What is the thing you miss the most from your country???

[ONA 133]

In Malaysia, they would have hundreds of shoes in a shop and you'd ask for your size. The shop space is utilized better with more variety and choices.

The same thing in Russia

I miss that too. And I miss the actual shoes too! I mean, I can find some nice shoes here, but the ones from Russia are usually better (but also much more expensive...), I get lots of compliments about the shoes I brought from Russia and both of my sisters-in-law want to go shoe-shopping to Russia with me

I miss my family and friends of course... I miss my city. I used to live in a big city and now I live in suburbs, so I miss the "big city" lifestyle.

I miss Russian holidays, I got extremely homesick on New Years Eve.

I used to miss food, but I found a couple of good Russian stores in the area, where I can get any Russian food I can think of.

And also, since it's winter I miss SNOW

[Xanax 349]

I haven't moved yet, but one thing I missed when I was in the states last was going to a meal, sitting there and enjoying it, talking, spending ages at a restaurant. Here everyone eats and leaves

[amyandjorge 76]

My husband asked me the other day 'why don't the beans here have any flavor?'

I honestly don't know why, but they're better in Honduras.

[X Factor 1,112]

My husband asked me the other day 'why don't the beans here have any flavor?'

I honestly don't know why, but they're better in Honduras.

Yep & the meat (beef & chicken) taste so much better in Guyana where I was born.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I haven't moved yet, but one thing I missed when I was in the states last was going to a meal, sitting there and enjoying it, talking, spending ages at a restaurant. Here everyone eats and leaves

Don't go to Ihop then .

Everyone is welcome to miss whatever they want, but I think it's useful to point out that the US is a big place and there are many cultural differences within the country itself. Some of the things people are saying about "what the US is like" is completely foreign to me, and makes me wonder where they live.

Some thoughts I have while reading this:

Only discount shoe-stores display shoes by size. Any normal retail store will display a single pair and you ask for your size. Makes me wonder if that person husband is just taking them to payless for shoes.

I have never seen a place without sidewalks. No sidewalks?

There are plenty of places with a good food/restaurant culture where people go to relax and talk. I think if everyone just scarfs and leaves, maybe it's a diner.

I think one of the harder things about moving somewhere else is that what seems to be the same actually is different, and it's hard to know if it's just that place or if it's the country as a whole.

I think a lot of these things may be due to cultural differences between the couple... anyone read "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and the chapter on "words misunderstood?"

[Kajikit 65]

While I love living in Florida, sometimes I really really miss the Seasons, the hills/mountains, and the Australian plants (okay, except for the paperbarks, which I adore, but which are a noxious weed in Florida!) I also miss real Chinese food. There are a lot of South-East Asian people in Australia because it's geographically close, and you can get REAL Chinese food just by going to find a Chinatown. American-Chinese isn't remotely the real deal.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

While I love living in Florida, sometimes I really really miss the Seasons, the hills/mountains, and the Australian plants (okay, except for the paperbarks, which I adore, but which are a noxious weed in Florida!) I also miss real Chinese food. There are a lot of South-East Asian people in Australia because it's geographically close, and you can get REAL Chinese food just by going to find a Chinatown. American-Chinese isn't remotely the real deal.

Ditto to Malaysian (REALLY nice restaurant in Clayton that I think about and their Peanut Satay to be specific ) and also to Indian.

[Kajikit 65]

Don't go to Ihop then .

Everyone is welcome to miss whatever they want, but I think it's useful to point out that the US is a big place and there are many cultural differences within the country itself. Some of the things people are saying about "what the US is like" is completely foreign to me, and makes me wonder where they live.

Some thoughts I have while reading this:

Only discount shoe-stores display shoes by size. Any normal retail store will display a single pair and you ask for your size. Makes me wonder if that person husband is just taking them to payless for shoes.

In the local mall there are four shoe stores with varying price ranges (from Payless up to a store where the shoes start at a hundred bucks and go up...) All of them have the shoes stacked by size, but in the most expensive shop there's an actual person to help you as well.

