So we had last weekend at the Goslings. What good fun! Got there quite late on the saturday due to me and Paul drinking too much the night before. Had a nice lasagne outside, al fresco stylie.... Put the boys to bed, and got on with some serious drinking. Tariq had decided to bring a bottle of tequilla with him. I think that got opened about 11pm. That was gone very quickly... So we hit the Goslings rum, then the Southern Comfort. I went to bed about 2.30am, and was very ill. Everyone else went to bed about 3ish, I think..... But it is safe to say we were all shadows of ourselves the next day.
Sunday some of Pauls relatives and friends came to the house for a BBQ and to wish us well. That was nice to sit around in the garden and chat. That evening I went to bed quite early as I wanted to be sure of getting up early the next morning. The only downer on the weekend was that Isaac wasn't very well, he slpet an awful lot on the sofa, and was complaining of 'not feeling preoperly'.
Paul and I got up at 5.15 the next morning to get to Oxford to catch the 6.27am train. We were at the embassy by 8.10am. We found the chemists to put our personal belongings in and headed for the queue. We got inside, got our number and waited. We waited about 45 minutes to be called up to the first window. Paul spotted Damon Alburn in the waiting room. We had finger prints done, she confimed some details then we had to go and pay over some money. Then we had to wait again, this time for about an hour. We got called to the next set of windows, answered more questions, paid out yet more money to be greeted with 'Your visas are pre-approved, so you need to go and arrange delivery of them, congratulations'. With big smiles feeling very happy we went to pay over more money to arrange for a pre 8am delivery on the visas. We then headed back to the station and back to the boys in Oxford. I think the Gosling Grandparents just about survived their morning with the boys all to themselves.
Tuesday Seb and I went to Worthing to see my good friend Emma. By now Isaac was 100 times better, so he went to preschool, and I had to cancel the doctors appointment I had made for him the previous day. Emma and I did some shopping, I enjoy shopping with Emma, she makes me giggle, and is very helpful, thorough and constructive, unlike me.
I caught up with my friend Laura on Wednesday afternoon, she looked after Isaac for me while I went to see Olivers new teacher. She seems very pleasant, it is a shame Oliver won't be there much longer. She got me all the required froms, and is doing the info his new school requested (and have since decided they don't need...) Paul finally had some contact with the shipping company. A lovely (?!?!?) lady called him to discuss the options. We also sat down this evening and ordered more suitcases/carry on bags......
Thursday Paul got an email from the shipping company and many, many forms to fill in. I caught up with my lovely friend Vicki and her 2 boys in the afternoon. Isaac and her eldest Alex played really well together, which was nice to see, considering Alex is a good year younger than Isaac. I think that is how Isaac behaves at preschool without his big brother around. Paul spent this evening filling in forms for the shipping company.
I should point out here that most mornings I have been attempting to finish my assignment for Uni, but I am getting nowhere fast. The problem is the mountain of stuff that I have been managing to sell through Facebook. So people are coming round every morning, thursday I had 5 people round between 10 and 12!!! Admittedly, I have made some good money this week, so I must thank all those who have bought from me. And its not really a problem....
The visas arrived at 7.50 this morning, even the boys let out a cheer when I came up the stairs with them. Today I had loads of paperwork/selling things/housework to sort this morning. We went to Lauras for a Netmums meetup this afternoon. There was 7 mums in total and 11 kids! It was chaos but fun chaos. will miss the Netmums and organising meetups sooooo much. I was exceptionally grateful to see Paul was home after I had got Oliver. We were both able to spend the afternoon sorting out the house/kids ready for the weekend. It is our leaving do's this weekend. I am looking forward to them lots.
I need to update more often, and I promise to try next week.....
To summarise, this week we have: Sorted Visas, sorted all travel arrangements (apart from where to check the cat in), got packers arranged (wednesday morning).
Its all coming together..... This time in 2 weeks we will be in South Carolina, in a hotel with 3 children and a cat.....
Showing posts with label visas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label visas. Show all posts
Friday, 14 September 2012
Friday, 7 September 2012
What a week....
