My boyfriend is from England and he misses all of the vacation time that you get - and let's not start with the bank holidays! If he didn't get the English Premier League games here, I don't know how he'd cope at all.

Oh yeah, I miss Sunday afternoon football games on TV. I used to be a Cowboys fan and I don't know anything about them anymore.

I'm back now, but I missed the BBC and my husband had a sudden craving for kippers one day. We ended up having to get canned ones.

20 ounce 7-11 coffee for long commutes.

While living in Europe I miss big thick Sunday newspapers and, believe it or not, after a year or so, Arby's roast beef. Now I've returned to the States and miss British comedies, outdoor cafes, and the slower pace of life. (I HATE being hustled out of a restaurant when I'm sitting there talking to friends!! And why do I have to get my second course when I haven't even finished my first?)

I'll have to speak for my husband. He misses having his buddies around to talk football with. He also is frustrated with how bad Americans are at soccer, and while he plays on a team with mainly Irish and English, they still have to play against Americans. One benefit, though, is that he can actually watch more football here than he would in Ireland and the U.K. because of the satellite service here.

He misses just meeting up with people at the pub, instead of having to arrange things 2 weeks ahead of time here.

Kim, Don't you have an English or Irish pub in your city/town? My boyfriend always goes to the George and Dragon here in Seattle and never has to arrange to meet anyone as they're always there! It's just like one back home.

There are a lot of Irish pubs in our city, but they certainly are not just like the ones back in Ireland. However, they are better than the standard American bars.

I've been thinking about this question ever since it was posted. The things I miss? (1) I miss a variety of cuisines (Tex-Mex, Thai, Chinese), but then, I have the freshest vegetables and meat one can imagine, and I am healthier than I have ever been. (2) I miss vegging out in front of television after a long day at work; it's just too difficult to always be translating, but I read, write and exercise more than ever. (3) I miss having to adjust my schedule around the stores' opening and closing times, rather than their adjusting to my schedule, but I sure don't miss the ubiquitous malls and the same stores from coast to coast. (4) I miss good ol' American sales; no qualifiers on this one. (5) I miss being able to conduct everyday transactions without having to look a word up and think what I am going to say before conducting business. (6) Finally, I really miss being in a culture where I am considered relatively thin, as opposed to being in one surrounded 24/7 by gorgeous Italian women.

Fabulous thread, I love it. Keep 'em coming. This topic is sooo fascinating to me. In the AJC, they had articles about the "Marshall scholars" from the Atlanta area living in the UK....and what they missed while there: non BSE red meat,baseball, southern accents, and finally "the ease of living in America" according to one of the scolars. FYI, if you are interested read about it at www.acu.ac.uk/~marshall/marshal.html
Judy

I am an American who lives in the US. Almost every summer I do a home exchange in Europe. The things I miss while "living" in my home exchange homes are:

1. Large American washing machines and electric dryers.

2. Having a dryer at all.

3. Having central heating that actually works.

4. Having air conditioning at all.

5. Access to the freshest produce even in the off season.

6. American steaks.

7. Homes connected to a sewer system as opposed to dealing with a septic tank.

8. Circuit breakers as opposed to a fuse box.

9. Understanding all the nuances--and jokes--in a film.

10. The price of gasoline.

11. The lower taxes.

As a Brit living in the US i miss 'proper' bacon with actual meat in it and not just fat, Cadbury's chocolate and organic food!

As a long-ago transplanted finn in Hawaii, I miss the wonderful dairy products and breads of my birth country, berries in season, wild mushrooms, and of course, my cousins. I also miss the finnish conservation ethic and the country's support of classical music and art. Lastly, I miss saunas with a nice cold beer afterwards.

While living in Greece a few years ago, what I missed from the U.S was strong water pressure, air conditioning, prime rib (U.S.D.A) inspected and fashionable shoes and clothes (I love to shop). Now that I'm back home, what I miss about Greece is the scenery, the beautiful wildflowers that grew in my back yard, the beaches but, most of all the wonderful people that I met there especially, "him".

I'm American living in England. Having been away three years now, the thing missed most is convenience. Being able to go to the grocery store at 5.30pm on Sunday, or the post office after 5. There are a few small things I miss too, plain old Cheerios in the yellow box, instead of the sugar laden ones sold here and Reese's Peanut Butter cups when I'm looking for a small treat. The slower paced lifestyle is nicer, as well as being able to walk in our town as opposed to having to drive everywhere like in the states. The access to incredible travel is the number one benefit to living abroad. A weekend get away is usually somewhere fantastic that people in the states plan months or years to go to.

