Thanks italyfan, I'm so glad it isn't just me :D. I got some very strange looks the next day hobbling round Ikea and crying my eyes out with the pain!

One of the joys of this forum is the different nationalities. As for me, I am a Swedish citizen but have lived in the US since 1977. I love living here, but there is still so much of Europe in my heart and soul. So I happily keep coming back. Ah, now I feel that travel bug biting again! :-)

Canadian living in Italy...happy to help out, especially with Abruzzo or Puglia queries.

I'm Portuguese.

I'm Irish after it gets dark. ((b))

Good one Budman -- but they wouldn't be caught dead with a "bud" in their hands :D

What's more interesting to me as a philosopher is what we mean by "in here" ????

hello, I am Greek and live on Myconos

I am a Finn.

Hello:

British - home in the USA for many years now. Like Rebecka I like it here very much but my heart and soul pull me constantly back for visits. Sometimes I feel like I am a little odd, not quite fitting in either place. After all these years I still get in the US "your accent where are you from" but when I am back in England I think I sometimes sound a bit American. Anyone else have this experience.

Sandy

And ALL THIS possible because we share LANGUAGE knowlege !
Vivat to English !

Here is another European!! (French....)

Scottish... living in the US since I was eleven.

Sandy, I can definitely relate to the feeling of being betwixt and between. Years ago, I was going through security at Heathrow and was questioned by an officer who couldn't seem to grasp that I had a British passport, an American accent, and an American husband with a different surname.

Unfortunately, we'd been stopped because the bread bin in our suitcase which was filled with jars of Branson pickle looked like a bomb on the x-ray. After we removed all of the dirty laundry and Crunchies he saw that it was indeed only a bread bin. The funniest thing was that he had the strongest Jamaican accent I've ever heard.

Best, Maureen

... and a Canadian, outside of Vancouver. Cheers, Linda

Sandy,

I found myself nodding as I read your post, although I like to think of myself less as odd, but more as someone who is at home on both Continents. As foreign born you and I can also appreciate and smile at the often amusing differences between Americans and Europeans. In fact, we may even have a broader and more balanced perspective!

And elina, greetings again from a half-Finn! My mother and brother just returned from a visit to Helsinki, Turku (my favorite), and Karjaa where where we used to live back in the 70s.