Glad to help. The visa process is pretty daunting, bloody expensive and extremely drawn out but for me worth every minute / penny. No doubt I will have become somewhat Americanized having lived virtually my whole adult life here but for me the majority of Americans I have ever met are, on the whole, the most pleasant and helpful people I have known.
I'm pretty Anglophiled as my boss is a cockney and all my mates here are English. It's really only my missus and her family where I mix most with the yanks but even after four years in Ohio most of my experiences were pretty pleasant. I agree the country and its views are very much regionalized and you always get your stereotypical gun loving yanks. Don't see much of that in NYC though.
I would encourage travel wherever that may be.
Go on, where in Ohio?
I lived in the US for 3 years, had to come home as it was a fixed duration gov't exchange tour. Loved every minute of it and would go back in a heartbeat. NYC isn't my scene per se, but each to their own.
All been said before, you will find ways to keep in touch with STFC.
