A friend in the UK has offered to try to get me a work visa at his school.

[StellaBlue]

He owns an ESL school, predominantly for Spaniards, on the English coast, and hires approximately 70 people each year. He offered me a job last year when I first got back to the US, but I decided it was too much trouble to try to return to the UK at that time, what with no savings, etc.

I emailed him Friday about the overturning habeas corpus, etc., and how I was considering trying to leave the country as a result, and he says he sympathizes with all of us and does not even consider it a favor since we are old friends and he knows I would be an asset to his school. However, the position might only be March-October, with me having to find ways to work for cash or write or proofread or something the rest of the time. I need to call him back and talk in detail (I just got the voicemail he left me earlier). He says he is willing to do whatever necssary in regards to the applications with the UK Home Office insofar as creating a position for me, etc.

Would that be nuts, or should I seize the opportunity?

[SammyWinstonJack]

1. Go for it! nt

[StellaBlue]

2. I am taken aback by his kindness.

He is an old friend of my ex, and we were all very close for the four years I lived in the UK, and we've kept in touch (my ex now lives in Zurich). He offered me a job last year, and I was tempted, and now almost wish I had taken it.

This is so hard. I love where I live now, and my friends, and my apartment. But I am frightened at what is happening in this country and did not really want to move back here to begin with (the UK, while nowhere near perfect, is like heaven for liberals, by comparison - the free healthcare alone!). I don't have a good job or any benefits, and my family lives 400 miles away as it is. It will take several months to process the application.

I am really torn on this one.

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. As you say, you didn't really want to come back and now you have

an opportunity to go back. This seems like a good opportunity for you to go back. You're young, single and unencumbered, might as well go for it. What have you got to lose? If it doesn't work out, you can always come back, right? Strike while the iron is hot!

[Sherman A1]

3. Do not walk...... RUN

and grab it.

[a la izquierda]

4. If you have an advanced degree...

you should be able to get a work permit a lot easier than most. I'd go for it. Once I finish my PhD, I'm looking to Canada and Europe for job opportunities.

[StellaBlue]

7. I have an MA in English

as well as a BA.

He says I can either teach or do another role, whatever I want, but we need to word the application so that I am doing something to teach the students American English or etiquette or whatever, thus justifying my hire. He says he already has Australians doing that, so he would say he is expanding his curriculum to include American business-related courses.

[sweetheart]

6. Love to have you

You're 27, (very young, in all honesty), and we would all rather you flower and develop to your fullest extent
fine Blue stella. I've been round your austin, Taxes, and *tu* even (a*nm you unnastan).. and best ya find
ye wae east and stay alive. Its not your fight youngin', its not mine either and i'm a decade older (+ ) its the
fight of the assholes from the 50's, who decided to fight communism by selling off the furniture. Its been
downhill ever since, and its much better if every person who takes the fight in to their blood survives.

In the bhagavad gita, krishna, in the middle of a great battle between darkness and light, stops time.

His chariot driver is riven and moved, (named Arjuna), and he says to Krishna, oh what has happened, i am here
destined to go out and kill Republicans, all of them, Hastert, Bush, Cheney, and that guy over there, who was
a friend of my dad.

Krishna., who had really indeed, stopped time, said to arjuna, "I am time, and i will
destroy all the phenomena that you perceive with your senses." All the world will be gone, and all that is
real is your impulse in this very moment to become enlightened. Those enemies are dead by my hand (time), already,
and you can shoot them with your weapon, or not.

You might try the scots... maybe you landed in the wrong united kingdom last time.

[Liberal In Texas]

8. Make sure you look into how much it will cost for a flat or a house,

compared to what your salary will be. If you have to pay too much for living expenses you might be miserable is a different way.

I'm married to a Brit and we've considered moving to England, but the unknown of me being able to work in my present profession and the cost of housing is a major roadblock.

Good luck.

