Relocating from th UK - Urgent help needed

[gordon_bennett]

You'll be fine. I survived. Bring Cadbury's chocolate because Hershey's is a poor relation. You'll be searching out Irish grocers in no time searching for proper bacon, sausages, HP sauce, Birds Custard etc.

Find an Irish pub and it will seem a bit like home. There's a great one in Stroudsburg called Siamsa (on Main Street) with the grocery (Kirkpatricks) on the next block.

Bring wine, its twice the price here and you can only but it at the state liquor stores which dont sell beer (try the local pizza joint).

Driving will be your biggest worry but the cars are mostly automatic so you only need one foot which gives you chance to look over both shoulders when making any directional change. US cars overtake on both sides and dont dip headlights. Watch out for deer by the side of the road which like to run onto the road when you least expect it. Where you see one there are usually a dozen in hiding. When one runs out all the rest will.

Everyone loves the accent and the natives are friendly as long as you agree that they saved our asses in both World War 1 & 2 and as long as you are willing to talk about how sad it was when Diana died. Tony Blair's support of Bush has made any expat Brit an honorary American as long as you dont try and correct any inaccurate facts relating to the Revolutionary War, which was totally our fault, no question.

Scranton is a town rebuilding itself after losing lots of manufacturing jobs so you'll be familiar territory. Its future look bright because of lots of investment from the state. I work for the Pa Government and can give you a whole bunch of useful information when you get here an settle in. let me know where you move to and I'll call your local State Rep's office and have them reach out to you. State Reps are like MP's.

Summer is HOT (high 90's), Fall has beautiful foliage throughout the forests, Winter is colder than you are used to with lots of snow which can marroon you in the hills if you live in a rural part. watch out for ice storms and occasional hurricanes and ice storms. Spring brings floods.

You will survive.

[gordon_bennett]

No offense intended! Its the generation in school today that are getting the short end of the stick. Teachers in other countries get paid a lot more and are highly valued. In Finland they rank alongside doctors and dentists and Finnish kids usually come top of any international comparison.

Its a shame but teachers are not valued here and the kids don't value education. However if you push a child anyone of them can graduate with honors. Universities and Colleges here are fine, as is early education. I just don't understand what happens in high school. Thats when standards drop.

[okaydorothy]

Gordon
I love Siamsa ; we go to PA most weekends and every now and then go there for lunch. I NEVER knew about the store behind it ; is it on the corner???

I will check it out when we are down again. I usually get our irish food from foodireland as they deliver also.
dorothy

[sam04sam]

Thanks Gordon Bennett for your feedback, you have made us feel at ease, also kind thanks to 'ScrantonWilkesBarre' who has provided us with the most in depth photo tours, they have been 'fantastic' help to us. We are soo warming to 'Scranton'. It looks ACE.....

Will defo stock up on 'Cadburys' as it is defo THE best choco around in my honest opinion... Most worried about the kids getting settled, when you hear places are rough its hard to compare just how bad places are, I mean we come from a place in between 'Rotherham and Doncaster' in the UK by any means its not the 'pitts' but again, the Schools here leave a lot to be desired!
(No homework, no activities after school, bullying the list is endless)

I feel this is an absolute opportunity for us.....At present I am a 'Civil Servant' but will be taking a career break for this opportunity. May decide after settling in, to undertake a course or to find a vacancy nearby to make the most of the move and to meet some great people. I am NOT the type of person to sit at homem I so want to make the most out of this.

Thanks again....By the Way England have just WON against Estonis but Beckham is also injured

[sam04sam]

Sorry mean Estonia

[gordon_bennett]

I'm originally from Durham, went to college in Hull and parents lived in Shildon, Darlington for most of the the last decade. I have many friends from Yorkshire and a couple who now live in NY and have second homes in the Poconos.

Mount Pocono is cerianly not the Bronx. The Poconos can be like Wales on a wet Sunday but things are improving. I am involved in the Wall Street West initiative which will bring the financial services sector to Eastern Monroe county and eventually to Mt. Pocono. Its very rural which is good and bad. Hope you like trees because you'll spend most of your life surrounded by them.

Kids will be fine. Any school move is hard, their accents will give them exotic status. Dont let them watch MTV or BET and become sucked into the ghetto rap culture that is insidious everywhere in the US.

BBC America is on cable and Radio One is available on the internet as are the British papers.

My buddies think Beckham is an overated prima donna and are all Leeds United Fans.

Kirkpatricks (the irish grocer) is a block (or 2?) south of Siamsa near the Sherman Theater