Quick lesson:
Make sure the person you are talking too understands what Taking the Piss means.
If they don't it will either result in a funny or violent situation. Possibly both.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Adapting to US life
Adapting to US life has been a little bit difficult. Despite Australia and USA being very similar in many respects, the little things sometimes get to you. Still searching for a decent Mocha, and some real bacon (ie not cardboard). I never thought I would miss vegemite so much. I found a store that sells it, but at $9 for a jar that should cost less than $2, I will continue to miss it until I can convince anyone visiting from Australia to bring it with them. I also need to get back to the gym and back to some better eater habits. After 10 days over here, I have put on 4kg (10 lb). I thought I would avoid that.
However, despite my annoyance at a few little things, some other things are actually nice. Almost every restaurant over here has bottomless softdrink. No need to nurse that $3 glass of coke that only has 5 mouthfuls and ice. And due to the situation with tips vs wages over here, most waiters/waitresses are a lot better than those you find in Australia. Some exceptions as usual, but can’t have everything.
Monday was the 4th of July. Am sure anyone who reads this would know that date is the American Independence Day. Which according to Wikipedia, it seems that a close enough is good enough approach for celebrating this event which actually happened two days earlier. Either way, its an iconic date and a national public holiday.
As I am currently living just outside of DC, it was natural to experience my first 4th of July fireworks display in the National Mall (the strip of public area that stretches from the capital building to the Lincoln Memorial, with the Washington Monument in the centre. Chrissy and I took our position on the Capital Building side of the monument. A small mistake as all the fireworks are set on the Lincoln memorial side of the monument, so we had the Washington monument blocking part of the view.
The fireworks go for 15-20 minutes and are a nice display. But being a Sydneysider, my standards have been set quite high by the annual New Years Eve display over Sydney Harbour with multiple firepoints all synchronised and played in time to music. I kept looking for a pattern or beat or something from the display in DC but seemed to be just a random firing of (a lot of) various fireworks. Still a nice night. Some poor sucker sitting in front of us used the night to propose to his girlfriend. I’m guessing he used the date as its an easy to remember date. The girl, after some tears and hugging, then seemed to want to make sure she was the centre of attention by repeatedly making it loud and clear that she just got engaged. I think only one person actually only paid her attention. As I said, poor sucker.
After fireworks, a couple hundred thousand people (pure guesswork) then headed to the metro to leave town. We stopped at a pub for a couple hours to wait it out. Then a smooth trip home. Not a bad night in all but not a lot of buildup. Maybe I missed it all though and I will get into it a bit more in future years. No idea.
I got excited yesterday when I found out that the State of Origin was actually being broadcast in the USA, as is the NRL Grand Final. I had to subscribe to a Fox Soccer Channel, but that's a sacrifice I was willing to make...up until I watched Game 3. Its a big disappointment that no other games are over here. There are numerous sports channels available on cable that are empty 90% of the time. Surely the NRL would be able to expand their market coverage if they come to an agreement with a US channel. Even if not live for the weekly games, simply showing the games over here would be nice.
As an alternative there is live streaming available for subscription. Yet its not the cost that stops me. Its the fact I would need a high speed internet link, as well as a computer with high graphics capability and high processing speed. Even if i have the latter two (which I don’t), the telephone and modem connections are not in a suitable place to sit and watch tv / laptop. Using a wireless router to basic email and internet is fine, but its a bit too slow for anything requiring high bandwidth.
In contrast, Super Rugby is on over here. EVERY game is shown live, or close to live. Am looking forward to watching the final. But just shows the failure of the NRL management in expanding their market. Hell, Fox Sports already has the Australian broadcast rights. Surely you can work with them to have their American parent show games over here (yes i know fox sports in Australia is part owned by Telstra), but still, surely some arrangement could be made.
Another benefit of being in USA is the Tour De France does not require insomniac type living arrangements. Starts around 7 am and depending on the stage, over around 11am-12.30pm. C’mon Cadel. As I write this, watching Stage 5 with 25 miles to go. And don’t have to wake up for work in just a few hours. On the flipside, after i start work, I wont be able to watch it. Except on the numerous and repeated replays.
Another thing about US TV. Due to the number of channels, and their dedicated nature, its almost impossible to miss a show as it is repeated once, twice, or 3 times per day for the next couple of days. With 200+ channels available, they have to show something. 100 of those seem to be shopping or evangelical channels. 70 are sports channels (of which 55 are dormant and waiting for something to be on) and the remaining 30 channels are either comedy, drama or sci-fi.
