So, after an absence of 89 days I'm returning to the States and find that this particular trip has made me miss breakfast. Particularly the Denny's, IHOP, Waffle House variety. Each time I've spent time out of the States I come back craving different things. Not always food. Once I just really wanted to drive again.
So, after extended absences from the US or your home country, what do you miss most?
Sergeant
Posted by Saephon (Member # 9623) on :
Every time I return to the US after being away, I crave......White Castle >_> <_<
No joke. Always pick it up on the drive home from the airport.
Posted by cassv746 (Member # 11173) on :
I've never been outside the US for an extended period of time, but I'd think I'd crave some pizza with ranch dressing if I was. Even though you could get it other places, there's nothing like hometown pizza.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
Welcome back! Hope it was fun. Do you have some good stories to tell?
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Wait. Back up. The ranch dressing is on the pizza?
That's not right. Sounds un-American to me. Posted by rollainm (Member # 8318) on :
I love that movie. Not even really sure why...
Posted by cassv746 (Member # 11173) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tante Shvester: Wait. Back up. The ranch dressing is on the pizza?
That's not right. Sounds un-American to me.
More like as a dipping sauce, but yes. And it's American for me. Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Pizza does not require dipping sauce. It's a pizza, my dear, not a chicken nugget.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sergeant:
So, after extended absences from the US or your home country, what do you miss most?
The only thing that I really craved when I was in Thailand was Dr. Pepper, but when I got back I discovered that I'd lost my taste for it.
Posted by adfectio (Member # 11070) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tante Shvester: Pizza does not require dipping sauce. It's a pizza, my dear, not a chicken nugget.
Lol, well seeing as how some people I know put Ranch on EVERYTHING (fries, nuggets, pizza, salad, even hot dogs) Its not anything new. I'm a spicy BBQ guy, myself.
Posted by JonHecht (Member # 9712) on :
I'm really odd. I don't care where I am. At all.
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
Pizza dipped in ranch is very very good. It needs to be somewhat thick (Chicago style) though. Dipping a New York style pizza would indeed be "just wrong", except for the slice is down to the crust.
If you are dipping in real ranch sauce, it makes your already fattening pizza exponentially worse for you. However, Niki and I dip our frozen pizzas in no-fat ranch, which while not quite as good, has the same overall effect.
Posted by lem (Member # 6914) on :
I don't crave anything when I come back from foreign trips, however, when I am traveling I crave McDonalds.
It's weird. I hate McDonalds. I loved eating there on my mission in Korea. When I spent a summer in Japan with my wife, there was almost a physical need to eat McDonalds at least once a week.
It was very strange. I only eat it over seas. I can't stand the stuff and I love to travel.
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
When I was out of the country for 6 weeks in my teens what I missed most was My Friends.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I haven't ever really been to another country. But I have lived in TX, which is practically another country compared to CA. I missed In 'N' Out, Yaki's, and Foster's Donuts the most. Yes, I'm very food oriented. Second most was family. Third was, you know, the cultural stuff I grew up with (I had lived in L.A. my whole life, and was used to some stuff that they just don't have in Dallas.)
Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
Last summer when I went to Albania I developed an insatiable craving for coffee. I drink coffee quite rarely in the USA, but they don't have it in Albania. Well, they have coffee, but it's very similar to Turkish coffee. It's served in tiny cups, and it's a dense, oily substance floating over half a cup of insoluble sludge. They love it there, but I couldn't deal with it.
And there was nowhere to get an American cup of coffee. Half the people there didn't even know what it was, and the ones that had heard of it couldn't understand why anyone in their right mind would want to drink it. I felt like Arthur Dent aboard the Heart of Gold.
On our last day there we toured the American embassy, and their cafeteria had American coffee. I got a cup and it was okay, but I stopped by Starbucks as soon as I got home.
Posted by Artemisia Tridentata (Member # 8746) on :
When I lived in Mexico, I missed Root Beer. Someone told me that they sold Fanta Root Beer at the Mexico City Airport. I made a special trip, (three bus transfers) to get some. It was way nasty. My second stop, when I returned, was at an A&W. Number One Daughter was on Negros Island in the Phillippenes for almost a couple of years. When we picked her up at the airport, she wanted to stop at Denny's. She told the waiteress she didn't care what she brought just so it had piles of Sour Cream on top.
Posted by Bella Bee (Member # 7027) on :
When I'm away from the UK, (which usually means that I'm in America) I miss having decent fresh ready made meals that you can just stick in the oven and which come out tasting like restaurant quality food (not those appalling frozen TV dinners they sell in the US). In other words, I miss Marks and Spencer’s food department.
I miss Irn Bru and HP sauce and non-crunchy bacon and proper sausages (American sausages are usually really bland).
I miss having a news service which tells you what's happening in the entire world, not just the US. I miss being able to watch a TV show for more than five minutes without a commercial break.
I miss being able to walk anywhere.
On the other hand, when I come back from the US, I miss Barnes and Noble, cinnamon flavour anything, grape soda and... well, I miss America, basically. I just really like the place.
Posted by Tara (Member # 10030) on :
When I go to Canada, I miss being able to be relatively loud in public without getting dirty looks.
Posted by DeathofBees (Member # 3862) on :
When I was in Mexico, I really missed pasta. I would have given anything to trade in my plate of beans and rice for some spaghetti.
When in Scandinavia on a choir tour, I missed skim milk. I was served whole milk or drinking yogurt or orange-flavored breakfast drink by my host families. I usually opted for water to avoid giving offense. When I came back, I missed the oven-roasted reindeer, homemade bread (that trip is one of the reasons I learned to make bread and still make it twice a week), shrimp on toast, and fantastic pastries and sausages. *sigh* I'd love to go to Europe again.
Posted by Lissande (Member # 350) on :
quote:I miss having a news service which tells you what's happening in the entire world, not just the US.
Tell me about it. Last time I was in the States I couldn't for the life of me find news about anything other than Paris Hilton and the latest missing persons. I think they might have alluded at one point to the fact that an outside world existed somewhere, but that was it.
As for things I miss, I'm totally food oriented. My list of American things I miss is shrinking, though. I wonder if the day is coming when I won't even want a milkshake...surely not.
Posted by Epictetus (Member # 6235) on :
While I was in Europe, the only two things I missed were drinking fountains and steak. I was there shortly after the Mad Cow Disease scare, so the tour company made sure every meal was either chicken or pork. It was OK for a little while, but after a month I got sick of it.
The drinking fountains I really missed most in London because I was too short-sighted to bring a water bottle and I didn't realize just how much walking we were going to be doing. In the end, it was an easy remedy, but I only ever found one at the Tower of London on my last day there.
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
What do they do in London? Drink beer instead?
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
can't say i miss anything, really.
i do get occasional cravings for stuff you get in a certain country only, though.
Posted by Epictetus (Member # 6235) on :
quote:What do they do in London? Drink beer instead?
Presumably.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
quote:I miss having decent fresh ready made meals that you can just stick in the oven and which come out tasting like restaurant quality food (not those appalling frozen TV dinners they sell in the US). In other words, I miss Marks and Spencer’s food department.
You need to spend some time at Trader Joe's and Gelson's...
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
There are times when being in America really wears on me. I think I'd kill for a good shwarma place. Or a shipudia <eyes go all dreamy>.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
When I visited India I came back with a craving for, guess.....Steak or to be exact--Prime Rib.
When ever I go I crave my home, my comfortable chair, Hatrack, and of course, a television with multiple channels of English speaking mind rot.
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