Landing in the airport of Chicago as our port of entry was a bad thing because the line at the immigrations was so long and we only had 1.5 hours in between transfers. Fortunately, despite the long queque, we did not encounter any issues with the immigration. But the real issue was the mountain of checked-in luggages that we had. For the first time in America, we hired a porter. We gave him $20. And he was kind enough to go back to us when we got done with the immigration and helped us to transfer to the counter for our local flight. Expectedly, we were left by the plane and we were told that the next available flight was 6:30am of the next day. That was really bad news because we did not want to spend a night in a hotel in Chicago. Since there were 4 of us, we were informed that it is impossible to get through the last day's flight if we waitlisted. So while my husband was calling my sister-in-law, we were praying and I just felt resigned to whatever God brings to our hands. Surprisingly, while he was still on the phone, the lady at the counter approached us and informed us that 5 seats were just cancelled and were free for us to take. God is so good. We added another $5.00 to the porter who patiently waited and now loaded the luggages to the carousel.
We arrived in Cincinnati, OH at 12midnight. It was a very long trip but we were just happy to see my sister-in-law and her friend. We were finally home.
The next day, we immediately went to the nearest Social Security office in our area to check if they already got our application in their system. We were informed that it will take 10 days for the papers to get through immigration. So we were instructed to go back after 10 days.
The second day, my sister-in-law accompanied us to the bank to open our own bank account. With that, we were able to transfer the funds that we sent to her account to our own bank account.
Next in line was a meeting with the realtor. We were hesitant at first to do this because we still did not have a job but eventually it paid off because we were given a pile of documents which were meant to aid new residents in moving to Cincinnati. It had everything we needed to get acquainted with Cincinnati in the envelope: a map of the city, listings of schools, listings of tourist spots, and things to know and do, numerous tips about moving, etc.
The next few days were spent in research: searching for used car, searching for the right area where to buy property, searching for school districts and private schools, searching for groceries where the cost is lowest for meat, produce, dry goods, etc. and searching for other possible job options.
The first major purchase was a second-hand 2004 Mitsubishi Endeavor. After visiting shops selling certified cars, we were surprised to find this fresh looking SUV which looked brand new and yet was priced at just $9,995. Indeed it was a rare find and one which we could not afford to let go of. So at that particular instant, we offered to buy it in cash because we could not purchase in credit without our social security numbers and credit ratings. We gave a downpayment of $200 and the papers were processed. It was as simple as that. It was June 20, 2009, Saturday. The first thing we did on June 21, Monday was to have a cashier's check drafted for the car shop.
On June 22, Wednesday, we were aboard our "new" car and we returned our rented car which was a total rip off at $500+. But it has served to get us around town to do our grocery and stuff. But now, we had something that we really owned.
Next thing we did was schedule for school tours in between property tours with the realtor. We were initially thinking of putting the two girls in a public school because there were lots of school districts in Cincinnati and the vicinity which had excellent ratings from the Department of Education. However, upon further research, and with external affirmations, we decided to explore the religious schools in the city. By looking at the Department of Education website again, we got to narrow down our search to schools with Blue Ribbon recognitions. From there, we further focused on the schools that were near the place of my sister-in-law. It was fortunate that we were working with the realtor also who cited the possible districts that we can purchase the property that we are looking for. This coincided with the search of school for the girls. After 2 weeks of touring the schools, we decided on one school because it had all the pluses that we wanted in the other schools that we saw. It had the hot lunch program, the buddy system, the type of discipline enforced that we liked, the endorsement by a local resident, the academic excellence, the absence of diversity issue, the hi-tech mode of instructions, the accelerated program, the high percentage of scholarship obtained for private high schools, the wide corridors and high passing rate.
On July 2, 2009, exactly a week after we applied for our Social Security numbers (18 days from arriving in US), we finally got it!
On July 3, celebrating independence day with Filipino friends and their non-Filipino husbands in Mason, we further got information on what to do next in order to obtain a good credit rating, got further affirmation regarding our choice of school, and more affirmation about how the Lord's hands has been moving in our lives in perfect time. Even without the assurance and security of a job for us, we are at peace and confident that God is dictating the pace of all the things that have been happening to us. In His perfect time... we know everything will just fall in place.
We arrived in Cincinnati, OH at 12midnight. It was a very long trip but we were just happy to see my sister-in-law and her friend. We were finally home.
The next day, we immediately went to the nearest Social Security office in our area to check if they already got our application in their system. We were informed that it will take 10 days for the papers to get through immigration. So we were instructed to go back after 10 days.
The second day, my sister-in-law accompanied us to the bank to open our own bank account. With that, we were able to transfer the funds that we sent to her account to our own bank account.
Next in line was a meeting with the realtor. We were hesitant at first to do this because we still did not have a job but eventually it paid off because we were given a pile of documents which were meant to aid new residents in moving to Cincinnati. It had everything we needed to get acquainted with Cincinnati in the envelope: a map of the city, listings of schools, listings of tourist spots, and things to know and do, numerous tips about moving, etc.
The next few days were spent in research: searching for used car, searching for the right area where to buy property, searching for school districts and private schools, searching for groceries where the cost is lowest for meat, produce, dry goods, etc. and searching for other possible job options.
The first major purchase was a second-hand 2004 Mitsubishi Endeavor. After visiting shops selling certified cars, we were surprised to find this fresh looking SUV which looked brand new and yet was priced at just $9,995. Indeed it was a rare find and one which we could not afford to let go of. So at that particular instant, we offered to buy it in cash because we could not purchase in credit without our social security numbers and credit ratings. We gave a downpayment of $200 and the papers were processed. It was as simple as that. It was June 20, 2009, Saturday. The first thing we did on June 21, Monday was to have a cashier's check drafted for the car shop.
On June 22, Wednesday, we were aboard our "new" car and we returned our rented car which was a total rip off at $500+. But it has served to get us around town to do our grocery and stuff. But now, we had something that we really owned.
Next thing we did was schedule for school tours in between property tours with the realtor. We were initially thinking of putting the two girls in a public school because there were lots of school districts in Cincinnati and the vicinity which had excellent ratings from the Department of Education. However, upon further research, and with external affirmations, we decided to explore the religious schools in the city. By looking at the Department of Education website again, we got to narrow down our search to schools with Blue Ribbon recognitions. From there, we further focused on the schools that were near the place of my sister-in-law. It was fortunate that we were working with the realtor also who cited the possible districts that we can purchase the property that we are looking for. This coincided with the search of school for the girls. After 2 weeks of touring the schools, we decided on one school because it had all the pluses that we wanted in the other schools that we saw. It had the hot lunch program, the buddy system, the type of discipline enforced that we liked, the endorsement by a local resident, the academic excellence, the absence of diversity issue, the hi-tech mode of instructions, the accelerated program, the high percentage of scholarship obtained for private high schools, the wide corridors and high passing rate.
On July 2, 2009, exactly a week after we applied for our Social Security numbers (18 days from arriving in US), we finally got it!
On July 3, celebrating independence day with Filipino friends and their non-Filipino husbands in Mason, we further got information on what to do next in order to obtain a good credit rating, got further affirmation regarding our choice of school, and more affirmation about how the Lord's hands has been moving in our lives in perfect time. Even without the assurance and security of a job for us, we are at peace and confident that God is dictating the pace of all the things that have been happening to us. In His perfect time... we know everything will just fall in place.
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