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Topic: Getting to know you (again)!  (Read 19085 times)

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Re: Getting to know you (again)!
« Reply #30 on: November 07, 2010, 04:33:47 PM »
I'm Carl, 41, born in Michigan but went to high school and college in Texas, and my family still lives there (in Austin), so that's where I call home.

I spent 7 years as an Air Force officer.  For the first four I launched nuclear missiles and for the last three I was a combat camera producer/director.  After I got out I went into television production as an editor, and have worked for ESPN, Good Morning America, and CBS News (The Early Show and Evening News).

Between the Air Force and big-time TV I worked as a broadcast technician at sea for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, and that's where I met Emma, from the UK, who was working as a member of the cruise director's staff (running bingo games and other passenger activities).  We spent a lot of time together, but didn't officially start dating until early 2005, by which time we were both off ships.  She was in London and I was in New York City, so we spent a lot of time on airplanes. 

I came to the UK in 2007 on an HSMP visa, we got married last year, and now we live in a little village just outside London.  We have no kids yet, but we have recently gotten a cat, whose name is Stinkeye (I picked this name because he had conjunctivitis when we first got him.  Emma thinks it's a terrible name, but the cat doesn't seem to mind it, and veterinary professionals all smile when they hear it).


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Re: Getting to know you (again)!
« Reply #31 on: November 07, 2010, 05:13:14 PM »
I think I'll have a go as well!  :)

I found UKY just after a little 2 month trip through Europe that I took in 2008.  A week before I was meant to go home, I met a handsome Scotsman in Berlin who was staying at the same hostel and my friend and I.  We kept in touch, and I visited him a couple of months later.  That sealed the deal as far as knowing we wanted to be together so I started looking into how I could go to the UK without getting hitched.  ;)

I already knew I wanted to get my master's, but I also knew I would have a lot of trouble getting into a program in the US for various reasons, the primary one being my refusal to subscribe to standardized testing as a valid way of measuring one's ability and thus having no intention of taking the GREs, much less paying for them.  I decided grad school abroad was my way of killing 2 birds with one stone...no GREs and lots of boyfriend.  ;D

I moved over to Glasgow 1 year and 2 months ago and I just completed my MLitt in August.  I'm due to graduate at the end of this month! Now I'm just working crap jobs while looking for ones in my field, and trying to figure out how all the grown-up tax/work stuff works in Scotland since being a student allowed me to be in denial about it for a year.

I like rebellious music, watching any BBC programme that involves people having to live in Georgian/Regency/Victorian/Edwardian times, and eating copious amounts of cheese.

Things are still great with me and my handsome Scotsman.  We try to brew our own beer, try to bake our own bread, and take nice long walks with the cutest dog that ever dogged. I think our life's ambition is to be as good if not better than Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, only our cottage will be called Awesome Cottage, because we're awesome...obviously.  ;)

Despite small bouts of occasional homesickness, I really am so happy to be here.  I love this place and I love my life!

ETA: And I was born and bred in New Jersey! Forgot that part.  ;D
« Last Edit: November 07, 2010, 05:21:29 PM by NoseOverTail »
"It is really a matter of ending this silence and solitude, of breathing and stretching one's arms again."


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Re: Getting to know you (again)!
« Reply #32 on: November 07, 2010, 05:32:49 PM »
Oooh Oooh I want to play.

I am Rachel and I am from Long Island, New York. And you know what they say, you can take the girl out of Long Island, but you can't take the Long Island out of the girl!

I came to Manchester in 1993 to do a semester abroad, and really never left! I came back in 1995 and did 6 months with Bunac, 3 months in London (I wasn't happy there) and came back up to Manchester and had an awesome time! In 1996 I started posting on Internet forums (mainly the NME website) and in Feb of 1997 I came back to visit a friend and I invited some people on the forum to come to a party, well the one guy that came...yeah, we got married in 1999. We live in a leafy suburb of South Manchester and we have two kids and a cat!

My kids...let me talk about them, they rock. Noah is almost 5 and he is the most gorgeous creature I have ever met, funny, cute, sweet and smart (like his Daddy) He is in Reception at a local school and he seems to be loving it. Imogen was born in March of this year and she is my perfect girly girl. She is very cute and sweet as sugar!

I have been incredibly lucky with my life here, I got my first temp job after being here about a week, they told me to go to an office and ask for Rosemary, to help her stuff envelopes. Fast forward almost 12 years, I am still working with Rosemary and she is truly my best friend. She is like family. I have a really big group of girlfriends and we really support each other with kids and stuff.

I am on maternity leave right now, and really am dreading returning back to work...

Moving to Manchester was the best thing I have ever done, I feel like I belong here its my home! And C'est Moi!!!

I am adding some stuff here...I have no idea how I came to UK-Y to be honest, I just can't remember, however I found it really helpful. When my husband and I got married in 1999 all we had to do was to to the British Embassy in NYC and give them some money and fill in some forms, we didn't have to prove any financial details or anything. It was all so easy back then!! I work in Recruitment Outsourcing, but I am on mat leave right now. I really enjoy baking, mainly because its more fun than cleaning my house and if my husband comes home from work and the house is a tip, but there is a baked good, he still seems to love me!
« Last Edit: November 07, 2010, 09:12:31 PM by racheeeee »


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Re: Getting to know you (again)!
« Reply #33 on: November 07, 2010, 05:49:36 PM »
I've been living in the East Midlands for a few years now and recently found UKY to connect with other Americans. The Husband is British and we have two children. Fortunately, Thing 1 and Thing 2 were young enough when we moved to the UK to have easily transitioned into British life without any problems. We live very close to the Husband's family with whom I've always had a close relationship with in spite of living in separate countries. It's so nice having them close by especially as my family is scattered throughout the US.

The Husband and I have just as of last weekend completed Move Number 7 in our 12 years of marriage. (and our 2nd move since arriving in the UK) Thing 1 teases me that moving is my hobby. Her friend recently told me she expects that I'll grow bored of my new house in a week and will decide to move back to America. lol But I absolutely love and adore my new house and hope to settle here for many years to come. And I absolutely love living in the UK and wish we had moved here sooner.

I spent a few years in the US as a stay-at-home mom and have transitioned back into the workplace on a part-time basis since arriving in the UK. I'm in a dead-end job but the hours are flexible and ideal for balancing family and work. One day I'd like to figure out what I want to be when I grow up! :P

I love to read, do some crafts, and play guitar. I spend way too much time on the interwebs but don't feel so bad about that since I make up for it by not watching much tv. I love to travel and have been to quite a few spots around the world. And I love, love, love cupcakes!




Let them eat cupcakes!

Officially Britishly since August 2013


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Re: Getting to know you (again)!
« Reply #34 on: November 07, 2010, 05:53:40 PM »
Okay dokey I'll Play too    ;D
Kay here,
My given name is Karen but all my family/relatives n good freinds call me Kay and thats where part of my online nick comes from.
I was born,bred,brought up in Massachusetts. I grew up in a small town 20 miles SW of Boston called Medfield and was living in Medway before i moved here. My family has always been very close and that part has been hard.
I have always known I wanted to live in Scotland since i was wee. My gran was born here and moved to Massachusetts as a young person and instilled the love of our heritage in all of us and I took it to the extreme :)..
Anyways .. I came here in July 1999 at age 37 all on my own on a work permit. Back then general nurses were on the shortage occupation list. I got my first job and they sponsered my work permit in Aberdeen at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary  then came down here to the Fife region after three years to take a job in research .. that lasted just over a year and I found I missed the acute side of nursing .. so took a job at a nursing agency.. then on the wards.. and now work in Paediatric Home Care working with children with disabilities.
I worked my way up the immigration ladder before alll the life in uk test and massive fees were introduced and got my citizenship then. I consider myself lucky that I have the best of both worlds and can move to either the US or stay here in Scotland and/or should i want the EU.
I live by myself with my two cats.. a black and white tuxedo named Feadan(gaelic for chanter ) and a all black cat named midnight.
I still even after 11 and half years have some bouts of homesickness usually when bad  things happen with family/freinds. So much easier to be a support when you are short drive away.
Thats my story in a nutshell.


Re: Getting to know you (again)!
« Reply #35 on: November 07, 2010, 06:10:00 PM »
Between the Air Force and big-time TV I worked as a broadcast technician at sea for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, and that's where I met Emma, from the UK, who was working as a member of the cruise director's staff (running bingo games and other passenger activities).  We spent a lot of time together, but didn't officially start dating until early 2005, by which time we were both off ships.  She was in London and I was in New York City, so we spent a lot of time on airplanes.

My husband worked for RCCL for 5 years 94-98 small world.


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Re: Getting to know you (again)!
« Reply #36 on: November 07, 2010, 06:54:52 PM »
My husband worked for RCCL for 5 years 94-98 small world.

Sure is!  I was with them from 2001 to 2003. 


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Re: Getting to know you (again)!
« Reply #37 on: November 07, 2010, 07:02:06 PM »
Aww, if I hadn't been out and about all day, I would have posted straight away. I love these kind of posts!!!

