Meatpie

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I have very close family friends live in Charlotte, North Carolina.

They came back to Bulgaria last week and we went to a restaurant where they told us about life in the USA.

The woman is working in a local Walmart, and her husband is handling meat at a bucher's shop.

Money is not enough so he has started his own small business - fixing cars.

Their son is unemployed and doesn't want to live in the US.

They bought a wooden house for $150,000 !

They took out a bank loan and will have to pay it in the next 30 years.

They said they are very happy with their life.

In Bulgaria they were unemployed and even if they had employment they would only make $300 a month.

----------------------------------------

They could hardly afford to buy plane tickets to Europe.

But they are genereous and invited us over.

I have several questions. It would be great if we have a member from Charlotte.

1. Is Charlotte considered a good city to live in, good education, health care and jobs? Is it crowded like NYC and polluted like LA?

2. If you work in a Walmart in the US, are you considered poor?

3. How does this family fit into the US standard of living - lower class, middle class?

They said they can afford to go to the beach and went to see Vegas.

4. Is it expensive for most people to buy a plane ticket for Europe, lets say Germany?

5. What is the climate in North Carolina, they said its hot? Or hotter compared to here in Bulgaria where they are originally from.

They moved to the US in 2006. They applied for a visa in the Green Card lottery and got lucky.
 
Meatpie,
1.Charlotte is about 2.5 hours from where i live. It is the biggest city in North Carolina (Raleigh, the state capitol, where i live is a close second) and is one of the bigger cities in the southeast US. Right now jobs are down a bit because of the large amount of Banks that have regional (and a few national) headquarters based there. But from my friends that live there I have gathered that the job market is still on par with most other places.

2.You are not neccesarily considered poor if you work for walmart. All all sorts of people work there.

3. From the information you gave us, I would classify this as a middle class family. The beach is only 2 hours from me, and its probably 4 hours my by car from charlotte. And the mountains are only about 1-2 hours from charlotte depending on where you want to go.

4. I just did a quick search and i found roundtrip tickets from charlotte to germany ranging from $1200 to $1,600. Which is cheaper than it was when i went to germany in 2006.

5.The Climate for North Carolina in the summers is usually anywhere from 85-95 (it usually gets hotter for 2-3 weeks somewhere in the middle) and High Humidity, but there are some dryer days too. In the winters its fairly mild a little bit of snow from time to time, nothing major - but you would think the world was coming to an end because people rush to the stores to buy all the milk and bread they can carry when the word "snow" is mentioned lol. The mountains (where i go to school) tend to get more snow and colder temps.

This little site i found is a quick, good basic wrap up of it. http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/kidspg/geog.htm


I hope this helps meatpie. If you have any more questions about NC please let me know!

-tromboner
 
1. Is Charlotte considered a good city to live in, YES
good education, YES
health care and jobs? NO, JOBS ARE SHAKY IN THE US.
Is it crowded like NYC and polluted like LA? NO, MOST OF IT'S AIR CURRENT IF FROM THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.

2. If you work in a Walmart in the US, are you considered poor? YES. WALMART TREAT YOU LIKE SHIT AND PAYS YOUR MIN. WAGE FOR IT. THEY ARE CURRENTLY BEING SUED FOR LOCKING EMPLOYEES INSIDE THE STORE AND MAKING THEM WORK OVERTIME WITHOUT PAY.

3. How does this family fit into the US standard of living - lower class, middle class? They said they can afford to go to the beach and went to see Vegas.

MIDDLE. IF THEY CAN AFFORD A HOUSE AND BE ABLE TO START THEIR OWN BUINESS AND STILL TRAVEL THEY ARE REALLY UPPER MIDDLE CLASS.

4. Is it expensive for most people to buy a plane ticket for Europe, lets say Germany?
YES, STARTING COST IS AROUND $800 US/ MIN. WAGE IN THE US IS $8.00 (WALMART STD)

5. What is the climate in North Carolina, they said its hot? Or hotter compared to here in Bulgaria where they are originally from.
HOT IN THE SUMMER/FALL BUT COOLER IN THE WINTER AND MILD IN THE SPRING
REALLY HOT AND HUMMID. HOPE YOU ENJOY BEING HOT AND STICKY
 
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Thank you for your very interesting replies tromboner1987 and roadkill.

I thought you was from Paris...lol

From what you sare saying it doesn't sound that bad.

If I lived in the US I would hate to work in a Walmart, the woman though is so happy there.

She used to be an electronics engineer here.

Yup. Thats how devastated we are here, absolutely no jobs and whole companies are closing down.

And their son got an education in an university in the US and can't find a decent job.

Walmart too I guess.

I have several more questions

- Are they vacancies in Walmart despite the crisis?

- Why are wooden houses so expensive, for me $150,000 for a wooden house sounds really a lot.

Or they were part of the bubble in the housing market?

I don't think they are middle class if they can hardly buy a plane ticket.

They go to the beach because they have a car, but in the US everyone has a car lol.

Are you guys drivers?
 
Yes, walmart is always hiring (atleast i've never heard of them not hiring atleast). And i dont know what to tell you as far as why a house is so expensive... i've wondered the same thing, and i've always been told "that's just the way it is" lol sorry i'm no help on that subject. As for the plane ticket, when you're buying three tickets (if thats how many people came over to visit) 3-5 thousand dollars is not exactly a small sum. Whereas tickets to Las Vegas are fairly reasonable in comparison. And yes i have a car. It's nothing special, but it get's me where i need to go. In cities like raleigh and charlotte they have a fairly decent public transportation system, i've never used either of them, but i have friends who do on a regular basis. There is also a train that runs from raleigh to charlotte.
 
