Reposting here - any teachers that have moved here from the US and experienced something similar? The US education system was fairly terrible and there were plenty of things I didn’t like about teaching there. However I feel like I wa given much more autonomy to do my job and connect with my students while helping them learn.

Title, recommendations for shipping two dogs from the UK to the US?

When I went US to UK I used Airpets/Skypets paid around $5k USD. Looking to see if there are any other good companies that also do the full suite from Door-to-Door.
(Ground trans, airfare, paperwork)

I submitted the online CRBA application for my child and emailed the embassy to request an appointment per their instructions. It’s been over a week since I emailed and we haven’t received a response. I followed up again at the one week mark but still nothing. I’ve seen other posts saying it only took a few business days to hear back. Anyone done it recently and have a sense of a timeline or any way we can contact the right people?

I don't think I've heard one! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMYf4MlYEyk

Cannot believe how many tropes it gets into one song.

My birthday is next week and I'm trying to decide on if I want to go to Leicester or London to celebrate. I've been homesick this month as it's my second birthday away from my friends and family. I'm usually depressed around my birthday as well anyways. I'm hoping for a little pick-me-up by having some comfort food for my birthday dinner.

I live in the West Midlands, but I'm only an hour train ride from London. Is there anyone here who has been successful in finding a restaurant like Logan's or Texas Roadhouse in either London or Leicester? I'll eat just about anything so if there's a different kind of restaurant that you think I'd enjoy, I'd be down to head some other options x Just looking for something to bring a small amount of joy during a time where I'm struggling.

I'm an American married to a Brit and living in London. I'm going to my mother's for a two-week visit. I no longer have health insurance in the U.S.

As an American, am I legally able to get traveler's insurance for the States?

If so, can someone recommend an insurer?

Can someone explain this to me? Online I see lots of Brits joking about how much Americans love small talk and how much Brits hate small talk, how Americans love striking up conversations with strangers and Brits don't. In person the opposite seems to be true. I lived in the US for the first 2/3 of my life, lived in Germany after that, and I've been to a few other countries. Never have I been subjected to so much pointless small talk from strangers and acquaintances as I have since coming to the UK. What gives here? Do Americans and Brits have very different definitions of "small talk"? Is it just one of those weird quirks of Birmingham? Is it a generational thing?

And the thing is, it's not just me stereotyping. I was completely oblivious to Britain's alleged aversion to small talk until well after moving here and starting to see way more Brits on social media.

I've been searching unsuccessfully for 10 years, so I think I know the answer, but has anyone found a decent substitute for Pillsbury ready-made pie crust? Jus-rol pastry goes chewy and the shortcrust is too crumbly.

Do not go to the Fox on the Green in Islington to watch sports!!!

Incredibly poor attitude and customer service. We booked a table to watch the NFL on Sunday and we're in the upstairs room. We had to ask repeatedly to have the game put on. Then, only half the screens had the game on. The rest had the remnants of an F1 race that no one was watching. And when we asked to have the game commentary on, they turned the the F1 announcer up. And when asked to switch the audio to the game people came to see, in the allotted room for the game, ignored us.

I don't know if it's a lack of training or lack of caring, but she was unable to figure out how to switch the sound.

The F1 raced about 20 minutes later and we asked her to switch to the game, as the race was over. Even that was a struggle. She basically said "I'll get to it when I get to it". Several minutes later (I had time to go to the loo and get back upstairs) she still hadn't made the switch to turn the sound of the game on. Finally, just as I was heading downstairs to ask again, the game and commentary was turned on.

And later, turned the game commentary off to turn on post-game interviews from a premier league match that hadn't been on and no one had been watching. At this point, we left.

The bartender was friendly and helpful. Her colleague, the one responsible for the remote controls (it's unclear if she had any other job; she seemed overwhelmed by that responsibility, passing by our table multiple times and ignoring the growing stack of empty glasses) was surly, inattentive, and presented as bothered to be there.

It’s a shocking attitude in the pub which advertises itself as sport venue. Whilst NFL is not a main sport in UK, for this particular location there is a demand for it (Upper Street has strong US expats community).

Not coming back thanks to this particular manager.

I'm finally moving into a non shared place, and as such, can have friends over. I'm not a coffee drinker, I can't stand the stuff, but my friends are. In an attempt to prepare for this I've purchased a drip coffee maker. But, I know that coffee goes stale. So, I'd like to buy pre measured coffee in sealed pouches, like the ones I used to get back home. Has anyone found a source?

any advice on the tax system for this would be incredibly helpful. I am really struggling to get hired in the UK and may be taking a freelance position for an organisation based in the US

I’m a US citizen in the UK on a spousal visa.

Here are my particular questions, if anyone can advise:
1. Do I need to hire an international accountant, or is this simple enough for me to handle on my own (like if I just need to save a certain percentage of my earnings)?
2. Would it be better to have them pay into my US or UK account?
3. Would I have to pay taxes in both countries for this type of situation?

