Hello Hello from an Oregonian living in Oxfordshire!

Hiya! I've been lurking on this website for some time now as a guest and recently my homesickness has taken a turn for the worse so I thought I'd go ahead and sign up to make it official 

I hail from Eugene, Oregon and have been living in Banbury for a little over a year now. I met my English husband back in 2009 on that old chestnut OkCupid, and the rest, as they say, is history. I'm currently revising for my driving theory test, and wishing I could be back in the States where I already knew how to drive 

Other than that, there probably isn't a lot about my situation that's really that interesting. I'd wager to bet that my expat habits aren't out of the ordinary: stuffing packets of ranch dressing powder into my suitcase on trips back to the US, effing and blinding about shop opening times (or lack thereof), bemoaning the use of sweetcorn on pizza, and desperately hoping that someone will open a decent Mexican restaurant that isn't in London.

I do love it here in Oxfordshire, but I'm desperately missing my home and family, and would love to meet and talk to people who understand my situation!

  C

Hello from a Washingtonion! While I'm not yet relocated, I'll be on my way come this February to the Reading area. Hopefully there's some more Pacific NW folks lurking around!

Hello and welcome to the site. 

I'm another from the PNW (Washington but lived in Oregon years back). I'm also not in the UK as of yet but just wanted to say hi and best of luck with your driving test!

Hello from a Washingtonion! While I'm not yet relocated, I'll be on my way come this February to the Reading area. Hopefully there's some more Pacific NW folks lurking around!

Congrats! Saw your post up on the board as well, I may be able to help you with some of the questions you have, if you can think of anything in particular feel free to message me I'm kicking myself for not joining this site earlier - would have been so helpful to have other people around who had gone through the same things! Reading isn't too far from where I live...about an hour, I think. Haven't been there myself, but you'll be quite close to Henley-on-Thames which is supposed to be quite posh and nice!

Hi, I am from Michigan, currently on an extended stay visiting my BF in Banbury! I will be moving here on a fiance visa in November. I had no idea there were any other Americans in this town, but I'm glad to know there is! I'm leaving to go back to the US in a week to apply for my visa, but we should meet up when I return!

Also, may I suggest you have a "Mexican food night" every so often! I love Mexican so we get turkey mince, tortillas, seasoning, lettuce, guac, salsa, cheese, ect from Morrison's and make awesome tacos and quesadillas(with a panini machine) it's delicious. Morrison's just recently started stocking their own line of Mexican food too (tortilla chips, tortillas, ect) so it's a lot cheaper than buying the Dorito's or Old El Paso kits.

Hi, I am from Michigan, currently on an extended stay visiting my BF in Banbury! I will be moving here on a fiance visa in November. I had no idea there were any other Americans in this town, but I'm glad to know there is! I'm leaving to go back to the US in a week to apply for my visa, but we should meet up when I return!

Also, may I suggest you have a "Mexican food night" every so often! I love Mexican so we get turkey mince, tortillas, seasoning, lettuce, guac, salsa, cheese, ect from Morrison's and make awesome tacos and quesadillas(with a panini machine) it's delicious. Morrison's just recently started stocking their own line of Mexican food too (tortilla chips, tortillas, ect) so it's a lot cheaper than buying the Dorito's or Old El Paso kits.

Ahh, so you'll be doing the same thing I did last year! Good luck with the visa app, it's a corker! Let me know if you have any questions and I'd love to meet up when you're back! What does your fiance do?

We do indeed cook a lot of Mexican food at home...I even went so far as to buy masa harina and a tortilla press online so we can make our own tortillas! Haven't shopped at Morrison's in ages, will have to take a peek, thanks for the tip (there's also a passable Mexican restaurant in Oxford so if we're feeling particularly lazy and up for some mediocre burritos, we head there.) Beggars can't be choosers!

Hey there! I'm from New Jersey but I live in Abingdon (8 miles south of Oxford) so not too far away. My in-laws live in Banbury. I got my license here last year and very much understand missing Mexican food and shop closing times. I just don't understand it. PM me and we can meet up for coffee and discuss why they put sweet corn in everything! Hold together. It is hard, but things get better...then they generally get hard again. It's a vicious cycle living abroad but it can be so worth it. Hope to hear from you soon!

there's also a passable Mexican restaurant in Oxford

Mission Burritos? I liked the place. 

Mission Burritos? I liked the place. 

Yes, that's the place! It's not bad, I suppose I'm just really finicky