We are moving to New York at Easter!

[nooka]

So the decision has been made and the visas are being processed...

Any advice?

If there are any New York or New Jersey mums out there (I know there are a few!) do you have any recomendations for places to live (needs to be commutable to downtown Manhatten and have good elementary schools). We have Maplewoord/South Orange, Brooklyn (Park Slopes are) and Queens (Little Neck) as recommendations so far

For any other expats, any general advice on moving (good shippers, what to put on lists etc) would be great. We are renting our place here (I have a career break just in case it goes tits up) and will rent when we get there too.

I've only lived outside South London once when I went to university, so this is both scary and exciting

[fairylights]

ooh just wanted to say lucky you!!! have a great time

[nooka]

Thanks. The other option was Toronto, so I'm not so worried about the weather!

[WendyWeber]

Well we lived in Great Neck (just past Little Neck, in Nassau County LI rather than Queens) for 3 years and loved it. Within easy reach of Manhattan by train or car, and also lots of fab beaches a short drive away. Schools and children's facilities good too I believe (we only had a baby at the time)

I commuted by the LIRR to Wall Street for a bit and it was generally a doddle (except when the AC failed on the train )

You could also consider places like Mamaroneck and Rye further north.

You will have a fab time - just remember that as a rule they don't get irony (I mean really don't!)

[alipiggie]

We used Pickfords to ship - some others had nightmare. You need to ensure that you have a good agent at this side, who can clear your stuff through customs for you.

Remember voltage is 110 here so electrical things don't work without a convertor. And to be honest most electrical things are cheaper here anyway.

You may wish to bring the following
Tea
Marmite
Bovril
ReadyBrek if you like that stuff
Chocolate if you like Cadburys.

Good shops - Whole Foods/Target. Find us Expats on the Living Overseas USA thread.

[nooka]

Thanks - we've been recommended Little Neck for the schools, but I didn't know there were beaches nearby! I am seriously going to miss good English supermarkets (and chocolate!)

[dodgykeeper]

Hey nooka!
Not much help with the New York stuff but if you have any other questions... I moved to Ohio about 4 months ago so its all still fresh!
Things to think about:
-get a copy of your medical notes from your GP. You shouldn't need to pay for the summary one. Schools will want to see it before registering.

• look into vaccines. The one that may cause problems is the hepB which is given over a few months. Schools seem to be flexible if you have started the course.

-shipment takes a LONG time. shipment companies won't book anything until they have a copy of the visa. Allow at least 4 weeks after that to get to the US and then 24hrs to 2 weeks to clear customs!

• ask your bank if they will let you change the address on the account to the US. If you just use it like you are on holiday, they eventually stop authorising transactions. We had an AMEX which we were allowed to change to an American AMEX (if that makes any sense) which was great. Remember you will have no credit rating which is worse than a bad rating. You also have no no-claims for insurance so expect premiums to be high. You will not be able to open a bank account until one of you has a SS no. unless you can come to some kind of agreement with the manager.
• Find a money transfer company as soon as you can. They give you a much better exchange rate for larger amounts of money and you can fix the rate at a certain date, even if you are not moving the money yet. The money we saved by changing our money at the right time and at the higher rate paid for both of our cars. They will advise you when the rate is good.
• Get webcams for family you are leaving behind in the uk and help them set it up if they are less technically minded. I set up one for my mum and dad and showed them many times how to use it. I think if I just gave them it they would still be reading the instructions! Using the webcam on messenger or skype lets you contact folks abroad for free.
• think about getting an ipod, if you don't already have one. Podcasts of BBC radio such as Chris Evans,and Jonathan Ross or internet playbacks of Just A Minute or The News Quiz helps keep in touch with home and relieves homesickness!
• Get a good book on emegrating such as "Living and Working in America" by David Hampshire and join in the us mumsnet thread. There is always someone around who can answer questions!

