Been here in the US for about 2 weeks now a lot of things has happend - and then again not so much:
1) Life here without a car is simply NON-existent!!! - or at least not at all very funny.
2) Still in a rented house with some rented furniture
3) Entertaining now 2 very active kids while trying to find a nice and decent daycare for Benjamin
Answers:
1) As it takes me a while longer to decide on what car I want we have now rented a car for me so we can get around a bit more than walking alows (which is REALLY good as there is absolutely NOTHING in this neighbourhood - except for a quite nice pool area, that in no way can reach our old Singapore standards but never the less is very very nice and clean - to do besides from looking at houses and empty playgrounds). I have a 7 seater Jeep Commander right now - to me that is quite a large car but that was what was available so that's what I am driving... Today the kids, Candy and me even tried our luck to find our way to Ikea... Took us more than 1,5 hours, some u-turns and in the end a call to Steen to get us there - and about 2 hours to get back as to another u-turn and some very heavy Friday afternoon traffic made life a bit hard on us. Well we did it:-)
2) Bought a very nice house with its back yard in to a beautiful golf course - only separated by a black metal fence - so we have a wonderful view from our patio (when we have had such one made;-) So now we are ready for all your visits... and firsts ones will be Britta's cousin, Mathilde and her friend Mette here in August just a week or so after we have moved into the house. They already planned a trip to Texas before they knew we should move here - so we are looking forward to their visit!
3) And as we now know where we are going to live we have intensified our hunting for THE place for Benjamin to stay. Its hard though. Daycare is very much more different than back home and also from where he was in the Danish Kindergarten in Singapore - much more structured here - which of course can be good but it seems like all places only have out-door time 2 times a day and only for a very very short periode (half and hour) at a time: morning and afternoon. Anyway have found one that is a bit more relaxed with the kids and lets them being more kids than other places - we might go for that. And that is also not too far away from home! Well, will just have to check out a few more before deciding.
That was another little update from here.
Kids are doing very well (except from that it seems like WE get all those kids that don't sleep well at night when they are babies.... so that the rest of you guys can have those small easy-goers...;-) But other than that we are all happy and enjoying.
Take good care and stay in touch.
More news soon again;-)
Friday, 27 July 2007
Saturday, 14 July 2007
Arrived Houston
Safely arrived in Houston the family is now together again - LOVELY!
We have a nice house for the first periode here in Houston and the kids have coped quite well with the jetlag. In the flights the kids behaved extremely well and we are getting into this US time zone well.
Will write more a bit later when we have got internet installed.
Take good care and looking forward to talking to you guys again soon.
Love from the complete Frost Family:-)
Britta
We have a nice house for the first periode here in Houston and the kids have coped quite well with the jetlag. In the flights the kids behaved extremely well and we are getting into this US time zone well.
Will write more a bit later when we have got internet installed.
Take good care and looking forward to talking to you guys again soon.
Love from the complete Frost Family:-)
Britta
Wednesday, 4 July 2007
UPDATE - Getting Started - HOUSTON TEXAS
Hi Everybody !!!!
Thanks a lot for all your kind e-mails and comments.
I would like to share some of my experiences from Houston, Texas after 1 ½ week in Houston, Texas.
My colleague Pernille took hand of me when arriving in George Bush International Airport. She had arranged with a car and we went direct to my corporate apartment in the Galleria area. I had been staying here last time I was in Houston back in November last year and enjoyed the area, especially Westheimer and Galleria Shopping Mall.
It takes me approximately ½ an hour to get to work. There is a lot of traffic but I have only experienced traffic jams if there is road work or accidents.
As it has been raining a lot and the risk of flooding is quite significant I will definitely buy an SUV – probably a Ford Explorer. Flooding is also quite important to take into consideration when buying a house. I have located some different areas Southeast of Houston which are close by our office in Pasadena. Close by means 15 to 30 minutes drive. We can either invest in a completely new house or a second hand house which could be up to 15 years old. Considerations will be risk of flooding, safety, re-selling options and daycare. But no matter which house we buy we will get plenty of space.
