Pulaski

A money order bought from the Post Office is much cheaper and has a better/cheaper refund process in the event that the money order is lost or stolen.

SultanOfSwing

I haven't played this one for a while. My house is here, so that's a good (if rather obvious) start.

I like a bunch of things though but I'm so used to it here now that I sometimes have to remind myself I didn't always live here but every now and then people ask me if I'd miss anything if I ever moved back to the UK and the things that come to mind are (in no particular order):

- Thanksgiving dinner
- California
- National Parks
- There are proper mountains here
- Mexican food
- 'Proper' big cities like Chicago, NY etc. I was always fascinated by skyscrapers growing up, Belfast just doesn't cut it on that front
- California again, I like it so much it gets mentioned twice
- The variety of places to visit, from big cities to desert and everything in between

There's probably more but those are the ones that come to mind first.

I've only been there once, but San Francisco is up there for me. After a week of 105+ in the Central Valley, crossing the Oakland Bay Bridge and feeling the temperature drop to 68 was pure bliss.

I've always liked the idea of visiting San Diego as well though. Coastal California seems to have a climate that would generally agree with me.

That got my wife the first time she came to visit me, which was in late June. The jet lag messing with her sleep was bad enough but sunset at almost 11pm and the sky starting to get light before 4am.

In and around Belfast at least (not sure about London), it doesn't really get properly dark during the summer, nautical twilight lasts from dusk until dawn. I do sometimes miss that out here, where it is dark by 9pm in the summer and it seems to go from dusk to night in a very short time.

Pulaski

That's almost true for England (Midlands) - it is after 11pm before the last rays of sun disappear from the western skies, and the first signs in the east of the coming dawn aren't long after 1am.

SultanOfSwing

The farther north you go, it'll get more noticeable (somewhat obviously, I know). It makes the summer absolutely shite for stargazing, but then again most of the best constellations are in the sky during winter anyway, so it balances out

Of course, at the other end of the scale you get near 9am sunrises and darkness by not long after 4pm in the winter, but I always did like it when the nights got longer anyway.

Pulaski

Combine that with all-day fog or banks of cloud, and that at the winter solstice the sun (in London) barely makes it 15° above the horizon, makes for some winter days where it barely seems to get light at all. Also rain and dew doesn't dry for days, and the sun doesn't provide much warmth even if it shines.

SultanOfSwing

Yeah, around the solstice it can be pretty dreary, but it never lasted long and it was kind of atmospheric.

robin1234

Yeah but the fact that the typical temperatures in England just now are forty or fifty degrees (Fahrenheit) higher than in northern New York State make up for short daylight hours & a bit of fog!

Pulaski

But I don't live in northern New York State.

morpeth

-Thanksgiving dinners in USA are a great time
- Mountains : quite agree, I lived in north Idaho surrounded by mountains , lakes and tall so tall trees .Telluride in Colorado is stunning.
-Mexican food
- Cities well I prefer Zurich, Paris or Prague to anything US has to offer. Skyscrapers I think Hong Kong is impressive. London in my mind has more to offer overall than any place. But San Francisco is incredibly charming place to visit. Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, Irish Coffee at the Cliff House, Mission district. Redwoods and Napa Valley somewhat close drive.
-Backyard BBQ.

SultanOfSwing

You have to remember that I have such thriving metropolises such as Belfast and Lisburn to compare with. I've only been to London once and while Dublin and Edinburgh are great, they aren't exactly resplendent with tall buildings.

Whereas, Chicago is a 90 minute train ride away from me any time I care to go there.

Always more fun when it's at someone else's house

mrken30

Yogi bear and Jellystone Park

morpeth

Got to admit I would visit Sears tower again- except next time go to the bar at the top so less wait in line to regular observation level ( or that is how it was explained to me).

I find the weather in the Midwest atrocious, but early summer or fall in the backyard relaxing even with just the cornfields to look at can be satisfying.

SultanOfSwing

I've only been to the Sears tower once, I'd go back again so my kids can see it because they weren't with me when I was there, but otherwise I'm not really in a rush.

The weather's not too bad here. We do get four seasons. Sometimes they occur in separate days as well. Autumn is by far my favorite. Always was but I really like it out here.

Pulaski

..... that it was renamed a number of years ago.

SultanOfSwing

Yeah but nobody actually calls it the new name unless they're a tourist.