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| What do you miss about your home country? (Read 578 times) |
| view log Non ducor, duco |
posted: 5/7/2008 at 8:44 PM
modified: 5/7/2008 at 8:44 PM |
Im sitting at my desk drinking really dark and lovely Brasilian coffee, clad in a Brasilian t-shirt listening to some old Bossa Nova.
Any ex-pats or non-American born folks out there? What do you miss most? |
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posted: 5/7/2008 at 8:53 PM |
| I'm from the UK - I miss Coronation Street (a TV show), I miss mild winters and summers and I miss certain foods (bread, bacon and chocolate are very different in the US). However, I'm fortunate that my local supermarkets stock Heinz Baked Beans (which are completely different to the American version), since if I couldn't get them here, I'd have to go back home. |
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posted: 5/8/2008 at 1:07 AM |
From Northern Ireland:
Relaxed calm pace of life.
People getting my jokes.
A sunny day in the Botannical Gardens in Belfast.
Belfast.
The Antrim Coast Road - okay I'm from there but it is totally unspoilt and beautiful.
Pints in four hundred year old pubs.
People understanding exactly what social/political world I grew up in (apart from hubby and a few friends, it's not worth trying to explain - people just don't get it)
People understanding the weird words I use (much dimished over 12 years due to blank stares>)
Pubs in the afternoon during rain (pretty much every afernoon)
Market days (nothing like buying a bootleg off a stall and getting a fake fiver in change)
Eastenders (TV show - BBC instead of ITV)
Walking down a street, stopping in a shop and people knowing exactly who I am and my family - of course sometimes don't miss this - do something "bad" and the whole bloody town knew.
My mates that have known me since I was 11 - not the same when they're an ocean away.
Okay, this is making me sad.
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| view log Girl On The Run |
posted: 5/8/2008 at 1:13 AM |
I am a US native, but I do miss my home state...it's surprising some of the little difference in culture that can be found even in adjoining states...I can only imagine how homesick being in a different country or on a different continent would make a person.
What I miss most from my home state (Wisconsin) is GOOD cheese. And fresh, squeaky cheddar curds. And bars that serve them deep fried in a coating that is closer to a beer batter than a breading. I miss the "accent," and the sarcasm. Very dry sarcastic humor is mostly lost on people in West MI...they are much more uppity. I miss going to smelt fries in the Spring. And I miss hearing "Uff da!" on a regular basis.  |
Kirsten . . . --> GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS <--
• Ladies Locker Room •
.: 2008 Goals :.
• Run 1500 miles
• October 5 - 1st marathon - Milwaukee Lakefront - in my home state of WI
• PRs: 5k ~ 15k ~ 25k |
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posted: 5/8/2008 at 3:19 AM |
I was living abroad this past year. I missed quite a few things. English being the language everyone speaks was huge. It sounds so lame or obvious or whatever, but it was really exhausting constantly trying to understand a foreign language (and failing miserably most of the time!) and feeling like I should be learning more. It was such a huge relief to come home and go grocery shopping and be able to understand all the labels. Oh, and find things where they belong in packages that look normal. (What? Tofu comes in a little box that looks more like cheese? And it is with the packaged meats??? And there is no Mexican aisle to go look for tortillas so you just have to hope you can find them in a different place in every store.)
Also, I missed knowing how to do things - and who to talk to if I couldnt. Things that are so obvious if you grew up in a society - like where to recycle (oh, those weird looking cylinders are for paper!), how to pay your electric bill (and be able to read when it is due!), etc. It got better as the year went on, but I still found myself asking what seemed like super dumb questions after I had been there for 6 months (which was about when I was miserably sick and figured out tylenol is over the counter but you have to ask for it!).
And I really disliked getting yelled at all the time. When I went to see a doctor, I had never been yelled at by so many people for doing so many things wrong. You mean I was supposed to know to knock on the door when the patient came out and the door closed? I thought closed door meant "I'm busy." And convincing my insurance company to pay - in the front of the office with a whole bunch of other patients listening to me. Fortunately I had the flu and not an STD or something! Locals had national insurance and didnt have to argue everytime they showed up to see a doctor. But for foreigners, it was always a fight.
Wow! That sounded way more like a rant than I meant! But I guess all the little things are just really tough when you dont know the culture. And it is so nice to be back in a place where the tofu is in the dairy aisle and beans come dried and in cans. |
| How I feel these days...
This helps too! |
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| view log Summer's over....... |
posted: 5/8/2008 at 3:22 AM |
I was born in Bend and still live here today. I should get out more.  |
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."
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posted: 5/8/2008 at 3:51 AM |
| Uff da! |
| Those who try, fail! Those who do what it takes to succeed, succeed!! |
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| view log Smokey |
posted: 5/8/2008 at 10:55 AM |
| I miss microbrewed beer... |
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| view log Girl On The Run |
posted: 5/8/2008 at 1:42 PM |
| Quote from Tchuck on 5/8/2008 at 3:51 AM: Uff da!
Awww...see, now I'm all homesick, again!  You know exactly the things I miss, you local yokel, you!  |
Kirsten . . . --> GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS <--
• Ladies Locker Room •
.: 2008 Goals :.
• Run 1500 miles
• October 5 - 1st marathon - Milwaukee Lakefront - in my home state of WI
• PRs: 5k ~ 15k ~ 25k |
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| view log Non ducor, duco |
posted: 5/8/2008 at 5:01 PM |
| Quote from Tchuck on 5/8/2008 at 3:51 AM: Uff da!
What does that mean anyway? |
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| view log Wish I were there |
posted: 5/8/2008 at 8:42 PM |
When I was in Ireland I missed everything about my home country. I'm such a homebody.   |
~Michelle
Southeastern PA Group
Know what's weird? Day by day, nothing seems to change, but pretty soon...everything's different. - Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes |
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posted: 5/8/2008 at 8:49 PM |
| Quote from SusanElizabethK on 5/8/2008 at 1:07 AM: From Northern Ireland:
Belfast.
Hey! I'm a QUB-grad, although I haven't been back to Belfast in a very long time. I miss Irish baked goods.
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| view log Wish I were there |
posted: 5/8/2008 at 8:57 PM |
| Quote from Yorkshire on 5/8/2008 at 8:49 PM: I miss Irish baked goods.
I must admit, everything I ate in Belfast was delicious! |
~Michelle
Southeastern PA Group
Know what's weird? Day by day, nothing seems to change, but pretty soon...everything's different. - Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes |
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posted: 5/8/2008 at 9:02 PM |
| Quote from zoom-zoom on 5/8/2008 at 1:13 AM: What I miss most from my home state (Wisconsin) is GOOD cheese.
ZZ, are you a thief? Then who stole the stars and put them in your eyes?
Oh wait, you were talking about another type of cheese, huh? /kicks rocks |
| "Good-looking people have no spine. Their art never lasts. They get the girls, but we're smarter." - Lester Bangs |
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