Winding down...

It's a scary thought: As of tomorrow, I will have only two weeks left in England. I'm beginning to get nervous about coming home, especially since I've done some research on reverse culture shock and apparently it can be worse than the culture shock coming in. Since I was hit pretty bad by it the first time, I can only imagine how I'm going to react going back to the States. Of course, I've been wondering about coming home for a few weeks now. I can't wait to see my family and friends again, and eat good old American food! I've been craving steak, BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, chicken parm, Schaller's burgers, Abbott's frozen custard, berries from the farmer's market, New York pizza, bagels, good microwave popcorn, s'mores, UConn's Wings Over Storrs and DP Dough...the list goes on and on.

And yet I know there will be things I'll miss about British food as well. So here goes, just a few things I'm going to miss leaving the UK (apart from my friends, which is obvious and goes without saying). I'm a foodie, so most of them will be about food. ;)

1. Tea. So long Twinings, Tetley's, and Earl Grey and hello Lipton's? I'm depressed just thinking about it. I was never a compulsive tea drinker until I came to England but now I'm a bona fide tea snob. In fact, I had some Lipton's in Sweden and I almost gagged. I know that I can find some Twinings flavors in the US, so I'll have to content myself with that. No such luck with cream teas though... :( I'll miss my scones with clotted cream and jam!

Going along with tea...

2. Biscuits. Yes, I can't wait to eat chocolate chip and snickerdoodle cookies again, but there's nothing more comforting than having tea and (digestive) biscuits with friends.

3. Chocolate. While there's lots of great local chocolate back home (like Andy's) the mass-produced stuff is pretty lame. I mean, come on, Hershey's? By federal regulations it's classified as "chocolate flavored candy" since it doesn't have enough actual chocolate in it. I'm going to bring back lots of Cadbury and Galaxy bars to tide me over...

4. Pubs. I'll have to find a British/Irish themed pub somewhere (or else how will I get Guinness?) And the food is delicious, especially Yorkshire pudding and Sunday roast. And although I can't say I liked British beef or mince very much, the lamb and ham was great.

5. Public transportation. I like to joke about how bad transport is here (the trains always being late, etc) but at least it exists. Unlike back home, where it's almost impossible to live without a car.

6. The wry British humor. I wonder if it will be strange to go home to a country where most people are genuine instead of sarcastic...

7. Cheese. Yes, it deserves its own category. I've grown quite fond of English cheddar, and I'll have to frequent the cheese section at Wegman's more when I get home. I now know that there are more types of cheese than mozzarella and Monterey jack!

8. The beautiful countryside, history, seeing castles everywhere. Suddenly colonial Williamsburg seems a little less old.

Most importantly, everybody at Warwick, Westwood, the Chaplaincy...but it's too sad to think about that (yet).

And what can't I wait for in America? Cruising in my car, playing country music at full blast, and watching the fireworks on the Fourth of July. I think I'll have a new perspective on being patriotic this year.

How will I cope? I'll let you know in a few weeks. In the meantime, I want to savor every minute here.