It's weird when you live in a foreign country what things you miss about American culture...what's yours?

[AndrewR]

I miss good American delivery pizza like Pizza Hut or Papa John's. The closest I've come to it since leaving the States in May is a place called The Pizza Club just outside of Osan AB, Republic of Korea. Unfortunately, back in Okinawa, there's nothing comparable, and I'm relegated to either crap pizza or frozen pizza (Freschetta is pretty good though).

I also miss street signs and street names. Anyone who's been in Korea or Japan will understand that!

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

I can relate. Forntaely we have Pizza Hut, Dominos, McDonalds, etc.. in India as well as al the same clothing stores (Dockers, Ralhp Laruen, Tommy, Levis, etc..)

However I can relate to the street signs and roads! Its a wonder how they ever get to the right place!

 

[yobarman]

black people.



haha no sh¡t, there's none in eastern europe.

One thing I don't miss is all the fat ass people and ugly ghetto girls. I can't to visit europe this summer, it's gonna be a blast. I'll miss america, but not that much.

 

[LordJezo]

I lived in the Netherlands for four years about 10 years ago and what I missed most was the food.

When I was there we had to go to special import stores to get American things.. when we would come back during breaks we would stockpile things like candy and such.

Couldnt get good hot dogs over there either.



I wonder what it is like now though...

 

[apoppin]

I lived in Ireland for 3 years and didn't miss anything . . . I enjoyed it so much. However, it's nice to be "home". Ditto a few months in S. Brazil (although I missed speaking English).

For me, the "adventure" of another culture completely compensated for the "convenience".

Well, maybe the surf (water temps waaay too cold in Ireland - however, great surf in Brazil).

 

[burnedout]

The little conveniences we take for granted in the states were missed while I was over in Europe. For example, stores open until 9 PM during the week and on Sunday.

Having a telephone connected to an apartment in a reasonable amount of time was another annoyance. The Bundespost really sucked during the 80s and 90s. I've heard its better now. Telekom runs the show.

Other than that, living overseas was just another cool and enjoyable experience in the wonderful game of life.

 

[pyonir]

Yeah, I'll agree with the stores not open at 9pm. Hell you couldn't find hardly anywhere to eat after 5pm in some areas i was in, in England and Ireland.

That and no Mt Dew. that sucked.

 

[radiocore]

I was in London for a bit, and I had missed driving a little bit. But now that I'm back...I miss the mass transit system there. Driving is too much of a hassle here in CT. I loved the Tube.

 

[poopaskoopa]

Originally posted by: AndrewR
I miss good American delivery pizza like Pizza Hut or Papa John's. The closest I've come to it since leaving the States in May is a place called The Pizza Club just outside of Osan AB, Republic of Korea. Unfortunately, back in Okinawa, there's nothing comparable, and I'm relegated to either crap pizza or frozen pizza (Freschetta is pretty good though).

I also miss street signs and street names. Anyone who's been in Korea or Japan will understand that!

I missed parking space, and space in general. I miss the food now.

 

[SinnerWolf]

milk, from cows at least
Cereal!! if you do find it, it's $15 for a regular sized box

personal space/bubble. I love other cultures, but if you're not on my good side or a stranger, the comfort zone for me is well beyond the one foot standard or less in most countries

coke, dr pepper, coffees, even cigs are all drastically different overseas

 

[dullard]

I worked in Germany for a while. I worked from 8 to 5. Unfortunately those were the only hours that most stores were open. So shopping was annoying. It is odd, but two things I missed most were foam pillows and macaroni and cheese. Sure they have things similar to mac and cheese, but without any Kraft products it just isn't the same (Kraft also makes Velveta mac and cheese if I'm not mistaken). They had pizza there, but I always laughed. The had one brand that sold "American style" pizza. What was on this American style? Corn of course. Honestly, I've never seen any American use corn on their pizza. However a pepperoni topping just isn't easilly found there. If I liked hamburgers more, then I would have definately missed having beef patties (they use pork patties). Heck just ground hamburger was hard to find at times (took me about 6 weeks to find one grocery store that sold it on occasion).

