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Published: February 17th 2011
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Well I thought it was about time I did this, I said I would when I left and nearly 4 months later I am finally giving it a go!
Not quite sure where to start, as some of you I will have already spoken to and therefore know what I have been up to since I got here, so I apologise to those people now, as this first chapter maybe a bit boring! :-)
Since arriving here it has been quite a roller coaster, it was tough leaving home, but I knew that doing this was an amazing opportunity and it meant Martin and myself would finally get to live together (as some of you know, we had quite a few problems trying to buy a place up in Warwick and myself getting a job up there!)
I have also had problem after problem with my visa, when I first arrived in to the US in October I was hauled off to speak to immigration as they didn't understand my visa and couldn't understand why I was saying I'd be there for 2 years when they said my visa only allowed me in for 6 months at a
time! Needless to say I wasn't very happy, I'd just come off an 11 hour flight, after having said goodbye to my family, not a great combination. Anyway after a lovely lady explained the situation to me, that I could go into the country but had to leave again within 6 months, which worked fine as I was coming home for Christmas anyway, so off I went to meet Martin who'd been patiently waiting for me.
To get all the issues over and done with now, I then had problems when I came back in January, they then decided to advise me that actually I was only supposed to be in the country for 6 months within a 12 month period! Great! Again the immigration guy was very nice and understanding and said he'd sign me in this time, for another 6 months, but I may have problems if I need to come back in again before October!(when my Visa status changes) So we are currently investigating this and seeing if there is anything we can do, I only need one more month, so that I can come back at the beginning of August and then return to the UK
Orange tree in garden
Has a lot more oranges on it now! in September.
So I daren't leave the US between now and July in case I'm not allowed back in again!
(looking to resolve this issue at the moment though, so fingers crossed!)
Anyway enough with the problems, we want to think about the nicer stuff :-)
Whilst we are here for the two years we are going to try to make the most of our time, at the weekends we make the effort as much as possible to go off and investigate new areas or re visit places we came to in the summer.
I must admit Modesto itself has not got a lot going for it, Downtown is more of a Central business district with some nice restaurants and a couple of bars, everything happens so much earlier her though, late nights out are not a big thing here in Modesto, but we are coping with that as in the week we tend to stay in and at weekends, like I said we try to get out and about.
As far as shops go there are LOADS of them, they are in in big shopping areas out of the main town part, so have to drive to them, there is one main shopping mall, which isn't too bad, apparently though we have been told most people doing their clothes shopping further north out of the central valley, so may have to investigate that.
It is a good location though, we are 2 hours from Yosemite, 2 hours from San Francisco, 2 hours from the coast and the roads are so much better to drive on, bigger and people don't tend to drive as fast as we do in the UK, so makes it a much more pleasant experience (yes that is me saying it's more pleasant to drive slower, I doubt that will last when I get back to the UK though!!) I think people drive slower here as the police have a much more scary presence over here!
The cars are so much bigger here, hardly ever see a little one around, only really when you go to the city, I suppose that's mainly because we are in Farming territory! I have actually been parked next to a truck where the top of their wheel arch came to the top of my window! I was in a rental 'sedan' then (he he I'm turning American!) We now have our own car a Nissan Rogue (similar to the Qashqai) Is a lovely car and feels better being that slightly bit higher up.
The house we have is really nice, the street it is on is apparently the best street to live on in Modesto, so we are very happy with that, it's about a 15 minute walk into downtown to the bars and restaurants, there is also a park at the end of the road where in the summer they have concerts, so you can go down there with a picnic and soak up the rays whilst listening to live music! can't be bad.
The house house is quite a size, but ideal for when our guests come out, even though it is bigger than what we need, it is deigned well so it also feels cosy. It has a nice little garden which will be lovely in the summer, it has an Orange tree which has had fruit on it since we got here! Looking forward to seeing what else is going to appear, think there's an apricot tree too.
We have gardeners that come round once a week to keep it tidy! how desperate house wives! Unfortunately then are nothing like the gardeners portrayed in that show! :-)
We definitely can't complain about the weather, it is amazing, yes we do get rain, but nothing on the scale of the UK, we are definitely acclimatised to it though, what would be classed as hot in the UK, we now think of as a bit chilly! crazy how quickly you adapt.
Bored you enough now with the general stuff, will blog again soon with all the exciting trips we have made and plan to make.
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