What do you miss most from home?

Sonietsjka

Upon request! An attempt to create some life on this board:

Apart from family and friends, what do you miss most from home?

I miss milk. I’m from the Netherlands and we pasteurise not sterilise our milk, and I have not been able to find that anywhere but in NL.

Currently I live in South Sudan, and long-lasting milk (yuk) and powder milk are the only available options. I shocked one of my colleagues by mentioning that I have never ever consumed powder milk. He was flabbergasted. He’s Ugandan, and powder milk was all there was when he was growing up.  

We’re going back in May for two weeks holiday, and milk is one of the first things I’m going to buy!

GilliC

I actually grew up with powdered milk in the US, because we were on a tight budget. One of my first childhood chores was to "mix the milk" when the pitcher in the fridge ran out. It never even occurred to me until much later in life that this was not normal. (Especially with the popularity at the time of frozen concentrated orange juice. Reconstituting was just an everyday part of life!)

GilliC

After 8 years here, I've finally figured out solutions to most of the things I miss. We can get all the raw ingredients, so I've learned to make a lot of things from scratch. However, there are a few things I haven't mastered that I still miss from the US: 

- Texas barbecue

- buttercream frosting (the popularity of cupcakes is finally opening this door)

There's so much American influence here that I actually miss more things from China!
- hot pot
- steamed jiaozi (potstickers/dumplings)

- yang rou chuanr (cumin-seasoned lamb skewers from Xinjiang)

- Beijing duck

And on the non-food front:
- regular cinema trips (especially the special events at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin)
- weekly visits to my favorite Chinese massage place in Beijing. (I miss this more than anything else!)

Sonietsjka

Frozen concentrated orange juice? I don’t think I have ever even heard of that. I never realised that powder milk would be cheaper than regular milk. Probably because you wouldn’t be able to find powder milk in NL to save your life (apart from formula of course).

 

The Chinese food things sound delicious! I can imagine you miss that. We have just found a new Chinese restaurant has opened but due to curfew haven’t gotten around to going there yet. Looking forward to it though!

 

Btw, you inspired me to another post! 

GilliC

@Sonietsjka You should really check out http://tinyurl.com/pvuocqs. There are a lot more resources there for International Nesties!

olafssonprime

Being an Icelander living in Austin, I miss Icelandic cream and dairy products They just don't taste the same over here, and I always grow suspicious when I observe the expiration date on our milk, which is usually weeks away. I also miss Icelandic lamb (although they offer it at Whole Foods down the road every October) and dried fish. Licorice and Icelandic chocolate also make the list. Now when we end up leaving Texas, I'm sure I'll crave Rudy's extra moist brisket and the glorious array of food trailers scattered around Austin. The food culture here is amazing!

butterscotchjbeans

I am a Peruvian living in Dallas, I miss the food!!! How easy life was over there (probably because I moved when I was young) 

Obviously family and friends as stated by OP