Things I Miss Most

Missing the North Carolina Mountains

Here's a random list I thought of while I was enjoying a cup of tea (one of my daily half-dozen) and just reminiscing about home.

• Seeing Friends and Family- skype is great and all, but man, I miss you guys.
• Whole wheat products- they don't exist here. I saw what I thought was some wheat bread, but it turned out to be the regular white bread with brown food coloring. No lie.
• Cottage cheese- not sure why I miss this, but I do. Korea doesn't have much going on in the dairy department.
• Understanding my surroundings- oh, how I took this for granted!
• Amelies French Cafe in Charlotte- I miss meeting friends there, doing art, reading and sampling the many tasty pastries.
• Cabo Fish Taco in NoDa- My favorite restaurant in Charlotte.
• Art stores that carry my printing supplies- can't find them here, so I'm at the mercy of friends and family back home to send me supplies I need. Kind of frustrating.
• Shoe shopping- they don't carry anything over a size 7 here... so I can look at all the pretty, inexpensive shoes, but I might as well be Cinderella's stepsister. *sigh*
• Feeling like a normal-sized person- not some ridiculously tall behemoth of a woman.
• Lack of crowds- too. many. people.
• Driving where I need to go- taking the subway is okay... but it takes forever and is packed with throngs of people at any time of day or night. Standing room only for an hour trip? Yay.
• Trader Joe’s- oh, how I mss thee!
• Target- I took Target's awesomeness for granted all these years... never again!
• The mountains of North Carolina- they're just way better than the mountains here. For one thing, you can actually get away from people and enjoy a scenic overlook. Not so much here. It's literally like the sidewalk just extended up a mountain and people are just continuing on their daily lives.
• Autumn activities with my family- pumpkin carving, apple picking, cooke decorating... sigh.
• Magazines in English- that don't cost $15 and up at the one English bookstore over an hour away from where I live.
• Really good scented candles- I don't know why, but they just don't have quality scented candles here. Over the weekend I saw some "scented candles" that smelled like car fresheners and a small one (think votive) was 20,000 Won (about $18). Crazy.
• Baths- I just have a shathroom (shower/bathroom combo) with no tub in sight. Oh how I miss my bubble baths with a nice book...
• The Farmers Market- I just love the Charlotte Farmers' Market. Sure, there are markets here, but they're just not the same.
• Machine drying my laundry- So many of my clothes are crispy and crinkled from line drying. Sure, I feel green and all, but sometimes I'd just like a nice, fluffy towel instead of a body-size piece of sand paper.
• Baking- no one has ovens here... and I miss baking so much! Especially with Autumn here, I want to make my mom's famous pumpkin cookies.
• Fires- especially this time of year; I love a good fire in the fireplace or out at a campsite.
• Feeling like I belong- I really like it here, but I am still very aware that I'm an outsider, a foreigner, a waygook or however else you want to say it. I'm at the mercy of kind bilingual Koreans and while I have my little niche of friends, I still know I don't really fit here.

Of course, out of all of these things, the ones I miss the most are my family and friends. I dream about you guys a lot and I hold you in my heart.

Who wouldn't miss this? Me and my snuggly little buddy, Grady.