Garnet's Life Adventures

1. Double stuffed OREOs (especially the chocolate & mint flavoured ones) and how could I almost forgot my much loved Ranch dressing - how do people live without these essential items?!?!?!

2. Having a car of my own & not always needing to rely on public transport, which on weekends can be a total nightmare due to "planned engineering works".

3. Being close (distance wise) to friends & family so I can actually be there in person for events instead of just seeing photos or hearing about them.

4. Not feeling like a stranger - it gets kind old when people continually take the piss out of my American accent or make fun of my president (not that I would ever do such a thing ;).

5. Prices of things being in US dollars and at a more reasonable rate, especially now that the British £ is equal to two US $ - I mean who wants just a hamburger that costs £9 ($18) - cheese, lettuce, tomato, etc are all "30p extra" (60cents more)

6. People who don't argue with me that my name is spelled wrong or pronounced incorrectly- I think I would know both! Sara & Sarah are pronounced differently over here & I apparently pronounce it so that people would spell it with an H even though I don't spell it that way.

7. Fahrenheit temperatures, it takes too long to multiply the Celsius temp by 9/5 and then add 32 to get to F (my cheeky method is to multiply the C by 2 and add 32, that way you are at least in range of the F temp)

8. Ovens with temperatures on them instead of gas marks - what the heck is a gas mark anyways?!?!! They range from 1/4 to 9, so I have no freakin clue what to set the oven at when cooking.

9. Easily accessible public toilets that are clean! Along the same lines I'm going to add on that I miss loo roll - I'm not a big fan of these squares of toilet paper you pull out of dispensers.

10. Snow, we rarely get the snow to stick & even when it does it's only a few wimpy inches, course everything in the city does come to a stands till, but it's not the same as feet of snow like I'm use to in the Adirondacks.

11. Political ads on the telly, especially since it's getting close to the next presidential election - only KIDDING, that's one thing I sure do not miss!

12. People who don't argue with me about what America is like - just cause you went on holiday to Orlando, FL once does not make you the local expert on Americans or America for that matter!

13. Private health care, ie when I call up the doctors office I get an appointment within 24 hours. Over here it's all "free" (remember we get 20% taken out of our wages for taxes) in the National Heath Services (NHS) but when you call to get an appointment you might have to wait up to two weeks. First, you have to find a doctor who is receiving new patients & register with them before they will see you or treat you.