Moving to the US

[uniqueMR]

Originally Posted by obert

I love my country but damn there is a lot of BS going on here.

[P1]

So, any pics from where you live/work? After everyone bashing Lancaster, now I'm curious.

[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by wjjkoevoets

The alternative would have been Des Moines, IL, but they pretty much dismantled the department I'd be working for there. Not sure if it would have been better

Des Moines, IA is a great place to live and work actually

Ugh, sorry for being so negative yet again, but this is another thing that royally pisses me off. US banks are either still living in the 80s or they need money to sponsor their "rewards" programs. Online banking is stuck in the 90s and is very inflexible. Charging a fee for checking your account balance on an ATM? Seriously? Sorry, but that is just pathetic.

I have never heard of being charged to check your balance...
why wouldn't you just use the phone app or website anyway?

If it helps any, I pay US taxes and am not taking anything out of the system :P

Paying US taxes is much better than paying dutch taxes! I was paying taxes for the waterways that I never used and there were some really weird ones I can't think of off the top of my head.

The credit system is not as broken or stupid as you think. Where there is no system they set a price based on an expected level of defaults. Here they are able to give better prices and benefits to people who have proven themselves responsible and actually charge more to those that are less responsible and more likely to make the company lose money.

It is the same concept as life insurance or car insurance. Why would you charge everyone the same amount when you have a way of predicting who will actually cost more?

At to No One - who really does not understand credit cards... they are a blessing to those of us who can afford to use them and pay them off monthly. They reward us for that use as they collect fees from the merchants we use the cards at. They are also completely optional so I see it as more of a blessing for those who cannot pay it off every month as well. If they have an emergency need for money, they can accept a 20+% interest rate on the credit card and have immediate access to the money they otherwise might not be able to access.

There is a problem with the majority mentality surrounding credit cards in the US as more people don't pay their balance in full even when they should be able to, or use them to spend frivolously outside of their budget, but that is another topic all together.

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by wjjkoevoets

Hi guys,

It looks like I will be moving to the US for at least 3 months, possibly 6 months or even permanently. I've been doing some reading and I've noticed there are a lot of differences between Europe and the US. Silly things such as your public bathroom stalls offering less privacy than your average European one

I am really looking forward to it and was hoping to get some tips/hints from some Americans here!

I'll be staying at or around Lancaster, PA.

So you're looking forward to less privacy in the bathroom stalls? Am i reading that right?





Hope your stay is great! Welcome!