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Arriving in a new country is both exciting and tedious. The first smells and sights are intoxicating. I love to sit at the back of the taxi and think, 'in the next few weeks this is all going to be so familiar'. It's amazing how quickly it does become familiar, so let the 'foreignness' linger as long as you can. The paperwork, on the other hand, is always tedious. This time we were lucky as our company assigned us a consultant to guide us through the minefield of getting everything organised so that we could live here legally. This included helping with obtaining a social security number and helping with the driving test. Legally, all drivers need a Texas drivers license. I believe you can drive on your UK licence for 12 months but apparently not all police officers are aware of this, so it is advisable to get the driving test over and done with as soon as possible. Most of the men do this without giving it a second thought. I've found that it the wives who try to delay it as long as possible. I certainly wasn't ready for my test. The test involves a written test, which is easy enough. You only need 70% to pass, so the tip is to skip any questions you're not sure of. The practical is only a short test which includes parallel parking into a bay. You can visit the test centres at weekends to practice and this is probably a good idea. The thing is, the examiners aren't looking for perfection. As long as you don't hit the poles at either end of the bay, the car is straight and you're not too far away from the kerb then you're probably ok. It certainly isn't as rigorous as the tests in the UK. Saying that, I was really nervous and I completely messed up my parking and drove worse than I ever have done.... and yet I still passed! I was so relieved when it was over but my legs felt like jelly.

House hunting

If you've never been to Houston before then house-hunting can be a nightmare. Houston is so big and spread out that it is difficult to know where to start. It helps if you know what type of area you want to live in e.g. gated community, suburbs, downtown or a lively community. You can probably find what you're looking for but it will take time. Another huge consideration is how much time you are prepared to spend in the car commuting to and from work and to and from school. A lot of the families at the British School Houston have opted to live in a gated community - the Lakes on Eldridge. It is a beautiful development and the houses are fantastic. I looked at some of the houses and almost opted for that too but then I had to consider what I wanted out of my time here. Houston has lots to do - parks, museums, theatres etc. and I wanted to be closer to all those things to ensure I used them more. I didn't think I would make that journey from the Lakes into Houston very often and that is why I chose to be more central. I opted for West University Place which is an older, more established neighbourhood but one that has lots of things (shops and restaurants) within walking distance. It is also pretty central, so easily accessible for the zoo, museum district, downtown etc.

Once I settled on the area I looked at all the houses available to rent there. I was very surprised to find that many of the houses were very dated internally. A lot of them had the original bathrooms and kitchens in them which I didn't think I could live with. When I wrote down my 'wish list' of what I wanted in the house, it included a garden and a swimming pool. I saw a fantastic house which was gorgeous inside. It had a small garden but no pool. Because it had no pool I didn't make my mind up straight away. I carried on looking for a few more days. It soon became clear that I would have to compromise. It was either location or swimming pool. I went for location and went back to see the house I'd liked again with a view to putting in an offer. Unfortunately when I phoned it had already gone. Tip: Good houses in sought after locations go very fast. You need to make your decision very quickly! I carried on looking and finally another house came up. This one was in a perfect location and had a swimming pool. Unfortunately it was a little bit dated in places but I think some compromise has to been made somewhere along the line.

Schooling

In an ideal world expats get the chance to visit their new country before finally agreeing to move there. One of the priorities for families with school-aged children is usually to check out various schools and enroll their children into the one that best meets their particular needs (or to ensure that they will be happy with the only school available to them). This is my third move overseas and the third time I've missed out on a 'look-see' visit. This time it was because my husband had just undergone surgery and didn't want to fly so soon after it and also because it was so close to Christmas and we had visitors booked in to see us in Trinidad. Anyway, I spent hours on the internet reading school reports. Houston has thousands and thousands of schools and I was really beginning to get bogged down with it all. Should I go private, move to an area which was renowned for great public school or go with a catholic school? I really didn't know what to do. In my heart I really wanted a catholic school as I'd had a great experience with catholic schools as a child, but I wondered whether the religion element would be too instense. Since I hadn't got the chance to visit I thought the best bet would be to enroll him in the British school to start with, and then reconsider once we had somewhere permanent to live and we were all more settled. We spoke to the school and arranged to visit the school a couple of days after arriving in Houston. We were taken to the classroom 3 year old would be joining and he stayed there whilst we toured the school. After the tour we went back for him. He refused to leave. That was the start of his official education in Houston. Since that first day he has attended 3 days a week, but asks every weekend can he go to school. I think that is an excellent picture of how much he enjoys it! He is still enjoying it and has settled in well. Whilst the school doesn't look as fancy as some of the other private schools in Houston I am more than happy with what he is doing and how well he's settled. I think we made the right decision.