After awakening at lunchtime on Monday, Paul called the US Embassy appointment line to arrange our visa interviews. The earliest they said they had was 3rd OCTOBER!!!! Cue some mild panic. The gentleman on the phone did say that we could send an email direct to the Embassy requesting an earlier appointment if they had one and we would receive an email within 5 days.... Spent the rest of the day doing washing, unpacking and generally trying to sort our lives out.... Our neighbours sister came round in the evening to scope out what furnitiure we had that she may like in her new house, was nice for a chat, and to begin clearing the house
Tuesday, I had my wonderful friend Faye round in the morning. I had to wake the boys at 9.30am, even after hoovering! Isaac and Seb went downstairs fine, but Oliver looked ill and didn't get out of bed till nearly 11am. Was good to catch up with Faye, the long holidays can be hard for everyone. Once Oli got up, I got Faye to look at his finger (shes a nurse). She said it was definatly infected, so I called the docotrs, she gave me a call back and requested we went to see her. We trooped to the doctors that afternoon, she reckons he has an infection, not sure if its his finger, his ear or his respiratory tract, so gave us a generic antibiotic to cover all of the above.
Luckily in this time, Paul had received an email from the Embassy telling him that an appointment had become available on Monday 10th September, 8.30am. So we grabbed it with both hands, and did a hop, skip and jump around the room.
Wednesday was Isaac back to preschool, Oliver had an inset day. Had to wake them all at 8.30am. As they have been sleeping so long in the morning, Seb has not been napping till after lunch, which I am sooo not used to. Isaac went in a bit wary, but when I picked him up he was fine. We spent the afternoon vegging round the house.
Thursday was Oliver back to school. Isaac and Seb both woke before 7, Seb was shouting the house down. Again I had to wake Oliver, but he was much brighter and more himself. Got out of the house and to school just before the bell went. Oliver got a bit upset going in as 1) he didn't want to go and 2) he didnt know what to do with his drink/snack. He got very tearful. Made me feel awful, especially as he is still under the weather. Took Isaac to preschool, by now he was fine going in. Came home, played with Seb/did some housework. Put him down to sleep (finally a morning nap), and I was able to get on with some Uni work. My next assignment is due on 6th October, and given our current time frame, I am concerned about getting it done. Isaac had a massive smile on his face when I picked him up, seems to have one everyday! I had a bit of a wobble this day. We are 3 weeks from going and haven't been contacted by the shipping company, have no idea whats going on with the cat, and don't know our travel plans. Oh yes, I was feeling a little on edge and stressed out on Thursday
But Friday was a new day.... Dropped the boys at school/preschool and headed to see my good friend Laura and her 3 week old baby Lana. She is lovely..... Then after collecting Isaac, my 2 fabulous South African friends came round to see me, and brought their kids for a play. Lovely company, thank you ladies. After school Oliver decided to watch Kung Fu Panda 2, he is still not quite well. Paul came home early, with an email from the relocation company regarding the cat. Basically their usual preferred airline is a pain in the a**e when it comes to transfering pets, all sorts of rules and regulations. So they proposed a different route of travel, Heathrow to Munich, Munich to Charlotte. This is a good option, as we would not have to chance in the States, so would not have to pick the cat up then drop her off again. In theory, they should board her on the first plane, then transfer her to the second, as it is the same carrier.
Then we got our propsed itinery for our travel to the States. Visa permitting, we should be flying on Friday 28th September from London Heathrow at 6.40am (we will be put up in a hotel the night before), landing in Munich at 9.25am, flying from Munich at 11.25 into Charlotte, NC (about 1 1/2 hours from Greenville). Landing 3.15pm local time. Pick up the rental car, and drive to the same hotel in Greenville. In theory it should work well. We should not have to transfer our bags like we would have to by doing a direct flight to the States then changing, especially as it is with the same carrier. Plus we get to go to Germany, albeit just Munich airport....
So thats it.... We are going.... Visa interview permitting..... I need to call the airline and check their policy with taking car seats, as we want to take our own, rather than buy new ones. I also have to be sure of all the paperwork we need for the cat, so again this is another call to the airline.
We are off to the Goslings in Stanford in the Vale this weekend for our big family good bye .... Hoping for not too many tears....
Tuesday, I had my wonderful friend Faye round in the morning. I had to wake the boys at 9.30am, even after hoovering! Isaac and Seb went downstairs fine, but Oliver looked ill and didn't get out of bed till nearly 11am. Was good to catch up with Faye, the long holidays can be hard for everyone. Once Oli got up, I got Faye to look at his finger (shes a nurse). She said it was definatly infected, so I called the docotrs, she gave me a call back and requested we went to see her. We trooped to the doctors that afternoon, she reckons he has an infection, not sure if its his finger, his ear or his respiratory tract, so gave us a generic antibiotic to cover all of the above.
Luckily in this time, Paul had received an email from the Embassy telling him that an appointment had become available on Monday 10th September, 8.30am. So we grabbed it with both hands, and did a hop, skip and jump around the room.
