I could not agree more about roommates, Ruby. For my first year in the US I roomed with an Irish salesman and we both experienced all the highs of starting life in a new country. I then decided I wanted to live on my own for a year, which was fun, but ultimately I missed company and a different perspective on the day...and I wasn't ready to live with a partner! I now live with an Australian database administrator who was extremely lucky to get a job and visa to work in San Francisco in the teeth of the recession. His sunny attitude to everything he encounters at the start of his new life in the U.S. reminds me every day of why I'm so glad to have moved here. I hope yours gives you the same pleasure!