at least this means you can chill for Christmas and concentrate on meeting loads of new people and having fun!

(p.s. welcome by the way )

Dear Meggan

Hello! I moved to the UK 4.5 years ago, and Guildford was our first stop. My husband's job is based there, but we ended up moving to Horsham instead.

Moving from Vancouver to Guildford was really hard - I found people very quiet and if I said hello to strangers on the street, I seemed to attract a lot of negative attention. Once I got to know some people I made some excellent friends, but it took so much longer to get past the "aquaintence" stage. We don't have any regrets about coming to the UK though - we have gained so much by coming here.

I was able to get a temp administration job through an agency as soon as I had an address - I was able to start work the afternoon I applied! (a huge difference from the months usually spent in a job search in Canada!) From the temp job, I was able to spend more time finding something permanent. Good luck on your search! What kind of job are you looking for?

BTW, where did you live before you came here?

Horsham is only about 45 minutes away - let me know if you ever want to meet up!

Best wishes
Dawn

Dawn,

I moved here from the US, all over, lived in Michigan, Connecticut, Georgia, Florida, South carolina, North carolina, Colorado, New Hampshire, and New york. I am an as400 administrator (keep the big midrange systems at companies up and running) by trade but right now would welcome any job. Just so bored sitting home with nothing to do. Finally got my visa approved, now just waiting on it to come in the post

Would love to meet up sometime and you can tell me all about your experiences with moving here etc and with LCing.

E-mail me sometime and we can maybe work something out.

Meggenj~comcast.net

thanks,

Let me know if y'all want to get together. I'm in NW London, but I can drive . I'm lucky in that I was able to study for a couple of years before getting my work permit, but I do understand the feelings of futility and being good at what you do, but unable to work at that profession. (I was forbidden from working in my profession for 2 years due to student-visa issues.)

Before moving to the UK I lived in New Jersey; Cincinnati; NYC (Brooklyn); Houston; Baltimore; Spokane, WA; Salt Lake City; Baltimore (again); Philadelphia.

It's been a long, strange trip.

Emily