Hello from the Beehive State!

Hi!

First time ever posting on any sort of forum online so I apologize if I do anything wrong. :)  We are family of 6, most likely moving to England next summer.  My husband's company is going to open an office there and they want my husband to go over for at least 2 years to get it up and running. 

They do not have a location yet and told us that they are open to suggestions.  After reading through a LOT of posts, my head is spinning and I'm kinda freaking out!  Ok, not kinda….I am!  Your posts may be in English but it seems like a totally different language :)  My husband is focusing more on the adventure of it all and I'm concerned about all the logistics.  I'm most likely going to homeschool my kids, ages 11-4 so I'm not overly concerned about what schools are good.  I never lived more than 3 years in one place until this last place so I am used to moving, I have never been outside the country though. 

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions about locations to look into.  I think the only thing the company wants is to be decently close to Heathrow airport,  or at least have pretty easy access to it.    I would love to be able to take mostly public transportation with my kids as I'm not too keen on driving on the left side of the road :)  Safety is my biggest concern.  We are coming from one of the safest, most family friendly cities in America.  I would like family friendly!


I may be freaking out but I also am very excited.  It is a wonderful career opportunity for my husband and it will be a great experience for our family! 

Richmond is pretty close to Heathrow and is ideal for families and very safe.  Also has a tube station but is mostly a quiet leafy suburb of London.  The only downside is the price.

I think homeschooling will deprive your children of a fantastic opportunity to participate and learn about the culture.  I'd consider using local schools.

Welcome to the forum!! Everyone here is super helpful, so soon you’ll be able to only mildly freak out!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks! I will look into Richmond! I will also look more into schools, but we are only going to be there for two years and I really didn't want to be tied to the school schedule if some great plane tickets came up or something. In my head we will read great books and then go visit places tied to them, like Shakespeare, or James Herriot. But what I have in my head sometimes doesn't work so I will definitely have a back up

Thanks! I will look into Richmond! I will also look more into schools, but we are only going to be there for two years and I really didn't want to be tied to the school schedule if some great plane tickets came up or something. In my head we will read great books and then go visit places tied to them, like Shakespeare, or James Herriot. But what I have in my head sometimes doesn't work so I will definitely have a back up

Your kids will still do stuff like that.  Kids here study Shakespeare and then go to the Globe theatre as a normal part of school. 

Your situation reminds me of a family that lived inRichmond for two years because of work and they absolutely loved it.  It really was a positive experience for the whole family. And the way we met them was through school.

So much of finding friends and being part of the community comes from school, if you miss all that I think you’ll miss a lot:


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro