Things You Miss - Ex Pats

[Colr]

Anyone miss anything in particular from Scotland who doesn't live there any more.

I'm not so far away and you can get most produce in London anyway but:-

morning rolls on a Sunday (utterly mis-shapen - utterly delicious)

Edinburgh chip sauce.

Pint of heavy every now and again.

getting to the Hibs games.


Cold crips winters morning walking up the mound.

Pancho Villas mexican restuarant (can't get decent Mexican in London).

Edinburgh pubs to an extent - Edinburgh is the second best city for pubs in the world.

[jockney green]

me too huv spent many a year in the big smoke an what is blatantly missed whilst there was

* a chippy thats open at decent hours (i.e. after 10 at night) an one thats got a bit of choice furra scran, no jus the usual battered fish still wi the skin on it, saveloys, pies in foil dishes an still wrapped in plastic (????) an the opportunity tae buy fags, skin, sweeties, cat food, etc up tae 3-4 in the mornin

* pished folk singin in the street

* a weekday paper other than the daily retard

* the barrs carbonated drinks range in glass bottles

* watchin scottish fitba highlights on the telly

* folk who will call you an erse tae yer face

* buses that stop for you

[fifer]

Lorne sausage

[Ali]

Bacon rolls. American bacon is rancid. Flecks of meat in a strip of pork fat. yeuch.

Loads of other things, Hibs obviously, and lots of different food and drink.

The thing I miss most though is family and friends. I'm very lucky and have a wonderful American family and a large friendship group - including two weel kent Bouncers with whom I can talk about the Cabbage (at the right speed!) - but I do miss the people that I've shared so many experiences with over the piece. Ah well, that's what trips home are for.

Home to me doesn't mean getting up at ridiculous o'clock in the jet black freezing cold pishin' wet depths of winter to go to a job I hate any more. Now it means drinking too much, eating too many fish suppers and cramming in seeing as many friends as possible in a short timescale. Sounds like a good deal really....

[1875]

Originally Posted by Ali

Bacon rolls. American bacon is rancid. Flecks of meat in a strip of pork fat. yeuch.

Loads of other things, Hibs obviously, and lots of different food and drink.

The thing I miss most though is family and friends. I'm very lucky and have a wonderful American family and a large friendship group - including two weel kent Bouncers with whom I can talk about the Cabbage (at the right speed!) - but I do miss the people that I've shared so many experiences with over the piece. Ah well, that's what trips home are for.

Home to me doesn't mean getting up at ridiculous o'clock in the jet black freezing cold pishin' wet depths of winter to go to a job I hate any more. Now it means drinking too much, eating too many fish suppers and cramming in seeing as many friends as possible in a short timescale. Sounds like a good deal really....

Aye, but ye cannae watch the Hibs ever week. (just kickin ye back doon, happy America based fellae).

[Peevemor]

The pub culture.

Decent (and reasonably priced) Indian and Chinese takeaways.

Being able to buy ciggies 24/7 (although not now, since I stopped 7 weeks ago ).

Decent public transport. Where I am it's almost non existant. We are obliged to run 2 cars which, on a normal working day, might be used for a combined total of 40-50 minutes.

Being able to take milk in your coffee without everyone looking at you like you're a big flowery blouse.

Sunday newspapers (and then being able to easily understand them).

Hibs (obviously) and the associated craic- oooh the banter!.

[Continental bam]

1. Family and friends.
2. The Hibees.
3. Unpretentious honest salt of the earth folk who like a good laugh
4. Being able to speak in a Scottish accent without having to hear about somebody who had a great granda, whos brothers friend is from Scotland - or having some dickweed parrot it like "och aye jimmy" aye good yin!
5. Good newspapers that have articles about stuff happening in the world/Scottish football world/Scotland.
6. The smell of a chippy on a cold winter day.
7. Just SCOTLAND! (see joke below).


An Englishman decided to write a book about famous churches around the world. For his first chapter he decided to write about British churches so he bought a train ticket and took a trip to London, thinking that he would work his way up the country from South to North.

On his first day he was inside a church, taking photographs, when he noticed a golden telephone mounted on the wall with a sign that read, "£20,000 per call!"

The Englishman, being intrigued, asked a priest who was strolling by what the telephone was used for. The priest replied that it was a direct line to heaven and for £20,000 you could talk to God. The Englishman thanked the priest and went on his way. His next stop was
in Northampton.