Found a firefly marathon on Sunday. That was nice. Another channel seems to have a James Bond marathon on repeat. And then there is channel USA which appears to have about 7 shows in total. Newer shows such as White Collar, Necessary Roughness, Royal Pains and Suits (good show) and older ones being Law and Order (x3 variants) and NCIS. Given this channel goes 24 hours, 7 days a week, you can imagine the number of repeats being shown.
Oh, and when I was in the bank yesterday, I noticed the standard home loan rate over here for people with good credit. 30 year fixed rate loans at less than 5% per annum. Fixed! For 30 years! Yikes. I guess when the economy is in recession and you have 10% unemployment, government bond rates close to 0%, then mortgages are cheap. But as I said, that's for people with good credit history. Which it seems is not the common position in the US. Once I get settled, I think a serious look at the property market over here is in order while prices are down and money is cheap.
I am still looking for a place to rent at the moment. I was expecting to have a place already, as I had never really had problems finding a place in Sydney. Yet my previous assertions that everyone loves an Aussie may not be correct. I can only assume its because they are worried I will only be here short term before going home. Not surprising, it seems like they all want to be in Sydney :-)
That's it for today. Next update when I have something to share.
However, despite my annoyance at a few little things, some other things are actually nice. Almost every restaurant over here has bottomless softdrink. No need to nurse that $3 glass of coke that only has 5 mouthfuls and ice. And due to the situation with tips vs wages over here, most waiters/waitresses are a lot better than those you find in Australia. Some exceptions as usual, but can’t have everything.
Monday was the 4th of July. Am sure anyone who reads this would know that date is the American Independence Day. Which according to Wikipedia, it seems that a close enough is good enough approach for celebrating this event which actually happened two days earlier. Either way, its an iconic date and a national public holiday.
As I am currently living just outside of DC, it was natural to experience my first 4th of July fireworks display in the National Mall (the strip of public area that stretches from the capital building to the Lincoln Memorial, with the Washington Monument in the centre. Chrissy and I took our position on the Capital Building side of the monument. A small mistake as all the fireworks are set on the Lincoln memorial side of the monument, so we had the Washington monument blocking part of the view.
The fireworks go for 15-20 minutes and are a nice display. But being a Sydneysider, my standards have been set quite high by the annual New Years Eve display over Sydney Harbour with multiple firepoints all synchronised and played in time to music. I kept looking for a pattern or beat or something from the display in DC but seemed to be just a random firing of (a lot of) various fireworks. Still a nice night. Some poor sucker sitting in front of us used the night to propose to his girlfriend. I’m guessing he used the date as its an easy to remember date. The girl, after some tears and hugging, then seemed to want to make sure she was the centre of attention by repeatedly making it loud and clear that she just got engaged. I think only one person actually only paid her attention. As I said, poor sucker.
After fireworks, a couple hundred thousand people (pure guesswork) then headed to the metro to leave town. We stopped at a pub for a couple hours to wait it out. Then a smooth trip home. Not a bad night in all but not a lot of buildup. Maybe I missed it all though and I will get into it a bit more in future years. No idea.
I got excited yesterday when I found out that the State of Origin was actually being broadcast in the USA, as is the NRL Grand Final. I had to subscribe to a Fox Soccer Channel, but that's a sacrifice I was willing to make...up until I watched Game 3. Its a big disappointment that no other games are over here. There are numerous sports channels available on cable that are empty 90% of the time. Surely the NRL would be able to expand their market coverage if they come to an agreement with a US channel. Even if not live for the weekly games, simply showing the games over here would be nice.
As an alternative there is live streaming available for subscription. Yet its not the cost that stops me. Its the fact I would need a high speed internet link, as well as a computer with high graphics capability and high processing speed. Even if i have the latter two (which I don’t), the telephone and modem connections are not in a suitable place to sit and watch tv / laptop. Using a wireless router to basic email and internet is fine, but its a bit too slow for anything requiring high bandwidth.
In contrast, Super Rugby is on over here. EVERY game is shown live, or close to live. Am looking forward to watching the final. But just shows the failure of the NRL management in expanding their market. Hell, Fox Sports already has the Australian broadcast rights. Surely you can work with them to have their American parent show games over here (yes i know fox sports in Australia is part owned by Telstra), but still, surely some arrangement could be made.
Another benefit of being in USA is the Tour De France does not require insomniac type living arrangements. Starts around 7 am and depending on the stage, over around 11am-12.30pm. C’mon Cadel. As I write this, watching Stage 5 with 25 miles to go. And don’t have to wake up for work in just a few hours. On the flipside, after i start work, I wont be able to watch it. Except on the numerous and repeated replays.