When I lived in Ireland, I missed:

Decent sizes of products at the grocery store;
Dryers that could handle more than one sweatshirt at a time;
Not having chips served with every single meal at a restaurant (such as lasagna and chips, fajitas and chips, etc.);
The sun;
Warm weather;
Inexpensive Levis and sneakers;
Inexpensive CDs;
Better restaurant selection (the good restaurants in Ireland match up very well to the good restaurants in the U.S., but there just aren't as many of them);
Snowplows;
Screens on windows;
Big refrigerators;
Volleyball;
Good showers;
Recent movies.

Now that I'm back here in the U.S., I miss:

Pubs (you can actually here yourself think in them, and have a conversation);
The beer;
Wonderful potatoes and bread;
My much better social life (people just don't go out as much here--it seems like it's more of an effort to enjoy life);
Being able to get out into the gorgeous countryside from the city in about 15 minutes (this was in Belfast--not Dublin!);
No snakes! (makes hiking wonderful);
Long summer nights;
The few days when the weather crept above 60F;
The humor;
How genuine people are.

After living in Europe (NL and CH) for over two years I find that like other Posters I miss thick Sunday Newspapers, more unrestrictive shopping hours so that I can window shop on rainy dreary Sundays(a love-hate relationship actually), college football games, and my favorite American television sit-coms.

Things I don't miss: terrible or non-existant public transportation, Highly engineered and overly "fake plasticy" looking tasteless fruits and vegetables and lack of organic choices, Hormone injected meat and dairy products (strange that some people are more concerned with BSE!), bland bread and cheeses, SUV's, strip malls and "hamburger rows", American Professional Sports, only 2-3 week a year vacation time, the lack of hiking trails and parks and more accessible public spaces, The keeping up with the Joneses mentality that exists.

American living in Zurich for the last 2 years. It is sort of a love hate thing - I love being able to ski within an hour, 5 weeks vacation (and pressure to take it!), going, like one poster said, to places on the weekend that most Americans plan 6 months for, being able to drive to 4 other countries within about 2 hours. On the flip side, I miss convenient shopping hours -especially Sunday shopping, I hate that sales only happen here twice a year, everything is ridiculously expensive (except champange, oddly enough) and the Swiss are very "guarded" in making friends with foreigners. (This is not exactly welcome wagon territory). Most of all I miss my friends I guess - Americans are really some of the most outgoing people on the planet (for better or for worse). Oh!! And a good USDA Angus beef filet....what a dream!

Like everyone else I miss convenient shopping hours. I think someone else mentioned this, but I miss fresh tasting skim milk. The stuff here is sold warm and in a carton. After you open it you can't seal it back up, and it tastes funny. I also miss being able to communicate effectively.

I'm living in the US but from Ireland and I really miss crisps (potato chips), Cadburys chocolate (and not the stuff made by Hersheys), Irish soup, and of course the pubs. There's nothing like going for a few quiet pints mid week to catch up with your friends. I also miss the lifestyle--you work to live over there, and not live to work.

Definitely 24 hours baby...why can't I get Famous Amos Cookies and a Coke at 3am in Belgium?

MEXICAN FOOD. And not those crappy taco shells they sell at Sainbury's either.

So it seems if we Europeans open some 24-hour shops selling American (fast)food you guys are all happy!

Europe has better, cleaner, and prettier prostitutes(Especially Amsterdam). Not like the dirty hags that walk the streets of New York, LA, Detroit, Washington DC, and Miami.

My best friend lived in Oxford for a time and she said that she missed the box stores like Walmart, where you could just go and quickly purchase something like a shower curtain if you needed it.

top

When I lived in England, I missed:

Sunday NYTimes in print
real bagels (not "beigels" like in England)
cold beer
non-PAL VCRs
inexpensive dry cleaning
dollar bills (as opposed to heavy pound coins)


Back in the States, I miss:
ease of travel through Europe
clean subway cars
the cool way the phone rings
football fans singing in unison at a match
pollen-free spring!

I really don't understand when people talk about the "warm" beer in England. It's not warm! Maybe it was back in 1943, but it is not warm. I'm an American married to a Brit, and have lived in both countries. The beer temperature is the SAME!!! Of course, trying to get more than one ice cube with a mixed drink will take an act of God, but that's another topic.

While living in Europe what I missed
ROUND DOORKNOBS

I MISS SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY!!

