We’ve been here for a year and a half now, and people often ask us what we miss most about the US. It’s not an easy question. Among other reasons, it’s hard to pick just one or two things and our answers heavily depend on our mood at the time. So, being my type-A list-making self, I decided to make a list :-) Not surprisingly, despite the significant dent in our food cravings made by care package items (thank you SO much everyone - you know who you are!), food started taking over the list, so I decided the only solution was to make a separate food list. I limited each list to ten items and the lists are in no particular order (except for #1 on the first list, of course). See below:
Non-food
1. Family and friends (in addition to the obvious, a big difference is that in the US, even people we didn’t get to see much were just an easy phone call or email or gchat away)
2. Swimming (me only)
3. Cycling
4. Privacy
5. Blending in/anonymousness/the freedom to be left alone (see post from a few months ago)
6. Efficiency/things that work well and the way they should
7. Routines
8. Reliable electricity and internet
9. Not being dirty and sweaty all the time
10. Being able to act like a couple and do couple-y things without being culturally inappropriate and/or harassed
Food
1. Tasty beer
2. Cheese (especially feta and goat cheese)
(sidenote - apparently I’ve got more Wisconsite left in me than I realized!)
3. Bagels (I literally dream about bagels on a regular basis)
4. Breakfast cereal with cold skim milk
5. Salads (aside from the occasional lettuce, people rarely eat raw vegetables here – see crunchy things)
6. Starbucks (both the coffee and the coffeeshop atmosphere)
7. Fish or meat that isn't smoked, dried and/or consists almost exclusively of bone, gristle, and fat
8. Almost anything you need an oven to make
9. Crunchy things (almost all food here is mushy, partially because people’s teeth are so bad by the time they are middle-aged, they can’t eat much else)
10. Being able to relatively easily make or go out for pretty much any type of cuisine you might be in the mood for
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
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4 comments:
Oh wow. Good ones. Today I had this urge to go into a college library. Coffee shops I really miss! The top of my list would be - having more work to do at work. It used to be that I couldn't get all I needed to be done in one day. Now I can do it in an hour and that's it for the day... I mean... it's just so slow!
Intellectual work too- I mean having to think. ha. I miss thinking.
Bagels and coffee shops for sure! I miss the freedom of a car, and privacy. I don't want to tell EVERYONE where I'm going.
Lack of good meat and crunchy things can't be easy.
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