Wednesday was Isaac back to preschool, Oliver had an inset day. Had to wake them all at 8.30am. As they have been sleeping so long in the morning, Seb has not been napping till after lunch, which I am sooo not used to. Isaac went in a bit wary, but when I picked him up he was fine. We spent the afternoon vegging round the house.
Thursday was Oliver back to school. Isaac and Seb both woke before 7, Seb was shouting the house down. Again I had to wake Oliver, but he was much brighter and more himself. Got out of the house and to school just before the bell went. Oliver got a bit upset going in as 1) he didn't want to go and 2) he didnt know what to do with his drink/snack. He got very tearful. Made me feel awful, especially as he is still under the weather. Took Isaac to preschool, by now he was fine going in. Came home, played with Seb/did some housework. Put him down to sleep (finally a morning nap), and I was able to get on with some Uni work. My next assignment is due on 6th October, and given our current time frame, I am concerned about getting it done. Isaac had a massive smile on his face when I picked him up, seems to have one everyday! I had a bit of a wobble this day. We are 3 weeks from going and haven't been contacted by the shipping company, have no idea whats going on with the cat, and don't know our travel plans. Oh yes, I was feeling a little on edge and stressed out on Thursday
But Friday was a new day.... Dropped the boys at school/preschool and headed to see my good friend Laura and her 3 week old baby Lana. She is lovely..... Then after collecting Isaac, my 2 fabulous South African friends came round to see me, and brought their kids for a play. Lovely company, thank you ladies. After school Oliver decided to watch Kung Fu Panda 2, he is still not quite well. Paul came home early, with an email from the relocation company regarding the cat. Basically their usual preferred airline is a pain in the a**e when it comes to transfering pets, all sorts of rules and regulations. So they proposed a different route of travel, Heathrow to Munich, Munich to Charlotte. This is a good option, as we would not have to chance in the States, so would not have to pick the cat up then drop her off again. In theory, they should board her on the first plane, then transfer her to the second, as it is the same carrier.
Then we got our propsed itinery for our travel to the States. Visa permitting, we should be flying on Friday 28th September from London Heathrow at 6.40am (we will be put up in a hotel the night before), landing in Munich at 9.25am, flying from Munich at 11.25 into Charlotte, NC (about 1 1/2 hours from Greenville). Landing 3.15pm local time. Pick up the rental car, and drive to the same hotel in Greenville. In theory it should work well. We should not have to transfer our bags like we would have to by doing a direct flight to the States then changing, especially as it is with the same carrier. Plus we get to go to Germany, albeit just Munich airport....
So thats it.... We are going.... Visa interview permitting..... I need to call the airline and check their policy with taking car seats, as we want to take our own, rather than buy new ones. I also have to be sure of all the paperwork we need for the cat, so again this is another call to the airline.
We are off to the Goslings in Stanford in the Vale this weekend for our big family good bye .... Hoping for not too many tears....
Monday, 9 July 2012
Insider knowledge
I know I only posted last night, but this is how it seems to be going: days where nothing happens, then I get loads of info at once!
I sent all the forms for Olivers school today. They have already processed his application! I now need to get Mr Ancell to fill in a Teacher Recommendation form, then send this along with his birth certificate. They also asked if Oliver spoke German (no!), so he does not need to be in the German for native speakers program. Paul then received an email from the Clarity testing people wanting to check out when we are in South Carolina, so they can arrange the test. Have looked at their website, and it doesn't seem to be an academic test, more a test to see if his abilities match those of a 1st grader. I have no worries about this, he read a whole page of Harry Potter tonight....
Paul had a good chat with a collegue today, who went out on the ex-pat scheme a couple of weeks ago. So he has given some good guidance on where to live, the look and see (kids may get bored, thank god for iPods) pushy real estate agents (stick to what WE want, not what they want us to have). He also gave Paul his address, looks very nice! He commented on how HOT it is, after all our rain, I am really looking forward to that. He has a large communal pool, tennis courts, baseball field, basketball courts and a clubhouse with a gym. But they are currently living in an apartment complex while they wait for their container to arrive/house to be ready. Apartment pictures look nice, lots of good facilities. The container picture looks scary though, how much of our lives are we going to be packing up??? When do we do that? Do we live with little furniture in our house??? Another unknown....
He also warned that the HR department in Oxford need to be pushed, as they are really busy. We also need to be prepared to pay deposits for utilities (up to $1000!!!) on our Look and See, which we knew about. We will also have no credit rating when we go out there, apparently it is like being 16 again! It is also going to cost us about $1000 at the embassy when we go for our visa's, and he advised to not take the kids, as it can be a LONG wait. Will have to see about that one when we get our appointment.
