25 Things to Love About America
When living overseas, it’s very easy to quickly begin missing certain things about the good ol’ US of A and discover what you love about America. It isn’t that other countries necessarily “get it wrong,” but rather that it’s different from what Americans are used to. Over time, we adjust to the host nation’s culture, and it becomes our new normal.
But really, we still kind of miss certain things.
I’ll add that there are plenty of things to love about living overseas (and you can read a post about that here).
For now, here are 25 things to love about America that might not make sense unless you’ve lived overseas. Please note that some of these may be specific to only one overseas location and not all of Europe or all countries.
1. The ease of traffic lights.
Being able to look straight ahead at a traffic light rather than straight up with your face hovering over the dashboard, your nose almost touching the windshield. Who knew your neck could bend that far?
2. Paying for gas.
Sometimes it’s so much easier to pay for gas at the pump rather than walking into the gas station every time. Oh, and having affordable fuel!
3. No ration cards.
Being able to purchase coffee, gas, or liquor without searching for your ration card that you swear you have. Somewhere…
4. Ice in drinks.
Always. But especially when it’s hot outside. And on that note…
5. Free refills on drinks.
Especially when it’s hot outside.
6. Simple water orders.
Ordering a water at a restaurant and not having to pay for it or being specific about what type of water you want (you have to choose between still, sparkling, or tap).
7. The wonderful invention of the garbage disposal.
It’s scraping your food scraps/residue into your Bio (compost) bin, into the trash, or out of the sink drain.
8. Central Air Conditioning.
Every summer we miss it more and more.
9. Store hours.
Stores and shopping malls remaining open past 8 p.m. and accessible even on Sundays.
10. Weekly trash and recycling pick-up.
In Germany, trash is picked up every two weeks and our recycling is once per month.
11. Plastic bags.
Plastic bags readily available without having to buy a reusable one (though we should all try to not use plastic bags).
12. Full-size grocers.
Large grocery stores where everything is available in one place. Food, household items, and wine all in one stop? Don’t mind if I do.
13. Lunchtime shopping.
Businesses remaining open during lunch hours. It makes running errands on a lunch hour much easier.
14. Free WiFi.
Nuff said.
15. Ease of bathroom use.
Using a restroom without A.) having to pay for it, or B). having to buy something in order to be considered a “patron” to use one.
16. Light switches.
Light switches inside the room where you need them rather than outside of the room. Why is this not a universal thing?
17. Locks.
Locks on the handle of bathroom doors rather than requiring a physical key. Or worrying that a child will lock themselves in the bathroom (American knob locks are easy to pick open. Don’t ask me how I know that).
18. Road size.
Wider roads that leave room for two vehicles to pass one another at the same time without fear of side mirrors touching.
19. Turning right on red.
I never thought this would be something I miss!
20. No need for VPN blockers.
Accessing TV shows or movie apps like Netflix without purchasing a VPN blocker.
21. American Amazon’s two-day shipping.
You don’t think much about it until you have to wait two weeks (minimum) for your orders.
22. Numerous food delivery options.
Cooking can be overrate some nights, and options are wonderful.
23. Freedom from the metric system.
While it’s easy to calculate miles per hour into kilometers per hour, some of the other metrics are more labor intensive when it comes to math. Seriously, I have no idea what 23 degrees Celsius even is without looking it up.
24. Real closets.
I mean, real closets. The closet furniture is okay when it’s temporary.
25. Being understood everywhere you go.
No second language skills required. I realize this is such an American thing to say, but it’s true. I can get by with German and I speak passable French, but when you go to Luxembourg, which speaks both, it’s hard to know which language you should switch to!
Are we missing something? Sound off in the comments and tell us what you missed the most about America!
