The things I've missed

[Crimpet]

I've been living in Turkey for a little over 2 years now, and we just rescently found out we'll be able to go back to the USA soon.

In these past two years I have missed so many foods, and things available in the USA which were either hard to find here, or much too expensive to buy here. In my efforts of weight loss I often felt discouraged and would give up because I felt like it was even more of a challenge because I lacked so many of the things I know are readily available in the USA, which made my last weight loss efforts successful. So, here is my list! This is to remind me of why I loved how easily accessible things are in the USA. Some of these also have nothing to do with dieting or weight loss but I just miss them soooo desperately!!

1) Stepper- You have to import them here
2) Whey protien- SUPER expensive here, and shipping is too
3) Hormone creams lol You can't buy ANY medicines without a prescription other than aspirin and a basic vitamin.
4) FİSH!!!!! -It's SOOO expensive here! I eat it maybe 4 times a year, but in the USA I ate it almost every other day
5) Black olives - they taste like green olives here
6) Gluten Free anygthing- not available
7) Sugar free- so hard to find
8) Diet, low fat, fat free- hard to find
9) Kefir - though it comes from here, it's hard for me to find it easily
10) Quinoa- can't find it
11) Beef- I don't eat it much in the USA, but it's so expensive here that I ate it even less than the USA. I miss lean cut red meat
12) Turkey- I mean the big ole Thanksgiving Turkey lol. Not Turkey hotdogs or salami like here
13) Normal toilets- I'm tired of wondering if a public or private toilet has a closet toilet-This has caused severe problems for me.
14) Drinking a giant glass of milk with my Tuna sandwiches- Everyone freaks out here if you have fish and milk in the same day
15) Not having to eat Bread all the time! Bread is EVERYWHERE here, and everyone expects you to eat it! Very hard when I'm not suppose to eat it
16) Olive Oil, Grapeseed Oil, and Coconut Oil- All are SOO expensive here
17) Walmart!!!! I MİSS WALMART!! LOL
18) Having a Car- I get motion sickness every time we have to take the public bus here- people drive a little wild
19) Clothes made for plus size women- Clothes are sooo tiny here, and it's been torture finding even a size 14-16 pant size. Bigger women wear elastic waist clothes, but I can't even find those.
20) Last but not least- My own apartment. We live together with my husbands parents, so there's minimal privacy. I feel like a 12 year old, so I miss having my own house rules, my own way of cleaning, and not having to be nagged if my room is a little sloppy (my MIL does that still)
21) Flipflops-husband and his mom are kinda wierd about them
22) wearing white when I want to- they stick to the summer white-winter no white thing

YAY FOR RETURNİNG TO THE USA!!! My husband has never stepped foot out of his own country, and never been away from his parents for more than a week so it'll be a totally new experience for him..He doesn't understand why I talk about home so much...

Anything you ever had to live without that you miss??

[almeeker]

When I moved away to college I missed having a free washer and dryer, a car to drive and my dog (and my family too, but don't tell them that). We went on a trip to England for 2 weeks and I came home addicted to afternoon cream tea, I still miss crumpets, clotted cream and good English tea. The English muffins and Lipton that you can get here in the US are not the same thing. It's been winter here in Michigan for so long that I miss the sun and wearing shorts and flip flops. And when my kids go away overnight I miss them.

[lastri]

I miss to have breakfast ready just steps away from my house. Food is the only thing I miss from my country. More than my mom LOL. B/c I can talk to my mom over the phone, but I can't taste food over the phone. I will go back in Jun. Can't wait to eat everything on the street.
Mai

[taubele]

I moved from the Boston area to the New York area for five years, moved around within NY, and now live in FL. Not a huge move, but you DO miss some cultural things from your "home city"

Boston has a lot of slang. Milkshakes are "frappes," trash bins are "barrels," and shopping carts are "carriages," just to name a few (there's also jimmies and bubblers, haha). It's strange when those words can come out in sentences and people look at you like you have two heads (I still say frappe. That one's not going anywhere, even though I've been away from home for 10 years now)

I miss the accents, the way people talk fast.

I miss the crazy Massachusetts driving.

I miss feeling like "this is my city" and knowing where I am - I've had to keep moving and re-learning all new sets of streets and traffic patterns every few years, and nothing has felt like "my" place.

I miss my family (big secret, though!) and I miss knowing that I can see them "whenever I like."

I miss GOOD clam chowder. And the Red Sox.

It's the little things

[fullbug03044]

Taubele, that's hysterical. I was born and raised in MA and still there to this day. I didn't realize that frappe and bubbler were somehow not correct words. lol

I've got another one for you. Try and guess where I am from. "Ming ya."