Admin

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!