I have never seen a place without sidewalks. No sidewalks?

In Florida, sidewalks are fairly rare except on the largest, most busy roads. My route to church was chosen because when they upgraded the road they put a sidewalk all the way along so I don't have to walk in the traffic.

There are plenty of places with a good food/restaurant culture where people go to relax and talk. I think if everyone just scarfs and leaves, maybe it's a diner.

Remember that in some parts of the world, a dinner out normally takes at least four hours... in the US it's more often fitted into one, ninety minutes at the outside, because the restaurant wants to fit two seatings into their night.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

This Asian food thing really depends on where you live - getting authentic and delicious Chinese/Korean/Thai/Japanese is not an issue on the West Coast, Vegas, NYC and various other places

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Sidewalks here are cut up affairs or non-existent.

The cultural food thing is hard to come by as well.

[Holliday 4]

Don't go to Ihop then .

Everyone is welcome to miss whatever they want, but I think it's useful to point out that the US is a big place and there are many cultural differences within the country itself. Some of the things people are saying about "what the US is like" is completely foreign to me, and makes me wonder where they live.

Some thoughts I have while reading this:

Only discount shoe-stores display shoes by size. Any normal retail store will display a single pair and you ask for your size. Makes me wonder if that person husband is just taking them to payless for shoes.

I have never seen a place without sidewalks. No sidewalks?

There are plenty of places with a good food/restaurant culture where people go to relax and talk. I think if everyone just scarfs and leaves, maybe it's a diner.

I think one of the harder things about moving somewhere else is that what seems to be the same actually is different, and it's hard to know if it's just that place or if it's the country as a whole.

I think a lot of these things may be due to cultural differences between the couple... anyone read "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and the chapter on "words misunderstood?"

Tulsa, Oklahoma. I'd have to drive to get to a sidewalk. I wish I was kidding. I live on a 'major' street, so it's not like I can walk on the road, unless I like the idea of being hit by a car. But I don't. I've seen some sidewalks here, but they're unusual. And to me, sidewalks shouldn't be unusual.

I completely agree with you that it is a large and diverse country. Most of the U.S. is NOT like Oklahoma, and that's absolutely a good thing. Everywhere else I've been in this great country seems far more "normal" (aka more like what I'm accustomed to.) If I'm accidentally scaring people who intend to move to Oklahoma, I apologize. Perhaps these people could give ME advice. I would actually really appreciate that. I'm pretty sure if I lived somewhere else in the U.S., I wouldn't miss things from home nearly as much.

[SunnySanDiego 17]

I miss my family and friends first and foremost.

As for food I miss Philadelphia garlic chip dip, perogies, ketchup and dill flavoured potato chips, poutine, Alberta beef and an actual patty in my burger.

Misc things George Stroumboulopoulos, the hockey night in Canada theme song, autumn (the season), the wide open space, West Edmonton Mall, the colourful money , my fellow kind country people, the good quality tap water, free healthcare for everyone, wearing my toque, aurora borealis, the crazy rain storms full of thunder and lightning, people calling pop pop and not soda .

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Tulsa, Oklahoma. I'd have to drive to get to a sidewalk. I wish I was kidding. I live on a 'major' street, so it's not like I can walk on the road, unless I like the idea of being hit by a car. But I don't. I've seen some sidewalks here, but they're unusual. And to me, sidewalks shouldn't be unusual.

I completely agree with you that it is a large and diverse country. Most of the U.S. is NOT like Oklahoma, and that's absolutely a good thing. Everywhere else I've been in this great country seems far more "normal" (aka more like what I'm accustomed to.) If I'm accidentally scaring people who intend to move to Oklahoma, I apologize. Perhaps these people could give ME advice. I would actually really appreciate that. I'm pretty sure if I lived somewhere else in the U.S., I wouldn't miss things from home nearly as much.

