I returned to Berlin this week from Belfast which is suitably apposite as stuff that I miss is often as much from Ireland as the UK (Belfast sort of occupies a middle ground here). Punjana tea (plus some Nambarries which I haven't had for years and I now know why) is a strong feature - I now think I prefer all of their blends to the alternatives from Barrys in Cork (which were a favorite for many years, oh, and I can't stand Lyons tea). Yorkshire tea for hard water also works very well in Berlin.
Otherwise I had potato cakes and white pudding but I have no confidence that the pudding will be as good as the stuff that my Mum's butcher in Dublin sells (Cairns, I believe). I feel a bit guilty for importing sausage type products into Germany but they really haven't got everything covered (and I've never understood why, according to Le Nez massif, a country with so much cheese is ungovernable but one with a planet-sized quota of sausage varieties isn't).
On other trips I routinely import english crumpets and muffins - soft white bread is a rarity over here and, though it's often decried for it's lack of quality, I quite like it.
Rhubarb tea is the other obvious thing I can't find locally but thank God for Waitrose.
It's not so much of a feature these days but Walkers crisps (in the many splendid flavours) was always the thing that I was asked to bring back and over 90% of those requests came from Germans who had lived in the UK. I haven't been to the local English shop(s) for a few years but they generally find that most of their repeat custom was Germans returning from an expat life rather than homesick brits.
I'm also guilty of importing bacon joints from Ireland and I'm sure importing pork products into Germany is a mortal sin.
Or to paraphrase Alan Coren (I think), "Thank God for Sainsbury's, it keeps the riff-raff out of Waitrose."Originally Posted by Carlton-Browne
Surprisingly, we can get English muffins in our local supermarket and really excellent sausages from this splendid chap: http://mullens.com.co
There isn't too much I miss as most things are available here, maybe not in the City I'm currently living in, although I'll be moving soon, but certainly from Bangkok.
In Korat, we have an English butcher where you can get the basics, English sausages, pies, bacon, that sort of stuff. In Bangkok and elsewhere TOPS supermarket has a tie-in with Waitrose, so quite a lot of their goods available, including pretty much of all their cheese selection (in Bangkok), not cheap though.
English teas, beers, snacks are all available if you know where to look. Tea is expensive though and I get mine sent from the England.
Other things I miss are the beautiful area where my house is, the far west of Cornwall and pubs.
I forgot to mention - the one thing that you can get in any asian shop in Berlin is PG Tips, Heinz baked beans (sometimes with the mini pork sausages) and Birds custard powder. Purveyors of curried provisions know their core customer. Exceedingly well.
I love the fact you put your football team ahead of the daughters. Priorities.....
Posting this from Singapore ( in my 6th year)
- north Wales / lakes/ Scotland for hiking and climbing
- pembroke (same)
- affordable tea biscuits and cheese ( it's all available here - just quite pricey )
- having weather which isn't tropical and humid year round ( though I prefer singers to the dark cold n wet UK winters)
- open spaces and doing weekends away without flying.
- family
- newspapers which aren't an advertisement for the ruling party.
- beer at under 4 pounds a pint, Rather than 7-8 a pint. Ditto for wine.
- countryside areas like the Cotswolds
Well into my 5th year of living in Calgary now, and I've read the replies with interest. I can honestly say that is not a lot I really miss. The food, beer and wine here are top notch - Canada is such a diverse country you can get good regional food in all the major cities.
As for proper bacon, we're lucky enough to live close (3hr drive) to a pork farm, run by a couple of Britishers who found that they couldn't get good bacon for love nor money, so very happy about that.
We have visitors from Englandland fairly frequently, and we have British friends who travel back and forth, and if push comes to shove, we just shop in the British aisle in Walmart.
But, the only things I can think of really is a nice cosy country village pub, and Radio 2
I suspect a lot of wistful foodstuff based homesickness is a proxy for some broader unhappiness. It's very difficult to integrate into a different community as an adult. The payoff for moving has to be quite high to compensate for the feeling of dislocation.
Im not sure what Id miss most about the UK now - the answer will have changed down the years. I would certainly find food in the US difficult to cope with for longer than a week, Id start making my own bread from scratch in no time, out of sheer desperation. And churning my own butter. Id just have to.
I think I would miss the British capacity for keeping enthusiasm at a safe distance. A short while back, on the Bakerloo Line, a group of 6 men dressed convincingly as pirates complete with animated 'arrr's and 'Jimlad's got on (at Charing Cross since you ask). The other passengers did not even look at them or otherwise acknowledge their presence. They - as I did - got off at Oxford Circus where - being a bit downhearted at the lack of reaction - managed to blend in seamlessly with the waves of commuters.
That I'd miss a lot.
Branston beans m8.
The countryside.
The weather, believe it or not!
Going to watch a game (proper football).
Cornwall.
I lived in the Middle East for 3 years and missed so many things whilst away:
Heinz Baked Beans - I could get them locally but they were sourced from the US and tasted much sweeter.
Simple traditional meals such as a Jacket Potato or Cottage Pie.
Green and Blacks Chocolate or in fact any half decent chocolate.
As every has said, Tea is a big thing that I missed.
The English weather, especially the rain !! It never seemed to rain when I came back for visits either !
Being able to make small talk with anyone prepared to listen and shared a similar outlook.
All things green and lush !
Our supermarkets ! So much variety and everything under one roof.
British country roads and generally ok driving standards......at least you canpredict when someone is likely to behave like an idiot.
Most people still have manners here. I missed people actually holding a door open for someone else and understanding the process of "turn-taking".