There, at a very large church, he saw the same golden telephone with the same sign under it. He wondered if this was the same kind of telephone he had seen in London so he asked a nearby nun what its purpose was. She told him that it was a direct line to heaven and that for £20,000 he could talk to God. "Thank you," said the Englishman.

He then traveled to Coventry, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Blackpool, Lancaster and Carlisle. In every church he saw the same golden telephone with the same "£20,000 per call" sign under it.

The Englishman, upon realising how close he was to the Scottish border, decided to see if the Scots had the same phone. He crossed the border and came to a small town called Gretna, and again, there was the same golden telephone, but this time the sign under it read, "20 pence per call".

The Englishman was surprised so he asked the priest about the sign. "Father, I have travelled all over England and I have seen this same golden telephone in many churches. I'm told it is a direct line to heaven, but in every one the price was £20,000 per call. Why is it so cheap here?"

The priest smiled and answered, "Well laddie, you're in Scotland now, it's a local call."

8. Music, TV and literature –bands like the proclaimers, belle & Sebastian and the prospect of seeing newer talents emerge, good tv comedy on the telly like spaced, the office, peep show, and writers that spin a good yarn old classics like Conan Doyle, Louis Stevenson, and newer ones like some Irvine Welsh and James Robertson. I just finished “The Testament of Gideon Mack”, a great book which I would recommend to anyone!

[dosman]

• Ma ma's homemade soup & potted meat
• Well-fired morning rolls
• Guid currys
• For some reason, bakers in Ireland only sell bread and cakes...wtf? Savoury pastry products please...Pies: scotch, bean & potato, macaroni & Bridies: Mince n Onion/Steak
• Fitba banter
• Spicy Haggis Suppers
• Cheap booze!
• Public transport
• Snow - It never really snows here.
• Hogmany!:YAYYY:
  

[Peevemor]

People indicating correctly (or even at all) at roundabouts.

[Stu]

First, middle and last, I miss the people.

[HaarlemShuffler]

Gotta agree with Stu there, the folk.
And the Hibs and the fans and the craic that goes with 'em, so that's the same really, I guess.

Oh aye, and SunnyMorn rolls 'n all.

PS oh aye and the view from Calton Hill too.

One thing I don't miss is the total lack of coffeeshops

[Ali]

Originally Posted by 1875

Aye, but ye cannae watch the Hibs ever week. (just kickin ye back doon, happy America based fellae).

Ah but at least I can watch the home games live on HI.......sometimes

[GalegoHibs]

Thanks to the internet, I don't miss nearly as much. Apart from obvious stuff already mentioned I also miss Irn Bru and good Indian restaurants. Humour sometimes although the net and sites like the Bounce has also helped greaty with that.

Some other things mentioned I don't miss at all: "pub culture" when it means pished folk staggering around slavering pish all over town, pies, bridies, sausage rolls (although I could go a Greggs sandwich now and then), bitter North Sea winds. I can quite happily leave all that.

[Peevemor]

Originally Posted by GalegoHibs

Thanks to the internet, I don't miss nearly as much. Apart from obvious stuff already mentioned I also miss Irn Bru and good Indian restaurants. Humour sometimes although the net and sites like the Bounce has also helped greaty with that.

Some other things mentioned I don't miss at all: "pub culture" when it means pished folk staggering around slavering pish all over town, pies, bridies, sausage rolls (although I could go a Greggs sandwich now and then), bitter North Sea winds. I can quite happily leave all that.

I'm with you 100% on that.

What i meant when I mentioned pub culture was more the idea of having a local, of nipping in for a quick pint or two after work, of going to the pub with a couple of mates to watch a match on tv. Where I am, you are far more likely to be invited to someones house to do these things. Here it is the norm to be invited for an aperitif - then the corks go back in the bottles (literally) and you go home for something to eat. This is all great - i enjoy it, but there are times when I miss nipping into the pub, talking shite with my mates, having a couple of pints and leaving when it suits me - all without the formality of being a guest in someones house.

[BurbankHibee]

Just the usual, family, friends. Going to Easter Rd. I do miss going to the boozer for a blether about how shite the Hearts are. I have got used to the strange way the yanks like their bacon although I do prefer the Scottish bacon. Broon sauce, rolls etc I can live without. I miss being able to walk to a pub (or anywhere really) and the city of Edinburgh itself. You get a real appreciation of the city when you have lived away from it for so long. I'm sure most would agree.

