If you need a helpful and awesome guide on how to live a great life in America – this website is for you! We provide tons of information on living in the USA successfully and a great community to share stories and tips with!
We are a group of Foreigners with a mission – to help all immigrants that are
in the United States (or plan on coming to the US) with their challenges and
questions they face every day.
When we got to the US we spent months researching answers to the most basic
questions.
We don’t want you to go through the same dilemma- that’s why we created
Integr8 USA.
We are here to provide help and guide you through real struggles when coming
to the United States – no matter if you need to find a job, financial guidance or need help with finding friends or social aspects of living in America.
Integr8 USA will give you the information you need to build a great life in
the USA, including helpful articles and plenty of Resources.
Welcome!
An Integr8 ‘er sharing her story…
My journey in the USA started 5 years ago when I moved from Germany to Colorado to go to College. I wanted to continue a career in Business Administration.
I thought it is going to be easy to just go ahead and start College, graduate and apply for a job, start working and find housing.
However, that was a huge misconception! I had to quickly learn that things go a little differently in the United States!
“It took me weeks, months and years to figure out basic life stuff here.”
And that’s why we got together to create Integr8 USA!
It took me weeks, months and years to figure out basic life stuff.
For example, the College process, finding housing, finding a job, cultural differences and places to network and find friends in the United States.
Challenges living in the USA
I had a LOT of hurdles and issues finding housing. For example, being told I need a good credit score (what the hell is a credit score?) to be accepted or that bringing my pet will cost me extra money every month.
Looking at many places I came to realize – carpet is really the thing here! On the flip side- I don’t have to bring my own kitchen like back home so- winner!
Besides, finding a job in the USA was one of the toughest challenges I had to face.
Adding a picture to my resume was one of the biggest mistakes I ever made (although very common in Germany and most countries in Europe).
Which led me to wonder: Why the heck am I not getting invited for a job interview?
I had to dig deeper to understand how the resume writing works here, including some important Do’s and Don’t’s.
The interview process was quite an adventure of ups and downs until I finally landed my first job. Knowing what to bring on your first day at work is another crucial point nobody ever taught me.
Cultural differences in the US
Now let’s talk Culture – I have been invited to a gathering and was extremely excited to meet some new people.
I enter the room and had to learn the hard way that there are no handshakes or cheek-kisses between friends as it is in Europe!
Okay, let me just sit back and say Hi and “Nice to meet you”. Yes, that’s the thing to say here and I actually started liking it.
It is really enjoyable how polite everyone is but – I can sense more of a physical distance between people than the place I came from.
You can read more about some cultural differences I personally experienced here.
Social Life & Networking in the US
I enjoyed the experience of being here. I was eager to learn more by meeting more Americans and people from all over the world to share my experiences with.
And again, I was faced with another challenge: Where can I network and find friends in the US?
It took me 2 years of loneliness and research to finally find out where to start and how to get out of the house.
Now besides the major aspects of life, I was unfamiliar with what people do here in their free time.
For example, how to find information on great restaurants, bars, activities and other things Americans do for fun and for staying connected.
Long story short– I wish there was a platform that taught me how life works in the United States from A to Z, so here we are!
Our mission is to help and guide all of our Expatriates, International Students, Immigrants, Aupairs or foreign Spouses and family members on how to build a life from scratch in the USA – without the hardship of loneliness and endless research on the Internet!
If you would like to sign up for our monthly Integr8 Updates or simply share your ideas on topics that are not covered on my page, please feel free to contact us!
Happy reading everyone and- Welcome to the United States of America!