In short, it's great to have the opportunity to live overseas and experience different environments, but there really is no place like home !
Interesting thread, for an immigrant to the UK ! Funnily enough what I miss most from Sweden apart from friends and family are proximity to nature (used to live in downtown Stockholm, and had 5 min walk to a forest, and 20 to a "beach"), driving standards, my lovely apartment which I could only dream about owning here. Food wise am def better off here but do miss a kebab pizza.
I would like to stress family and friends. Making friend as an adult is much trickier than back in the school/uni days. Guess this is why people return and not because they can't find the right crackers in the supermarket.
All in all I would strongly advise living as an expat if you ever have the chance, sounds like a cliche but it is really eye opening. It's also a bit addictive when you realize how much else there is to explore (no traveling does not compare).
Edit. If I ever leave I'll miss pubs, Guinness, the farmers market am just about head off to, pork sausages and bacon, fish & chips, people diversification, London in general.
Last edited by jonasy; 1st May 2016 at 10:30.
I visited Stockholm last year and was struck by how "un-foreign" it seemed to a Brit. Rather like Guildford, but with more water and fewer ugly people.
This became a bit of a problem crossing roads - not feeling we were abroad meant looking the wrong way when stepping off the kerb.
The one reminder that we were a long way from home was that almost everyone spoke exceptional English. You just dont get that in most UK cities...
I miss the bacon. Some country roads, too. And some people.
I tend to spend a week or two in the UK each year. Mostly driving to people via country roads, and eating way too much bacon each morning.
Thinking about this again and straying away from food one of the greatest pleasures on coming back is the ability to get on a bicycle to move around freely - I'm thinking particularly after a trip to somewhere that mobility is difficult either because of climate or security. I've had a couple of trips in the last 18 months to Caracas, which is quite a scary place, and the ability to wonder around without constantly watching your back is something you miss. I've had similar experiences coming back from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and South East Asia (latter due to humidity).
Quite lucky here in Gib to get decent cheese, Newspapers, pints in pint glasses, decent fish and chips, donner kebabs etc... but the bacon and the butter is not the same...
and although don't miss the snow (only a couple of hours drive for some in winter) I miss spring and autumn - they are too short/rainy here
I arrived in Caracas this morning, my second visit in the space of four weeks. There are now power cuts for four hours a day, Government offices are working a two-day week and the main beer company has ceased production. Venturing out after dark is not a good idea. I do look forward to the relative freedom when returning home.
Nada.
Holy thread revival Batman but thought this was interesting.
Comparing Thailand to the UK the things I miss about the UK when I’m in Thailand are;
- Driving standards. Think that guy in the Audi undertaking you on the M25 is a tw@t? Try driving in Thailand for a day and come back to me on your thoughts
- interior design. Seriously. No matter how expensive the house is in Thailand the interiors look rubbish
- being able to go to the Toilet at night and not worry about what huge invertebrates I might encounter. I was sat having a cr@p the other week when a foot long centipede bolted from its hiding place and ran over my foot. A bite would have meant certain hospitalisation. No such worries in Blighty.
I guess those are the main things. I don’t drink tea so that’s a non issue. UK scenery can be stunning but ditto for Thailand. Food is much better (and cheaper) obviously in Thailand and you can get all the UK stuff in Marks and Spencer, Tops Supermarket and Rimping Supermarkets (although it’s pricey).
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When we lived in the Philippines we both missed,
The seasons, got fed up with hot and humid or hot and rain.
Decent bread, bacon and no pork sausages anywhere. Good beef was expensive import.
Buildings built to a very low standard and age very quickly.
People driving whatever vehicle have no idea what they're doing.
Corruption out there is very overt so you do get used to it.
Rife poverty.
The power the Church has over everyone and everything.
Oh I missed decent beer, San mig wears thin after a while.
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I love your avatar. A man clearly after my own heart!
Being home.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Overcrowding
Screwed roads and inadequate public transport
Sense of entitlement from those who choose not to apply themselves
Cream teas
Real ale
I'd miss the underground.
But not National Rail
Parks, trains, London, National Trust sites, canals, trees, fish&chips, galleries and museums, smiling and gentle people and more
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Left Scotland for England a fair few years ago, yet to find square sausage or morning rolls anywhere near the same as up north, haven't seen a bakery sell a pie roll either, but again, with rubbish rolls it's not going to be the same anyway.
A timely thread because my wife and I have just decided to move back to England after almost 30 years in the USA.
What have I missed? A sense of my roots. History. Language. Malteasers. Cricket. Black pudding.
Here in Washington you can get a drivers license in about 15 minutes. You breeze through a brief multiple choice test (its just a basic English test really), then spend about ten minutes without losing control of the car as you nurse it around the block with a tester, then you get your picture taken, card printed, and you're good to go. I'm really not joking.
You can just imagine the carnage and mayhem on the roads a system like that produces.
Work away a lot currently spent last 3 months on and of in Cape Town, what I've missed, believe it or not has been the weather and I miss a sunday dinner.
I could die for a proper Sunday dinner today. Oh and my Football, you get to see most EPL game abroad on TV but can't bet going to the match.
Second that. I've been in Seattle for 3 years, and was surprised to get told by the examiner that I 'use my turn signal (indicators to us) too much'. The driving can be horrific out here, especially in rain or snow..
The thing I miss most is a very small amount of foods, and a cozy pub. The beer is great here, but I just wish they had some great pubs to go with it.
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marks and sparks, people who know how to use round-abouts and look right at junctions.
although it has been 11yrs so who knows, rose tinted and all that.
Hang on apart from the pork sausage and obviously the location it sounds like frying pan, fire.
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