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Hi !
4 are a family from Norway (age 2, 6, 34 and 48) who probably are coming to St. Thomas in april, and stay there for a periode of 3 to 24 months.
I have som questions I hope somebody would be so kind as to give me some answers to 🙂 ;
What`s "normal" living like at your beautiful Island ?
All I seem to find on the Internet is information for tourists (like hotels etc..)
1.What about housing ? Can anibody please give me the name of an agency or privat person that I kan get in touch with regarding this ? We would ofcourse like to rent a house/flat/bungalow for that periode of time rather than staying in a hotel.
2. What`s the prizes like at the shops ? Is it like Norway (expencive 🙂 ) or like for example UK (cheaper than Norway 🙂 ) ?
Scooling situation;
1. We have a son, age 3, that is going in 1. grade in Norway. He would ofcourse need to go to school at St. Thomas too - does anibody know if there are any international schools there ?
2. Do you know of any scandinavian people that has been og still are living there ? With or without children.. It would be great to get in touch with them 🙂
3. And what about kindergarden for my daughter, 2 years old ? Anybody with experience with this ?
People living at St. Thomas;
1. Are there mostly English and American living there ?
Are they friendly and easy to get to know ???
Many questions - I really hope somebody will answer a few of them..... Thank you so much !!!!
🙂 Line
Posted : February 8, 2001 10:22 pm
Prices of rentals are somewhat high. For instance a 3 bdrm, 2 bath home would rent for about $1500-$2000 per month. But there are some condos that are fairly nice for $1000 - $1500/month.
Schools - I have a 5 year old who attends the Montessori School here. It is a wonderful private school that starts at 2 yrs old and goes to the eighth grade. Public schools are not that great from what I hear but there are some good private schools.
Living here is easy - casual - go to the beach a lot. We like to swim so swim often in pool and at the beach. Lots of outdoors types of things to do. Shopping is tough. Don't know how to compare prices. I am from California and prices are cheaper than California here for the most part. Mostly people speak English - some Spanish. Many Americans (from the mainland here).
Posted : February 13, 2001 12:41 am
Topic starter
Hi Donna and thank you so much for your answer ! 🙂
Could you please give me the adress/email-adress to the Montesorri school ? And it would also be great if you could give me an adress/email-adress to an agent for renting houses. Is there any special place you would advice us to live at with children ?
Are you working at St. Thomas ? Or just enjoing yourself ? 🙂
Best regard from Norway ( cold - minus 20.....) :-))
Posted : February 13, 2001 10:45 am
I hope you will enjoy your stay on the beautiful island of St. Thomas.
The local people, for the most part, are very friendly. However, for better reception, you should greet them with "good morning," "good afternoon," etc. Most people will go out of their way to assist you in whatever way they can. However, be advised, that as it is in most places...there are unscrupulous individuals who have no regard for man or beast. I'm happy to say that such individuals are a minority here.
There are activities for you as adults and for your children. Sometimes you may have to use creativity to keep them entertained, but, generally you may find things for you to do. Watersports are good activities...
Housing is rather expensive...renting for a large family should be a rather considerable sum...but a good agent should be able to work with you to find a rental that would accommodate your budget.
There are several good schools here on the island. It would be a matter of your preference.
I hope this response may have satisfied your inquiry in some way. If you want to discuss life in the VI further, feel free to contact me by email.
Posted : February 16, 2001 7:14 pm
The school is Virgin Islands Montessori School. Phone #340-775-6360, address: 6936 Vessup Lane, 9A-21, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands 00802.
We are not working which makes life very nice. Weather is beautiful. Cara at John Foster Real Estate does rentals (for sure she does short term, I am not sure if she does long term but could probably refer you to someone.) Her number is 340-775-9000.
Good luck and let me know how things go.
Posted : February 18, 2001 5:42 pm
Normal living - people work during the day, on their days off they usually do errands and enjoy water sports activities; go to the beach, wind surf, boating, and the like.
Housing: you might want to try http://www.onepaper.com/houses
The grocery stores will probably be a little cheaper here and the stores as well - we don't have sales tax on purchases.
There are no international schools, the public school systems is not bad but not too good either. For elementary level it is somewhat better than junior high. There are several private schools and parochial schools. Montessori, Antilles School, All Saints and Catholic School. Most of these private schools have pre-kindergarten for younger children, usually the age is 3 but I am not sure.
The population in the US Virgin Islands is mostly American, as it is United States territory, the British Virgin Islands on the other hand is British and therefore have more British citizens living there. But US and B.V.I have many people from down island (the other islands in the Caribbean - they are of African descent). The islanders are hospitable and helpful, a Good Morning and Good Afternoon goes a long way and almost always is necessary to get a response from older islanders.
With children in school you will probably meet other parents at school functions, many of the private schools have plays, parties, sports games for parents and children.
Posted : February 20, 2001 4:11 am
