Shaun

A very Merry Christmas to all of you and hope that you are having a great time. For those who are new to the US and having a first Christmas here - may it be a wonderful one and the first of many more to come.

My wife sent a package to her nieces and, like you, all declared itemized etc. On arrival the local PO wanted to charge over R400 in duty and my SIL said hell no - reevaluate that duty. A 2 week wait and the parcel came back with a now R40 customs charge!!! Shake down of the first degree and this is not the first time either. The parcels normally get sent First Class Mail here which does provide an international tracking # and this has (So far anyway) helped ensure it all gets there OK as a phone call to the local SA P.O. quoting the tracking # is usually sufficient to get it to suddenly "appear".

Congratulations on making it at last and good luck.

Sherryl The fact that people now live here does not necessarily mean that "here" is perfect. We can (and will) find something "wrong" no matter where we live and yes, there are far less things "wrong" here than in SA but that by no means makes it perfect nor should anyone be constrained from voicing an opinion, regardless of who agrees with that or not. After all as Americans now (As you pointed out) the right to free speech is one of the civil liberties we enjoy and is enshrined in the constitution. How about you let folk enjoy the rights they are entitled to without them being scolded like school kids?

Stay dry folk and keep safe

Never having school aged kids when we moved I cannot advise on school districts. We lived in Orlando for 9 years and enjoyed almost everything about it ...... except the heat / humidity (And hurricanes in 2004!!) so, if you are up for Pietermaritzburg / Durban heat and humidity - Florida is for you. We did not live in Charleston but near Charlotte, NC for about 6 years and visited Charleston a few times - really nice place.

BCP are really bad at cruise ports!! We went on a cruise to the Bahama's sometime around 2007 while living in Florida on an L1A & L2 visa. This was shortly after they had changed the L2 visa to a "entitled to work visa" and, on re-entering at Ft Lauderdale the BCP officer kept trying to trick my wife into admitting she was working. Now she was not but even if she was it was now totally legal and he had obviously never heard of that!!! In any event he was a rude SOB and my wife eventually (To my horror) gave him what for and suggested he learn his job before trying to scare and intimidate law abiding folk and that should he not let her in and do so right now she would take it up with his superior and so on up the line until he "got it". He let us in but what an arrogant mother he was! Really wanted to manually adjust his attitude!! Never had this problem at an airport - just cruise ports.

They may ask you to gate check a bag if your boarding zone is at the tail end and they are running out of overhead space - not uncommon. In the current world of carry on replacing checked luggage due to fees more and more people are carrying carry on so space is at a premium. Add to this the "I don't give a shit" people who have the maximum 2 articles and say a jacket and then put all of that in the overhead despite requests to "place the smaller item under the seat in front of you" and there you have it - those further down the boarding totem pole get to gate check their bags.

Could not agree more. All too often organized religion has an agenda that has nothing to do with advancing the behavior espoused by said religion. I am of the mind that a true "Christian / Faithful" is not defined by what that religion is or what church you belong to but rather ones behaviour towards ones fellow man.

Yep have to agree with that Ravens. Reichette you take SJ to task about being respectful and then show total disrespect yourself. And, as for your comments about the politics I disagree with that also. "Obstructionist politics is to be expected from rival ideologies..."??? Seriously??? What happened to adult debate and negotiation or do you subscribe to the "take your ball and go home" crowd?? Appears so. Also appears you approve of the petty childishness and disrespect that the Republicans started when Obama was elected (And I bet the Democrats will, sadly, return in kind). Forget the religion bashing Reichette and focus on how everyone can benefit from treating people with respect and not behaving like a spoiled 5 year olds.

Reichette Why would you believe democrats should have any respect for the democratic system after the republicans showed it such disrespect when Obama was in office? The "Party of NO" and "Let's make Obama a one term president" were both rallying calls for the Republican leadership (Mitch McConnell in particular) and they did such a good job of being obstructionists that they shut the government down twice! No, I believe that you are selectively siding with those whose agenda you most identify with and conveniently forgetting all the other events. And before you ask, no I am not a Dem and believe there are good an bad ideas from both parties which makes me an independent. On a different I am also curious as to why you owned up to being a troll or were you simply rushing to the defense of SJ??

And what exactly is your point Reichette apart from the fact that there are some crazies in the world on every side of the spectrum? At least they are not indulging in violent protest or desecrating Jewish cemeteries and vandalizing mosques or shooting Indian immigrants because they are Indian the way the newly empowered far right nationalist thugs are doing - thanks Trump / Bannon Some folk like Trump and many do not, whether his wife prays or not, get over it.

And others would say that is simply the random nature of the universe. Have a fantastic weekend.

So SJ, how's the weather where you are?? LOL :)

Seriously? Science and evolution are garbage and the explanation for the wonders of the universe is ....... a mythical supernatural being for whom no evidence exists apart from anecdotal writings! It must be magic then! Hey, I have a bridge I'm selling. You interested?