I realize I may have been diminishing people's feelings of homesickness, and that wasn't my intent at all.

Obviously, feelings of homesickness are real and complex, and I believed you that where you lived there weren't sidewalks, but it seemed strange to me. I thought about it and realized some areas of the town I grew up in didn't have sidewalks, but most did. It sucks if you like to walk and you move to a place that isn't walk-friendly; I feel you.

There is another thread going on about someone who moved to eastern Washington, and finds it difficult - provincial people, poor economy, etc. She is realizing she thinks she'd be a lot happier just a few hours away in Seattle. Obviously, sometimes people can't move for many reasons, so that isn't the solution for everyone, but I do think it's harder to move to some areas of the country than others. More power to the people who are successful with that.

Clearly there are going to be vast differences, food will be different, the ways people socialize, where you go to get XYZ, the climate, a million things. But I do think that sometimes, some of these feelings can be helped by some information. I have seen in a lot of threads people saying, for instance, "Oh, I just found a product that is similar to the one from home!" and that discovery seems to at least in a small way, alleviate some of the stress. I also see people saying "I wish I had known X when I first moved here!"

When it seems to me that the spouse could be providing some of this information, and they aren't, it reminds of of "words misunderstood." The point in the Kundera makes is done through the example of an international couple (possibly based on his own experience as an ex-pat himself). Where one member of the couple is from, cemeteries are yellow clay boneyards that are dry and dusty. In the other person's country, cemeteries are overgrown gardens that seem full of mystery and even magic. One says "I love cemeteries - they seem like a fairy garden" and the other says "What? are you crazy?" and they don't understand eachother. They can't get past the different meaning of the word because they never considered how what they know might be different.

So when someone says "I can't find fresh fruit and veggies," I, like Bob, think, have you tried a farmer's market? If someone says "shoes are organized by size everywhere" I think, are you sure you're not at a discount shoe store? My aim is to help, though I realize it may come off the wrong way.

Regarding how long a meal should take, that might also go under the category of "words misunderstood." I just spent 3 hours at tea with my friend, which I felt was very long. If someone wants to spend 4 hours, then that might be rare. "Long" to me is 2-3 hours, but to someone else, that may be short. What I was trying to say is that there are places with a vibrant restaurant scene where they want you to spend at least a couple hours. Hopefully that's some consolation.

Obviously things are different in a different country, I just thought that helping to locate the same things might help people with adjusting. Some things you can't change though, like sidewalks.

Edited March 6, 2012 by Harpa Timsah

[Lise+Michael 13]

I miss my family and friends first and foremost.

As for food I miss Philadelphia garlic chip dip, perogies, ketchup and dill flavoured potato chips, poutine, Alberta beef and an actual patty in my burger.

Misc things George Stroumboulopoulos, the hockey night in Canada theme song, autumn (the season), the wide open space, West Edmonton Mall, the colourful money , my fellow kind country people, the good quality tap water, free healthcare for everyone, wearing my toque, aurora borealis, the crazy rain storms full of thunder and lightning, people calling pop pop and not soda .

I make homemade perogies and homemade poutine whenever I get the craving. My daughter moved to AB after I got married, I hope to visit soon to try Alberta beef, I love the beef here in MN. I do miss colourful money too lol. But always it will be my children & grandchildren that I truly miss.

[SunnySanDiego 17]

I make homemade perogies and homemade poutine whenever I get the craving. My daughter moved to AB after I got married, I hope to visit soon to try Alberta beef, I love the beef here in MN. I do miss colourful money too lol. But always it will be my children & grandchildren that I truly miss.

My husband and I made homemade perogies for the first time the other night and they turned out great. Nothing like Alberta beef it just tastes better at least compared the the stuff I have had in California. I know right the money was pretty and interesting and easy to distinguish which bill is which.

Yeah I hear you about family I miss mine terribly it's truly the hardest part of adjusting to life here. I can't wait for AOS so I can travel and see them as much as possible.