The Five I'm Missing

Shelley, an American expatriate living in Rome, has suggested this meme for us other expats - five things you really miss about living in the United States (or whatever your home country is). I had to think about it for a bit because after having lived here for over nine years I've learned to stop missing things and go about finding an alternative to them. Still I was able to come up with five.

1. Food

The food one can find in the Southland of the United States and the food I find in Germany can really differ and sometimes there are just no suitable substitutes or finding the substitute is too much of a bother. I miss grits. I miss getting real brewed iced tea in just about every restaurant. I miss soft, fluffy buttermilk biscuits as big as a cat's head. I miss okra. I miss pie. What gives? Why can't one find pie in Germany? They don't even have a word for it - they call it Kuchen which really makes cake.

And I really miss barbecue. In the part of the world I'm from barbecue means pig and my favorite place to get me some pig is Corky's in Memphis.



I'm thinking about a pulled pork sandwich doused with sauce and topped with cole slaw and I could cry tiny, bitter tears that I haven't had one in over two years.

I miss Sonic too.



I'm not a huge fan of fast food but Sonic is different. When I go home for a visit, the first thing I do when I pull into my hometown is hit Sonic. I can't go home until I've had a bacon cheeseburger and onion rings or a Tater Tots with cheese. And a cherry limeade. All served to me by a nice little carhop.

2. Mayonnaise

Perhaps this should go under food as well but I'm so obsessed with this one thing that it gets its own listing. Yes, they have mayonnaise in Germany but it's not the same as what we're used to in America. The mayonnaise here is for putting in salads or for glopping on your fries. Germans just don't put mayo on sandwiches. I will use German mayo for potato salad (but it must be Knorr) but for sandwiches it can only be one thing:



I am crazy for Hellmann's. It's the only mayo I can bear to even think about eating on a sandwich. And unfortunately it's not usually sold in stores here unless you've got a store with an American food section and they happen to have it. I don't so I have to either beg my friends and family in the US to send it to me or I order it from online American food shops. From them it comes in tiny jars for a big, big price but I don't care. Mayonnaise is the only thing I can eat on a sandwich and Hellmann's the the only mayo I'll eat on a sandwich.

3. Bookstores

I don't care if I do live in Germany. I don't care if I've lived here for many, many years. I could live here for a million years and one thing will never change - I like to read in English only. I just do. I simply can't get into a book if I read it in German.



One of my favorite pastimes was to browse in bookstores for hours. Cramped and dusty ones, big and shiny ones - doesn't matter. Bookstores can be as soothing and peaceful and soulful feeling to me as a church. And of course they have bookstores here - I live across the street from one - but since I have no intention of ever reading a book in German, I am not drawn to be in them. Fortunately Amazon.de easily sells books in English so I can get my fix - but I really miss the browsing.

4. Magnolias



Northeast Mississippi is home and where my family is and one can't think of Mississippi without thinking of magnolias. Their glossy leaves. Their creamy white blossoms. Their distinctive fragrance. I miss gigantic magnolia trees and Christmas wreaths made from magnolia leaves. I miss dogwoods too. And cardinals. And robins. And mockingbirds. Just all those things that I'd see that would let me know that I was home.

5. Ice cubes



Now obviously Germany has ice. They have water and they have freezers and so it stands to reason that ice exists here. Or does it?

Freezers with ice makers are rare. I know of one person who has one and that's Christina - and she's Canadian! Ice trays exist but they usually make tiny cubes and aren't usually practical to use since most freezers in Germany are the drawer type. If you want ice in Germany you usually buy ice cube bags - freezer bags that you fill with water and the little openings in the bags make the cubes. I did that for a while and finally quit out of laziness. I simply learned to put my personal drinks in the refrigerator and for the Germans, they don't want ice and often don't even want their drinks too cold. Wimps.

The list I made here is of things that in reality I could live without and do live without and don't miss all that much. Except for the Hellmann's. I'm still obsessed with that and won't get over trying to get it at ever opportunity. But there are things in the United States that I miss horribly and there is no substitute. My family. Hugs from my nephews and nieces. Playing cards in my sister's kitchen. Sitting close with my mama in church. My darling friends. Going out to lunch with them or sitting with them and talking for hours. Southern accents. The old men that play checkers in front of the courthouse. A high school football game on a crisp Friday night. Being around things and people that are completely familiar to me and knowing I fit right in.

But Germany is home to me as well now. I'm lucky that I have two.

Are you an expat too? What are you missing from home? Or if you're still living in your homeland, what would you absolutely have to have to survive in another country?

I don't know if it's good or bad that my must have is Hellmann's mayonnaise. It's a workable problem but why couldn't it be a problem over something a little more chic?