Good luck. I hope it goes smoothly

[SofiaAmes]

wow, a whole lot of excellent advice from dodgykeeper. Vaccines is a serous one. They are mandatory here in the usa and you will need to have them to get kids into school. You will want to make an appointment with a paediatrician in usa for kids as soon as you arrive (ie find paed and make appointment now...here in la, the good ones book up new patient appointments months in advance). Paed will go over uk records and produce printout that school will need for registering. And of course give all the missing jabs....lots and lots of them that aren't given in the uk (hepA, hepB, chicken pox, pneumoccocal).
Make sure you find out what the health insurance coverage is with the job and that paed that you choose takes that insurance. PPO - preferred provider is generally the style of insurance that is on offer for a decent sized company. You will then want to make sure that the paed (and any other doctor you choose) is a participating provider. Easier to ask the doctor than the insurance, because they are forever updating lists.
You should be able to check school scores online to find good schools.

www.craigslist.org is the best place to look for houses/apartments to rent. You will be able to buy everything cheaper in the usa, so don't bother to bring too much.

If your budget will stretch, Stuyvesant Town is a nice complex with lots of parks and local elementary school that it's in cachement area for is supposed to be excellent.

How old are your children?

[nooka]

Thank you for your advice. I didn't think about the paed thing - I work for the NHS here, so it's all a bit strange to me I'm getting blood tests for the children to show they have had chicken pox - I think that the Hep ones are for high school? My two (7 and 8) will be going into elementary, and have had all the other jabs so should (I hope) be OK.

I thought shipping took three months, so that's actually a bit of a relief!

dh is a IT techie (well programmer really) so I'm going to send him round to ds and dd's friends houses to see if we can get them set up too. The children are a bit apprehensive about the whole things so anything that makes them feel in touch with their friends will help, I think.

[SofiaAmes]

Here in California, one of the Heps is required in elementary school (and the other we got because of third world travel). Intent is that although not necessary before they are having sex in high school, by then it's too hard to reach them all, so they mandate it with all the others for elementary school where stats for coverage are much better. I think it's the same with the rubella.

My very good friend lives in Forest Hills, Queens and loves where she is. Her son is 7.5 and goes to their local public school (2nd grade). She's english and her dh is american. When you are settled in, CAT me for her number and I'll hook you up and you can at least have one person to meet. Her ds is lovely and articulate too and her dh runs online uni program at Hofstra.

My dh lives in London and I live in LA with the kids. We talk and videocam on Skype every day. It has been a life saver for all of us, but escpecially the kids. My mother's family are all over the world and she Skypes with them everyday.

If you have a ds and he wears boxers, bring a supply with you. Hard to find here for younger kids. I get my dh to bring them over from the uk. (And trousers from Primark for ds).

By the way, when do you arrive in NYC?

[nooka]

Thanks - it's always great to have contacts. We are expecting to arrive on the 25th March

[SofiaAmes]

Wow. Is that going to be difficult for the kids to come into a classroom 2/3 of the way through the year? The local school will be required to take them in, but it may result in some rearranging so you will want to give the school as much advance warning as possible. I think you will find the curriculum fairly similar to what is being taught in the uk. Except for we learn about the American presidents etc. instead of the kings and queens. At least you are arriving past the worst of the cold.

[nooka]

I know. The original plan was to come in January, but it all took a long time to get finalised. Then I thought we'd home school until we found the right place and start them off at the beginning of the next term, but dh wants them to satrt as soon as possible to make friends quickly. So we'll see, but I'm sure it's going to take us a little while to find the right school and then somewhere to rent in it's catchment area.

[ScienceTeacher]

You have to get the info from the school district re vaccines. When we were in Ohio, we didn't need to get the Hep B vaccines, because the children were already in first and third grades. I think if we were in kg, then we would have needed Hep B. When I had a new baby, and another child entering the school system, I had them all done for Hep B.

Varicella is now compulsory in Ohio. My 3 older kids had had it (and a couple of scars to prove it), and the youngest two were jabbed.

I think the vaccines are otherwise in sync between the two countries. You need to get a printout from your GP about vaccines, and your US paediatrician will take this at face value. Anything that is missing, they will just do. You may need to get jabs for your visa (I did, but that was an immigrant visa).

In Ohio, there was a time limit for getting sorted out with the TB testing. My kids started school before seeing a paed, and I think there was a two week grace period. As long as investigations started within this time, they didn't really care about the results. They did the skin prick (heaf) test. If your children have had the BCG, you need to advise the US doctors of this, as it will affect the results.

