My name is Rachael - I'm British born and bred but these days I call America home. I grew up in rural Yorkshire, and in 2011 I made the move to The Motor City - Detroit, Michigan after falling in love with an American. In my spare time I blog my adventures over on Dear Ms Leigh.
When and how did you decide to move to the USA? Is it complicated to settle down there?
Falling in love with an American is what set the ball rolling. The US visa system worked out well for us and after a year of paperwork and interviews I stepped on a plane and made the move across the ocean. Settling into American life, or even into expat life wasn't hard, although for a long time expat life just felt like an extended holiday.
Have you ever lived abroad before? How many countries have you visited?
I've ticked off a couple of European countries - travelled extensively around the UK growing up, but I've never lived abroad. In fact I'd never even visited America before moving here.
What do you like the most about the USA?
There's so many things to name! I love the fall colours the Midwest has to offer especially here in Michigan. I love its vastness and how each state has its own personality and quirks. I adore roadside America - all the funny little places, the motels to those old road signs. Long summer nights watching fireflies. Local mom n pop dinners. One of the big things I love and one of the things I love to share on my blog the most is my love for Detroit - its culture, its people, its buildings to its ever growing food scene. Detroit gets my excited and I love exploring the city - regardless of what the media would have you believe!
How is/was the cultural shock? What are the main differences with England, your home country?
I would say the differences are pretty subtle and it's only after being here for a while that I started to really notice them. One being the role of religion - growing up in the UK you tend to keep your religious feelings to yourself, here in the US it seems so much more overt. Patriotic pride in America is huge, there's gigantic flags flying everywhere from gardens to coffee stores. How car oriented the country is yet alone, how aggressive the driving is. Then there are things like sales tax, healthcare, the popularity of hunting, structural differences in class yet alone race relations. Then there's the whole gun culture which is a huge part of American life, and one I still struggle to get my head around.
Do you miss anything from your homeland?
British food for sure. I'm pretty lucky in living in an area that has a couple of stores that do have British goods on offer so to some extent I can get my British food fix easily. But I do miss those quintessential British food goodies - the fish n chip shops with their thick chips, batter sarnies (sandwiches), the mushy peas. I occasionally have moments when I really miss the British way of doing things - the British humour, how we're expert at queuing and keep things like religion more to ourselves.
Any 'memories of an expat' you would like to share with us? Your best souvenir? Or maybe your worst experience?
I've had a couple of experiences of over hearing people complain about immigrants right in front of me which is unsettling for sure. My accent is always the basis of small talk - which is a plus and a minus, I often get confused for being Australian and I often get blank stares when I don't say I'm from London. But hey, it keeps you interesting.
What does your typical day as an expat in the USA look like?
Typically any day features cooking, working, often crafting, working on the house or I can be found in my garden.
When did you start your blog? For what reasons?
My blogging story began just over six years ago. I was busy writing up my Masters dissertation and really needed a distraction. Blogging was relatively unknown at that point, at least in comparison to today's standards so it basically just began as a space to share thoughts and interests. Six years later topics have changed just as my life has. I wouldn't necessarily say Dear Ms Leigh is just an expat blog, but being an expat certainly features alongside everything else that interests and inspires me from crafts, travel to vintage and attempting to garden.
Did you make new friends with your blog?
Over the six years of blogging - and to a larger extent through social media I've made friends - both expat and otherwise. People get intrigued about the expat experience, what life is like in America (compared to say all the films and stereotypes that we grow up with) to what Detroit is really like.
Why did you register on https://www.expat.com and what do you think of the website?
I registered a couple of years ago - mainly to find fellow expats and their blogs. It's always great to see what brings people to new countries, see their experiences and how they get on being away from the homeland.
Which advice would you give to the other Expat blog members who would like to settle in the USA?
Get informed and sign up for health insurance as soon as possible. I remember getting ill in those first couple of months after arriving and just the cost without insurance wasn't cheap (having grown up with the free NHS system in the UK it's a world away). Even if you don't use it often, having the security of insurance makes you feel more relaxed. But the key to settling in America is expecting that it's not the UK, that there will be differences and that's okay. That there is more to America then the films, the stereotypes would have you made believe. And while it's great being entrenched in the https://www.expat.community - just get out and explore, engage and be willing to call the US home.