Are you from Raleigh?

You are right about tickets, they are expensive and there is always the risk your plane can go down, I hate the idea.

I prefer ships.

When I went to greece I sailed on Mediterranean, it was beautiful.

Never seen a real ocean though.

Do you often go to the ocean?
 
Yes, I'm from raleigh, and i go to school at Appalachian State University, which is in Boone, NC (northern part of the mountains). I love NC, especially raleigh, because i'm right in the middle of the beach and the mountains its 2-3 hours either way. Flying isnt too bad, especially from europe to the US, its not as risky as the flights from south america - they have to fly over the really stormy sections of the atlantic. I usually go to the beach 5-6 times each year now, but thats because when im in school its further away, i used to go much more often before i started college 4 years ago.
 
What are you studying?

4 years ago, you should have a master's degree by now.
 
I'm currently living in Paris, but from Los Angeles, San Jose, CA, Raleigh, NC and Charleston SC.
My dad worked in the Military and then in the Tech Sector.
The cost of the house is in persective. If you are trying to buy a very nice home in a very nice neighborhood then a 4-5 bedroom house on a acre of land is the going price. especially if your in the Metro areas like Raleigh. (forget it if you are thrying to buy into somewhere like NYC or LA they are in the half million dollars)
Most lower end homes will run from 85,000 and up. Your relatives sound and prob are UPPER middle class from what they paid for the house and what they do.
They are other big companies in the US like HOME DEPOT/?LOWES which deal with hardware and home improvement that pays better than WALMART. Or TARGET which is a competitor of them. Low end jobs are still available but High end jobs are not right now. ( I just got back from the US Last Month. )

Yes I drive. ( In LA, hahahahahahhah)

As for travel and possible cancellation. TRY TRAVEL INSURANCE. You pay a little extra but at least you get your mony back.
 
So how do you like Paris? Are you in a Paris suburb?
If I move to the US, I wanna be in LA, not Raleigh.

LOOOL

And one more question, they complaint there were lots of niggers in Charlotte.

So where is the biggest concentration of niggers in the US?

Or are they everywhere?

Many in LA?
 
lol there are a TON in LA, but in most cities it depends on what part of town you are in.

I'm Studying Music Education - this is my senior year. (its a 4 year degree)
 
But LA offers so much more oppurtunities than Raleigh?

Music Education? What instruments do you specialize, are you planning on becoming a music teacher?
 
lol LA has more opportunities if you are famous and/or have the money. If not you live in the slums and work at mcdonalds - atleast that's my perception. that house that cost 150k will cost many times that in LA.

My primary instrument is the Trombone, but i can play the bassoon fairly well too. I wish i could play the piano well, but i can only really use it as a teaching tool... Ideally i want to become a Musicologist and get a job teaching music history or world music at a college/university (which of course will take atleast two more degrees and lots of time). But i am also open to teaching band at the highschool or college levels.
 
Paris is always nice. People here are not what the US percieves. I mean Johnny Depp lives here and loves it. He's from the US too.
I'm in Chaville.
Yes, they're are alot of blacks in Raleigh. But what do you expect. They were brought to the US for slavery.
With Raleigh, stay the east side of the city. (Closer to the ocean) the few blacks there.
With LA. the closer you are to down town LA or go West ( closer to the ocean) the fewer blacks you'll find. Typically the nicer places are closer to water and the more expensive things are and so there are fewer poor ppl.
 
lol LA has more opportunities if you are famous and/or have the money. If not you live in the slums and work at mcdonalds

is Mcdonalds better than Walmart then?

I prefer Mcdonalds in LA than Walmart in Raleigh.


My primary instrument is the Trombone

I should have guessed from your nickname, sorry. :sm (51):


i want to become a Musicologist and get a job teaching music history or world music at a college/university

Great choice, wish you a lot of luck on that!

What are your other interests?

Do you like science, you said you are interested in history.

What about the exact sciences?
 
Oh yeah, Starting Prices in a nice, decent neighborhood/apartment (NOT HOME) in LA
is $2,000 US/month. And it will be a reallly really small apartment. when I say small, I mean like garage for 1 or 2 cars.
 
So what are you doing in Paris? Did you manage to find a job?

There are blacks in Paris too lots of Muslims.

Are you planning to go back to the US?

What about NYC anc Chiacago, lots of blacks too?

What is then the best place to live in the US?

In Europe, I say Paris is the best place to live - beautiful country, city, decent people.

Great food and climate.

But those muslims ruin everything.

Like gypsies here, there are like plague.

There are a lot of gypsy people in Bulgaria, esp eastern parts around the Danube river on the border with Romania.

They are not exactly dark-colour but they stink.

I love to beat up a gypsy boy on the metro...

Makes me feel better.
 
OH Don't work for McDonalds.
They pay you shit. And I had a friend who worked there a few years back.
NO FREE FOOD. You have to pay for anything you eat. ( I would rather eat one the most mutilated dead and decayed guys from your worst pic than to eat at Mc Donalds.
(aka Mc Death).
Besides there is a McDonalds in every Walmart in the US.
 
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