- It probably should go without saying, but the people. I won't list everyone, but I've made some wonderful friends and I will miss them when I'm gone, particularly my roommate.
- Bella the cat. She's been a great furry companion albeit crazy like a cat. ;)
- The fresh fruits and vegetables are already clean -- and they don't charge more for it either.
- The Highlands. Absolutely breathtaking and like nothing else I've ever seen.
- Chips (fries to you, Americans). They are thick and amazing doused in vinegar. (Or smothered in gravy or curry sauce.)
- Public transit.*
- Indian food. Just standard take away here, no need to search high and low. You can even get Chicken Tikka Masala at any pub.
- Ginger beer. I don't want it all the time, but it's a great flavor. It's alcoholic and nothing like ginger ale.
- Alcohol on campus. All the seminars and events entice us with free wine. It's very nice.
- Having seminars and events. We don't have much available at CMU (but I hear that's changing, so fingers crossed).
- That pubs have such great character. The ones I will miss most are The Lee, Bappity Bowster,The Counting House, Curler's Rest, and Hillhead Bookclub.
- Tesco. It's like having Meijer and Target combined all with Meijer prices.
- Scones with clotted cream and jam.
- Cornish cream.
- The fact that it's green year round.
- Great museums all for free.
- Cadbury.
- That TV shows feature realistic people. Not everyone on TV looks like they belong in a J.Crew ad or something. American TV has gotten so bad with the only pretty people thing that it's almost difficult to watch anymore.
- Graham Norton. Hilarious talk show host.
- Not dealing with the hyper-stress environment created by info-tainment 'news'. You don't realize how much it permeates every day life even if you avoid watching it. We, Americans, live in a really stressful environment and you don't realize it until you step out of it. I will miss being able to be outside of that. It's either factual news or tabloids here and it's not confusing which is which.
- Chip and pin cards.
- Cheap, delicious bakery bread. (Ours back home is so overpriced.)
Things I can't wait to get home to:
- My family obviously.
- Friends. Again, not naming names, but I miss my people and our socializing.
- Tesla the cat. Because she a great furry companion and she's mine. :) (She's crazy too.)
- My car. *So, yeah, while I love the options of public transit, I do miss being able to just get in my car and go when I want. But the US soooo needs trains!
- Food in no particular order: pulled pork, steak, Korean, Mexican, Wendy's cheeseburgers, avocados (You can get them here, but they cost too much), jalapenos, sour cream (it's different), Chinese food (it's different here), brewed coffee.
- Ice cream and milkshakes. They don't know how to do milkshakes here. Or ice cream.
- Peanut butter. They make it wrong and overprice it. And don't know how great it is in dessert.
- Beer. They only cater to light lager drinkers here which is okay, but it's not even the best of light lagers. I miss the variety and depth of American beer. To that end, I also miss Whichcraft our pub that specializes in Michigan craft beer.
- My clothes. I miss having a full wardrobe. Oh, and shoes. Having more than four pairs to choose from will be awesome.
- My neighborhood with all the trees and plants and so much more wide open spaces.
- Academics. Strathclyde is okay, but no one really studies US History here so I can't have the same stimulating conversations here as I can at CMU. And I only have one professor to turn to. I really feel like I'm stagnating here. It would be different if I studied something that fit this department's areas of focus.
- Regular deodorant. The affordable stuff is the spray stuff, but I'm not really a fan. Oh, and not having to ration my toothpaste. They don't sell my Crest Pro-Health Clinical Gum Protection here. I think I'm going to run out before I get home. :/ (Hey, sometimes it's the little things.)
- Tumble dryer.
No comments:
Post a Comment