
I Moved To The Bay Area From Belgium A Month Ago. Here Are My First Impressions. - dsr12
https://twitter.com/bdc/status/1029393464054534145
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nutjob2
Getting a credit score as an immigrant with no close friends:

1: get a store card 2: get a bank account or two with large bank (say Chase),
after you've deposited large sums of money for a few months, ask them about
credit cards 3: when you get a credit card offer from someone reputable (say
Cap One) accept it 4: apply for cards online that have low score requirements,
then higher as your score improves and repeat, but no more than about 4 a
year.

If you have a close friend who pays off their cards each month just get them
to issue one of their cards in your name but don't use it. Weirdly them using
and paying off their card improves your credit score.

~~~
toomuchtodo
> If you have a close friend who pays off their cards each month just get them
> to issue one of their cards in your name but don't use it. Weirdly them
> using and paying off their card improves your credit score.

This works because of a Federal Reserve regulation (Regulation B,
specifically) about how spousal authorized user credit reporting is performed.

[https://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2010/201023/201023p...](https://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2010/201023/201023pap.pdf)

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Bucephalus355
Was hoping for some intelligent, somewhat deep insights on the old world v the
new world, but instead this reads like something any brogrammer fresh out of
the University of Texas could have written.

“Housing is expensive! Oh the food is kind of weird! Being in the same time
zone with people is good!”

I want to praise the author for being brave and moving thousands of miles to
do what he wants, clearly there was risk there, but hopefully he sees more of
the world than that indicated by this Twitter post.

~~~
ricardobeat
Are you offended? I think he covered quite a broad selection of topics. Also
he said the food is insanely good.

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js2
If he’s impressed by chicken and waffles, wait till he tries shrimp and grits.

What’s the bread thing about? Has the Bay Area banned bread?

~~~
gumby
If you've only eaten bread in the USA you've never actually had bread. Even
Australians complain about it.

~~~
js2
Commercial store bought sure, but we've got good bakeries even in my modest
town[0,1,2]. I can't believe the bay area doesn't have good bread.

[0] [https://www.lafarmbakery.com/](https://www.lafarmbakery.com/)

[1]
[http://www.neomondebakery.com/home/index.php](http://www.neomondebakery.com/home/index.php)

[2] [https://www.greatharvest.com/](https://www.greatharvest.com/) (This is a
francise but it's got some decent options.)

~~~
gumby
To me bread in America typically has too much sugar in it.

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nodesocket
> The local sporting goods store sells a wide variety of firearms.

As somebody who lived in Downtown SF for 5+ years I don't think there is a
single gun store in the city. It is also quite a lengthy and rigorous process
to purchase a firearm in California.

> American's are offensively loud

I don't want to be negative, but show the hypocrisy of such a statement.
Europeans are offensively egotistical, arrogant, and stand-on podiums of self
righteousness.

~~~
mattthebaker
I doubt his experiences were primarily in the city -- absolutely no mention of
homelessness, human excrement, or hypodermic needles, incredible!

~~~
stryk
homeless citizens and needles I understand, but 'human excrement' \-- what? Is
people shitting in the streets as common and as noticeable as homelessness?
WTF is that about, I thought SF was, by and large, wealthy? Why isn't it
clean?

~~~
mattthebaker
If I had to estimate "common and noticeable" sightings based on our old office
near twitter and my experiences:

Homelessness -- multiple per block

Excrement -- every other block

Public drug use (non pot) -- every other day

Public urination -- once per week

Public defecation -- once per month

I was assaulted at the street corner near our office once in the 1.5 years we
were there.

My guess is that the homeless population is just too large to manage any
reasonable degree of cleanliness.