Another thing about US TV. Due to the number of channels, and their dedicated nature, its almost impossible to miss a show as it is repeated once, twice, or 3 times per day for the next couple of days. With 200+ channels available, they have to show something. 100 of those seem to be shopping or evangelical channels. 70 are sports channels (of which 55 are dormant and waiting for something to be on) and the remaining 30 channels are either comedy, drama or sci-fi.
Found a firefly marathon on Sunday. That was nice. Another channel seems to have a James Bond marathon on repeat. And then there is channel USA which appears to have about 7 shows in total. Newer shows such as White Collar, Necessary Roughness, Royal Pains and Suits (good show) and older ones being Law and Order (x3 variants) and NCIS. Given this channel goes 24 hours, 7 days a week, you can imagine the number of repeats being shown.
Oh, and when I was in the bank yesterday, I noticed the standard home loan rate over here for people with good credit. 30 year fixed rate loans at less than 5% per annum. Fixed! For 30 years! Yikes. I guess when the economy is in recession and you have 10% unemployment, government bond rates close to 0%, then mortgages are cheap. But as I said, that's for people with good credit history. Which it seems is not the common position in the US. Once I get settled, I think a serious look at the property market over here is in order while prices are down and money is cheap.
I am still looking for a place to rent at the moment. I was expecting to have a place already, as I had never really had problems finding a place in Sydney. Yet my previous assertions that everyone loves an Aussie may not be correct. I can only assume its because they are worried I will only be here short term before going home. Not surprising, it seems like they all want to be in Sydney :-)
That's it for today. Next update when I have something to share.
DMV and ATM problems
Over a week has passed since my last post and I haven’t had much to do with any government authorities. Have had a couple of setbacks in my documentation though.
First up, my International Drivers Permit issued by the NRMA when I was in Australia remained in my pants when they went through the wash. Without this document, I cannot legally drive in the USA with my NSW Drivers License. So I now need to re-send forms to the NRMA to get a replacement issued. Notwithstanding, the rules in Virginia require that I need a drivers license issued by the Virginia DMV within 60 days of living in this state.
If I was Canadian or German, not a problem. Can just get a Virginia Drivers license by showing my Canadian or German drivers license. As an Australian however, we need to do a two part knowledge test, followed by a drivers test. Apparently Australian driving is not considered safe. Which is qiote funny if you have ever driven over here, or been a pedestrian over here. To paraphrase Pirates of the Caribbean, the rules are more like guidelines. Want to use a pedestrian crossing, well, first up, cross your fingers and hope that the cars stop. In Australia, usually you can step up to a crossing and all cars will slow down. Over here, they seem to think thats just reason to speed up. You actually have to step onto the road, in the path of the oncoming car, for them to slow down. I have now had at least a dozen occasions where I was almost hit by cars. The closest, I could have put my hand forward and had it taken out by the sedan going by oblivious to the pedestrian crossing. No wonder everyone drives everywhere. I think it would be safer if I hopped into a car to travel to the supermarket across the road. A trip of about 150 metres!
Anyway, it will be a race to see if the new international permit will arrive before I have to get a local license. Which raises another problem. Documentation and identification requirements to obtain a drivers license. The DMV has a list of acceptable identification documents that it will accept as proof of identification, proof of legal presence and proof of residence in Virginia.
Working backwards, the proof of residence documents include things such as Virginia ID card, bank statements, utility statements and the like. A little difficult for a newly arrived person, so I have to wait at least 30 days for a bank statement to be issued by my bank.
Proof of legal presence in the USA is easy as my passport/visa/I-94 is acceptable.
But proof of identity is a little bit more difficult. They require two documents. A primary and secondary. However, when looking at the list, there appears to be a significant flaw in accepted documents. With the exception of my foreign passport, which counts as one form of ID, almost all other acceptable ID forms appear to be photo ID documents issued by a US federal or state agency. The closest document appears to be an I-766 which is an Employment Authorisation Document (EAD) which is issued by the USCIS (Dept of Immigration). Unfortunately, as an E-3 visa holder, I am not required to hold such authorisation. The closest I have is my LCA issued by the Dept of Labor.
I will provide an update on this conundrum upon my next visit to the DMV where I get this matter resolved.
The second document issue was my ATM Debit card. In Australia, all ATM’s (based on my experience – this could be wrong) return your ATM card prior to dispensing any cash to ensure the card is not left behind. Unfortunately, the ATM I used last week is not programmed this way. And being my usual absent-minded self, I collected my cash and receipt, and then promptly left, leaving my card behind. By the time I realised my card was missing (we are talking days, not hours), some body had taken my card and spent some money using the visa credit functionality. Thankfully, this should be refunded by the bank as an unauthorised transaction. It was only $40, so not filing for bankruptcy.
