Anyone feel like they've made a huge mistake?

[Gemmie 142]

I have to agree about the 'it's similar, but different' thing that throws so many people off. In my case, it seems to pour down all in one day. For example:

I'll want something for dinner that's quick and comforting after a long day by myself (unemployed and no license) so I'll look for something in the house. Everything canned is loaded with HFCS, the yogurt tastes strange but I don't know why, so I skip that, and finally settle on a cheese sandwich. We have to buy expensive bread from the baker as everything has HFCS in it and tastes like cake, and then I'll ask my husband if the cheese is still good as it's been in there for over 2 weeks, and he tells me 'yes, the date is the end of 2011'. Then I freak out about why cheese can stay 'good' for so long when it's dairy. Dairy does not stay good for over a year. He makes the argument that everything in the UK just goes off so quickly, and I'm like 'yes, because we don't add a ton of cr@p to it'. Then he gets irritated that I'm criticizing everything about the food, and I get irritated that he doesn't understand, and we just huff at each other until we settle on frozen pizza.

[NBtoPitt 2]

Agreed. I haven't moved yet, I'm only visiting while we wait for my interview date, but everything is so odd. There's something to be said for how unsettling it is to look around and see how similar everything is only to realize that it's entirely different. When I visited China for a summer a few years back I expected different. Entirely different. I embraced it, learned it, and it became comfortable very quickly.

Not so much here. The cars look the same, but driving feels scarier because of subtle differences. When I eat the food and expect it to taste like home it almost makes me sick. Everything is too sweet, and too fatty. And trust me, I'm no health nut! Everything just tastes fake. I miss poutine, and donairs.

If I'm sick here, I'm afraid to go to the hospital despite having insurance. I miss the French on road signs, on food containers, and on DVD cases. And I'm anglophone! I feel foolish for smiling at people and saying "hi", or "excuse me", or "thank you" because I'm more often than not scowled at.

Here's my oh-so-clever analogy (/sarcasm): Think of clothes. If you had to give up your jeans and tshirt for a sari it would be uncomfortable, but you would get used to it quickly. Because you recognize that what you wore before and what you're wearing now are totally different. Instead, say you had to switch to a different pair of jeans and tshirt that look the same at first glance, but don't fit quite right. They tug, they're scratchy, they're uncomfortable. And because your last outfit fit so well, you find it really difficult to accept this new one.

That's kind of how I see it.

[patient2010 93]

[Penny Lane 8,159]

That added a lot to the discussion.

[Inky 1,110]

it took me forever to find a pair of jeans.. all the jeans at old navy I tried on... I was standing there going " what the hell is wrong with these things! " they didnt feel right they didnt look right.. when i sit down there is a HUGE amount of space infront of the jeans... I kept telling my husband " i cant buy clothes here nothing fits.. its like its all for overweight people or pregnant people with all extra material in the front of jeans.. " I was really upset because I needed some new jeans and it was not going well at all.. I called my mom and asked her if she could buy me some and mail it or if I could come visit to buy clothes because I cant find anything and It was making me upset...

I dont know if its the same other places.. but when I go try clothes on here in nebraska.. theres SO much extra material on the front.. like people have an extra a*ss on their front.. and I dont want to be rude or anything but the majority of the people in the stores when I go look for clothes here.. are overweight..by a lot..

When I shopped in new york visiting my aunt none of the clothes were like that.. no extra material on the front no nothing.. everything fit perfectly on me.

[Gemmie 142]

I've had the same problem. When I was in the UK, I was a size 8 which translates to a size 4 here in America. I've heard that from everyone, and looked it up all over the internet too. Yet when I go to try on the size 4, it's HUGE on me. The jeans are way too wide at the hips and the shirts are way too baggy. I also found that there's always tons of clothes in the bigger sizes, but I'm lucky to even find a 4. It causes me a lot of frustration as well, because every time we go shopping for anything like that (coats, jeans, shirts, pajamas) it's a mission to find anything that fits, and I end up having to buy from the Juniors or Children section. At first we found it funny but now it's kind of annoying.

I do love how the shoes have a bigger variety of sizes, they fit me much better over here.

[GregBu 1]

When I eat the food and expect it to taste like home it almost makes me sick. Everything is too sweet, and too fatty. And trust me, I'm no health nut! Everything just tastes fake. I miss poutine, and donairs.

