Things you will miss about America when you are...

[NetWareHead]

abroad.

Here is my list:

1. Strong water pressure.
2. Sit down toilet.
3. Interstate system.
4. Free refill soda at fast food joins and large portions (no go in Asia).
5. 24 hours stores and restaurants.
6. Large groceries with fully stocked goods and good prices (you do not want to know the cost of living in Australia).
7. Taste of soda (Coke in Asia and Australia are not as good, no peppy).

I've been to Singapore and some rural villages in Malaysia.

1. Water pressure is fine. I took showers, filled my glass with water etc... and had no complaints.

2. You will find sit down toilets if you frequent more modern places. But if you are going to places where the squat toilet is prevalent then you should learn how to use them. I actually like the squat toilet. Its far easier to eliminate and you dont actually sit down on anything. Only downside is sometimes you have to remove your pants to be able to squat entirely and make sure the wallet in your back pocket doesn't fall in the toilet. I'd say the lack of toilet paper is more unsettling than a squat toilet. I refuse to use the communal ass washing hose or the communal bucket of water near the toilet. Bring your own TP if you go to asia.

3. Both countries had an interstate highway system as well as far better developed systems of mass transportation (train, subway and light rail)

4. I dont care for soda much so no free refill is a good thing. Medium sized portion are another plus. There are way more obese people in USA than in Singapore and Malaysia so make your connection. Besides, even when ordering takeout or dining at a restaurant I never felt hungry due to small portion size. Actually I felt like I ate quite well.

5. Cities and medium sized town have 24 hour convenience stores. Rural villages and small town, everything closes up by 7 or 8.

6. Right on this one. I didn't see any huge walmart sized supermarket chains where you can get everything from groceries to tires to clothing under one roof. You will have to visit multiple stores sometimes to get everything in your shopping list. I kind aliked how food seemed fresher in comparison to USA and not much in terms of processed food. As far as cost of living, I felt Singapore was expensive. But in Malaysia, I felt like I could live like a King. Everythign was cheap cheap cheap for me as a tourist.

7. Soda was fine to me. Getting beer in a Muslim country was sometimes hard but it could be found.

 

[norseamd]

24 hour Wal-Mart type stores

why would you miss walmart

 

[Mai72]

what the fuck is with fruit in japan

the need some of the fucking wonderful thai floating markets

all the food there looks so fresh and so amazingly good

I loved the floating market.

I'm going back to Thailand!

 

[poofyhairguy]

why would you miss walmart

You need something random in the middle of the night that a convenience store won't have. Like clothing, real food, or (most likely in my case) adaptors and wires.

 

[norseamd]

You need something random in the middle of the night that a convenience store won't have. Like clothing, real food, or (most likely in my case) adaptors and wires.

this would include target and sears?

 

[poofyhairguy]

this would include target and sears?

I don't think I have ever seen a 24 hour Target or Sears so no technically.

What I miss is not the store "Wal-Mart" but the fact at 2 in the morning I can replace my wardrobe, buy camping equipment, get an HDMI cable or iPhone charger for a not rape price, get some fruit or vegetables, etc.

I miss the convenience of buying what I need when I need it.

On a normal basis I never shop at Wal-Mart, but when you have some sort of crises it is nice to deal with it THEN instead of waiting until the next day.

 

[Midwayman]

I've been so many places all over the globe and everything on that list happen, but by far the most universal thing is food service. The US has the best wait staff at table service restaurants. You get used to it, but having to flag down the server if they don't outright ignore you is normal most places.

 

[ElFenix]

-Cold Beer

-Iced Tea with the aforementioned refills

-24 hour Wal-Mart type stores

damn right. spain is hot as shit and they've only barely figured out iced tea. but even then it's in some tiny coffee cup and don't dare ask for a refill.

 

[DT4K]

The one thing I missed when I was in Italy was being able to buy whatever you want whenever you want.
I was there for work and by the time I was done working at 7pm each day, everything was closed except for a couple of larger grocery stores that stayed open until 8pm.

 

[Train]

American soft drinks are by and large more sugar, more carbonation, and more caffeine than all foreign versions. I noticed this in the middle east.

A lot of flavors in general seem more mild. Even "chocolate ice cream" is a much milder flavor than what you would typically find here.

Even cigarettes are more mild (and with less nicotine)

For some reason everything is taken to the extreme in the USA

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Wife and I went to New Hampshire. As we drove through towns at 9pm, there wasn't even the glow of televisions coming from windows in the houses. We finally found an open gas station at an exit along the interstate. They were about to close. I asked the girl if there was a Denny's around or some other restaurant that was still open. She looked at me like I was from Mars. I tried to explain; she had never heard of such a thing as restaurants that were open 24 hours. Tried to get a hotel room around 11. "Sorry, we're closed." - that was at a Holiday Inn.

I assume you were nowhere near Nashua, NH

 

[GrumpyMan]

The 2 first things always asked of me when my buds come back from overseas trips are a glass of milk and a double meat hamburger, not in that order.

 

[poofyhairguy]

For some reason everything is taken to the extreme in the USA

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I lived in Rome for 6 months.

Things I missed:
A strong power grid.
Reliable internet.
A clothes dryer.
Stores/markets that are open past 8pm.
Stores/markets that are open on Sunday.
Ethnic restaurants. Not much variety in Italy so if you ever have a craving for something else, too bad.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Ice

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Ice

I totally forgot about that. Ice was very hard to come by in Rome.

 

[bononos]

Some travel guides for Latin America say that toilets don't have strong flushes (weak pressure) and sometimes toilet paper has to be thrown into a bin or it will clog up the toilet.

 

[John Connor]

I lived in a foreign country once. It was called Utah for a year. LOL On Sunday EVERYTHING is shut down. And good luck finding alcohol!

 

[Pocatello]

Fake Mexican food.

 

[SSSnail]

I don't travel abroad like a peasant, so I don't miss anything.

 

[Ns1]

- reliably clean water: brushing your teeth with bottled water sucks
- ice cubes
- western style toilets
- street sweepers
- 2 or 3 ply toilet paper that's soft like a baby's ass

 

[pmv]

Well, going in the other direction (not being American), I do have to agree about (1). UK plumbing is rubbish. So tired of either feeble dribbles of water or temperatures that alternate between scalding cold and freezing hot (due to the mismatched water pressure that seems to be the norm here).

I don't know if its the case everywhere in the US, but when I've been there the showers were great. I'll give you that one.

The rest of the OP's list are either not unique to the US or not something the rest of the world considers a good thing anyway (Americans drink far too much soda - in my opinion drinking any of it is too much - and its full of HFCS which is even worse than the sucrose-based type you tend to get elsewhere).

American food is great, but personally I think the portions are too _big_. I know you can just not eat it all, but that's not what happens for most people, is it?

 

[DigDog]

i miss everything about america and i'm not even from there

 

[manimal]

Last time I was abroad I missed my wife and kids.


also missed cheap gas and cheap liquor at bars. Went to a dance club with some friends and the bartender looked at us like we were crazy ordering beer and shots. At the end of the night one of the bouncers came over and insisted on driving us home and took us to his moms house for breakfast after we ended up partying till the next day. We showed those Italians how to party that night.He still emails me with the name my crazy american brother..and I am italian too which makes it even funnier just happen to live in states..

 

[rudder]

People who have a basic understanding of universal traffic laws. I remember in the Philippines where the two lane superhighway would sometimes only go in one direction.