View Full Version : What Foreigners Miss About Home
Hi! I'm a Canadian freelance journalist writing a story for The Japan Times about "What Foreigners Miss About Home." If there's something in particular you miss that you can't find in Japan (food, products, clothes, etc), I'd love to hear about it. If you don't mind, please tell what country you come from, your name, and let me know if it's OK if I might quote you in my story. Thanks a lot! PS - deadline is Dec. 15
Mikawa Ossan
Dec 11, 2005, 13:31
The only thing I ever miss is pretzels. You can find them if you look, but not the ones I like. Mostly you find the flavored ones, and they put on way too much flavoring!
I'm from America, and I never post my name on the internet.
ArmandV
Dec 11, 2005, 15:21
What I missed was more readily available American candies. I found peanut M & Ms at my hotel in Tokyo and Snickers at a 7-11 in Kyoto. Also, free coffee refills.
Mike Cash
Dec 11, 2005, 15:30
Catfish and Mrs. Sullivan's pecan pies (http://www.mrssullivans.com/detail.aspx?ID=10)
Other than that, nothing, really.
I'm one of those fortunate few who can honestly say he has never been homesick a day in his life.
I'm from Tennessee, and my name is easily deduced from my user name.
mad pierrot
Dec 11, 2005, 17:51
Besides the obvious, (food) I really miss the way classes are conducted in the United States. Ever attended a college course in Japan? No discussion whatsoever. Just one lecturer droning on and on while half the class sleeps and the other half plays on their cellphones. The atmosphere is so, so.... LACKING. At least in the states there is active debate, and students aren't afraid to stand up for their opinion.
mr.sumo.snr
Dec 11, 2005, 20:52
In no particular order of preference (I must say that the lack of which have never made me ever really wonder WTF I'm doing here...but anyway):
Wide open spaces, sidewalks, road junctions that make sense, railway bridges, urban planning, urban landscaping, a police presence that immediately commands respect, speed cameras, shops that open at 8.00 AM, rural pubs, real ale, live theater and opera, family doctors, free banking, 'streaming' in schools, size 12 shoes, and Welsh rugby!
--
Mike Cash
Dec 11, 2005, 21:21
Japanese urban planning is all the work of one individual, Nariyuki Makase.
Uncle Frank
Dec 11, 2005, 22:15
Being from New England, a good Italian sandwich and plate of spaghetti & meat sauce. Also a good fish chowder.
Frank
:bluush:
DoctorP
Dec 11, 2005, 23:28
There are plenty of wide open spaces in Japan if you get out of the city
Carlson
Dec 11, 2005, 23:50
not the same thow.. i could drive 200 miles in a straight line at times.. cant do that in japan... lol
not the same thow.. i could drive 200 miles in a straight line at times.. cant do that in japan... lol
You could buy a cheap fishing boat and head out to sea?
:bluush:
Carlson
Dec 12, 2005, 03:01
lol but then id never get back..
made me laugh though...
DoctorP
Dec 12, 2005, 12:21
Drive out to the mountains...it may not be a straight line, but you may forget you are in Japan!
advigilo
Dec 12, 2005, 20:32
im not i japan or never have been.
but when i go abroad for a long time i alway mis 'drop'
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afbeelding:Drop.jpg
:-) im such a sweet tooth sometime
advigilo
Dec 12, 2005, 20:33
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/nl/thumb/f/f1/Drop.jpg/669px-Drop.jpg
this would be it :-)
advigilo
Dec 12, 2005, 20:35
well not all the kinds of drop the have but some....
Bramicus
Dec 13, 2005, 02:03
Turkey!
Any breakfast meat that isn't pork.
Katrean Shard
Dec 13, 2005, 17:39
It is kind of funny and interesting that the things people miss the most are food! ^^ I haven't been to Japan, so I don't know what I miss about home. When I go away for a time, I miss my friends and family a lot. :(
Pachipro
Dec 14, 2005, 02:09
I'm one of those fortunate few who can honestly say he has never been homesick a day in his life.
I have to agree with Mike as when I lived there I was never homesick and never missed any food as most was available somewhere in Japan if you looked hard enough for it. Call me weird, but I am more homesick for Japan since I left than I ever was about the US while living there. Each year I count down the moons and days till I will visit again!
ArmandV
Dec 14, 2005, 03:44
I have to agree with Mike as when I lived there I was never homesick and never missed any food as most was available somewhere in Japan if you looked hard enough for it. Call me weird, but I am more homesick for Japan since I left than I ever was about the US while living there. Each year I count down the moons and days till I will visit again!
