What is....

Family is the big one. Followed by certain American conveniences or shopping/prices that I alternate between wishing for madly and berating myself for being so consumer oriented.

I totally agree with this, but have a really hard time thinking about going back at this point.  I am now used to the stuff that used to bother me here, and a lot of stuff that has happened in the US since I've been there makes me sick, for example, the current administration and its puppet, the American media. 

I moved over here (to London) for a job.  And I don't regret it one bit after almost 7 months.  Have I missed my family?  Some...but I did get to see them for Xmas.  I'll miss them more when I can't get to them any time soon.  I miss having very close friends, but have begun to make friends both on this board and through my hockey league...and I met a great guy through a hockey friend who I've been dating for over 4 months!! (hard to believe)  It's been worth it for my job as much as anything.  I was miserable last year at this point...hated where I worked and many of the people I worked with.  Here - I have a great bunch of administrators, have a few people I can hang out with, love the job itself.  Yup.  Much happier.

My family, while they miss me, are happy for me.  But then again I've lived away from home almost since I was 18 so they are used to it.  And friends will come to visit.  Life can't get much better!

In one way you have the best of both worlds. You are still and always an American with that cultural background but you also experience living in another culture. One of the hardest things to take at first is how unpopular the US is (much worse now then when I came over 10 years ago) but it helps you to look at your country from another perspective. Plus, frequent and easy travel to Europe expands your horizons even more.

The downside is that it is very hard to go back home again. When I first moved here, my American friend in England said I would never again be happy in either the US or the UK. I'm not sure, am pretty settled in NI and can't imagine going back to the States, but some part of me will always be an outsider I think.

That said, I would do the same way again in a heartbeat!