They also discussed cars, typical men! Paul's grade will enable him to get a X5 for nothing, as an ex-pat we also get a second car. We keep the cars for 14000 miles, thats about 6000 more than Paul has his here. When you collect your first car, you have to place the order for the second one straight away. Paul wants to get a 6 series convertible for himself, but we are not to tell them that I will be driving the X5.
Pauls collegues child was due to start school in the UK this September, but given that they don't start till the September after they are 5 in the states, is starting next year. He did give some details on which kindergarten she is going to, so going to look that up in a minute.
That was enlightening reading, and certainly brightened my day
I sent all the forms for Olivers school today. They have already processed his application! I now need to get Mr Ancell to fill in a Teacher Recommendation form, then send this along with his birth certificate. They also asked if Oliver spoke German (no!), so he does not need to be in the German for native speakers program. Paul then received an email from the Clarity testing people wanting to check out when we are in South Carolina, so they can arrange the test. Have looked at their website, and it doesn't seem to be an academic test, more a test to see if his abilities match those of a 1st grader. I have no worries about this, he read a whole page of Harry Potter tonight....
Paul had a good chat with a collegue today, who went out on the ex-pat scheme a couple of weeks ago. So he has given some good guidance on where to live, the look and see (kids may get bored, thank god for iPods) pushy real estate agents (stick to what WE want, not what they want us to have). He also gave Paul his address, looks very nice! He commented on how HOT it is, after all our rain, I am really looking forward to that. He has a large communal pool, tennis courts, baseball field, basketball courts and a clubhouse with a gym. But they are currently living in an apartment complex while they wait for their container to arrive/house to be ready. Apartment pictures look nice, lots of good facilities. The container picture looks scary though, how much of our lives are we going to be packing up??? When do we do that? Do we live with little furniture in our house??? Another unknown....
He also warned that the HR department in Oxford need to be pushed, as they are really busy. We also need to be prepared to pay deposits for utilities (up to $1000!!!) on our Look and See, which we knew about. We will also have no credit rating when we go out there, apparently it is like being 16 again! It is also going to cost us about $1000 at the embassy when we go for our visa's, and he advised to not take the kids, as it can be a LONG wait. Will have to see about that one when we get our appointment.
They also discussed cars, typical men! Paul's grade will enable him to get a X5 for nothing, as an ex-pat we also get a second car. We keep the cars for 14000 miles, thats about 6000 more than Paul has his here. When you collect your first car, you have to place the order for the second one straight away. Paul wants to get a 6 series convertible for himself, but we are not to tell them that I will be driving the X5.
Pauls collegues child was due to start school in the UK this September, but given that they don't start till the September after they are 5 in the states, is starting next year. He did give some details on which kindergarten she is going to, so going to look that up in a minute.
That was enlightening reading, and certainly brightened my day
Sunday, 8 July 2012
Is it July already?
Evening
I know it has been a while since I posted last, sorry! We haven't even been mega busy, but will update anyway.
We had Oliver's sports day last Friday (29th June). It was good. My mum made it down ultra early, I think her Mazda has wings. Unfortunatly the inlaws (Keith and Chris) got stuck in traffic around Chichester, as we had forgotten that the Festival of Speed was on. They did manage to make it to see Olivers last race though, which was good. Oh, and Isaac got 3rd in the toddler race, so proud of my big boys! We had lunch with Oliver, when he went into class, we took a drive down to Littlehampton riverfront and had some lunch. All the relatives stuck around till Oliver came home from school. Oli got his birthday present from the inlaws, more Lego (feels like its coming out of our ears....)
We had a nice lazy family weekend last weekend. At the beginning of the week we got full confirmation of our Look and See trip. Business travel here we come!!!! We need to sort our ESTA's (Visa Waiver programme, as our Visas will not be ready, in fact we will pick up the pack to take to the embassy while we are out there) but there is time for us to do that between France and America. All the paperwork for our visas has finally reached the visa attorney in the states, so they are currently compilling the pack ready for us. Lets hope there are no problems.
I had my meeting with Mr Ancell on thursday. Apparently Oliver had stood up in class and told everyone he was going to move to America. His teaching assistant, Mrs Merrett had corrected him thinking he meant for a holiday, so they got a bit of a shock!!! I am able to take Olivers work books from this year with me, and Mr Ancell even emailed me a copy of Oliver's report, despite the fact I still don't have it in my hands yet. Was nice to get a look at it, he is doing very well. Mr Ancell thinks I will have a few forms to fill in, but is going to contact the office, then let me know.