As an american living in paris, I miss being able to strike up a conversation with a total stranger in the grocery store or having a pleasant conversation with the bank teller. When I'm on the metro, I'm like...if we were in the US, this place would be so loud you wouldn't be able to hear yourself talk.
Other things I miss:
1. Mountain Dew
2. Outback Steakhouse
3. Breugger's bagels
4. Gallons of Tropicana Orange Juice
5. Wrightsville Beach(Baja Grill)
6. Gold's Gym
7. Family Gatherings with good food!!

What I will miss when I leave paris:
1. strolling
2. reading in Luxembourg Gardens
3. traveling to Africa for a weekend
4. the view out my apartment window
5. chapel bells

when I lived in the US (NYC &LA) I missed:

Proper bacon
English Pork Pies
Twiglets
Generally, food that tasted of what it was supposed to.
Our big Sunday Papers (although you could get them on monday - sort of misses the point)
British telly, not just the stuff on PBS
Radio 4
Football!!!!!
Cricket!!!!
being able to walk to places.
Beer
Pubs
the spontineity of male realtionships, ie not having to book an appointment to have a drink with a pal.


And in reverse

Easy Cheese in a can!
big flats etc
American ladies (the accent certainly helped)
The general "can do" feeling of the place.
32 oz stakes (tasteless but big)

Hey Sjoerd -
It is well established based on your previous posts how much you irrationally despise AMericans - so why don't you just shut up and let this perfectly innocent post continue without it turning into an American bashing fiasco.

Ralph

You seem to be the one doing the bashing by being so offensively defensive.
Every poster mentioned missing 24 hr American fast food, and sjoerd made a funny comment about keeping them happy. You PRESUMED he was being sarcastic and anti-American.

Now you will probably tell me to Love it or leave it , right?

I'm on Ralph's side on this one (and I'm not an American). Everyone in this forum was tooling along nicely, explaining what they missed, and along comes that idiot Sjoerd to criticize American choices -- note that Sjoerd didn't answer the original question.
And please note that not everyone said they missed 24-hour shopping in the US, nor did they place it at the top of their list.
Summary: Sjoerd is a fool.

I am an American and I lived in Holland for 6 months while i studied. I had to ride a bike to the grocery store and i missed being able to just buy big 2 liter bottles of Pepsi and load them into the car. It really sucks having to carry your groceries back home via bicycle (i put them all in a big backpack) and then climb the 3 flights of narrow, circular stairs.

Also, although I had access to NBC, I am a Florida Gator and wanted to watch some of my college's football games. Well, NBC had some kind of contract and in Europe the only college games that you could see were Notre Dame. I would have had to travel to Amsterdam to watch the games via satellite. The local Irish pub in Leiden (my town) did show professional american football, but since the pub closed at 11pm and the time difference, i was never able to watch more than the 1st half of the football game. Also, if there was ever a conflict between an American football game and any type of Soccer game, you can imiagine which one won out!

I missed the free refills and receiving ice in my sodas. Also, the only type of spaghetti sauce available in jars (in many areas) was crushed tomatoes (ragu and prego type sauces were not always available).

I missed being able to make a local phone call and talk forever for free! In Holland I had to pay for each 10 seconds, and the further the distance, the more expensive it was (even local calls).

In America, I missed getting beer at the movie theatres.

I've been in the US since 1990 (originally from Ireland), and there's a lot less that I miss now than when I first arrived. With the advent of the Internet, it's so much easier to keep in touch, both with individuals and what's going on in the news and sports. With satellite TV, I get to watch 2, sometimes 3, England Premiership matches a weekend, which is more than I would get to at home. Phone rates have dropped dramatically. It used to cost me around 50 cents per minute to call home. Now I pay about 9 cents. And I basically can get any of the food from home here, as there are a couple of stores in my city that sell it. Guiness in the U.S. has also vastly improved since 1990. It's now nearly, but not quite, as good in many bars here as it is at home in Ireland.

That said, I still do miss my family and friends, and just popping down to the pub for a couple of drinks during the week. And I only get to about 3 live Premiership matches a year now. Even though I love living in America, I am looking forward to retiring back home in about 15 years. This way, I think I get the best of both worlds: spend my prime earning years in the country where there is the most opportunity and earning potential, and retire to the country where I can relax in the nice, easy pace of life.

After 17 years in the US, I still miss decent bread, rolls, and pastries. No super-fancy bakery/gourmet store in the DC area can accomplish what an average corner bakery can accomplish in Germany. Wonder why?

What's all this stuff about missing food? Nah Nah, I missed twinkies and steaks and all that...I guess we really are a fast food nation. Maybe I wasn't in Europe long enough, but I don't see how you could miss all the junk food..
I would expect to miss things like friends or warm weather, but I can't believe how people are spoiled by modern convenience, based on the postings here.