne, we love foreign languages in our house!  My husband did an O-level in French plus 1 more year of French as an adult learner - I think because he studied it more when he was young, he is still reasonably fluent in it when he needs to be.  Then he took 8 years of Spanish as an adult learner, so he is reasonably fluent in that as well.  I took both a year of French and a year of Brazilian Portuguese at university (so not really fluent in either - lol) and have learned some Spanish from DH and our travels - I tend to mix the lot all together in a weird mish-mash.  Ha ha!  My husband says I have a good instinct for languages - I just try to wing it when we travel and often end up speaking (however badly grammar-wise) to more people than he does & manage to be understood.  I find facial expression and body language are often better indications of what a person is saying than the actual words & frequently figure out what they're saying (in French or Spanish) before he does, which annoys the crap out of him.  He says I also have a good instinct for etymology - maybe because I've studied a bit of several different languages?  I tend to readily spot the roots (or sometimes just the 'feel' of a word - I don't know how to explain it) that link a word in one language to another word in another language...recent example, zellij (Arabic word for a certain kind of tiling) and azulejo (Spanish word for tile, in a general sense).  Immediately, I saw zellij and remembered azulejo, and I commented that I bet one of those words came from the other.  He looked it up and sure enough, I was right!  (Azulejo came from zellij, and it does make sense in terms of the historical cultural crossroads between the Moors and Spain.)

I think etymology really helps in learning language.  It's something I often teach to students, and one of the reasons I specialise in academic English--I get to do stuff like that.  My ultimate goal is to get a PhD in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition.  I am completely fascinated by how people learn foreign languages.  It is definitely an aptitude--like music or math--that some people have and some don't.  It sounds like you have it, Mrs R!  

And speaking of the weirdness of life... I grew up with a deeply Anglophile mother, who taught me to drink tea, read British novels, and appreciate humour-with-a-u.  She was also very interested in genealogy, which honestly bores me to tears.  However, she managed to pinpoint her earliest ancestor to come to North America.  He moved to Massachussetts in the 1670s, but was born in Chardstock in Somerset--less than 20 miles from Yeovil, where DH was born! So I've come full circle, so to speak.    

She was also very interested in genealogy, which honestly bores me to tears.  However, she managed to pinpoint her earliest ancestor to come to North America.  He moved to Massachussetts in the 1670s, but was born in Chardstock in Somerset--less than 20 miles from Yeovil, where DH was born! So I've come full circle, so to speak.     

How funny!

I'm intermittently interested in geneology. If I could do it without paying to access stuff, I'd probably do more. But some of my family members are active and have traced our tree to the 1500s in the Glasgow area. Ironically, I got engaged not far from there so in some ways I came full circle, too.

Hi!  I never posted in the Welcome Wagon either, didn't realize it was there for a long time, so I thought I'd say hi.  

I'm Jess, I'm 26 and currently living with my parents in central NJ but I try to pretend I still live in Brooklyn.  I went to NYU, moved off campus to Brooklyn while in school and stayed for a few years after but moved home in September 2009 when I lost my job and I'm still here, despite my best intentions to only stay for a few months.  I studied politics in school but have no idea what I want to do, really, so ended up waiting tables for awhile, doing a temp office job or two and am now working at Starbucks.  I've loved to travel since I first left the country at 16 to go to Spain to study Spanish for two months.  I went totally unsupervised to a Spanish language school in Salamanca and did a lot of growing up in those two months.  Anyway, I went back to Spain for 2 weeks with a friend after high school graduation in 2003 and that's where I met my bf.  We first met under inauspicious circumstances, in a bar where our tour leader had brought us for some drinks in Barcelona.  Mumble, mumble, mumble, we ended up "hanging out" for the few days left in our trips and made a lame attempt at keeping in touch afterwards, but it never went past a couple of e-mails.

Fast forward to a few years later, we become facebook friends.  Still no real contact, though, until last fall when he fb chat messaged me about a visit to NY.  Long story short, we started talking incessantly, eventually started video chatting incessantly too and I went to go see him last February and the rest is history.  Even though we didn't technically meet online, we definitely got to know each other for real because of the internet.  We never would've spoken again after that trip if it weren't for weird coincidences.  He's been to NJ to see me twice since and I'm headed to England next week for a short visit.  We've known since the beginning of the relationship that if we wanted to be together long term we'd have to get married.  Hopefully, we'll have the resources to do that this winter so I can apply for a visa and move over.  I'd definitely like to apply before the projected April fee increases.  He lives in Kent, in Tunbridge Wells, so I'll be moving to that area.  

Anyway, I like to cook vegetarian food, bake slightly less-bad-for-you versions of baked goods, read, travel and sleep.  New York City is my true love and our long term plan is to eventually move to the US and live in NY again.  I'm a transit nerd, love the transit museums in cities, love the history of the subway, etc.  I love the city way of life, the pace, the lack of having to drive and the convenience of 24 hour everything.  Oddly, I actually also love to drive but hate having to do it every day.  I love to get on a highway and go fast and feel that rush, though.  Unfortunately, that's rarely the kind of driving one does in the tristate area.  There's heavy traffic, everywhere, all the time.  I'm actually looking forward to tackling the challenge of driving in the UK when I move.  I only kind of know how to drive manual so that will be an adventure, too.  My BF doesn't have a license, much less a car, although he knows how to drive and probably does it too often, really, so I'll have to teach myself via driving lessons and renting cars, but I think it's important for me to do it in the year that my US license will be valid.    

