# Things I missed from England **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2003, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037 "2003-08-18T20:27:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![spogga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@spogga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spogga)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/61 "2003-08-20T18:54:20Z")
Skopo, consider the curse lifted and may your gonads live long and prosper…(apologies Leonard) ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/62 "2003-08-20T21:53:05Z")
Skopo: > [@](#): > > Yes, \*_spogga_, I was just taking the piss, as you Brits say. You can’t just take the piss, you have to take it out of someone. Or you can just have a go at him. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/63 "2003-08-20T22:06:35Z")
Things I miss about England. My friends. Since the Isle of Man is England with all the dials turned up… not much else is missed. (Actually I miss train journeys, my hometown, cheap take-out food, towns that consist of more than one shopping street, big old buildings, road-users who do not stop where they friggin like, people without a manx-chip on their shoulder) ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/64 "2003-08-20T22:52:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Krisfer the Cat \* > **I miss stewed tomatoes for breakfast. > Utahns look at you like the expect a couple guys in white coats to pick you up if you mention that Brits eats tomatoes for breakfast.** Utahns are just plain weird. Nothing in MormonLand is typical of life in the rest of the US. Here in Oklahoma, we have tomatoes at the breakfast table on a regular basis in most small-town cafes, we just don’t stew them first. We eat them as the Creator intended: freshly picked, sliced, and salted. Sometimes, I can’t even wait until they’re sliced; I just eat 'em like apples. Gives breakfast the perfect amount of extra kick. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/65 "2003-08-20T23:17:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pizzabrat \* > You can’t just take the piss, you have to take it out of someone. 'fraid that’s not correct, **Skopo** was right first time. Tomatoes eaten with a cooked breakfast are more likely to be halved and fried/grilled than stewed. I also eat them like apples, and the best I ever tasted were from my dad’s greenhouse when I was a kid – like sweetcorn, the shorter the walk the sweeter the taste. No salt needed either. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/66 "2003-08-20T23:51:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Spectre of Pithecanthropus \* > \*\*All summer long? Hah! Before mid July we’re lucky if the sun manages to peep through the clouds for a couple of hours in the afternoon. The term “June Gloom” is well-known to Southern Californians and refers to prevalence of overcast skies along the beach from May to July. > > Though I have to concede that the late summer usually makes up for it. \*\* What on earth are you babbling about, man? That’s just the marine layer (I almost spelled it lair). It burns off by noon and the rest of the day is pleasant sunniness. Who gets up before noon on beach days, anyway? I lived there (Buena Park in Orange County) for18 years and we never used the term June gloom. ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/67 "2003-08-21T06:21:33Z")
You missed warm toast? What kind of hell tour were you on, the cold toast special history tour? I haven’t been to the British Isles for… okay, it’s only about six months, but I really really really miss being in a place where even poeple who don’t drink that much know a lot about wine and good, reasonably-priced French, Spanish, and Italian wines are everywhere. Even in Manchester, it’s easy to find lovely wine. My fellow Americans - I say this with love - most of you wine snobs are glossary memorizing idiots who wouldn’t know skunk juice from champagne. ---
**Author:** ![frookah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@frookah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frookah)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/68 "2003-08-21T08:06:15Z")
j.c.----give me your addy, ill post you any wine you like. Well said. ---
**Author:** ![Felonious\_Mink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Felonious\_Mink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Felonious_Mink)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/69 "2003-08-21T11:26:27Z")
Marmite…it’s the most important thing to pack! ---
**Author:** ![spogga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@spogga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spogga)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/70 "2003-08-21T11:32:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by j.c. \* > \*\*You missed warm toast? What kind of hell tour were you on, the cold toast special history tour? > > I haven’t been to the British Isles for… okay, it’s only about six months, but I really really really miss being in a place where even poeple who don’t drink that much know a lot about wine and good, reasonably-priced French, Spanish, and Italian wines are everywhere. > > Even in Manchester, it’s easy to find lovely wine. > > My fellow Americans - I say this with love - most of you wine snobs are glossary memorizing idiots who wouldn’t know skunk juice from champagne. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![spogga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@spogga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spogga)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/71 "2003-08-21T11:35:14Z")
J.C. What do you mean by “even in Manchester” I’ll have you know my good fellow that Manchester is now the _in_ place of the UK ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/72 "2003-08-21T11:55:49Z")
Things I miss from the US - Tex-Mex food, beef jerky, and cheap Levis. Things I’d miss from the UK if I ever leave - beer, and cars that actually handle. Hey **Fretful** , I’ve got a cupboard full of pint glasses from various beer festivals, I can send you a few if you like. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/73 "2003-08-21T14:15:51Z")