[GalegoHibs]

Originally Posted by Peevemor

I'm with you 100% on that.

What i meant when I mentioned pub culture was more the idea of having a local, of nipping in for a quick pint or two after work, of going to the pub with a couple of mates to watch a match on tv. Where I am, you are far more likely to be invited to someones house to do these things. Here it is the norm to be invited for an aperitif - then the corks go back in the bottles (literally) and you go home for something to eat. This is all great - i enjoy it, but there are times when I miss nipping into the pub, talking shite with my mates, having a couple of pints and leaving when it suits me - all without the formality of being a guest in someones house.

Fair enough. Absolutely. I was just wondering what was meant by that as there is no doubt it can be seen in Scotland as meaning what I described above. For me, the scariest time to walk around the city is when the pubs are coming out. Enjoy your tipple, whatever it happens to be.

[Ali]

Originally Posted by GalegoHibs

Fair enough. Absolutely. I was just wondering what was meant by that as there is no doubt it can be seen in Scotland as meaning what I described above. For me, the scariest time to walk around the city is when the pubs are coming out. Enjoy your tipple, whatever it happens to be.

I think you're correct. I don't know whether it's got worse since I've been away, or I previously didn't notice because I was just used to it, but certainly every time I come home I feel really uncomfortable being out in the street at chucking out time. There just always seems to be some malice in the air. Musselburgh is worse than the centre of Edinburgh.

However, the pub culture that you guys were talking about is certainly something I miss. It seems that Americans (or at least Georgians at any rate!) aren't terribly good at just going out for a few pints. They've always got to have food as well. I do hanker after the days of pints and nips and bags of crisps and a fish supper on the way hame!

[hibbychubbs]

[quote=jockney green;699766]me too huv spent many a year in the big smoke an what is blatantly missed whilst there was

* a chippy thats open at decent hours (i.e. after 10 at night) an one thats got a bit of choice furra scran, no jus the usual battered fish still wi the skin on it, saveloys, pies in foil dishes an still wrapped in plastic (????) an the opportunity tae buy fags, skin, sweeties, cat food, etc up tae 3-4 in the mornin




couldn't agree more with you nae scotch pies, white puddings, smoked sausages, chip rump steaks
& deep fried pizza mmmmm

i also miss bran scones & butteries especially fae malones of slateford. good old scottish tablet & fudge

tennents lager you can't get doon here either

hibbychubbs

[Forzahibs]

Originally Posted by Peevemor

People indicating correctly (or even at all) at roundabouts.

you're joking surely ?

[GalegoHibs]

Originally Posted by Forzahibs

you're joking surely ?

I can believe it. After almost ten years in Spain I don't think I'll ever get used to Spanish driving "culture". At red lights the philosophy is if you can beat the pedestrian across the road even though they have already stepped out onto the zebra then go for it. I kid you not and I'm not just talking about a few drivers. It's socially accepted.

[Forzahibs]

Originally Posted by GalegoHibs

I can believe it. After almost ten years in Spain I don't think I'll ever get used to Spanish driving "culture". At red lights the philosophy is if you can beat the pedestrian across the road even though they have already stepped out onto the zebra then go for it. I kid you not and I'm not just talking about a few drivers. It's socially accepted.

It's the same here at roundabouts at least

[GalegoHibs]

Originally Posted by Ali

I think you're correct. I don't know whether it's got worse since I've been away, or I previously didn't notice because I was just used to it, but certainly every time I come home I feel really uncomfortable being out in the street at chucking out time. There just always seems to be some malice in the air. Musselburgh is worse than the centre of Edinburgh.

However, the pub culture that you guys were talking about is certainly something I miss. It seems that Americans (or at least Georgians at any rate!) aren't terribly good at just going out for a few pints. They've always got to have food as well. I do hanker after the days of pints and nips and bags of crisps and a fish supper on the way hame!

I think you've hit the nail on the head there. I was used to it and also part of it. But when you see it sober you see things in quite another light. Where I live now there are a few streets packed with drunk youngsters mostly but it's relatively easy to avoid that. In a UK city it's kind of difficult to get away from.