Good bye Trinidad

We have just spent 2 hectic days sorting out the apartment ready for shippers to come and pack up all our treasured possessions. It has been so busy and I am so annoyed with myself for not being organised enough. I'm sure there are lessons to be learned from our ordeal but I don't have the time to think about it now.

Here are my final thoughts about the move:

Things that I'll miss:
- the friends we have made,
- our apartment with its beautiful views,
- the scenery,
- roti, doubles and bake and shark
- Carib beer
- Kathy Ann, our housekeeper, babysitter and friend

Things that I definitely won't miss:
- HiLo supermarket,
- poor customer service,
- bad driving,
- lack of things to do,
- constant difficulty in buying 'normal' food like chicken breasts and fresh milk

Well that's it for now. Good bye Trinidad. Hello Houston!

Clean bill of health

The day before New Year’s Eve. Five days before the big move to Houston. As you can imagine, nothing much has happened over the holidays. We’ve been too busy with visitors, illnesses and parties to even think about the move (although last night I did dream about house hunting, so my conscience must be telling me it’s time to crack on with it again).

Before everything shut down for Christmas, we were called for health checks to see if we were fit enough for our new lives in the States. Can you remember how, as a child, your mum would always ask whether you had clean underwear on before you left the house? Well it felt a bit like that! The last time I’d seen the Company-preferred doctor he was a crusty old man who barely glanced at us before declaring us fit for life in Trinidad. How things have changed! This time it was a very young, very attractive, very thorough doctor who did the business. The medical lasted a full hour and was very intense. Nothing was left out. We were examined from head to toe, subjected to a hundred personal questions and a bucketful of blood taken for a battery of tests. It was a great relief, when a few days later, the nurse called to say that everything was ‘normal’. Fortunately, it was sufficient to prove that the kids were up-to-date with their inoculations for them to receive their health certificates!

Still no joy with Abigail’s visa though. Because the rest of us already have E2 visas Abigail must also enter the States with an E2 visa (apparently). And guess what? Trinidad and Tobago don’t issue E2 visas! It was suggested that we might have to go back to England to obtain it. Whilst we normally look forward to trips back home a whistle-stop trip with a toddler and a one-year old doesn’t quite fill me with joy! The temporary solution (so as not to delay David’s start date) is for us all to go on visa waivers and then all leave again within 90 days. I hope it gets sorted out before then!

The horrors of red tape

It's finally the weekend and I can relax in the knowledge that I won't be receiving any more e-mails with attachments needing urgent completion. Last week seems to have been lost under a flurry of a paperwork. I'm sure there was never this much paperwork for our previous moves. Is that because the US is more difficult to get into, or is it that the people involved in the move are just better organised? There have been forms to set up bank accounts, forms for medicals, registration forms for Alfie's school, insurance forms, and horrendous forms for Abigail's visa.

I have filled in the same form for Abigail's visa 3 times now, made two visits to the US embassy, spoken to the rudest people, broke down in tears and still have no visa for her. The rest of us already have visas from our last trip there, so we're ok. Abigail was born after we were there, so she doesn't have a visa. We followed the advice we were given from the appropriate people in my husband's company, turned up at the embassy and were turned away for not having the correct paperwork. This happened twice. We were then told that the system had changed and we now needed a special package. (Two other families have only just obtained visas to work in the US, has it really changed so suddenly? Why did this person not know the system since she is paid to be an immigration specialist?) Anyway, we now await the company to forward the appropriate completed forms for us to take to the embassy. They were promised 3 days ago and still have not arrived. We then have to wait for the embassy to call us for interview (current wait time 3 weeks). It doesn't seem promising that we will have the visa in time for our move on 5 January.

There have been lots of steps forwards this week but a huge step backwards, which could potentially delay our move.

Back to the here and now! Here in Trinidad it's 0730. The sun is up and it looks like it is going to be a beautiful day. We've got friends coming by later. We'll probably have a dip in the pool followed by a few ice-cold Caribs whilst we bbq. We've got to make the most of our beautiful garden whilst we can!

Timing is everything!

When is the best time to upheave your family and drag them half way around the world to a new country and culture? Is there ever going to be a good time? I doubt it. There are going to be problems and obstacles no matter how well you try to time it. Saying that, I think we've surpassed ourselves this time - we've probably found the worst-possible time for our next overseas posting.

It is now 11 December and we're right in the middle of our Christmas preparations. Our 3 year-old asks everyday whether today's the day Father Christmas is coming. We have friends arriving in 10 days time for a 2 week visit and our big move is planned for 5 January (2 days after our guests leave). See, perfect timing! Will we be ready for it? I doubt it. But we will make that flight somehow!