As somebody who has referred to as France residence since 2012, I’ve had a great deal of time through the years to replicate on my life right here and the life I left behind within the U.S. I’ve shared a lot of these reflections right here on the weblog, however one thing I haven’t touched on is what I miss probably the most. I’ve lots to say on this matter, so let’s go!
Once you develop up in a single place and turn out to be accustomed to how issues are completed and what you discover there, it’s solely regular to overlook sure issues whenever you go away and go elsewhere. I surprisingly by no means skilled intense homesickness after transferring to France, however there are issues I completely miss about life in the USA.
First, nothing I point out under is a matter of life or dying. Nothing retains me from getting away from bed within the morning or actually weighs on me (besides the very last thing on my record, at occasions). However there are specific elements of my outdated American life that I actually did get pleasure from and sit up for once I return and go to.
Make no mistake, France has the whole lot it is advisable stay a nice life, so a lot of the issues I point out right here don’t issue into my every day ideas. However once I return to the US and are available throughout one in every of these items, I rediscover how a lot I truly do miss having it in my on a regular basis life in France.
Additionally, a whole lot of what I discuss under has sentimental worth. The issues I grew up with are comforting, like a heat blanket on a chilly evening. They’re acquainted, simple, and characterize a bit of piece of me and the place I come from.
Within the early days in France, a few of the issues I missed jogged my memory I used to be a fish out of water. The issues I point out in my record aren’t essentially these superb, spectacular issues, however they characterize(ed) consolation and ease to me ultimately.
One other level I wish to stress upfront is that simply because I miss issues from the U.S. doesn’t imply I wish to transfer again. You may get pleasure from your life in France whereas additionally acknowledging that there are issues from your private home nation that you just miss. Two issues can exist and be true on the identical time.
I additionally acknowledge the privilege that’s inherent in the truth that I’ve been capable of transfer to France by selection and expertise life right here.
It additionally doesn’t imply that simply because I miss issues within the U.S. that I ought to return to the U.S. Issues are completely different in France but it surely doesn’t imply I dislike them sufficient (or in any respect!) to really decide up and go away. Not the whole lot in France is ideal (neither is it within the US).
Lastly, for those who’re new right here, I didn’t go away the U.S. due to politics or being fed up with life there or something like that. I moved to France so I might begin a life with my French husband, Tom, and I’ve no plans to maneuver again.
Whereas life within the U.S. is much from good, I’m additionally not going say I’d by no means transfer again there due to the issues I dislike about it. Residing overseas provides you a brand new lens that lets you view your private home nation with a distinct, extra essential, set of eyes.
I’ll at all times be pleased about that perspective because it’s not one I’d have if I had stayed within the U.S. Residing overseas in France is positively not simple, but it surely’s been value it 100%. I don’t stay with remorse.
If residing overseas for a decade has taught me something, it’s that life is extremely nuanced, so with that, right here we go:
11 Issues I miss from the U.S. after residing in France:
1. Wonderful pizza and Mexican meals.
Fellow NYers, I do know you’re feeling me on this. The meals scene is one thing I majorly miss. New York Metropolis has a few of the finest pizza on the earth and I used to be spoiled by it. I might come out of my condo and seize a slice at any time when I wished. Mexican meals was one other favourite of mine.
In France, you’ll discover pizza and Mexican meals, but it surely’s not the identical!
2. Grocery shops like Sprouts, Entire Meals, and Dealer Joe’s.
I’ve been going to Entire Meals and Dealer Joe’s for years, however Sprouts was new to me as of 2021 and I adore it! They opened up a retailer close to my dad’s home in Florida and the produce choice and general high quality of the shop is high notch. I can’t get sufficient of the Sprouts model waffles and all the opposite yummy issues I commonly purchase once I go to.
These three shops are at all times a pleasure to buy in, and as somebody who loves grocery purchasing, I sit up for selecting up what we want from these supermarkets once I’m again within the U.S. (once I’m not going to Publix, that’s).
France has a whole lot of superb grocery store chains as properly and I’ve completed excursions on my YouTube channel and grocery retailer content material so you possibly can see for your self. There are well being meals shops in France like Biocoop and Naturalia, however they don’t have the identical choice because the three above and are usually tremendous costly. They’re positively not a stand-in for Sprouts, Entire Meals, and Dealer Joe’s!