[GreatGooglyMoogly]

Hi nooka! We are in Westchester County, NY State, which suits us perfectly as we wanted a large house with a garden in an area that was commutable into Manhattan for DH. The trains go straight to Grand Central in about 30-40 minutes and there are very good schools and beaches here. The area also has a very low crime rate, which was an unexpectedly big factor for us in the end, what with me being at home/ out walking alone with the children a lot.

We used Michael Gerson for moving, which was organised by DH's work, and they were fantastic. We had some urgent stuff arrive by air after a couple of weeks and the rest by sea after 6 weeks, I think. Good Luck and Welcome!

[GreatGooglyMoogly]

Forgot to say that another benefit of living in this area is that you don't have to drive through NYC to go anywhere else (nightmare!). We love how Connecticut is really close and has lots of child-friendly places to visit. If you choose to live in NYC you wouldn't want to have a car, so wouldn't really be going on roadtrips though. There are two very different lifestyles to choose from here!

[expatinscotland]

better you than me

[nooka]

Yes we are pulled between the two lifestyles. I've lived in London pretty much all my life and think it would be fun to experience American suburbia (picket fences community life etc) but dh's work colleagues are trying to persuade him to live in Queens. I'm keep to be able to ecsape to the countryside, and have been focused on New Jersey so far - I was assuming Westchester was outside of our budget (fairly modest until I get a job) and less good for the communte to the financial district. I do want to be able to escape to the countryside - I hate it that it takes us an hour to get out of London at the moment.

[dodgykeeper]

nooka, I know what you mean about starting school but I think they would be better starting soon after you get there. Its the best way for kids to make new friends and it will be quite nice to let them have a few months to settle in and get used to things and then start the new school year knowing what to expect. We arrived in the country on the Wednesday evening and went to enroll at the school on the Thursday and they told us she could on the Friday if she wanted! We gave her a few more days to settle first but she did start pretty quickly.
Our school did insist that she had the hepB vaccines and they wanted the date she would have the final jab done. The chickenpox one they weren't as fussy about.
My dd is 7 (8 in April) so she is 2nd grade. We found the level of work was a bit harder than the stuff she was doing at home but her teacher tells me that they are a really bright class so she pushes them more. dd is coping well though and I was impressed with the level of communication between home and school - I always know what she has been doing and how she is getting on.
My ds (5yrs old) settled really quickly but my dd took a little longer. The webcam has been a big help and I also gave her a big pile of stamps so she can send cards and letters home whenever she wants. She has made loads of friends and is fine now. Kids cope well with change and its a great experience to give them but do expect a few tears!

[SofiaAmes]

I have a good friend who lives on Long Island (Point Lookout) a few blocks from the beach. He commutes on the train (much cheaper and more efficient than London ones) into the financial district (works a few blocks from where the World Trade Center used to be). He finds the commute so easy and quick that he does it even though his partner has an apartment in Manhattan that he could stay in. Something like that might give you the combination of both lifestyles.
The issue is really whether where you are living will let you practically own a car. (Very expensive in Manhattan because of the lack of parking) If you have a car, then you won't be trapped in the City on the weekends. I'm not sure that New Jersey will give you what you are looking for (commute is more difficult into Manhattan and if you are close enough for good commute, then you are not in suburban environment). Try Google Earthing the neighborhoods. It will give you a good idea of how close together the houses are.

[Wotz]

I have a friend near Rumson NJ, she loves it. Had to go becasue of her DH job. Her dcs love all the sports and outdoor lifestyle. She did say it gets very cold in the winter.
Good luck

[anorak]

Hello nooka, we moved to Bermuda 3 months ago. DH's company handled the shipping etc.j

I would make sure to have dental checkups, orthodontists (if you use them) opticians, cervical smear test or any other routine appointments as they will all have to be paid for in NY.

Don't bother bringing dvds with you as they will not work on a US system.

Get your hairdresser to write down any colours you use so your new hairdresser can continue with your precise colour.

Bring copies of your childrens' school reports for their new head teacher.

Will post again if I think of anything else.

[dodgykeeper]

Re dvds. Bit naughty but you can get codes on the internet for most systems that allow them to play any region. You can get almost anything you want on dvd here quite cheaply but if your dcs have favourite programmes on bbc or citv it might be worth bringing a few dvds.
good point about the hair colour!

[nooka]

Fab advice. Trust mumsnet for the really practical advice!

[anorak]

Yes my dd plays her UK dvds on her laptop but that's only ok for one person on their own really.