I also took both the big boys for haircuts last week, Isaac on Wednesday, Oli on Thursday. You can check out Isaac's before and after photos in this blog!
Friday (6th July) was Isaac's sports day, again my mum flew down and got here in just over an hour. It was starting to rain as we arrived, and continued to spit all the way through. The staff were brilliant though, and got the kids through it very quickly. It is always so lovely to see the kids at preschool, they are so well behaved and so cute! Paul had to pop to work in the afternoon to pick up a Rolls Royce. My mum stayed on Friday night, which was nice for the boys, they love having nanny here. We need to make the most of it while we can.
We were both hungover on saturday, so we did very little. Paul spent the morning cleaning the inside and the wheels of the Rolls, as he was doing a favour for our next door neighbours dad, Steve. His daughter got married on Saturday, and Paul used the Rolls to chauffeur them from their house to the venue, as they had been let down at the last minute by the company they were using. I think everyone was very pleased with the car. We were invited to the evening, but lack of babysitters and hangovers meant we stayed home. Oli was allowed to sit up and watch Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark, whle I went to Tesco. I know who got the better deal..... Saying that I did finally buy the suitcases. £70 for 2 big suitcases is a bargain, and they will do our many airplane journeys well. Oliver had a party this morning, then we watched the F1, great race. And watched Murray lose at the tennis. Never mind, Federer is pretty much THE best player of all time. As soon as they put that roof on, I knew Murray was a gonner.... At least he won a set. He will definatly improve over time, and I would not be surprised to see him in another final very soon. So another lazy Weekend....
This week coming up is going to be a bit mental. My friend Vicky is having her C-section tomorrow, good luck hunni, can't wait to meet your little bundle. My money is on a girl... I have to spend the rest of the week making sure the house is tidied and the kitchen is stocked, as I am off on an OU residential school on saturday. 6 days in the chemistry labs of York University making insect pheromones. Got my computer marked assignment back already, got 50%, so quite pleased with that. Bit nervous about it all, I am not great at chemistry, so can only hope I meet people who are, lol!!!
Will try and update before I go.
Much Love x
I know it has been a while since I posted last, sorry! We haven't even been mega busy, but will update anyway.
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| Oliver getting used to basketballs.... |
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| Isaac with his 3rd sticker |
I had my meeting with Mr Ancell on thursday. Apparently Oliver had stood up in class and told everyone he was going to move to America. His teaching assistant, Mrs Merrett had corrected him thinking he meant for a holiday, so they got a bit of a shock!!! I am able to take Olivers work books from this year with me, and Mr Ancell even emailed me a copy of Oliver's report, despite the fact I still don't have it in my hands yet. Was nice to get a look at it, he is doing very well. Mr Ancell thinks I will have a few forms to fill in, but is going to contact the office, then let me know.
I also took both the big boys for haircuts last week, Isaac on Wednesday, Oli on Thursday. You can check out Isaac's before and after photos in this blog!
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| Isaac after his sports day |
We were both hungover on saturday, so we did very little. Paul spent the morning cleaning the inside and the wheels of the Rolls, as he was doing a favour for our next door neighbours dad, Steve. His daughter got married on Saturday, and Paul used the Rolls to chauffeur them from their house to the venue, as they had been let down at the last minute by the company they were using. I think everyone was very pleased with the car. We were invited to the evening, but lack of babysitters and hangovers meant we stayed home. Oli was allowed to sit up and watch Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark, whle I went to Tesco. I know who got the better deal..... Saying that I did finally buy the suitcases. £70 for 2 big suitcases is a bargain, and they will do our many airplane journeys well. Oliver had a party this morning, then we watched the F1, great race. And watched Murray lose at the tennis. Never mind, Federer is pretty much THE best player of all time. As soon as they put that roof on, I knew Murray was a gonner.... At least he won a set. He will definatly improve over time, and I would not be surprised to see him in another final very soon. So another lazy Weekend....
This week coming up is going to be a bit mental. My friend Vicky is having her C-section tomorrow, good luck hunni, can't wait to meet your little bundle. My money is on a girl... I have to spend the rest of the week making sure the house is tidied and the kitchen is stocked, as I am off on an OU residential school on saturday. 6 days in the chemistry labs of York University making insect pheromones. Got my computer marked assignment back already, got 50%, so quite pleased with that. Bit nervous about it all, I am not great at chemistry, so can only hope I meet people who are, lol!!!
