Other than my time in South Africa and a summer in Mexico, I haven't really left the U.S. for longer than four months (Is that enough time to miss things? Maybe?). What I did miss while in South Africa was the holiday season we have in the U.S. starting with Thanksgiving in November and ending with New Year's Eve.
I think I love Thanksgiving the most (for the food of course!). :)
I know many people hate the holidays, but they've always been a fun time for me. I guess it's because I grew up the only child of a single mother, so I enjoyed large, festive gatherings as a kid. I've started to plan and serve my own holiday gatherings in the past few years. Check out last year's Thanksgiving dinner.
I remember being in South Africa having to try to explain why people in the U.S. ate a bigger than normal meal on a Thursday and to answer honestly about U.S. colonial history. That was fun (I'm being facetious).
There was one aspect of the holiday season that I DIDN'T miss. Actually, I didn't realize it until after Christmas was over. It just felt different in South Africa.
The main difference from Christmas in the U.S. was the fact that I was wearing a summer dress on Christmas day (the seasons are switched in the Southern Hemisphere). :) The deepest realization for me was that I had not been bombarded with holiday SHOPPING commercials for a full month. Christmas is just less commercial and not about shopping at 4am in South Africa. Granted, there are economic reasons for that, but I didn't miss the news coverage and general hoopla devoted to Christmas shopping. Not one bit.
What would you miss most about your home country, if you lived/traveled abroad for a long period of time ?
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