I swear I'm not trying to be a smart ####, but you cracked me up. Everything here is fake, too sweet and too fatty, but you miss poutine and donairs.

I love poutine (prefer mozza fries though) and I love donairs. But poutine is scary fattening, donairs are REALLY sweet and the meat in donairs is one step removed from mystery meat.

So when I read your comment, it cracked me up.

At any rate, my wife really enjoys going out for more traditional ethnic cuisines than 'standard' American food. We go out for Chinese food, Mexican food, etc. and the rest of our meals we cook ourselves. We keep a lot of fruit in the house, since it's so much cheaper here in the States. Depending where you live, hopefully there are good alternatives for you than cheeseburgers or junk food.

[NBtoPitt 2]

That was the point of what I said, everything here is sickly sweet and over-fatty, and that's coming from someone who likes foods like poutine and donairs.

[GregBu 1]

That was the point of what I said, everything here is sickly sweet and over-fatty, and that's coming from someone who likes foods like poutine and donairs.

I try to avoid chain restaurants (Chili's, Applebees, etc.), and usually have no trouble finding well-prepared, tasty food that, whether or not it's 'healthy' at least isn't unnecessarily fatty or sugary.

[Inky 1,110]

I've had the same problem. When I was in the UK, I was a size 8 which translates to a size 4 here in America. I've heard that from everyone, and looked it up all over the internet too. Yet when I go to try on the size 4, it's HUGE on me. The jeans are way too wide at the hips and the shirts are way too baggy. I also found that there's always tons of clothes in the bigger sizes, but I'm lucky to even find a 4. It causes me a lot of frustration as well, because every time we go shopping for anything like that (coats, jeans, shirts, pajamas) it's a mission to find anything that fits, and I end up having to buy from the Juniors or Children section. At first we found it funny but now it's kind of annoying.

I do love how the shoes have a bigger variety of sizes, they fit me much better over here.

yep lol! im having a better time finding shoes for my small feet because of the larger selection.. I do miss buying all my UK import clothes tho.. canada was awesome for that! Punky Fish and Bench and I bought alot of british jeans too! miss that a lot..

[~Nini~ 2]

It's harder than I thought it would be, for sure. I'm still struggling with it even three years after living in Philly - the difficulty of finding the things I want, the loneliness in having few friends (and even then, those who truly understand what things were like back home are very rare), and the marked differences between here and there. I'm still not happy to live here, but I've become used to it, found things in Philly that I have learned to enjoy and be happy with. It's never going to be the same as back home, but that's what makes home so much more wonderful when I go back to visit!

My husband has become really understanding about my feeling of "being trapped" and learning not to take it personally, because I've told him that ultimately it was my decision to come to the US. He knows he is really, really lucky that he was the one who got to "stay" in his hometown, and has often spoken about living somewhere else so he can have that experience. We're talking about moving to Seattle someday since that would be closer to my city, plus we'd love the weather so much more!

[MissStacey 1]

Wow- went through all 17 pages. Yup- I still have days (like today) when I feel really lonely and out of place here. It comes and goes. IDK- just not in the mood at the moment to get into it.

And when did Hal Johnston shave the 'stach? Also- have they ever actually confirmed they are a couple or not?

Bagels- Montreal bagels are the best. If you've ever had a hot fresh bagel from the Foubourg on St Catherines you know what I'm talking about. With whipped pimento cream cheese. Mmmmmm.

[nab 74]

I have to agree about the 'it's similar, but different' thing that throws so many people off. In my case, it seems to pour down all in one day. For example:

I'll want something for dinner that's quick and comforting after a long day by myself (unemployed and no license) so I'll look for something in the house. Everything canned is loaded with HFCS, the yogurt tastes strange but I don't know why, so I skip that, and finally settle on a cheese sandwich. We have to buy expensive bread from the baker as everything has HFCS in it and tastes like cake, and then I'll ask my husband if the cheese is still good as it's been in there for over 2 weeks, and he tells me 'yes, the date is the end of 2011'. Then I freak out about why cheese can stay 'good' for so long when it's dairy. Dairy does not stay good for over a year. He makes the argument that everything in the UK just goes off so quickly, and I'm like 'yes, because we don't add a ton of cr@p to it'. Then he gets irritated that I'm criticizing everything about the food, and I get irritated that he doesn't understand, and we just huff at each other until we settle on frozen pizza.