Will try and update before I go.
Much Love x
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Tuesday night dribbles.....
Well, my evening with Philippa went well. We met in the car park, unintentionally, and she had guessed we were moving, just didn't know where. I filled her in on all the info that's on here, and pointed her in this blogs direction, so hello Philippa!
Turns out we missed some vital info when we were looking at the relocation companies website. Isaac is able to go to preschool, and there is a list of 6 to choose from. I have narrowed it down to 2 that I really like the look of. Again, the company pays up to a certain amount.
Paul is still waiting on a few bits of info for the visa, typically it is info from the America side! But the lady at company a suggested he sent what he has, then she will pass it on to the immigration person to see if it is sufficient. Paul has found his mentor though, which is good.
Paul received an email today from company b (relocation company), to say that they are going to be arranging our flights, hotels and rental car for our look and see trip. So looks like we are going to America on 25th August!!! Holy cow, can't believe it is happening.......
Starting to feel a bit more confident about telling people. Can't help looking round my house wondering what we should sell. Looked into Oliver's school uniform, just as 'research'. That's not cheap... Also checked out his school dates, very informative. So much going on in this little brain of mine. Not forgetting the iCMA that I have for my chemistry residential due 3rd July, and TMA03 for my psychology course due 1st September. Personally I have a hectic month in July, regarding OU work. Then holiday, then more OU work, then America for our look and see.
Turns out we missed some vital info when we were looking at the relocation companies website. Isaac is able to go to preschool, and there is a list of 6 to choose from. I have narrowed it down to 2 that I really like the look of. Again, the company pays up to a certain amount.
Paul is still waiting on a few bits of info for the visa, typically it is info from the America side! But the lady at company a suggested he sent what he has, then she will pass it on to the immigration person to see if it is sufficient. Paul has found his mentor though, which is good.
Paul received an email today from company b (relocation company), to say that they are going to be arranging our flights, hotels and rental car for our look and see trip. So looks like we are going to America on 25th August!!! Holy cow, can't believe it is happening.......
Starting to feel a bit more confident about telling people. Can't help looking round my house wondering what we should sell. Looked into Oliver's school uniform, just as 'research'. That's not cheap... Also checked out his school dates, very informative. So much going on in this little brain of mine. Not forgetting the iCMA that I have for my chemistry residential due 3rd July, and TMA03 for my psychology course due 1st September. Personally I have a hectic month in July, regarding OU work. Then holiday, then more OU work, then America for our look and see.
Saturday, 23 June 2012
The beginning of the paperwork
So today.....
We sat down at the computer and started going through the emails properly. We began gathering the documents we need for the visas. I dug out our marriage certificate, the boys birth certificates, Paul's university degree. It states he needs details of his thesis/final year project but he only has his course module results. We hope that this will be sufficient. All these documents need to be scanned along with EVERY page of all 5 passports! Paul also needs to gather work info ( job descriptions, organisation structures etc). Will hopefully be able to send all these details on Monday or Tuesday to start the visa process.
We filled in an online questionnaire for the relocation company. We have put in our requests for dates of our look and see trip (25 August - 1st September). We had to fill in details about required property - 4 bedrooms, fenced in back yard, furnished, near other ex-pats and with access to a pool and facilities. We also had to fill in details about the cat, looks like she may be travelling with us (as if having 3 children is not enough), really hope the relocation company use a pet shipper, otherwise it will just add to our hassle.
We filled in details of the school we want Oliver to go to. We also rearranged our holiday to France from the beginning of August to 24th July-7th August. Cost us £10! Our visa interview will hopefully be the week after. It is quite sad in a way though, as grandad Lee is not due to fly out to France until 8th August, which means he probably will not holiday with us. He will be sorely missed. Hoping he might be able to change his dates, but we will see...
We then took a trip to Tesco to look at the suitcases they have on offer. We thought they would not be big enough. We got home and had a look online as to sizes and prices. Turns out the Tesco deal is actually very cheap, and bigger than it looks, so I think we will be investing in at least one of these, to go with the big suitcase we have upstairs. Would also like to get some kind of take on cases for the boys. Not sure we want to go down the trunki route, but will investigate nearer the time. I was also looking at flights for our look see today. The company likes to use Delta, but the details we have are for flights out of Munich. Delta do fly out of Heathrow on the days we require, with a very short stop over in Detroit. We will see what the relocation company comes back to us with. Last thing we need is a long lay over. Paul is quite keep for us to fly with American Airlines as they fly out of Gatwick directly to Charlotte. From there it is only about a 2 hour drive to Greenville.