9 Shocking variations between French and American supermarkets >>
3. Can-do angle
Say what you need about People, however one simple fact about us is that typically talking, American society has a can-do angle. It’s laced with a pleasing optimism that’s probably not seen in France in the identical approach.
From customer support insurance policies that make returns simple and free for the shopper to folks’s basic demeanor and even how enterprise is carried out, there’s this pleasant and enthusiastic angle within the U.S. that I miss.
Some might say that is superficial, however I don’t assume that’s at all times the case. And pay attention, I’m not over-the-top smiley Pollyanna, for the file, and I HATE poisonous positivity, however the American spirit is one thing I miss.
In France, persons are extra cautious and important. The French language even has a unfavorable slant at occasions. For instance, whenever you wish to say one thing is fairly good, you’d say it’s pas mal, actually not dangerous…. which suggests you prefer it. The French are additionally recognized to be complainers (and there are causes for that). It’s simply…. a distinct vibe.
That problematic “for those who don’t prefer it, go away!” angle >>
4. Inexpensive electronics
Electronics are inclined to price extra in France and there are fewer gross sales. Objects like TVs, computer systems, telephones, and even home equipment should not low cost. At any time when attainable, I await les soldes or purchase issues utilized in France. For small objects, I attempt to purchase them on sale across the holidays if I’m within the U.S. I like saving cash, what can I say?
Credit score: depositphotos.com/ belchonock 166394616
5. Screened home windows
I virtually obtained clocked within the head the opposite day when a neighbor’s child threw a toy out the window on the precise second I used to be passing by on the sidewalk exterior. In France (and plenty of elements of Europe and elsewhere), home windows don’t have screens, so toys, cats, crops, infants, and so on. can all fall out of a window (or in your head for those who’re not cautious).
Security and jokes apart, there’s a fair greater cause why I miss window screens in France. It’s due to the bugs. I’m tremendous delicate to mosquito bites and might’t stand them buzzing round my head at evening ready to pounce. We now have a web that goes round our mattress, but it surely’s not foolproof.
We’ve additionally gotten large spiders that waltz on in making our partitions their new favourite hangout. I’ve been bitten by spiders and have ended up on antibiotics a number of occasions when the bites have gotten contaminated.
Anyway, that’s all to say that I hate bugs and want there was a straightforward method to set up screens. Our home windows open vertically and DIY options you see on the ironmongery shop don’t actually make a superbly sealed off window. Belief me, we’ve tried.
Exhausting water in France and what I’m doing about it at my home >>
6. Central a/c.
Fortunately, my space of France doesn’t get uncomfortably scorching apart from a few weeks in the summertime. You understand the form of warmth I’m speaking about… the place you sweat for those who do something however sit and it’s laborious to sleep since you simply hold sweating.
I held out for so long as I might earlier than getting a transportable air conditioner, however man, I’d be mendacity if I mentioned there weren’t nights that I spent dreaming of central air-con and a pleasant cool bed room.
Folks joke that the French are afraid of air-con, and whereas it’s most a joke, it’s true {that a}/c isn’t fairly as mainstream in France as it’s within the U.S. In most locations, it’s simply not wanted for the overwhelming majority of the 12 months like it might be in South Florida. Homes aren’t constructed with central air-con in France and folks depend on les volets to maintain their houses cool.
7. The Jersey Shore
No foolish, not the TV present, the place! Anybody who doesn’t agree that NJ is gorgeous hasn’t spent sufficient time there! My residence state is one I didn’t absolutely admire till I used to be properly into maturity. I grew up in Somerset County which is filled with lovely nature — the bushes within the fall have been at all times beautiful — and summers have been spent in Monmouth County on the seashore.
Being close to the ocean has at all times felt calming and restorative for me and I cherish my childhood reminiscences of the Jersey Shore with household. I feel it’s a part of why I’m drawn to Brittany right here in France… as a result of it jogs my memory of residence.
This one holds a whole lot of sentimental worth for me and I take each likelihood I get to go to my residence state, which admittedly isn’t very steadily since my household now lives in Florida.
8. Goal
Goal is a superb place. It’s a one-stop store for the whole lot you could possibly presumably want, and when you’ve got a Tremendous Goal close by, it’s even higher. There’s no French equal of Goal. Positive, there are hypermarchés which have a bunch of issues however there’s one thing particular in regards to the Goal expertise that doesn’t fairly exist in France.
