2 posts tagged “moving”
Access to the internet is sporadic at best, so here is an update about our move from Paris to San Francisco.
It's been difficult, tiring, we ran into a few unexpected issues, but all is well so far !
The furnitures and stuff are somewhere on the roads, waiting to reach final storage destination. We're bouncing between family and hotels before the final take off on sunday.
Leaving France is giving me headaches for many reasons. First of all because I need to keep bank accounts in France. And I don't really know what will be my future needs once in San-Francisco.
Will I need to transfer money, how much does it cost ? (easy answer : it's outrageously expensive !). Also banks are trying to sell me "Expat" packages to help me in the process (300€/year), the key feature being the "recommendation letter" to help me find a local (San-Francisco) bank -- and reduced fees for international wire transfer.
On the other hand I've been documenting myself about how the american bank system works. It's so different. It's amazing. In addition to friends and colleagues advices, the best resource I've found is a website.
BankRate is purely a gold mine. It really helps me to find my way in this new system (a lot of new terms to learn).
So right now, my gross feeling is that American banks won't give a shit about the recommendation letter that french bank would write ! They won't trust me until I'll have a credit history. I'll probably need to start with a secured credit card. I'll also convert my Euro Amex to a dollar Amex.