Well I did post in the Welcome Wagon- but like my post got moved to "Moving Issues" since I apparently didn't introduce myself enough but rather, asked about a 1000 moving questions!!  :P :P

So that's how I found UKY- I was moving and had about a million things I wanted to know!!!

I kept applying for jobs for about 2 years with a sister company located all the way up in Northern Scotland, from the one I had been working in in Miami and kept getting rejected.  However, this time, I had somehow, someway been accepted this time - I had first interviewed over the phone, then in the US in California, then in Scotland. I knew from the 2 whole days I had spent in Scotland before moving here that it was for me!! And the timing couldn't have been better- I had just gotten out of a 5 year emotionally tumultuous relationship, was going nowhere, and had really just lost myself.
I am on a work permit, just about to hit 3 years here.  I am a Supplier Quality Engineer, working with all the plastics commodities and all our suppliers of our plastics materials for a medical device company- to make them safe and improve their quality- so improving the lives of people through engineering is what I am all about.  :)  I have a BS degree in Plastics Engineering and an MS in Biomedical Engineering.

So I picked up and moved to the other side of the world by myself!!!  Wheee!!  Great times!

My grandfather was born in Edinburgh (he had a Scottish Dad and an American Mum!) and they moved to the US when he was 6.  I still have cousins and family here and although I have actually never met them (hope to soon!!) I have connected with them via letters and facebook and they're lovely.    

I met J. my boyfriend about 9 months after I moved.  We've had lots of ups and downs but 2 years later we're still together.  Somehow. You can find past posts about our extreme problems, but we've worked out through 'em.  We still don't live together and we only see each other on weekends due to our schedules, but its good fun and he makes me very happy  :) :)

I am hugely active in Diabetes UK and Children With Diabetes UK.  I am extremely passionate about research and finding a cure for Type 1 Diabetes, improving Diabetes care in the Highlands, and volunteering my time for all kinds of activities and events.  

I love cooking! Especially local produce and meat.  I also enjoy hill walking, photography, painting and sculpting polymer clay.

The biggest thing to know about me though is that I am a musician.  I play trombone mostly, but I hack at the piano, bass, fiddle, guitar, euphonium, trumpet, cello, and clarinet.   I play trombone in several bands, making guest appearances in a few others, singing in a choral society group, and and I've been recently playing bass in a rock band.    
 
So that's me in a nutshell. (Help, I'm in a nutshell)  :) :) :)

I've never gotten food on my underpants!
Work permit (2007) to British Citizen (2014)
You're stuck with me!


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Re: Getting to know you (again)!
« Reply #38 on: November 07, 2010, 07:21:37 PM »
@princesslemons, I used to work with a gal who kept several giant rabbits as pets.  She was always talking about those rabbits - lol!  :)

Hehe, Pinky and Evander are Giant crosses. ;D They're still *relatively* small, but they will be huge... Scruffy was added to the mix at around 10 days old when his mom died. Mum had rejected Pinky and Evander's litter anyway, so we had to hold her down twice a day for feedings, and we just added Scruffy and his sister to the mix... He is a dwarf, so it is an interesting trio! :)
Finally living with my Husband in London after 6 1/2 years together but apart... and loving my life!


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Re: Getting to know you (again)!
« Reply #39 on: November 07, 2010, 07:58:38 PM »
Yay!  So glad to see so much participation on here!  Hoping people will continue to join in & use it as a launching point for further chit-chat-patter.  :)

So that's me in a nutshell. (Help, I'm in a nutshell)  :) :) :) 

Lol!  Phatbeetle is, of course, your Inconvenient Annoyances board moderator - always a great board.  ;) :D

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!

Whoa!  Well (ha ha) fortunately, I didn't get into all that.  Mine were basic entry level science courses - we spent the Lab part making the frontal analysis charts though.  And the courses were taught by a tornado chaser guy (professor).  One of the coolest things was an anecdotal story he told in class about a pilot who had to eject from his aircraft in the middle of a thunderstorm, and all the different levels of the thunderstorm that the pilot parachuted down through (and was pummeled by).

Some people were mentioning geneology & coming full circle...  I had English ancestors who immigrated to the colonies in the 1620s (Puritans, post-Mayflower) - from Clerkenwell in London, to Virginia colony, then later to Connecticut.  Also, other ancestors who arrived in New Amsterdam (New York) from old Amsterdam in the 1600s via a Dutch West India Company ship.  Also there were some Huguenots from the Saintonge region of France who fled to Maryland.  And then some more people who went to the US from Copenhagen in the mid-19th century.  All those people ended up (via a line of ancestry) farming in the Midwest by the mid-19th century.  Now here I am, back here again in northern Europe.  :P  (Ever since that show, Who Do You Think You Are, my husband has been really into this stuff but was dismayed to find much more documented stuff about my family, thanks to a long-running geneological association on my mom's side, than he has found out about his family - who just stayed put in England.  Seems that the people who moved around have more stuff out there on them.)
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in...