I am seeing my good friend Philippa on monday night to tell her the news. Have not seen her properly for a while so that will be nice. Must decide when I am going to link this blog to my Facebook, might wait till after my next Netmums night out.... Enjoying the music of the Isle of Wight festival and Radio 1's Hackney weekend. Not sure we will get this kind of coverage in the states.....
We sat down at the computer and started going through the emails properly. We began gathering the documents we need for the visas. I dug out our marriage certificate, the boys birth certificates, Paul's university degree. It states he needs details of his thesis/final year project but he only has his course module results. We hope that this will be sufficient. All these documents need to be scanned along with EVERY page of all 5 passports! Paul also needs to gather work info ( job descriptions, organisation structures etc). Will hopefully be able to send all these details on Monday or Tuesday to start the visa process.
We filled in an online questionnaire for the relocation company. We have put in our requests for dates of our look and see trip (25 August - 1st September). We had to fill in details about required property - 4 bedrooms, fenced in back yard, furnished, near other ex-pats and with access to a pool and facilities. We also had to fill in details about the cat, looks like she may be travelling with us (as if having 3 children is not enough), really hope the relocation company use a pet shipper, otherwise it will just add to our hassle.
We filled in details of the school we want Oliver to go to. We also rearranged our holiday to France from the beginning of August to 24th July-7th August. Cost us £10! Our visa interview will hopefully be the week after. It is quite sad in a way though, as grandad Lee is not due to fly out to France until 8th August, which means he probably will not holiday with us. He will be sorely missed. Hoping he might be able to change his dates, but we will see...
We then took a trip to Tesco to look at the suitcases they have on offer. We thought they would not be big enough. We got home and had a look online as to sizes and prices. Turns out the Tesco deal is actually very cheap, and bigger than it looks, so I think we will be investing in at least one of these, to go with the big suitcase we have upstairs. Would also like to get some kind of take on cases for the boys. Not sure we want to go down the trunki route, but will investigate nearer the time. I was also looking at flights for our look see today. The company likes to use Delta, but the details we have are for flights out of Munich. Delta do fly out of Heathrow on the days we require, with a very short stop over in Detroit. We will see what the relocation company comes back to us with. Last thing we need is a long lay over. Paul is quite keep for us to fly with American Airlines as they fly out of Gatwick directly to Charlotte. From there it is only about a 2 hour drive to Greenville.
I am seeing my good friend Philippa on monday night to tell her the news. Have not seen her properly for a while so that will be nice. Must decide when I am going to link this blog to my Facebook, might wait till after my next Netmums night out.... Enjoying the music of the Isle of Wight festival and Radio 1's Hackney weekend. Not sure we will get this kind of coverage in the states.....
Friday, 22 June 2012
Recent developments...
A big HELLO to all the netmums from February 2011, and my friends/ family who have been guided or have inadvertently found this blog. Please keep following me, it will get more interesting.......
So since yesterday..... Paul received 3 emails, one from the visa people, one from the relocaters, and one from the private school. The visa people need Paul to fill out lots of 'interesting' forms to get the visa process started. The relocaters will arrange our look and see, our first travel, and everything else! The school (Christchurch Epicospical School, look it up if you feel inclined) have sent us some forms to fill in to begin the admissions process for Oliver. It's quite funny, as 2 of these forms are in German, obviously for those coming from BMW in Germany. They are expecting Oliver to go into Grade 2, the English equivalent of year 3. They will test him first to see which grade his ability is. I have done a bit of research on this, and I think he will be ok in this academically, but we will see!
I also want them to test Isaac, as although he is not meant to start kindergarten till the September after he is 5 (2014!!!), I think they will take him in September 2013, especially as he is being paid for. He has been practicing writing today, copying words, I am really pleased with how clear they are for one of his first attempts. I swear Oliver could not write this well at 3 1/2!
I have also booked Oliver and Isaac's hepatitis B vaccinations.
All children in the US are vaccinated for this as part of their routine vaccinations from birth. And we thought we put our kids immune systems through a lot.... So 11th July, jabs for the big boys, just before school. The way to make a good day, NOT! I am not doing Sebastian, as in theory he will be 4 when we come home, so should not need them. If he ends up in daycare/ preschool out there, then I will get them done in the US, at the companies expense.
