America, the Beautiful...

Here are the 10 things I miss most about the U.S. of A. I wrote this list during my German class one day when I was bored because we were going over what accusatives are for like the 10th time and I my brain was going to implode if I didn't let my mind wander someplace happy.

10. Baja

Omg, I think about Baja all the time. It is hard to get both wraps and Mexican food in Germany and Baja has BOTH (their Mexican food being somewhat sub par but their wraps being OUT OF THIS WORLD) and I just want a barbecue chicken wrap with a side order of their spanish rice. Ok, yeah, I'm drooling, someone please Fedex this to me ASAP.

9. Wide Streets

I am going to a be a phenomenal driver upon my return to Commack. The width of the street I live on in the US is about four times as wide as any residential street in Germany. My mom told me before I came not to worry about driving on the Autobahn because the lanes are a bit wider to accommodate the high speeds. This is totally false. The lanes are smaller. You could probably say they are wider than MOST streets in Germany as they comfortably allow more than 2 cars to be driving at once, but compares to the vast expanse that is the Long Island Expressway, I constantly feel like I am about to trade paint with everyone around me. 

8. Free Parking

Parking is NEVER free. Even when you think it's free, it isn't. I can't even park on the street I live on without a permit. Parking lots in general also suck. At home there are jillions of spots free whereas here even the largest of parking lots sometimes require I circle through for over 10 minutes looking for a spot. And then a week later I'll get a letter in the mail letting me know it wasn't a spot at all and I owe Germany 15 euros. Curses.

7. Office Supplies!

Binders in Germany enrage me. They have only two rings and they are built to hold a LOT of pages and definitely not built for easy page turning. This has resulted in many torn pages. Also, try finding a good mechanical pencil in Germany. It's not gonna happen.

6. Starbursts

Yum.

5. Milk

This is more of a "this family" thing than a German thing (or is it? I'm not sure...) but the family I live with only buys fresh milk on occasion but for the most part uses condensed. Blegh. I looooove fresh milk and the thought of drinking condensed makes me want to vomit.

4. OMG TV on the Internet

Last year every single show I loved was on the internet. You can't watch them from Germany :(. Thank god Comedy Central is super generous and they stream their shows internationally so I still have South Park and the Daily Show. Also, thank god for youtube.

3. Free carwashes

My car is always a mess and it drives me crazy but something in me is opposed to paying to get my carwashed. Especially since in Germany you have to pay and THEN you have to do most of the work yourself!!! Isn't that ludicrous! I mean it's a bit cheaper but I'd rather pay an extra euro or two to have someone else do it, for serious. Also getting my car washed was always lovely because I could see my daddy! It's considerably less exciting when the only familiar faces at the car wash are two little boys who are either pouting that we are there in the first place or harassing me to buy them candy.

2. My bed

Anyone who has ever spent time in my bed can probably imagine the pain I am going through to be apart from this beautiful piece of furniture.

1. Target

Omg. I can't even talk about it. I might get teary eyed.