- from Anthem, by Leonard Cohen (b 1934)


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Re: Getting to know you (again)!
« Reply #40 on: November 07, 2010, 08:17:21 PM »
....so continuing on a bit from my first post....I first came to UK-Y because I was starting to navigate the whole fiancee visa process (well both hubby and I started to look into it even before he proposed to me!) and this place really helped me so much more than I can articulate.  It put me in the right direction more than once!

I don't have any English or Scottish or Welsh, etc. ancestry, in fact it's a shame my family can't be traced back very far at all--my great grandparents were all from Russia / Poland and were Jews.  Any further back than that we just can't get.  I've never described myself and an Anglophile, but I love history and ancient places and old architecture and beautiful countryside, and Britain's got all of that, so I'd been here on vacations several times before I met hubby. 

My educational background is in the arts.  I have a degree in Painting, but I don't do much art anymore (other than making hubby's birthday cards!), and music is my creative outlet these days.

I'm really interested in psychology (esp. Jungian stuff) and spirituality and also complementary / alternative medicine and holisitc health (especially ayurveda).  I'm one of those freaks who believes in most things magical and mystical like ghosts, past lives, fairies and all that.  I also read tarot cards on occasion but used to be really really into it.  Ah, well it's all out in the open now!
Met husband-to-be in Ireland July 2006
Married October 2007
Became a British citizen 21 July 2011
Separated from husband August 2014
Off on an Irish adventure October 2014


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Re: Getting to know you (again)!
« Reply #41 on: November 07, 2010, 08:22:56 PM »
Oooh, I'll play! I love reading these!
I met DH while he was over at UC Berkeley for a year of "physics abroad", and I was there for my graduate degree. We were actually introduced by a friend of his that I was, eh, seeing at the time. He was very sweet, and he was worried DH would have trouble making friends.  Dh and I got close as friends for about a year, my other relationship fizzled out, and about six months after that we started dating.
We spent about five years jetting back and forth between San Fran/San Diego (where I lived) and Manchester. Almost exactly three years ago around Thanksgiving, DH phone me up for a birthday call and mentioned that he had a great job offer in Manchester. He wondered if I wanted to come over on a visitor visa and live with him for awhile and just go back and forth restarting it. Ahh, the innocence! I didn't like that idea anyway, so DH just blurts out: Well, we could get married!
Most romantic proposal ever! :) He did demand a "do over", but ended up asking me again as he picked me up at Heathrow as he couldn't wait. :)

After we got married in San Diego, I moved over here in November of 2008. We live in Manchester, near the city centre. I found UK-Y absolutely essential while doing all the visa stuff.  It really made me feel better to have somewhere to ask questions and get support.

We both work at the University of Manchester, and I spend a lot of my free time reading and reviewing books and horseback riding. I LOVE it here in the UK. I love being married, and I'm really looking forward to naturalizing next year (just got my ILR) and really settling everything down!


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Re: Getting to know you (again)!
« Reply #42 on: November 07, 2010, 08:26:12 PM »
Okay, my turn....

I am Helena (pronounced Haleena), I found UKY right as I was applying for my fiancee visa about 6.5 years ago. I grew up all over the US (dad was in the army). My parents live in NJ and I last lived in PA as an adult.

I came to England with my daughter, who was then 14, to marry a wonderful man who I had met online. We knew each other for 7 years before making the move. My DH was a member of UKY too for awhile, but found his winding-up sense of humour didn't fit the forum well ;-)

I am happy to say that both myself and my daughter have adjusted to England well. In fact my daughter has blossomed, she is currently at Durham University. I work at a special school for boys with Behaviour, social and emotional difficulties. My job is never boring! I really enjoy it most days, although it does have it moments! My DH works from home with his personalised gift business. This time of year is pretty crazy with his business so it involves us both working a lot. The rest of the year isn't so bad :)

Well-- I think that is me in a nutshell! It is great reading about everyone.


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Re: Getting to know you (again)!
« Reply #43 on: November 07, 2010, 08:43:24 PM »
And HG...nudge, nudge...is your Expat Life board moderator, she forgot to add!  :D
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in...

- from Anthem, by Leonard Cohen (b 1934)


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Re: Getting to know you (again)!
« Reply #44 on: November 07, 2010, 09:18:17 PM »
And HG...nudge, nudge...is your Expat Life board moderator, she forgot to add!  :D
I didn't forget..just like watching you be on top of things :)


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