9. Ice in drinks
It’s no secret that drinks chockfull of ice aren’t the norm in France. Ice exists and you’ll actually ask for it, however more often than not, drinks are served with little or no, if any, ice.
I went to the flicks just a few weeks in the past and requested if my iced tea fountain drink can be served with ice and the girl informed me no, that they don’t have ice. So I handed on the drink. Fountain drinks style higher with ice!
I don’t need a cup filled with ice, however some good ice cubes are by no means a nasty factor in my e-book. In scorching climates like once I go to household in Florida, ice cubes are a lot appreciated.
13 Issues vacationers do this get unusual seems to be from the French >>
10. Giant parking areas and parking garages that don’t make you’re feeling claustrophobic
Although I’ve lived in France a very long time and have a small automotive, I’m nonetheless not used to the very small, slim, and low-ceiling parking garages which might be generally present in France. I’ve gotten used to the slim parking areas usually, however the parking garages, ohhhhhh mannnn. Let’s simply say I’m glad Tom does the driving.
At any time when I’m in a single, I at all times marvel what folks with massive automobiles do. Whereas most individuals in France are inclined to have smaller automobiles than we do within the U.S., you possibly can nonetheless purchase a giant sedan or SUV right here even when they aren’t fairly as common. Even with a small automotive, you continue to have to concentrate so that you don’t clip your bumper or mirror on one thing.
Vehicles are smaller in France so it is smart that roads and parking areas and garages are smaller too. You’ll see all types of paint marks and scrapes on the storage partitions and posts so not everybody is ready to navigate them with ease.
A household image in Corsica
11. Mates & household
I’ve saved a very powerful one for final. Family and friends are who I miss most, fingers down, throughout the board.
Ever since transferring to France, I’ve at all times missed my family and friends and Facetime has been a lifeline. I don’t assume I might have moved overseas again within the day earlier than expertise like video calls have been invented. However seeing somebody on video isn’t the identical as giving them a giant hug in particular person and seeing them nose to nose.
At some factors, life right here distracted me, however at different occasions, my household and mates have been at all times on my thoughts.
The time this was probably the most troublesome was through the pandemic when the restrictions made it unimaginable for me to depart France, which after all was the time I wanted to depart France probably the most. My mother was dying of most cancers and I desperately wanted to be there for my household.
Fortunately, I used to be capable of get out of France and be by my mother’s aspect, however after experiencing a number of further losses in 2021-2022, I’ve felt the pull from household and mates much more. It’s not them guilting me in any respect, however extra of an inner dialog I’ve with myself.
They settle for the truth that I stay overseas so the pull is extra from the gap and the way laborious it’s to be away as circumstances change. You see family members’ children become old on video and miss events and occasions. You concentrate on what life could be like for those who by no means left.
This sense has gotten worse through the years and that’s simply one thing now we have to handle if we stay overseas. What helps mitigate this for me is to go to as typically as I can!
***
In closing, I wish to share how the French convey the sentiment of “lacking” somebody. It’s truly fairly neat.
The sentence “I miss you” is fashioned in a approach that’s the reverse of what you may count on. The topic isn’t “I” however as an alternative the factor/particular person you’re lacking. Tu me manques is the way you’d say “I miss you.” The French sentence construction actually interprets to “you’re lacking from me.” Likewise, je te manque means “you miss me.”
I feel it’s fairly touching how the French categorical the concept of “lacking” somebody or one thing. It’s not that we miss one thing, it’s that one thing is lacking from us. As if these items make us entire and never having them leaves us missing ultimately. That hits deep.
Additionally, earlier than I shut this one out, I wish to reiterate that I’m sharing my private ideas primarily based on my lived expertise. All of us do the residing overseas factor otherwise.
I’m certainly not saying these items ought to come to France or that life in a single nation is inherently higher than the opposite.
Once you transfer someplace new, you see how issues are completed and adapt to what life is like there, and at this level, I actually have. I don’t like each single factor about France, however I settle for and respect how issues are right here. And it’s OK to overlook issues from one other life.
It’s humorous what you miss whenever you’re away awhile.
Thanks for studying! What are belongings you miss most from your private home nation? When you’re from the U.S, what issues from the U.S. do you miss probably the most now that you just stay overseas?
PIN my issues I miss from the US submit:
