Ash UK/US

Someone mentioned on another thread about missing bonfire night... forth of July is just not the same

sometimes I really miss walking to my locals for a night out with the girls (lived in a village in the UK we had 5 pubs all within a max of 10 mins walk). I really miss inner city shooping... I used to love going to newcastle shopping. Downtown Grand Rapids is almost entirely offices.

And of course english chocolate I really miss (but I have that mailed over)

apart from the obivious friends and family what things make you home sick?

Ash

Bob

Yup, Guy fawks, rather weird without it last year.
The pubs too, lived right in the middle of 5 myself, just the ease of meeting mates for a drink. Everything becomes a major mission over here.

Crisps, branston pickle, the sweets....macaines microwave pizza's and chips, stupid things like that really.

Oh, and the tele, might not be as much of it,but it was certainly a lot better, and programs were more spaced out so at least things would be on all the time, rather than here, with the new season, and then nothing over the summer.
The 9pm watershed, really annoying how it's all so wet and non offensive overhere.
Being able to record a seperate channel to what your watching.

Probably a lot more, but that's all I can think of now

Pimpbot

Being totally honest, nothing makes me homesick for the U.K. Of course I miss having the face to face time with my parents, my brother and his family. But I don't pine for anything. Infact my wife(U.S.) is more interested in going back for a visit than I am.

rincewind

I miss the weather

I've always been a winter man and I miss the cold. The heat over here drives me nuts.

TimFountain

Agree on the weather, Austin has two seasons, hot and damn hot. I would love to have 4 proper seasons. Apart from that the only thing I really miss is British TV. The TV over here is just cr@p, they just manage to squeeze some programs in between the adverts. One tip is to get a Tivo or some other kind of PVR. It is a must for ad skipping. I do not watch a single piece of live TV. I am running one day behind, and skip all the ads this way.

Here's what I DON'T miss :-
Smelly, smokey, overpriced pubs (never went in them in the UK, well not since my mid 20's)
Pokey, overpriced housing.
Small parking spaces and the M4/M25 on a Monday morning
Heathrow (Needs levelling and starting again)
Mingers and munters rolling around the streets at 11:00 on a Friday night
Speed cameras, traffic calming measures etc.
Surly shop staff (ok here it is all false and they never listen to a word you are saying but at least they try to help and be friendly)
New Labour

I could go on, but happiness is a state of mind, I don't try to compare one with the other, they are different animals, and I think the trick is just to accept this and embrace the country you live in and all it offers.

- Tim

RoB1833

I still miss the usual things like the variety of crisps flavours, decent chocolate, real bacon and bread. Also watching football 4/5 times a week and easy access to a decent social life, being able to use public transport and walk places, but these things are fading with the time I've been here. I still miss the UK working conditions and sense of social justice and that will never fade.

Unusual things seem to set me off more now, the kidnapping of the British hostage in Iraq, knowing that the whole country would be supporting his plight, but not really having anyone to discuss it with...... things like that.

rincewind

I agree with that. It's easy to say that you hate the US because of such and such (and I've said it enought times myself) but it's a different country. "When in Rome" right?

I find the roads a lot less crowded (well, in rural Georgia anyway) and the people here are less in a hurry to get some where. Again, that will differ from state to state, but where I am, I love driving. It's less stressful than England.

But I am trying to get in the mind set of, well, I chose to be here with my wife, I have to deal with the cultural change. I don't have to accept them, just tolerate them.

Manc

Like Pimpbot, there is nothing of materialistic products that I miss, there always a decent substitute one can find here.

I miss my mates, going down the pub and playing pool.
I miss standing on the terraces on some windswept Division 2 ground at 3pm on a Saturday. But that's it.

Stuart James

Indian (english) curries
Black pudding
Decent music
Pubs

and............

My Dad

Stu

James Box

Why the heck are you in Georgia then? Indianapolis is just about right for me. Snow in the winter, but not crazy deep. 90F in the summer and temperate in Spring/Autumn.

rincewind

Stop it, you're making me homesick

rincewind

Wife was born and raised here and doesn't want to move. She gets cold when it drops below 65. She has to see the sun to be warm. I've been sweating to death with heat and she'll be all huddled up on the couch under a blanket

She mentioned before about how cool it would be to move to England but I think the winters would kill her

TimFountain

But that is a genetic thing.... Women are always colder than men, mine is just the same, she complains constantly about the A/C being too cold, even though it is set on 80!

NC Penguin

One major aspect of British life (although I lived in London) is being able to walk from A to B and to be able to use public transport to get there if I want to.

The first option is virtually impossible where I live and the second option is an exceedingly slow way to get from A to B and can be dangerous (if you ride the buses at night).

Also, I do not like like driving either. It's a necessary evil of American life





NC Penguin

rincewind

Yep, then 10 minutes later they're too hot