New to Nottingham

Hello everyone,

I came across these forums while looking for information on visas/immigration, and I'm sure I'm not alone. I met my husband while he was studying and working in the US and we became casual friends when our paths would cross. Then my sister married his best friend and he walked me down the aisle, as we were best man and maid of honor.

A few years later we started dating while I was working in Japan, and our entire dating and engagement period was long distance (usually 8 time zones different--it's rough!), broken up by visits here and there.

We got legally married in the US in July 2013 so we could process a spouse visa. That came just in time, not long before our October church wedding in San Francisco. I was SO thankful I could go on honeymoon (Bora Bora can't be beat!) and return to the UK with my new husband. We have quite a few friends who haven't done their homework properly or ran into trouble and spent months apart right after getting married!

We've settled in Nottingham, although we do a lot of traveling around GB and abroad. The immigration process is still a headache, but I'm hoping you guys will be able to help with that. Overall it's been pretty easy settling into life in the UK, but some things still annoy me:
- You usually need a key to get OUT of your house (seems dangerous!)
- Non mixer taps
- Holes in plastic grocery bags (carrier bags)
And so on...

Anyway, I'm glad to "meet" you all, and look forward to interacting here!

I completely agree with you on the things you've mentioned. It annoys me you have to have a key to lock the house!

They do actually make mixer taps, I've told my Brit we HAVE to have one in the bathroom in our next house. I can't stand how difficult it is to wash my face.

I'm just over in Swadlincote, I had to go to Nottingham to put in our Marriage Notice and to apply for my National Insurance Number.

I'm always up for a chat!

Thanks Lyonaria!

Yeah, if I were you I'd probably resort to washing my face in the kitchen or something. (Assuming you have a mixer tap there...)

Marriage Notice? Does that mean you're getting married soon? I'm not familiar with the process for getting married on the UK side, besides the signing of the register as part of the wedding ceremony.

Swadlincote isn't far. We passed nearby just last weekend on our way to camp in Cannock Chase.

We do have one in the kitchen, but it would be annoying to wash my face there, the sink's a bit high for me. haha.

I actually got married in July, we gave our notice in early June. You have to give notice of marriage for 15 days before they allow you to get married. Because I'm a foreign national we had to go to one off a specific list of Registrar's offices to do it. The closest was Nottingham.

It was the same thing for my National Insurance Number, you had to go to specific Jobsearchplus branches to apply for it. So off to Nottingham we went. Haha.

Nope, not too far at all. It took us 55 minutes or so to get there the last time.  My Brit and I have been talking about camping! We'd have to buy some gear first though.

Welcome to the forum Sivara.

Glad to hear you're settling into Nottingham well.  I lived there (just up the hill from the castle) from 2011-2012 with my other half and loved it! 

- You usually need a key to get OUT of your house (seems dangerous!)

Agreed!  I was on a Fire Warden Training Course a few months ago, and they pointed out it's best to keep the key in (or close to) the door to make an easy exit in the event of an emergency.  My OH leaves his on his desk--but mine can be found in the bottom lock of door if I'm home.  Bonus-- Saves me from running around the house in those chaotic mornings while frantically struggling to find my keys!

but mine can be found in the bottom lock of door if I'm home. 

I was reading a Poirot mystery and this is a classic set up for a locked room crime. The guy in this one carefully inserted a newspaper under the door and poked the key out from the outside using a thin wire. He then pulled out the newspaper and Viola! there is the key!

In he goes and kills the rich uncle. He then pops down to the shop and gets another key made. Back to the house where he puts the original key back into the inside lock, closes the door and locks it from outside with the new key. The perfect murder, mon ami! C'est magnifique!

His mistake? He mixed up the keys, leaving the new key in the inside lock for Poirot to discover. Poirot sends Capt. Hastings around to do the legwork, gathers all the suspects (and announces some personal shameful information about an innocent cousin) and the nephew admits to everything (why didn't he remain quiet?).

lyonaria: You must be short like me!  Camping is fun stuff. I haven't yet found anywhere over here that comes close to Yosemite, for example, but you can find some decent places in the UK.

PickledSakura: Yeah, I think Nottingham is a quaint city. On the course they should have taught you WHY they don't do deadbolts or something else instead of keys on the inside... (by the way, what's the reason for sakura in your username?)

sonofasailor: Now at least I have an interesting story to remember when I'm locked in my house!

lyonaria: You must be short like me!  Camping is fun stuff. I haven't yet found anywhere over here that comes close to Yosemite, for example, but you can find some decent places in the UK.

Well, I'm the shortest person on my mom's side of the family... haha. Just under 5'4" isn't too bad. And no, I haven't seen anything like Yellowstone or the Garden of the Gods or Arches, but it's so different here! I am looking forward to more exploring.

I was reading a Poirot mystery and this is a classic set up for a locked room crime. The guy in this one carefully inserted a newspaper under the door and poked the key out from the outside using a thin wire. He then pulled out the newspaper and Viola! there is the key!

In he goes and kills the rich uncle. He then pops down to the shop and gets another key made. Back to the house where he puts the original key back into the inside lock, closes the door and locks it from outside with the new key. The perfect murder, mon ami! C'est magnifique!

Hahaha!  Luckily my keys are far too fat to fit under the door! And they'd have to get through a second lock, an the automatic latch thing...and the building's front door first!

(by the way, what's the reason for sakura in your username?)

I met my OH when studying in Manchester for the spring semester. We used to wander around together, and saw a lot of beautiful cherry blossoms. We both loved it, and it's one of the things I remembered most about my time in the UK. When I joined UKY (~3 years into our relationship) it was because I was planning on moving to the UK to be with him. So-- I guess I was just playing around with fond memories when attempting to come up with a "cool username" to set up the account which wasn't too over the top in declaring my obsession with the love of my life....

lyonaria: I'm probably just a shade shorter, just a bit over 5'3". I blame the Oriental blood in me (it still feels weird saying Oriental instead of Asian...). Ohhhh I LOVE the West and I really miss it! But there's beauty of a different type here.

PickledSakura: Very cool. I had no idea Manchester has lots of sakura--thanks for the link. Too bad you couldn't have timed your Japan trip to coincide with sakura season!!

lyonaria: I'm probably just a shade shorter, just a bit over 5'3". I blame the Oriental blood in me (it still feels weird saying Oriental instead of Asian...). Ohhhh I LOVE the West and I really miss it! But there's beauty of a different type here.

*grins* I have to say, it's really nice to feel tall among my British family. I'm as tall as my father in law! haha. My Brit is the tallest of his family in 6 generations and he's 5'8". It's definitely weird, it's taken me ages to get used to "Asian" meaning Indian/Pakistani/etc.
I love it too. Luckily my family and friends are all back in Western Colorado, so I get to visit whenever I visit them! The vivid green here and the sense of age is just amazing. I find more of a sense of agelessness when I'm out in the middle of nowhere in the West.

How lucky! I have an aunt and uncle down near Ridgway, Colorado (SW), but unfortunately it's been way too long since I've had a chance to visit them. I think Western Colorado is one of the most beautiful places in the States.

Right! I knew I've been to Ridgeway, I just can't ever remember exactly where it is. (one quick google search later) It's on the way to Telluride, I think one of my good friends did a kayak competition there! A large chunk of my family lives in Grand Junction. It's a good place to live because it's only a short drive form the mountains and you're right there in red rock country as well. The Colorado National Monument is just gorgeous.

You'll just have to go back one day and take a ton of pictures! The mountains are just amazing. I always enjoy my time there.