canned food is for planning for a disaster unless it's food you've canned for yourself

'food' should be real stuff... just keep in mind the more packaging it has the less it is 'food'

bread and yogurt are both very easy and cheap things to make at home, as well as more healthful!

i can send recipes if you need, just let me know

cheese... are you accustomed to fresh cheese? i make panir and of course it does not last as long as aged cheese from retail store. IDK how long it actually lasts (food safety-wise) becasue it's never around long enough to go bad LOL! we love dairy (milk, cheeses, yogurts, everything).

frozen pizza check the label on those!

it took me forever to find a pair of jeans.. all the jeans at old navy I tried on... I was standing there going " what the hell is wrong with these things! " they didnt feel right they didnt look right.. when i sit down there is a HUGE amount of space infront of the jeans... I kept telling my husband " i cant buy clothes here nothing fits.. its like its all for overweight people or pregnant people with all extra material in the front of jeans.. " I was really upset because I needed some new jeans and it was not going well at all.. I called my mom and asked her if she could buy me some and mail it or if I could come visit to buy clothes because I cant find anything and It was making me upset...

I dont know if its the same other places.. but when I go try clothes on here in nebraska.. theres SO much extra material on the front.. like people have an extra a*ss on their front.. and I dont want to be rude or anything but the majority of the people in the stores when I go look for clothes here.. are overweight..by a lot..

When I shopped in new york visiting my aunt none of the clothes were like that.. no extra material on the front no nothing.. everything fit perfectly on me.

when you find a brand you like they will change the style or stop making that line completely LOL!

You need to find a store that "fits" YOU, i.e. one that caters to your body type... i'm american and only once did i ever find jeans at Old Navy that were decent fit (low rise but with room for muscular behind cause whale tail is NOT attractive... most jean makers think you're either fat or a stick figure with no curves, there is no in between!!). bought two pair, went back to buy more and they had already discontinued them! so find a store that carries styles you like and that fit your body.

ignore the ads for clothing places you see on tv... Old Navy has great commercials, but terrible clothing. it's cheaply made, most of the time frumpy looking, though i've found some ok men's clothes there like boxers and PJ bottoms. Places like ON are good for kids who will grow out of the clothes in a couple months or you need something cheap to wear painting or otherwise will get destroyed, because their clothes are NOT made to last.

try places like American Eagle, Gap (only place i can find nice fitting button-fly!), and stores that cater to your size, body shape, and style. find brands you like then you can easily shop online as well and expand your options (I love some of the Dana Buchman tunics, Borne shoes, etc)... and you KNOW it will fit! there is differece of sizes from brand to brand. you may wear a 0 in one brand and a 2 in another and 4 in another. Same with shoes.

Also, make sure you are shopping in the correct section of the store!

in USA there are 'juniors', 'misses', 'women' sections ("women's" is where you get the extra fabric in stomach, behind, thighs and it's confusing as a 'woman' to think 'women' dept is NOT for us LOL!).

there's also variety in same 'sizes' = tall, regular, petite... this is where you try on the jeans and if you are a 'regular' then 'petites' look like high-waters and 'tall' like they were made for a giant (LOL this is my big gripe because it's hard to find petite, so tall AND regulars look this way on me).

example of 3 women who say they wear "14" but there is huge difference in their looks:

14W tall would be large in body (think 'apple-shaped') and very long leg, 14 misses petite would be average (body/weight proportionate) and short leg, 14 juniors regular would be a little thinner than the 'average' body (think 'teen girl' or very thin woman) and 'average' leg length. (actually i'm not sure if it's just here or everywhere but misses and women's are even numbers and juniors are odd numbers).

i hope this info helps, i HATE shopping with a passion! mother used to treat me like barbie doll and take me on shopping marathons and of course she made try on and model EVERYTHING so as an adult i've always went in, get what i need and get out (think "Navy Seal on a mission")

another rule of thumb...

unless you want to end up same as those "overweght by a lot" people, stay away from restaurants where they congregate as well!

