Every person living in another country has the things they miss, and though I rarely find myself homesick for America, I think it's finally time to make a list of things that make me nostalgic for the mother land.
-People. Friends, family, etc. Missing people and being 10 time zones away from home is definitely the worst thing about living abroad.
-Houses in America. Carpet, central heating, and yards are essentials for houses back home, yet here due to the climate they are veryy hard to find.
-DRIVING. The sweet freedom of having my own set of wheels.
-Not being a foreigner. My Northern European roots and strange accent really set me apart from the crowd.
-Being familiar with things. the etiquette for phone calls, doctor's appts, health insurance system, anything and everything. though this has improved greatly in my time here..
-American English in my everyday life. I get so much more exposure to British/broken English here. and in teaching, it's really hard to explain a dialect and grammar that are not your own.
-Movies and TV that are quality and not dubbed. And not feeling guilty for indulging in English speaking programs.
-Fareinheit, miles, pounds, dollars: I miss them and I don't. Euros are so much prettier and the metric system makes sense, it's just not what I grew up with. Whenever I'm talking about distance, money, time, or weight in Spanish I have to change languages and systems.. keeps a mind active, but sometimes I miss simplicity.
-Wearing sweats or whatever I want to the store and not being stared at.. They take what they wear here way too seriously. I love getting harassed for not wearing a scarf when it's 50 degrees or that wearing shorts or flip flops anywhere but the beach is unacceptable.
-Running in the streets without getting yelled at.
-Certain foods. Easy access to peanut butter, oatmeal, good wheat bread, endless cereal selection, good pizza, cheddar cheese, salty ketchup, non UHT milk, steak, even power bars, yummo.
-American festivities. BBQs, theme parties, apple pie, etc.
-Did I mention I miss my friends and family? Ok. that's all.
"-Being familiar with things. the etiquette for phone calls, doctor's appts, health insurance system, anything and everything."
ResponderEliminarFor me, this is definitely the most difficult. You hit the nail on the head here.
for sure. i find formal phone calls awkward in any language and i've had to make so many these days, usted usted usted. :S and with informal ones I'm still trying to figure out how many vengas, vales, hasta somethings, adioses, besos, etc need to be said before it's ok to hang up..
ResponderEliminarYou forgot "Not being able to get to South Carolina on an East Coast USA journey"...don't worry, I forgive you :)
ResponderEliminarAnd you are so right about ALL those things! Get me your address soon and I'll send you some peanut butter...or something!
TQM.
-Sarah T