Mr. F and I both had hard days yesterday, for very different reasons. I picked him up from work and we went to dinner to try to change our pace a little bit. It was extremely therapeutic to sit somewhere different from our home and talk together. As we finished our meal, the topic morphed from our days to things we miss about the States, our favorite subject when things here feel more challenging than usual. Our list went on and on. By the time we got home, we both felt better and very content. An exercise that on the surface may have made bitter towards our foreign home rather made us grateful for this time we have and the country we call home. So, please indulge me this week. Not only is Thankful Thursday happening on Friday, but the list today is devoted entirely to things these two pathetic expats miss and took for granted.
America, today I am very thankful for you.
This week we are missing.... (in no particular order)
...everyone speaking English.
...cheesy 80s music radio stations.
...the ability to flush toilet paper down the drain rather than using a bin next to the toilet.
...family.
...good drivers.
...free water at restaurants.
...free refills.
...Wal-mart.
...stores that are easy to navigate and making shopping enjoyable, rather than feeling like you're running an obstacle course.
...bags of frozen chicken breasts for $10.
...baseball.
...college football.
...being able to vote in person..
...Hulu.
...Pandora radio.
...secondhand shops. (Salvation Army, Goodwill, even Craigslist!)
...well made products.
...road trips. (You can only go so far on an island..)
...pumpkin patches.
...apple orchards.
...apple cider!
...amazon.com.
...inexpensive gas. (Yes, $4.50 a gallon sounds mighty good right now...)
...bookstores.
...parking lots/spaces.
...logical on and off ramps from the freeway.
...Slurpees.
...Jeni's ice cream.
...Mo's clam chowder.
To clarify, we really love this island. We love the family-based nature of it, how close everything is. We love the diversity of the topography, the rich cultural history, and the tzatziki. We love it here. But sometimes, we're just especially grateful of who we are and where we come from, and yesterday was one of those days.
I have been missing America a lot right now too! I can help solve a couple problems on your list if you are interested. We bought a VPN through StrongVPN and now our computer thinks we are in New York so I have HULU, Netflix and Pandora. It is $55 for a year subscription and in my opinion is completely and totally worth it! And you can buy ESPN on your computer as well. Here it is 20 euros for a month and you can record the games and watch them later. We haven't done it but we have some friend who have and they enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jenny! What service did you use for the VPN? Friends here have done it and said it cost them $70. Sadly, both are a bit out of our budget right now, otherwise we would have done it ages ago I think. Good to know about ESPN though!
DeleteI LOVE THIS POST! There are many times when I cant handle this sunshine island anymore - but usually thinking about things from London makes me worse. But I agree with many of your points, the speaking English thing, the stores being obstacles, well made products and the driving. I hope today was a better day for you! :)
ReplyDelete