If you want to know more about flooding you can visit http://www.tsarp.org/viewmaps.html which covers the greater Houston area.
Houses in the Houston area are very spacious – so we will probably get something around 3,000 square foot which equals approximately 280 m2. So there is plenty of room for all of your visitors.
Measurements in the US are totally different from Europe and Singapore. So I have used http://www.onlineconversion.com/ a lot.
All Americans are kind and very open. I still have problems getting used to everybody instead of saying “hello” greets you with “hey – how are you doing?”. This greeting is used no matter you are in the supermarket or meet at work in the morning. I am still unsure whether they expect an answer or not J.
Last week everybody was talking about the release of Paris Hilton and the launch of Apple iPhone. All TV-channels was talking about whether it was okay to focus so much on Paris Hiltons 40 days behind bars. A lot of the “experts” were against – and then they could spend hours talking about NOT focusing on Paris – Funny.
Else TV-programs over here are focusing on Sport – it seems like baseball is the big thing at the moment - and religion. You can always be sure to find 4-5 local channels with church people praying and preaching.
Britta, Candy and the kids are arriving next Thursday and I am really looking forward to be together with them again. Its tough to be separated for so long time from my dear wife and my two lovely children and I am looking forward to show them and experience Houston and Texas together with them. We have now been “on the road” since April 1st. and we are really looking forward to settle down for the next 3-4 years – at least.
All the best to all of you both in the Southern part of Jutland, Copenhagen and Singapore (I still miss you guys and Sushi….).
4th. of July – Independence Day
Steen
Thanks a lot for all your kind e-mails and comments.
I would like to share some of my experiences from Houston, Texas after 1 ½ week in Houston, Texas.
My colleague Pernille took hand of me when arriving in George Bush International Airport. She had arranged with a car and we went direct to my corporate apartment in the Galleria area. I had been staying here last time I was in Houston back in November last year and enjoyed the area, especially Westheimer and Galleria Shopping Mall.
It takes me approximately ½ an hour to get to work. There is a lot of traffic but I have only experienced traffic jams if there is road work or accidents.
As it has been raining a lot and the risk of flooding is quite significant I will definitely buy an SUV – probably a Ford Explorer. Flooding is also quite important to take into consideration when buying a house. I have located some different areas Southeast of Houston which are close by our office in Pasadena. Close by means 15 to 30 minutes drive. We can either invest in a completely new house or a second hand house which could be up to 15 years old. Considerations will be risk of flooding, safety, re-selling options and daycare. But no matter which house we buy we will get plenty of space.
If you want to know more about flooding you can visit http://www.tsarp.org/viewmaps.html which covers the greater Houston area.
Houses in the Houston area are very spacious – so we will probably get something around 3,000 square foot which equals approximately 280 m2. So there is plenty of room for all of your visitors.
Measurements in the US are totally different from Europe and Singapore. So I have used http://www.onlineconversion.com/ a lot.
All Americans are kind and very open. I still have problems getting used to everybody instead of saying “hello” greets you with “hey – how are you doing?”. This greeting is used no matter you are in the supermarket or meet at work in the morning. I am still unsure whether they expect an answer or not J.
Last week everybody was talking about the release of Paris Hilton and the launch of Apple iPhone. All TV-channels was talking about whether it was okay to focus so much on Paris Hiltons 40 days behind bars. A lot of the “experts” were against – and then they could spend hours talking about NOT focusing on Paris – Funny.
Else TV-programs over here are focusing on Sport – it seems like baseball is the big thing at the moment - and religion. You can always be sure to find 4-5 local channels with church people praying and preaching.
Britta, Candy and the kids are arriving next Thursday and I am really looking forward to be together with them again. Its tough to be separated for so long time from my dear wife and my two lovely children and I am looking forward to show them and experience Houston and Texas together with them. We have now been “on the road” since April 1st. and we are really looking forward to settle down for the next 3-4 years – at least.
All the best to all of you both in the Southern part of Jutland, Copenhagen and Singapore (I still miss you guys and Sushi….).
4th. of July – Independence Day
Steen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)