What will you miss?

For those of us that are moving home soon or in the near future, or thinking about it, what will you miss over here?

For me....

1. The countryside 
2. M&S food
3. Train rides
4. The beauty of Britain (when its sunny....its glorious)
5. The newspapers
6. John Lewis
7. TV
8. Nice cozy pubs
9. Lovely villages
10. You can easily walk to places
11. You can live without a car if in a town or city if you so choose
12. When in London, the lovely taxi drivers that can get you around town without you having to give them directions
13. Public foot paths
14. Old buildings with so much history
15. Pret a Manger sandwiches for week day lunch

I am sure there are other bits that I haven't thought about, the above list is just off the top of my head.

How about you?

I will miss some of the same things you will.

1. The countryside
2. M&S (earlier, i posted in my blog how I was going to miss them!)
3. The history
4. The amazing varierty of produce
5. The local pick-your-own farm
6. Indian take away
7. Public transport
8. Butchers

I'm sure there is much more I'm gonna miss but that's what comes to mind right now.

June

Primarily, the good friends I've made.

Theatre... being able to go to the box office, pick out what seats I want and then ask when they're available, instead of asking for seat availability on a certain date.

Harrods - Food Halls, and Urban Retreat (mainly my hairdresser!)

Sunday roast at the Scarsdale pub

Heading into town aimlessly and ending up wandering through the National or National Portrait Galleries.

Surrounded by old buildings and history

Standing in the middle of Waterloo Bridge and looking in either direction

The snow!  And bundling up in my winter coats.

People interested in my accent and why I'm here

Not much other than friends and family. I have had an overindulgence in Britian and this is the reason why I will not miss it. And I never really embraced the lifestyle here, 100%.

I won't miss much either.

But I will miss...

My wonderful neighbor.
Proper scrumpy Cider.
Pie Minister.
Cheap Italian wine.
Cheap flights to Europe.
John Lewis (Same as you Jules!)

Eurovision!!!
And Terry Wogan.

Not sure when we're going back, but sometime in 2008 I think...

lazy pub afternoons on sunny sundays
the rush for a bbq when it's sunny/warm on a weekend
my friendly/nosy neighbors
having chickens, ducks and horses all around where I live
that it's commonplace to hang washing outside
my 1850's victorian semi
my english garden when it's sunny
DH's family
speeding on the motorways is not likely to result in a ticket
frozen yorkshire puddings
food from local sources - yogurt, milk, cheese, meat
butchers
being unique - and having someone notice I'm american and ask all the usual questions - something I will miss and then not miss if that makes any sense

DH and I now have it in our heads that we want to move, just a matter of employment and timing. I can't seem to stop dreaming about it though

DH and I now have it in our heads that we want to move, just a matter of employment and timing. I can't seem to stop dreaming about it though

Exciting! I hope that things keep going in the right direction for both of you!

being unique - and having someone notice I'm american and ask all the usual questions - something I will miss and then not miss if that makes any sense...

Makes total sense
I agree.

We've been back in the US for almost 2 months now and I miss:

*how green everything is
*how cool and fresh the air is (outside of London, of course) 
*hearing "hiya"
*grocery delivery
*good chocolate
*good Indian food
*fresh bread
*good cheeses
*good wines
*picking strawberries and raspberries at the orchard near our house
*the ability to cheaply travel to so many different places and the assumption that holidays are part of normal life, not a once a year prize
*the mix of languages and nationalities
*the innocence
*the feeling that because I'm American/a foreigner, I don't have to fit in and keep up with anyone

Side note:  My shopping cart came to a screeching halt when I encountered the "British foods" section at our local US grocery.  Then I saw that a box of 80 PG tips cost almost $8.00, so I kept on walking!! (I did buy a Cadbury dream bar, well worth any expense).   

Eurovision!!!
And Terry Wogan.

I really did miss that this year.
I also miss the little town we lived in.  Even though there wasn't much to do it had 3 huge parks within walking distance.
Believe it or not I kind of miss the chaos of going to Tesco every Sunday morning.  Here in Chicago we have 3 grocery stores within walking distance and they don't get nearly as crowded as the Tesco.
And until recently potato and leek soup, but I found some Heinz soup in the British section of our grocery.  So Yay!

Paul has given us until 2011, but I can already think of a few things I will miss:

NHS

Tony's the butcher...a father and son old fashioned butcher that cares about the people in our neighbourhood

My in-laws...although my FIL and MIL will by then be closer to the US than the UK in Barbados

I have been back in the US for less than two months and there are lots of things I miss already (I only lived in the UK for a year and a half).

1. M&S
2. More than just chinese or pizza delivery
3. the PYO we used to go to
4. Fenwicks (I was addicted to their kitchen section)
5. The butcher
6. Chicken tikka masala
7. the Tube (as surprising as that may seem!)

Now, if only I could have the best of both countries!

June

June - I feel for you, I will be back in the states probably by January in the new year after spending only 2.5yrs here. I am already aware that I will miss a lot (not the winter weather!) and i feel now that as great as this experience has been, that I am now ruined for life. I will never be completely and utterly content in one country, I will always miss a product/thing or person from the US or UK.

From the UK, I will miss how polite everyone is when it comes to customer service, even if they don't do a darn thing for you, they will "empathise" with your and at least apologise for cr*p service. Not all teh time, but most of the time they are really polite about it.

Then I will miss the BBC, I love having a channel without commercials (I suppose I could get HBO, not the same). And all of the really great documentaries and news shows.

And I love DH's family, they are so different from mine and I love that! Although I will be happy to see mine a little more often.

I've been back from my study abroad in Glasgow for months and have been missing loads. I honestly haven't had a day go by where I didn't think about Scotland - and it doesn't help when I go to see a movie and one of the previews is for a film about the Loch Ness monster!

- my Scottish "adopters"
- the extreme friendliness of everyone; everyone seemed so genuinely interested in helping out or answering questions
- "Ta" / "Cheers" / "Hiya"
- Saturdays: having the most delicious macaroni & cheese of my life at one pub then going to the pub down the street for a few pints of Magners
- being able to use "I'm not from here!" as an excuse, hahaha
- city life in general
- the ability to walk almost anywhere I wanted to go or just hopping on the underground
- an entire nation that shared my sense of humor
- Buchanan Street and St. Enoch
- Kelvingrove
- the vibrant greens
- having so many museums within such easy reach
- kebab shops / chippys
- Greggs!
- the nightlife
- the pace of life/education

Just... it all, really. I'm going back for New Years for two weeks (and taking along a friend who has never been) and I know I'm going to love being back, but it's for such a short time it's going to be a little depressing. Gah. I can't wait to finish school and start applying to Scottish grad schools!