 

[ThePresence]

I lived in Israel for a few years, I missed Dr. Pepper. I dashed over to the soda machine in the airport when I got back here, people looked at me strangely.

 

[AreaCode707]

I'd be interested to know what people who are from other countries miss when they come to the US.

 

[aphex]

I miss having food that is understandable by name.

Just today i ordered a salmon & tuna sandwich without knowing what the hell i was getting. BLUGH. BTW, theres a mcdonalds on every corner here in the Netherlands. There is also a burger king and a KFC if mcd's isnt your style.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

I don't miss anything. Although, since I still live here, I hate much of what's going on.

nik

 

[fluxquantum]

i lived in thailand for a couple years and i really missed having seasons. other than that i loved living there.

 

[Slacker]

aphexII, what do they call a quarter pounder over there?

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: HotChic
I'd be interested to know what people who are from other countries miss when they come to the US.

Beer!

 

[swifty3]

Cheddar Cheese!

 

[MSantiago]

TV and Internet access.

I love cable and satellite TV! It's just not the same in other countries. Internet access is also a pain. Unless you're going to go live in Great Britain, Canada, South Korea or some other highly connected country, your best access will probably be dial-up that's not unlimited.

 

[Jugernot]

Homogenized milk.... for the life of me I couldn't find any on the german economy when I lived there.... I can't drink the stuff direct from a cow tit.

 

[FrancesBeansRevenge]

Well, I don't miss pizza because the Italian pizza places here in Melbourne (Oz) absolutely KILL any of the American 'chain' delivery places (I've eaten from Papa Johns to Little Ceasers and eveything in between).

I thought I liked pizza until I moved here and realised I had been eating a poor imitation. Now I LOVE pizza.

As for what I miss.. well two main things have been said:

Black people: I grew up with black folks and generally love the culture... of which there is NONE here.
I know it sounds weird to miss a race of people.
Oh and my walk has returned to a white guy, no rythym walk since I left my hood.

American TV: Goddamn I miss the glitz of American TV. Yes, its disgusting and over the top but its ours and I love it.

 

[Moonbeam]

Mostly I missed the sense of mastery over my environment, the sense of belonging, of fitting in, of knowing the rules of the game, of language, of self confidence. It's unpleasant to discover that you are just a clueless twit, another ignorant fool American. I suppose it's possible to avoid that if you're surrounded by other Americans like on a tour, but it's different when you travel alone.

You can consider your own only that which you take with you after a ship wreak.

 

[thawolfman]

Originally posted by: radiocore
Driving is too much of a hassle here in CT.

You got that right man. 84 is horrible :|

 

[AndrewR]

Don't get me wrong -- I love living in overseas. I spent a year living in Europe back in the early '90s and had a blast. Now we're in Japan for three years (though with the base nearby, it's a little different than living as a student).

Having a telephone connected to an apartment in a reasonable amount of time was another annoyance.

I'm glad that we're not moving over here by ourselves -- phone lines (not the phones, you buy the line) cost in excess of $400! Crazy system they have here. I'm also not a huge fan of the per minute charges for local calls. Even though they are low, it's still annoying.

really missed having seasons

I think that's going to be an issue for us, too. Of course, I can probably find some way to take a quick trip to Alaska to cure that longing really fast.

American TV: Goddamn I miss the glitz of American TV. Yes, its disgusting and over the top but its ours and I love it.

The only thing I miss in that regard is HBO. I said for years that I would never pay extra for a channel like that, but when they started airing ads for Band of Brothers last year, I signed up. My wife and I were both surprised at how good the programming is and became fans of multiple shows including the Sopranos. I also was very impressed with their movie productions such as Band of Brothers but also a great many others. Now, I have to sit and watch this crazy Japanese stuff, though we have discovered a new game of trying to figure out what a TV show is about when we can't even remotely understand the spoken language or the writing (we're trying to learn, but it isn't easy!).