[StellaBlue]

10. Anywhere in England is better than Dallas

Just my own opinion. :)

[Liberal In Texas]

11. We have a nice house built in the '40s near White Rock Lake.

It has trees and a pond and is quite nice. (Dallas is isn't all glass buildings.) I'm not sure we would ever be able to afford a comparable house in England. It's one of the reasons my wife is here.

There are many wonderful things to experience living in England, but I don't want us to be as poor as a church mice and therefore not be able to enjoy those things.

[sweetheart]

12. I agree

There is a sweetness still of life, that is less thriving in the US, something very virile,
that will outlive the bush imperium and britian and the pound all know it, to the benefit
of the last person standing, the bush collapse has left his buddy a proud toast, and a
firey roast.

Try google earth, and check out 'Mull of kintyre'

[a la izquierda]

15. Well, Dallas is better...

thank Oklahoma, where I am. I cannot WAIT to leave here in December, even if only for a week!

[StellaBlue]

17. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Now THAT we can agree on!

HAHAHAHAHA. LOL.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

9. Do it.

I did. It's great, if only for the opportunity to experience living and working overseas.

Edit to add:

This is a great resource:

http://www.americanexpats.co.uk/

[xchrom]

13. GO -- have fun -- have an adventure!

no -- it won't be a cakewalk -- but you'll be in england -- you'll jump over to paris just for a hoot{you can get there by train}.

you'll struggle a little -- but you're young and you'll have the absolute time of your life.

[StellaBlue]

14. I should add:

I did live in the UK for four years, from Sept. 21, 2001 through June 12, 2005, so I would not be a newcomer, nor on a "horizon-widening" type of thing. I have done my American-student-abroad bit already. ;) If I do this, it would be with the aim of staying there four years to qualify for Indefinite Leave to Remain, which, in turn, leads to a British passport.

[GoldenOldie]

16. Have you considered applying to the American International Schools

I know their Directors do interviewing twice a year for Kindergarten through 12th. My daughter and her husband have both been teaching Moscow and now Bucharest.....he as ESL, she as Theater Arts. They are 2-year contracts and pretty hefty bonus's if you sign on for a 3rd year. Pay depends on Country hardships. You get free housing...Moscow they lived in a 4-bedroom high-rise. Bucharest, they have a 3-bedroom townhouse plus a new Volvo....although they say buying household items are extremely expensive. Our granddaughter also gets to attend the school as part of their benefits package. They pay for shipping your basic household goods....homes, apartments furnished and they pay for your travel.

If nothing else, you can check out the world-wide availablity for teachers and they let you know when they hold interviews.

[cynatnite]

18. I honestly wouldn't blame anyone...

who decided to leave. It's hard to say how much worse it could get at this point.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. Oh, Stella, DO IT!

You've been trying to get back there, right?

Now a door has opened.

It is my personal belief that when a long-desired outcome suddenly becomes possible, it means that it's the right time.

This is one of those windows of opportunity that will not be there forever.

There are a couple of opportunities that I let slip by in years past for what seemed like good reasons at the time but which I would love to have a second chance at.

[Onlooker]

20. You'd be crazy not to do it

As someone who took the opportunity to work in Scandinavia years ago, I never regretted it one iota. It was the best thing that ever happened. If you do it, it will be an experience that will fundamentally change you in good ways, and you will realize how much more civilized Europe is than the United States.

[deadparrot]

21. God, go for it. I'd kill for such a job.

:hi:

[Anarcho-Socialist]

22. Seize the opportunity

Stay here for four years and get your UK and therefore EU citizenship.

[StellaBlue]

23. Yes, that's precisely what I was trying to do, 2001-2005

I was initially there on a student visa, then a domestic partnership visa, and I was a mere 8 months from getting indefinite leave to remain when my partner of four years sent me home to Texas on a "visit" and promptly broke up with me 24 hours after my return. Hence I am here now.

:(

[Blue_Tires]

24. i'll go in your place if you are not interested!

[Blue_Tires]

25. so what did you decide?