Bank was very helpful, they helped cancel the card, issued a temporary card and will have a permanent one resent to me. Will see whether I get charged any fees by the bank for this service. Whilst on the bank, one of the first things I did last week after getting my account was to do an international transfer from my Australian bank to Bank of America. Transfer happened around 8am Sydney time and money was in my US bank about 24 hours later. Definitely happy about that.
As for the rest of my administrative duties, I am still waiting on my Social Security number, but should hopefully arrive soon. I start work at my new office tomorrow (Thursday) so hoping it comes through so I can be taxed properly. Still not sure how much money should be coming out in tax, so making it difficult to budget. Over the next couple of months, will follow up on US tax rules for non residents and write about my findings to hopefully help any others coming this way.
This is getting long so will end this post here and will make a second post today on adapting to US life and the little finds that have helped me think I won’t be giving up Australian life totally.
First up, my International Drivers Permit issued by the NRMA when I was in Australia remained in my pants when they went through the wash. Without this document, I cannot legally drive in the USA with my NSW Drivers License. So I now need to re-send forms to the NRMA to get a replacement issued. Notwithstanding, the rules in Virginia require that I need a drivers license issued by the Virginia DMV within 60 days of living in this state.
If I was Canadian or German, not a problem. Can just get a Virginia Drivers license by showing my Canadian or German drivers license. As an Australian however, we need to do a two part knowledge test, followed by a drivers test. Apparently Australian driving is not considered safe. Which is qiote funny if you have ever driven over here, or been a pedestrian over here. To paraphrase Pirates of the Caribbean, the rules are more like guidelines. Want to use a pedestrian crossing, well, first up, cross your fingers and hope that the cars stop. In Australia, usually you can step up to a crossing and all cars will slow down. Over here, they seem to think thats just reason to speed up. You actually have to step onto the road, in the path of the oncoming car, for them to slow down. I have now had at least a dozen occasions where I was almost hit by cars. The closest, I could have put my hand forward and had it taken out by the sedan going by oblivious to the pedestrian crossing. No wonder everyone drives everywhere. I think it would be safer if I hopped into a car to travel to the supermarket across the road. A trip of about 150 metres!
Anyway, it will be a race to see if the new international permit will arrive before I have to get a local license. Which raises another problem. Documentation and identification requirements to obtain a drivers license. The DMV has a list of acceptable identification documents that it will accept as proof of identification, proof of legal presence and proof of residence in Virginia.
Working backwards, the proof of residence documents include things such as Virginia ID card, bank statements, utility statements and the like. A little difficult for a newly arrived person, so I have to wait at least 30 days for a bank statement to be issued by my bank.
Proof of legal presence in the USA is easy as my passport/visa/I-94 is acceptable.
But proof of identity is a little bit more difficult. They require two documents. A primary and secondary. However, when looking at the list, there appears to be a significant flaw in accepted documents. With the exception of my foreign passport, which counts as one form of ID, almost all other acceptable ID forms appear to be photo ID documents issued by a US federal or state agency. The closest document appears to be an I-766 which is an Employment Authorisation Document (EAD) which is issued by the USCIS (Dept of Immigration). Unfortunately, as an E-3 visa holder, I am not required to hold such authorisation. The closest I have is my LCA issued by the Dept of Labor.
I will provide an update on this conundrum upon my next visit to the DMV where I get this matter resolved.
The second document issue was my ATM Debit card. In Australia, all ATM’s (based on my experience – this could be wrong) return your ATM card prior to dispensing any cash to ensure the card is not left behind. Unfortunately, the ATM I used last week is not programmed this way. And being my usual absent-minded self, I collected my cash and receipt, and then promptly left, leaving my card behind. By the time I realised my card was missing (we are talking days, not hours), some body had taken my card and spent some money using the visa credit functionality. Thankfully, this should be refunded by the bank as an unauthorised transaction. It was only $40, so not filing for bankruptcy.
Bank was very helpful, they helped cancel the card, issued a temporary card and will have a permanent one resent to me. Will see whether I get charged any fees by the bank for this service. Whilst on the bank, one of the first things I did last week after getting my account was to do an international transfer from my Australian bank to Bank of America. Transfer happened around 8am Sydney time and money was in my US bank about 24 hours later. Definitely happy about that.
As for the rest of my administrative duties, I am still waiting on my Social Security number, but should hopefully arrive soon. I start work at my new office tomorrow (Thursday) so hoping it comes through so I can be taxed properly. Still not sure how much money should be coming out in tax, so making it difficult to budget. Over the next couple of months, will follow up on US tax rules for non residents and write about my findings to hopefully help any others coming this way.
This is getting long so will end this post here and will make a second post today on adapting to US life and the little finds that have helped me think I won’t be giving up Australian life totally.
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