Why Virginia... Why US?! (Arlington, Fairfax: public schools, universities, place to live)

[vanyali]

Full-day daycare for 1 kid (2 years old) costs me $810/month in North Carolina. Was a bit more when she was younger. I paid $400/week for a nanny in New York with my first kid several years ago (she's almost 7 now). I'd think NOVA prices were about the same for daycare, and maybe a bit higher for a nanny now.

If the guy can make as much in Australia as he can in VA, and you don't want to move to VA, then maybe the guy just needs to suck it up and move.

[Mr_Jonas]

Gosh, my grammar and spelling was really bad in my last post....sorry..

[NWPAguy]

Think about it this way... the old saying goes "if you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns". You can get anything you want on the black market, and it's probably that way in other countries just as it is in the USA. It may be easy for people to get guns in this country, but that depends upon the state in which you live... and you have to realize that most people use guns for self-defense. Anyone who would want to use one for criminal purposes will be able to obtain one somehow, no matter how oppressive the gun control laws become. (How did 15-year-olds from Columbine, Colorado obtain assault weapons? I guarantee they didn't walk into one of the many gun stores this country has, where law-abiding citizens can easily purchase guns, and convince the clerk to sell them assault weapons.) My life and the lives of the other three people in my family were once saved by a gun when my dad shot a guy who broke into our house. I was 4 years old at the time. If you and your boyfriend get married and have kids, and wind up in the same situation, you'll be really glad that you had a gun... and if you don't have a gun, you'll be dead... or at least brutalized. Remember... criminals prefer unarmed victims. Come to America, and buy a gun. We need more gun owners if we're going to crack down on crime. (If YOU wanted to mug someone, and most people were known to carry guns with them, would you?) Guns don't kill people any more than cars kill people. People kill people.

(Interesting side note: There was a government which once claimed the most comprehensive gun control and gun registration laws in the world... with every gun in the country registered and accounted for. The country was Germany. The government was Hitler's Nazi government. Should any country aspire to that?)

[vamtncat]

Originally Posted by tamitrail

What do you mean? If they are married, she WILL be covered under her husband's plan from work. Are you referring to Medicaid only? Why doesn't medicare cover the spouse?

Yes, I was referring to Medicaid. True in most cases under her "husbands" policy she could be covered. As to why Medicaid does'nt cover married persons your guess is as good as mine.

[Sunset_Va]

Originally Posted by vanyali
Some places are just like that. Anything rural or Southern is like that. I recommend to anyone and everyone to stay away from places like that.

Oh, you know, how narrow minded that sounds?

[vanyali]

Yeah, I'm done being "open minded" about the South.

[dgfurman]

To the OP -
This will be a good test for you to see how you like the US. But if you do decide to move here, it will come at a BIG price. My mother is German, and moved to the States to be with my dad. In doing so, she left her family behind, and they were all very close. I remember every Xmas, how she would cry, b/c she was in the States and not with her family (with us, of course). We went to Germany every 4 yrs to see my relatives (grandparents, etc), and my grandparents came every 4 yrs to us (so we saw eachother every 2 yrs). But later, my grandparents couldn't travel (too old), and so I only saw them every once and a while.

Most employed people in the US start off with a week, or maybe 2, of paid vacation. My dad, who was a chem. engineer, never got more than 2 wks in all his yrs of working with a world known company. So my mom started making trips to Germany on her own, to see her parents etc. And we were left for several months every yr without a mom. It was too expensive to take a family of 5 every time. When we did go, my dad would go for a few wks and then return ahead of us so that he could go back to work.

If you work too, it will be even harder. And Australia is MUCH farther away than the east coast to Europe. And a lot more expensive too. And once you start having kids - are you going to be able to afford to take them to see the grandparents? How often? Can you take the time off from work to do it? Which has to coincide with their time off from school?

The reality of marrying a foreigner is very different from the fantasy of it. So just be ready to walk away from Australia, and stay in the US. Good luck!!!

[lmm05]

Hey Everyone,

Thanks EVERYONE for all your advice and points to consider.

NWPAguy, thank you for your thoughts. But another question regarding guns - if people have guns in their houses - won't crimes become more violent? Your family was really lucky, but what about so many others where their own guns are used against them?

dgfurman, I lost that fantasy thing a long time ago - it's damn hard to keep this kind of a relationship going for an extended period of time.

As for moving there, I don't know if I'm ready, but I am getting close to being ready, I think. I don't know. I've been doing a lot of thinking and I'm still scared and nervous, but I guess I'm just going to have to get to the US and check it out, before I actually move there, right?? ;o)

Big hugs to all, and thanks again.

LMM05

[vanyali]

Most people in the US don't own guns, don't have any in their houses, and in several cities you're not even allowed to own a gun. I think DC is one of those cities, isn't it?

[Sunset_Va]

This topic has ended up with gun control, blah blah blah.