when i go to a place where everyne is large, i am very careful what i order from the menu (yes, i am that PITA customer who special orders if the menu is too fatty ). at least i'm not as bad as a friend who, if she walks in and sees nothing but obese people, will walk out and demand to go soemwhere else

I've had the same problem. When I was in the UK, I was a size 8 which translates to a size 4 here in America. I've heard that from everyone, and looked it up all over the internet too. Yet when I go to try on the size 4, it's HUGE on me. The jeans are way too wide at the hips and the shirts are way too baggy. I also found that there's always tons of clothes in the bigger sizes, but I'm lucky to even find a 4. It causes me a lot of frustration as well, because every time we go shopping for anything like that (coats, jeans, shirts, pajamas) it's a mission to find anything that fits, and I end up having to buy from the Juniors or Children section. At first we found it funny but now it's kind of annoying.

I do love how the shoes have a bigger variety of sizes, they fit me much better over here.

see above advice on size variations and stores. hope it helps! imagine having the probems finding clothes that fit properly and being a person who HATES shopping in the first place i used to go thru double hell to find clothing... i started making my own clothes as a teen so i could have perfectly fitting clothes that were nice quality but after moving to the city it was much more easy to shop quickly once you find the right stores. also, online shopping is awesome! quick, easy, and pain free

oh! just remembered soemthing else i read in this thread was a miracle whip/mayo thing... they are NOT same thing. many people here call miracle whip "mayo" but it is NOT, it's "salad dressing". much different taste. and not all 'mayo' is same... Hellman's is awesome, Best brand is almost same taste. also, try the store brands, i have found most times generics are more similar to good brands... except ketchup, i dont buy generics in that (have in past and none are good).

i am blessed to not only be close to large city but it's also a test market so variety is abundant, but i know exactly what you all are going thru who are in rural areas = limited EVERYTHING. if you are within 2-3hrs of a large city consider doing a huge shopping trip once every couple months and stock your pantry with the things you like (as well as prices on every day things would be less expensive so you could stockpile those as well) or speak to your fav store where you shop most often and ask if they would consider ordering special things for you. today i picked up an order i placed last friday from a small grocery store becasue even though there are larger places i prefer to shop for mosts thing i prefer this store for meats.

ok ladies, wishing you good luck !

[Krikit 1,164]

For some reason just the mention of Hal Johnson made me laugh.

Do you know Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod from those Bodybreak (http://www.bodybreak.com/) commercials? For years, I've heard rumours about their relationship -- apparent fodder for bored Canadians. In the past few months, I'd heard the fitness pundits had divorced, since neither seemed to appear in the same scene in recent commercials. With each new Bodybreak commercial, I -- and apparently many other Canadian viewers -- wondered about the secret of this couple. Today, CBC Radio's DNTO interviewed Johnson and McLeod, revealing that, in addition to being business partners, the duo married five years ago. Why the 16-year secret? Apparently early TV execs felt that the 1988 public was not yet ready for an integrated relationship -- 40 agencies rejected the show, before the Canadian government picked up Bodybreak for its Participaction promotions. Although the public has "overwhelmingly" accepted the couple, Johnson and McLeod have been subject to slurs and death threats (http://www.bodybreak.com/fitiseverything.html). Nevertheless, the Bodybreak brand has expanded over the years to include fitness products, books, videos and even a restaurant. Johnson and McLeod have also gradually introduced persons with disabilities, persons of colour, and other under-represented groups to their shows.

They're interracial? I just thought he had a nice tan. lol

Now I'm hungry for Montreal bagels with pimento cream cheese!!

Welcome back Nina and Stacey. We've missed you.

[Krikit 1,164]

bread and yogurt are both very easy and cheap things to make at home, as well as more healthful!

i can send recipes if you need, just let me know

cheese... are you accustomed to fresh cheese? i make panir and of course it does not last as long as aged cheese from retail store. IDK how long it actually lasts (food safety-wise) becasue it's never around long enough to go bad LOL! we love dairy (milk, cheeses, yogurts, everything).

I would like a recipe for yogourt and panir.

Although I am thrilled that my local Blooms has my favourite Greek yogourt. yum

Speaking of missing foods..... I wish wish wish I could find a local butcher or baker or fishmonger. I really do miss those.