New Hampshire or North Carolina Help!!! (Nashua, Wilton: fit in, sales, home)

[american friend]

Hi

I´m from North Germany and I´m really an "america fan". For two years now me and my family are planing to move to the US. Our problem is to get a visa because it´s very difficult after 09./11 (and I can understand that). Our second problem, provided however that we´ll manage the visa question, is moving to NH or NC.
Is anyone here, who is able to give us a tip. A good place for us might be the Nashua area and a few miles from there a small town called Wilton (because of the waldorf school in Wilton)
Please help us, we are very grateful for every posting.

Thanks

american friend

Please excuse my (bad) school english !!

[I'minformed2]

Go for New Hampshire my friend. I currently live in NC and personally I don't like it here. I think that coming from Germany you would find NC's summers to be unbearable. Where as the ones in NH are beautiful and you would be used to their harsh winters. Also the schools in NC are very ustalbe right now. The areas that do have good schools have to switch them around all the time so it is harder for kids to make friends and they constantly have to adjust. Your kids will have a hard enough time adjusting being a in a new country so you probably wouldn't want to put them through that. NH is probably the most economicaly friendly state in the Northeast so you should be happy there.

[lovemaine]

Hello again american friend,

Both New Hampshire and North Carolina are beautiful in their own way. i'minformed has been slamming North Carolina in other threads, but I really believe that you'd enjoy it here in NC. Do you want to move to an area that has the same climate as Germany or do you want something different? Personally, I like the fact that North Carolina doesn't have the same weather as where I lived before (Wisconsin). And cost of living is definitely cheaper in North Carolina. (Although it's getting more expensive here all the time.) Please base your decision on where to move on many opinions, which you seem to be doing. Good luck with everything!

[american friend]

Hi i´minformend,
hi holt4fam,

ok. on one side we´ve got i´minformed and on the other side we´ve got holt4fam, that will make it not easier for me, but thank you both.

First of all, the weather is not the decisive, I like summer and I like winter and a hard winter is no problem at all. In germany we have often hard winters.

The Waldorf school in NH is cheaper, than the Waldorf school in NC (My son is going to the waldorf school in Germany), There are no sales taxes in NH, but housing costs are higher than in NC.

Our goal is to open a german restaurant compared with a small shop for german products. I think, I will have to find out, where we will have more success with our buisiness, NH or NC????????

The way to find out, is coming to your country and visit both, NH and NC!

(Or I´ll move to Alabama)

american friend

[I'minformed2]

Well that's the smartest thing to do. Visit both and pick which ever one you prefer.

[lovemaine]

True, there is no sales tax in NH and cheaper housing in NC. Heating bills in NH are extremely high in the winter though. NC has hotter summers, so I suppose the electric bills in the summer are fairly high too. It is a hard decision, but with lots of research I'm sure you'll make the right one for your family and yourself. I really believe that if you have a positive attitude you'll like it no matter where you end up! As for a German restaurant, I don't know what the German population is in NC. There were lots of German restaurants and a few stores too in Milwaukee. If you Google German populations in different states, you should get some answers. (Just curious, in what part of Germany are you?)

[I'minformed2]

Yes, if you are looking for an area with strong German heritage you would most likely find it in Pennsylvania, Upstate NY, The upper midwest (Great Lakes area) and believe it or not, central texas.

[american friend]

Hi holt4fam,

I´m living in Northgermany/eastcoast one hour away from Hamburg.

Thanks for all your information but maybe I gave the impression that it is important for me to live in a big german comunity after arriving in the US, but that is not the fact. Our goal is to start our buisiness and I hope that Americans like german food too. It might be a little bit more easy, starting a new live in a foreign country with people who are speaking your language but we think that we move to another country and it´s our duty to integrate ourselves.
I hope, that I can tell my grandchildren in the future that I came from Germany many years ago but feeling like an american now.

american friend

Hi i´minformed,

as I said to holt4fam it´s not important for me to live in a strong german heritage, it was just interesting for me to know, if there are many germans or not.
I know a german family who is now living in Texas but I think this would not be the right place for us.

Ah, just fancy. I drove from my home town to Hamburg yesterday. While I was driving along this highway I saw a big camper in my rear view mirror. as I could see, it was an american camper (i think a Ford). I drove a little bit slower, because you never see american campers on german highways, and I saw that they had a Michigan number plate. How did they managed it to bring this hugh camper to germany. Have you ever seen a german camper (with a german number plate) on an amrican highway?!?

Yours

american friend

[I'minformed2]

I can't say I've seen any license plates from other countires in the US (other than from Canda) probably because we drive on the other side of the road here and our cars are built opposite of the ones in Europe as well (our drivers seat and steering wheel is on the left, where as yours is on the right). But I think you will find that German food will be popular almost anywhere in America because there are more people with German ancestry in the US than there are of any other heritage. Most "American Food" is actually a variation of German food; Hamburgers, Suasages, Hot Dogs, BEER. You will fit in anywhere you go seeing as you appear to be a very friendly and warm person.... but again, to answer the question you originally asked; New Hampshire.

[american friend]

thank´s for the impression I made to you. I hope, I will get a chance after arriving in the US. I will do my best.(And I heard America is THE country, where everyone is getting his chance).

And by the way. Great Britan is the last country in Europe with drivers seat on the right side. I´m driving on the left side.

american friend