I am beginning to sell a lot of baby stuff form around the house. I plan to add more stuff to my page when I need too. Hopefully I can make a little bit of money, so we have a bit extra before we go and do not need to ship anything unnecessarily. If you are on Facebook please look for the Goslings Great House Clearance page. No doubt I will be posting again soon, so look out for it. Much love xxx
So since yesterday..... Paul received 3 emails, one from the visa people, one from the relocaters, and one from the private school. The visa people need Paul to fill out lots of 'interesting' forms to get the visa process started. The relocaters will arrange our look and see, our first travel, and everything else! The school (Christchurch Epicospical School, look it up if you feel inclined) have sent us some forms to fill in to begin the admissions process for Oliver. It's quite funny, as 2 of these forms are in German, obviously for those coming from BMW in Germany. They are expecting Oliver to go into Grade 2, the English equivalent of year 3. They will test him first to see which grade his ability is. I have done a bit of research on this, and I think he will be ok in this academically, but we will see!
 |
| Isaac's first attempt at writing his name |
All children in the US are vaccinated for this as part of their routine vaccinations from birth. And we thought we put our kids immune systems through a lot.... So 11th July, jabs for the big boys, just before school. The way to make a good day, NOT! I am not doing Sebastian, as in theory he will be 4 when we come home, so should not need them. If he ends up in daycare/ preschool out there, then I will get them done in the US, at the companies expense.
I am beginning to sell a lot of baby stuff form around the house. I plan to add more stuff to my page when I need too. Hopefully I can make a little bit of money, so we have a bit extra before we go and do not need to ship anything unnecessarily. If you are on Facebook please look for the Goslings Great House Clearance page. No doubt I will be posting again soon, so look out for it. Much love xxx
Thursday, 21 June 2012
Its happening...........
Feel quite hungover today, sat up til nearly 1am drinking and chating about all that Paul found out yesterday.
So here goes.......... Paul has lots of things he neds to do to secure his job for when we come back. He has to find a mentor and get a personal development plan going. He has someone in mind, so it should not be too hard.
The lady fromAmerica HR was very helpful. He is going on an intercompany transfer, so will be applying for a L1B visa, specialist knowledge. Shortly his info will be pased on to international HR based in Oxford, they wil sort his tax/salary/etc. They sort all the fine details. The company use another company (company A)in the US to fluff up his job stuff, to American standards, then apply for the visa. They send over this info, which we need to take to the embassy in London for an interview. They will take our passports, which we should receive back about a week later with visas. This whole proces from fluffing up job description to visa interviews should take about 10 weeks. So that puts us in the middle of August.
About 6 weeks before his oficial start date (1st October) we go for our look and see. This is a Saturday-Saturday trip full of activities, organised by yet another company (company B)! They sort al the flights, hotel, rental car etc. Company B also arrange the move. We will recieve a questionnaire from them with regards to packing our stuff, the cat, and al that jazz.
What this means is, I can still do my residential school, we can still go to France (we need to change our ferry boking for about the 23rd July-4th August), then at some point before the boys go back to school we will be going to America for the week. I get 2 holidays this sumer, wooohooo!
So thats it. We are moving to America!!!! I am sooooooooooooooo excited, I am going to get an X5!!!!! Cant wait to drive that bad boy, lol!!!!!
So here goes.......... Paul has lots of things he neds to do to secure his job for when we come back. He has to find a mentor and get a personal development plan going. He has someone in mind, so it should not be too hard.
The lady fromAmerica HR was very helpful. He is going on an intercompany transfer, so will be applying for a L1B visa, specialist knowledge. Shortly his info will be pased on to international HR based in Oxford, they wil sort his tax/salary/etc. They sort all the fine details. The company use another company (company A)in the US to fluff up his job stuff, to American standards, then apply for the visa. They send over this info, which we need to take to the embassy in London for an interview. They will take our passports, which we should receive back about a week later with visas. This whole proces from fluffing up job description to visa interviews should take about 10 weeks. So that puts us in the middle of August.
About 6 weeks before his oficial start date (1st October) we go for our look and see. This is a Saturday-Saturday trip full of activities, organised by yet another company (company B)! They sort al the flights, hotel, rental car etc. Company B also arrange the move. We will recieve a questionnaire from them with regards to packing our stuff, the cat, and al that jazz.
What this means is, I can still do my residential school, we can still go to France (we need to change our ferry boking for about the 23rd July-4th August), then at some point before the boys go back to school we will be going to America for the week. I get 2 holidays this sumer, wooohooo!
So thats it. We are moving to America!!!! I am sooooooooooooooo excited, I am going to get an X5!!!!! Cant wait to drive that bad boy, lol!!!!!
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