Hello all,
I posted here before about our experience with Seven Seas shipping. Our stuff literally arrived this morning, shipped from Seattle to London. The good - seven seas were very communicative and helpful. The bad - our stuff took an insanely long time to get here, mostly as it sat in Seattle for a long time.

April 11- novecube picked up from our house
July 11 - box shipped from Seattle
4 August - box arrived in Hong Kong
12 August - box left Hong Kong
25 September - box arrived in UK
5 October - box ready for delivery

They initially tried to tell me it couldn’t be delivered until November at the earliest, but I queried and suddenly got it changed to early October. Let the unpacking begin and if you are shipping from the west coast be aware your stuff will probably go the long way around the globe!

Greetings to you all. British public educator located in Colorado; high degree of likelihood I will retire in UK. US Green Card, not US citizen. I'm in Year 11 here. My thoughts are:

1. Roth - great news, pay taxes in USA and can withdraw tax free in retirement. Will be honored in UK.
   
2. PERA - this is a pension for public employees here in Colorado. Assume I'm taxed on retirement and there'll be form filling to avoid US and UK each taking a slice.
   
3. A 457 plan; I move some of pre-deduction salary into a 457 plan. Can withdraw if I leave my career or at retirement. Is anyone here familiar with how UK treats 457 plans for tax purposes?

Best wishes to you all.

Hi everyone! I am going crazy trying to find a good haircut here in London. I feel like no one knows how to cut wavy hair. I’ve never seen anyone get out thinning shears, my bangs are always cut too thick, the list goes on lol. Essentially, they just cut hair differently in America compared to here, and I hate it! Lol
Does anyone have an American stylist they go to? Or someone who gives you exactly what you ask for? At this rate I’m willing to spend a lot lol

As someone who is Mexican and from Arizona, today is one of those days when I REALLY am missing Mexican food and Arizona in general…

Been very sick with the cold and just want some pozole.

It's finally getting chilly where I live so the last few days I've made myself a mug of hot Bovril as an afternoon snack. It got me thinking of the foods I had never heard of or only read about before I moved here that are now part of my normal life. Not necessarily anything fancy or complete dishes but they include:

- black pudding

- Scottish oat cakes

- Bovril, as mentioned

- fruit pastilles

- Christmas pudding (I had it once as a kid and thought it was revolting but I like it now)

- custard

- pâte (was only ever a food that rich people had at parties in my world but now it's a common sandwich filling)

Do people not wear leggings here? We’ve been here in London (Richmond) for just under a week and my basic mom uniform in the states was workout leggings and a big sweatshirt, but in all my walking around I haven’t seen any others. Do I need to ditch my uniform?

Hiii,

I’m pretty new here so advices are welcome bc how do adults even make friends 😅

I’m from Las Vegas and soon moving to Manchester. It’s new to me and I don’t really know anyone yet. So I would LOVEEEE to make new girl friends!

I’m thinking of making a groupchat as a source of connection, plan meetups, and whatnot for anyone new here too or just wants to meet new girlies. If you’re down, come say hiiiii 🥹🥹

Or there’s probably a bunch out there already lol so if anyone knows a similar group kindly lmk 🫶🫶

I’m a US citizen and planning to go home for a bit over Christmas. I’d like to not use too much of my annual leave and I was wondering whether it’s legal to work remotely for a few days to extend my trip.

I haven’t found anything that explicitly states whether this is allowed. But given I am a citizen and still pay taxes it seems like it would make sense that it might be?

Has anyone found a decent brand of plasters that are as good as Band-aid? Every one I try just leaves loads of sticky residue behind, especially when I am using them on my fingers -- it leaves so much stickiness behind on my nails.

Has anyone here returned a ballot by fax before? I’m trying to vote!! I got my ballot without any trouble, but I’m struggling to find a fax service that will just let me send this without a subscription.

I tried to send one via FaxZero, but they refunded me the money and said the recipient’s fax machine is incompatible with their service.

Thanks for any help!

My wife and I are retiring in Scotland in just two weeks! I am a British citizen and my wife will be on a spousal visa. I’ve been told my old NHS card is no longer valid since I haven’t lived in the UK since I was 14 years old and that all I needed to do was to go into a GP office to register for a new one. But now I’ve learned that I need to be in the catchment for at least three months in order to register with an NHS GP office. Our issue is, AirBnB‘s only let you rent for 28 days, so we have rented multiple Airbnb‘s around Scotland as we wait for our containership to arrive with our belongings which will take 3 months. We are not in a single catchment for more than 28 days.

I’m going to register with a private GP in my first location, then 2nd location, etc. They told me they do not need NHS number.

I’ve already paid for my first two AirBnB’s and can’t get a refund. I really don’t want to find a longer-term rental that is only partially furnished and has no reviews and location I would have to live with for 3+ months.

I’m happy to go private for the first three months, but I have a complicated health history but thought I would ask: Are there any other workarounds?

Thanks!
🙏