Hmph. What’s to argue about? Plainly, someone was homesick, that’s all. …and there’s culture shock to consider. When I spent a few months in Japan, I loved the place. Wildly different from anything I had ever known, but you could still buy a beer. Street vendors that sold fish sticks. Vending machines that sold nearly ANYTHING! It was great. Loved it. …but in time… the culture shock began to really get to me. I began to long to see and hear a crowd of people who WEREN’T Japanese. Hell, I’d have settled for people with different colored HAIR. And ENGLISH! I wanted to hear a crowd speaking ENGLISH! Am I a racist? No. I was homesick, that’s all. And for what it’s worth, the only place I’ve EVER been able to get toast served at above room temperature is at home. Do English restaurants somehow manage to serve it warm? ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/74 "2003-08-21T17:01:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by j.c. \* > \*\*I really really really miss being in a place where even poeple who don’t drink that much know a lot about wine and good, reasonably-priced French, Spanish, and Italian wines are everywhere. \*\* Too true. And, on a slightly related topic, what about the concept of dry counties in the U.S.–counties wherein the sale of alcoholic beverages is prohibited at all times? Liquor laws vary quite a bit from state to state and county to county. For example, in Florida, most counties are wet, meaning you can buy whatever kind of alcohol whenever you want. However, Santa Rosa county (northwest FL, close to Pensacola) is dry, so you can’t buy liquor there. On the other hand, you can normally buy beer. _Except_ on Sundays, when the sale of all alcohol is prohibited. I learned this lesson one Sunday at the beach, when I tried to order a beer to go with my fried shrimp. ---
**Author:** ![mojave66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mojave66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mojave66)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/75 "2003-08-21T18:54:41Z")
When I was in Britain I missed California wines-- I know them pretty well. I had to guess at the French wines (uh, it’s a Chardonnay… it _looks_ tasty…) Whatever. Give me my skunk juice, er, I mean Russian River Zinfandel. What I miss most is, oddly, haggis. You can’t get proper fresh haggis in the states anywhere seemingly. I know where to get salad cream, British ales staight from the cask, Cadbury flake, and even “Mind the Gap” underwear but there’s NO haggis anywhere. And frankly, no one here sympathizes with my plight: “What? Haggis? Are you sick, woman?” I also miss walking into a Scots bar and trying to decide between 50 types of single-malts, driving through the countryside past the seventh old castle, getting lost in London and NOT caring because the tube was always nearby, and first-class on the GNER Royal Highlander to Edinborough where my teacup was never empty. While there I _did_ miss drinking my beloved Lapsang Souchong the way the Chinese meant it to be-- just hot water and nothing else. “What, no milk? Are you daft, woman?” ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/76 "2003-08-21T19:18:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mojave66 \* > While there I _did_ miss drinking my beloved Lapsang Souchong the way the Chinese meant it to be-- just hot water and nothing else. “What, no milk? Are you daft, woman?” That’s odd, didn’t people ask how you took it? Nobody puts milk or sugar in my tea unless I say so. Apropos of nothing much, it seems that this is going to be a bumper year for English wine. ---
**Author:** ![Dawne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Dawne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dawne)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/77 "2003-08-21T19:50:20Z")
I’m not sure whether English places manage to serve warm toast, Wang-Ka, but when i was on holiday we had to eat breakfast out everyday and I’m never up early enough to do that at home. I don’t really know why I’d want to either. Really sorry Pizzabrat, i thought you were being serious. I was still really tired, which is my excuse for verything stupid i’ve done recently. I really missed English tv. I know when all of my favourite programs are on ever here and which channels they’re on and i have time to watch them. Every hotel we stayed in had different channels (we stayed in 9.) , or at least they seemed to and i could never find anything good to watch. Don’t even get me started on the amount of adverts, i watched malcolm in the middle on bbc2 earlier and it was really strange to watch a program without a single interruption. I don’t know why anybody would actually eat Marmite. Eurgh. ---
**Author:** ![Dawne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Dawne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dawne)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/78 "2003-08-21T20:00:46Z")
Why is this thread still alive? It began with the delerious ramblings of a bored/boring teenager after being awake for god knows how long. i thought it would be dead within the hour. How the heck did it get more than 1000 views?? I don’t understand!! ---
**Author:** ![Boldface\_Type](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@Boldface\_Type](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boldface_Type)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/79 "2003-08-21T20:59:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bruce\_Daddy \* > \*\*What in the hell is up with English people and their obsession with food? 😕 There was a thread a mile long a while back about biscuits (buscuits are cookies, right?) that went: > > “Cheery Winky Cakes are such the bomb!” > > “Oh, but you must have Slurry Whirry Pats!” > > “Please. Nothing compares to Bimby Bomby Puffs!” > \*\* I’m finding it quite difficult to reply to this post, because I keep collapsing into giggles whenever I look at your biscuit list. Reet funny, that. Now, off for a wee snackette of Bimbo Bomby Puffs. BfT. ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037/80 "2003-08-21T21:23:22Z")
if we were to make a list of things to hate about England, and things to love about England, which would be the longer column? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-missed-from-england/196037.md?page=5)