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United Kingdom: Lindsey and Andy Lee
by Eugene Cha, Minnesota Public Radio
May 15, 2005

Lindsey and Andy Lee live in Belle Plaine, Minnesota. They moved here from Scotland three years ago. (MPR Photo/Eugene Cha)

Belle Plaine, Minn. — The Lees -- Lindsey, 29, and Andy, 33, immigrated to Minnesota from Scotland. They have daughter, Myrren, who is 3.

Lindsey is a stay-at-home mom. Andy is a production manager in the semi-conductor field. He works in Bloomington. job. They live in Belle Plaine, southwest of the Twin Cities.

The Lees are from Stratham, a small town southwest of Glasgow. Their hometown is much different from this area, they say. It's got a very rural atmosphere. It's hundreds of years old, with a lot of history behind it.

Lindsey says the house they lived in had its own history -- over its first 400 years of existence, it was a bar, then a bank, then another bar -- before being converted into a house.

The Lees say they moved to the U.S. because they wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to travel and experience new cultures, while they had the freedom to move.

"Both of us were on the same page about moving to another country, just to try out other culture," says Lindsey. "We were just two years married, and we were no children, just the two of us -- a good time to pick up and do something with it while we both had the urge to try it."

The Lees say that living in Minnesota has taken some adjustment, but since they've traveled to the U.S. before they weren't really surprised by much. They do say that Americans keep to themselves more than their Scottish countrymen, so it's taken a while to feel more at home.

Lindsey and Andy Lee say it was quite difficult to navigate the bureaucracy when it came to getting a Social Security card, driver's license and so forth.

The biggest issue for them being away from Scotland is not being close to their families. Andy also misses the sports back home.

"I miss soccer. I don't get into American football. And, the golf -- the season is very short. I miss my friends as well. Sometime I would play soccer, training and going for a beer. I miss that."