sime303

I very nearly punched a woman for the last bag of Monster Munch the last time we were down there. I thought my wife was going to do one of those slow motion movie scream "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo" as she dug it out of the bottom shelf.

Might have to take a trip down tomorrow.

Steerpike

The thread title brings a smile to my face... after a few decades here, I can't say I miss either. Living in the Bay Area for 20+ years, I've been spoiled by fabulous Asian food (Asian as in, Chinese/Japanese/Thai/Vietnamese/Korean/etc), the likes of which I never saw anywhere in UK - maybe things have changed. Finding good Indian food has been a bit more of a challenge but I've found that in Arizona, of all places. Whole Foods Market (as well as several other quality chains) offer up all the quality ingredients I could ever hope for, so I just can't say there is anything I miss other than Marmite flavor Walkers Crisps (actually never had them in UK but my brother tells me they are now available!). I'm currently exploring the wide expanse of decent 'Southwestern' food on offer in the Phoenix area (trying to offset the dire Asian food situation ... ) and also - surprisingly - discovering the best Pizza in America ... (see this also ...)

As for TV - I don't watch a whole lot of TV but I can certainly find enough to entertain myself. With a decent cable package (not cheap I know) you can feast on an incredible amount of stuff.

The trick to not missing things is to find substitutes (for me). When I first came here, I was appalled at the way tea was made; but eventually I got used to coffee, which is generally prepared very well. The same principle applies to most things ... stop worrying about the stuff you can't get, and enjoy the stuff you can get

Redwing

+1

mamasue

I didn't realise how much I missed Brit TV until we went home for a couple of weeks in the winter.
In the USA, we've got 400 or so channels of nothing worth watching!!
I get my Corrie fix on the internet, that keeps me happy!

The only UK food I really miss is real bread, instead of the stuff here that tastes more like cake!
Ohhh... and I'd kill for some real chocolate, instead of the Hershey crap!!

Kaffy Mintcake

Side note - for those of you with a Fresh Market nearby, try the "Irish Bangers". We thought they were fantastic, full of flavor and perfect for a hearty breakfast.

For bread, skip the supermarket and go to the bakery instead.

SalopianFunk

TV easily. As much as I sometimes crave for Walker's Cheese and Onion and donner meat, British food is hardly at the pinnacle of culinary greatness and growing up in Telford, it's not like there were many decent restaurants in proximity.

So happy BBC America is showing Outnumbered and Friday Night Dinner and shown The Inbetweeners, but I do miss shows like Never Mind the Buzzcocks, QI, HIGNFY and the other types of game shows that just don't compare Stateside. Good comedies in general are tough to find, especially since Scrubs got cancelled, but the quality of some of the dramas does make up for it to an extent.

tonrob

keaki80

My thoughts exactly...never feeling I belong. It's like I'm on one long, lonely holiday.

Sally Redux

Just wanted to add to the list of people feeling like that.

SultanOfSwing

There's rather a few of us, isn't there?

Egg and Cress

Not to steal your thunder, and not trying to go seriously off topic, may I say a word or two on the subject of the feeling of “not belonging”? I’ll wager there are many American spouses of Brits who no longer feel they “belong” in their own country. Simply by virtue of our connection to you folks and the eye-opening information we get from you and the British news links, we’ve become strangers in our own country. I know I am now such a stranger. Even our foods, by comparison, are unsatisfactory simply because grocery shopping here is an exercise in futility if we want variety and quality.

SultanOfSwing

I can actually understand that. Given that the USA has been systematically screwed up by 10 years of severly inept governments - and I don't care who I piss off - while I'm no Republican I think Obama sucks just as bad as Bush, just in a different way. I'm not surprised the (and there's no nice way to put this) smarter, non 'flag waving my country right or wrong' brigade Americans are feeling rather disenfranchised.

I'll tell you this, in my ignorance, when I agreed to come live here with my fiancee, I thought I was moving to the USA of the late 90s - and I think this is why I am disappointed. What was once a truly great country has been reduced to a parody of itself and I have to say, if I was Bill Clinton I'd be right pissed off at the moment.

This is, of course, my perception as one who was once an observer from the outside, perhaps you weren't quite heading that direction . Good point though, well made.

keaki80

I never really took too much notice of American politics, but Bill Clinton seemed to be a truly good President and did good for this country. The little black dress shenanigans aside, it's a pity someone of his ilk couldn't run. My American husband is disillusioned with all the politics and political "leaders".

This is now totally off subject - and for the original poster, I do actually miss a lot of the food. I am a vegetarian, here it is as if I was asking for the moon sometimes, with veggies on offer being broccoli or squash. You can find vegetarian places to eat, but they are either Asian, Mexican or Italian restaurants - I miss being able to nip in a pub and get a list of veggie meals to choose from.
The food I miss, bread, cheddar cheese, Bisto gravy granules, Quavers, /tunnocks teacakes and of course, the chocolate.

SultanOfSwing

That was kind of what I meant - when Clinton was president, you didn't have to take notice of American politics, because what he did made sense. Who cares if he dipped his wick, show me a world leader who hasn't! Kennedy did it a lot and he is (rightly) regarded as one of the great American leaders.

Once Bush-tard II took over, that was the end of the USA deserving to have a place among the world's superpowers. That anti-science, backwards thinking, warmongering fundie cnut pissed this place away over eight years, and now Mr O, the posturing self important twat that he is, has - instead of turning it around as he promised, has continued the decline. As long as his smug face is on the TV and that annoying voice is waffling on, he couldn't care less if China is waiting at the wings to slip one in.

I never did like politics, but moving here has really made me sickened by it. I might actually like living here if we had a Kennedy/Clinton style true progressive take over, but sadly I don't think they exist anymore

Egg and Cress

You echo my thoughts and feelings perfectly. Bravo!