I think etymology really helps in learning language.  It's something I often teach to students, and one of the reasons I specialise in academic English--I get to do stuff like that.  My ultimate goal is to get a PhD in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition.  I am completely fascinated by how people learn foreign languages.  It is definitely an aptitude--like music or math--that some people have and some don't.  It sounds like you have it, Mrs R!  

I tend to think I'm better at learning languages than I really am.  I speak fairly decent Spanish, or at least did, I haven't had much practice in awhile, but I also studied it for a long time.  I absolutely cannot read fiction in Spanish, though, I'm too impatient.  I read very quickly in English and can't slow down to an appropriate speed to understand Spanish.  And I have difficulty processing conversations, etc, that I'm not involved in.  I took a few years of French in high school, as well, and I'm absolutely awful with it.  I don't remember a lot and what I do still remember is mostly the stuff that's pretty close to Spanish.  I studied abroad in Prague and took Czech while there and by the end of the semester thought I was doing well but it's nearly completely gone by now.  I only really retained a little bit of "tourist Czech."  I also took a semester of Arabic, but ran for the hills after that.  Waaaaaaay too confusing and if you ask me, it's nearly impossible to learn a language when you're not allowed to use vowels after the first time you see a word!  There's just not enough reinforcement without a lot of plain old drilling.  Not to mention it just being a confusing language altogether.  I'd like to learn some German but really don't have the impetus to do so.   

I know I'm relatively new- But I'm not sure I ever shared my story as to how I made it here-
  So my name is Ashley (hubby dubbed me Smashley) Originally from Chico Ca.  I worked in healthcare (ER and Critical Care mostly) and met my hubby on Myspace. I had on my account that I was a Red Dwarf fan... Something my first husband got me into, so I can kinda credit him on getting me and hubby together! Hubby asked me why a "Cute Yankee Chick was into Red Dwarf for" We were pen pals through myspace for several months until I decided I wanted to make a trip to England.  So I spent a few days in London, then drove myself to Liverpool to do the Beatles tour and meet my friend. After meeting him in person for the first time I have to admit I fell hard for him.  We spent the next 2 years taking turns on visiting each other- Then surprise surprise, we are going to have a baby together!  I figured it was time I met his family so my 7 yr old and I spent this summer in Liverpool. Little did I know he had been designing a ring and planning to propose since before we got our special news... So I found myself engaged and pregnant in the Uk. We set about applying for a COA to marry before I returned to have the baby back in the US, however due to what I describe as "Maximum Incompetence" on both the Home Office and the Royal Mail, my passports were not returned in time to make my flight home or before it was dangerous for me to fly... Our baby was born in Liverpool as a result.  It's been a stressful time, trying to figure out visas and passports, but we are together and we are a family.  All this confusion is what led me to find UK Yankee- I can't tell you what a blessing it has been.  All the answer we were looking for, plus people that could relate to what I was going through.  I only wish more lived closer- it would be so nice to grab a cup of coffee with my fellow Americans!

I'll bite as well since I don't post as much as I used to...

I'm MeShell...just like on the label....I was born in Houston Tx and lived most of my adult life in Oklahoma...(I'm 44)..until I met my hubby..(45).. of 13yrs in a chatroom...I was in OK and he lived here on the Isle of Man..where I have now been living for going on 14 yrs...

I have 3 grown children...a son almost 26, my oldest daughter is 22 and my youngest is 19. I also have 2 step kids a SS that is 21 and SD that is 19.

I used to be a damn good travel agent...Disney and USA specialist...I miss it too! Even did some holidays for some of the members on here.... But 3 redunancies forced me to go a different direction..I now work for the IOM Government in the Department of Education and Children as a Events Organiser and Resource Manager.

In 2006 I decided to have a gastric bypass..flew to Brugge Belgium and I am happy to say I have lost 8stone..Have had 2 other reconstructive surgeries..not from the weightloss but due to a horrific car crash David and I and the kids were in in 1998...but since I lost the weight they did the reconstructions I needed done. It hasn't all been smooth sailing as I now have severe anemia and am tired all the time.

Anyways..I think I am the only member on the IOM that has stuck around on here...I wish there were more members closer...and it didn't cost an arm and a leg to get off this hunk of rock.......

Oh I also knew I wasn't ment to live my whole life in the USA...when I was about 12/13 I day dreamed about other countries..wondering what they were doing at that moment..

@ksand24 - that's cool about the meteorology!  You'll be a weather girl!    I was never very big on studying science - wish I would have been, but I *loved* meteorology.  Still have fond memories of drawing weather maps in university, using coloured pencils.  At one time I was a journalism student, we had to take a certain block of science courses, and they tended to direct the J-school students to meteorology.  So I took an Intro to Meteorology course, and an Unusual/Extreme Weather course, back at univ.  I loved learning about extreme weather especially - having grown up in 'Tornado Alley'...then I later moved to a hurricane prone area.

When I was in Sixth Form, I was leaning towards doing a Physical Geography degree and ended up going with Physics instead, but we did a whole 6 months of meteorology as part of my A level Geography course and I really enjoyed it. As I've just found out though, there is so much more to learn than those basics we did at A level: on our training course we're being taught all the background first before we get onto the forecasting... last week, we had 3 Maths for Meteorology lectures, 4 Thermodynamics lectures, 3 Equations of Motion lectures, plus 2 lectures on Air Masses, 1 on Surface Chart Analysis, 2 on Fronts and Frontal systems and 2 afternoons of creating frontal analysis charts (complete with coloured pencils) and then analysing them - and that was just week 1!