This is pretty much my attitude. I never missed the U.S. while in Japan, just maybe a minor convenience or two. But I was never homesick. I am looking forward to a return visit next Spring.
MeAndroo
Dec 14, 2005, 05:54
Well, the much of what I missed was restricted due to my status as an exchange student, but I really missed driving. Getting in a car and going where you want, when you want is a great privelege and it's one I'll never take for granted again. We weren't even allowed to get scooters/motorcycles, which sort of put the kibash on one of my goals: a road trip from Hokkaido to Kyushu.
I also missed decent horrible-for-you mexican food. Growing up in LA, I had access to it pretty much anytime, and to go just 6 months without carne asada was kind of weird. The only decent taco I found was in Okinawa...there were attempts at places like Odaiba, but they certainly weren't up to par.
Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed their ideas! I understand if you don't want to tell me your name, but for those of you who haven't, could you please tell me what country you come from? Thanks again!
Pachipro
Dec 15, 2005, 04:33
... just maybe a minor convenience or two.
Upon second thought I have to say about the only thing I really missed was authentic New York City Italian Pizza!
but I really missed driving. Getting in a car and going where you want, when you want is a great privelege and it's one I'll never take for granted again.
Ah yes, driving. I have to include that. One of my passions. Even though I owned a car in Japan I really missed the wide open spaces of the west and mid-west of the US. To be able to drive for hours on end, never stopping except for gas, with nary another car or city in sight was a delight.
Whilst in Japan I drove everywhere. My wife and I would take a week off every few months or so, get in the car and just drive around Japan with no particular destination. From Kyushyuu to Hokkaido we drove. We thought we drove a long distance, but after four years of driving, what I thought was alot of miles in Japan, and covering the entire country from Honshu to Kyushu to Shikoku and Hokkaido, we only put 37,000 km on the car (about 20,200 miles!). Very expensive also when you take tolls and gas into account. We mostly stayed in "Love Motels" as they were quite cheap. And Fun too! Here in the US I drive a minimum of 20,000 miles (33,000+km) in one year! And that is just going back and forth to work! Still, I love to drive and I now do it for a living.
Kinsao
Dec 15, 2005, 06:07
authentic New York City Italian Pizza!
Has a kind of oxymoronic sound to it...........
Mike Cash
Dec 15, 2005, 17:15
Has a kind of oxymoronic sound to it...........
Like "British cuisine".......
(I couldn't help myself!)
Kinsao
Dec 15, 2005, 18:26
Like "British cuisine".......
(I couldn't help myself!)
You're absolutely right. *insert 'sick' smilie here*...
Gaijin 06
Dec 15, 2005, 22:56
Like "British cuisine".......
(I couldn't help myself!)
I find that hard to swallow from someone coming from the land of burgers, hot dogs and extra extra large fries.
What's the American gift to the culinary world - donuts?
Kinsao
Dec 15, 2005, 23:03
What's the American gift to the culinary world - donuts?
Ahhh, donuts are a light which shines brightly in the darkness of dessert... :liplick:
I don't have sweet tooth actually, but donuts hold a great fascination for me.
Mmmmmmm...
Jam donuts much more satisfying, but not so... useful.
(See, I have new resolve to make a contribution to cultural threads... XD)
Mike Cash
Dec 16, 2005, 03:46
What's the American gift to the culinary world - donuts?
Ginsu steak knives.
ArmandV
Dec 16, 2005, 04:16
I find that hard to swallow from someone coming from the land of burgers, hot dogs and extra extra large fries.
What's the American gift to the culinary world - donuts?
Tommy burgers.
Depends where in the states your talking about. In my neck of the woods we have Cajun and Creole cookin', which I'm quite fond of.
epigene
Dec 16, 2005, 13:03
I'm not gaijin, but after living in the US for some years, I miss this the most:
http://www.all-creatures.org/recipes/images/u-peeler_vsmall.jpg
Especially the peeler at the bottom (the cheap one). I buy a couple of them every time I visit the US.
When I brought the peeler to my kids' elementary school to peel carrots, etc., to cook curry for a school festival, everyone stared at me...:giggle:
(I guess the Japanese are too skillful with knives they never think of developing a good peeler... Japanese peelers suck...:blush: )
plastic
Dec 16, 2005, 23:03
nothing much... as I would have in any other country.
Pachipro
Dec 17, 2005, 02:08
... Japanese peelers suck... )
:D :D :D :D My wife siad the same thing!
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