Mumsnet Talk

The thread about missing things from the uk and our move to the US in a few months has got me thinking. Where are you now and if you moved soon, what would you miss?

We are in singapore and would miss:
Swimming outside nearly every day
Feeling warm outside nearly every day
Gold class cinemas with food and wine brought to your reclining seat
Amazing thunderstorms with warm rain
Greenery and tropical plants everywhere, even alongside the highways
Monkeys along the side of the road
Beautiful ripe mangoes, papaya, rambutans, fresh Asian greens etc
Laksa, satay and gorgeous South Indian food served on banana leaves for a few dollars
Cheap taxis
Absence of litter
Cleanliness in everything (esp spotless public toilets)
Everything being 20 minutes drive away
Waitrose food and marks and spencers

I'm sure there's more, and I'm equally sure there's another thread to come on things I won't miss.....

I'm where you are, and I'd miss the same. And you, and your daughter!

I'm on the south coast of the UK and would really miss
everything about the sea
being able to go to london so easily
being able to buy ingredients for almost any style of cooking

Aw fank you londonmoo

Czech Republic.
I would miss the food, my lovely neighbours, dd's fabulous school. Lots and lots of nice people. I am not in a hurry to leave

The fact the kids can play outside unsupervised (I can see them in the playground through the window, and we live in 1950, otherwise known as rural Bavaria, so it is absolutely normal and natural for all the neighbourhood kids to be outside playing together in the afternoons).

Belgium:

great bi-lingual education
wonderful health care
fantastic bread
fantastic restaurants
fantastic artisanal shops (butchers, bakers, cheese shops, fishmongers)
wonderful floristry
formal greetings upon entering and leaving shops

(have a long list of gripes too like dirty streets but no country is perfect!)

should have added wonderful markets for fresh fruit and veg to that list!

France:

Formal greetings (with you on that Super)
Healthcare
Cheap (and nice) wine
Countryside
Beaches out of season
Smell of woodsmoke in winter
Seasonal food (homegrown)
Vide greniers
Routier menus
Grants for holidays, return to school, transport etc..
Educational opportunities (especially as kids get older)

Rural Canada (Rockies):

Having lots of space between us and our neighbours.

No light pollution at night - the sky is amazing, including aurora borealis and meteor showers.

Amazing (if sometimes scary) quantity and proximity of wildlife.

Stunning mountain views in every direction.

Able to drive for hundreds of miles without having to stop in traffic.

Small schools (both good and bad - love the small school atmosphere but hate the small school vulnerability to the slightest funding cuts.)

Friendliest place we've ever lived.

Crystal clean glacial lakes to swim in (but they're bitterly cold!)

Specific to our area, rather than Canada in general, but amazingly good GPs and much quicker referrals than we even experienced in the UK, but negatively balanced by the fact that we live so far from a hospital that if we were to have something time critical like a stroke, response times are not going to be good.

The fact that I can go out having put no effort whatsoever into my appearance and I fit right in ;)

Los Angeles
The weather!!!
Sushi
Mexican food and influences
The weather
Lots of cool areas outside the city up explore
Weekend trips to SanFran/San Diego etc
Surfing
The weather
Reduction in carb eating (it is so much easier eating heathily in THIS WEATHER)

Same as AmericasTorturedBrow (in the same place)- but not the surfing. Too cold that water!

KL what I would miss is colored by the flats I live in. Once I move it will be
The choice of six swimming pools to use daily.
The warm rain
The roti canai
The security guards here mostly
Things I won't' miss
the humidity
the shocking driving
the desperate road surfaces.

SW France

so much space for DS to run around
(DS being able to experience the freedom of my childhood 35 years ago)
Beautiful countryside
Swimming in Rivers / lakes
Blue sky and sunshine 9 months of the year
eating our meals outside from about May to October
our cosy log burner in the winter months
no traffic
People acknowledging you in the street, entering shops
Neighbours generally being very friendly and welcoming
cheap childcare
excellent health service
jumping in our caravan and being by the sea in 6 hours = cheap holidays
Fresh baguettes available anywhere

Melbourne.
Very little light pollution so beautiful night skies and the most serious moonlight.
So utterly quiet at night. When we first moved here, the quiet woke us up.
Being close to the beach.
Sitting outside for our meals for so much of the year.
No litter.
No dog shit.
Outstanding arts/music scene. We lived in London, also obviously arty, but could never afford to return there.
Sunny skies, even in the winter.

The sun in the winter
Cheap childcare that's really good (well, DD's nursery is anyway)
The food
The friendliness of people
How lovely people are with children
Seeing storks and their giant nests all over the place.
Southern Spain.
Plenty I wouldn't miss like cold, damp houses, bureaucracy and corruption but will be here forever so just sticking my fingers in my ears and going "la la la" about all that as much as possible!

Dubai

I'd miss:

My lovely maid and driver
Geckos
The smiley school security guards
Swimming outdoors
Kite beach first thing in the morning when there's no one on it
Petrol pump attendants
Bag packers
my weekly trip to Dubai Mall
Karama handbags and the spice souk
The fact my children have friends of all nationalities and faiths
The Satwa fabric shops
The call to prayer
the purple sky
Camping in the desert
Peacocks roaming the roads
The bloody noisy mynah birds
Watching sand wave across the roads
The odd sights (my neighbour used to,have a leopard cub, camels on the back of pick up trucks)
Abra rides for a dirham
the astonishingly beautiful Iranian hospital
The so bad they're fab ,hideously ugly villas
Gold bullion vending machines
The life size horse lampshade in the shop in MOE(though I think that's gone now)
blinged up abayas and laboutins

There's also a lot of things I won't miss though.

clean air
no overhead flight paths
spring water on tap
beauty everywhere I look
sunshine
no mobile connection
empty roads and always finding a parking place

The sea
The beaches
The weather
The stars
'Our' volcano
The respectfulness of the people
The coffee
Not wearing socks half the year
Being able to park everywhere

Labootin, we have supermarket bag packers and petrol pump attendants who I will miss too (even though they make me feel incapable)

Loe the idea of crystal clear lakes lazydog. Would like some of your cold clear air too....

San Diego

The weather, omg the weather
Seeing the sun on the sea in the late afternoon and walking on the beach on the way home from school
my house, I think I have lived in this house now longer than any in my life
good mexican food
my friends
the abundance of amazing fruits and vegetables that are so cheap here
long road trips with my family

oh and flip flops for almost any social situation.

Malaysia. All the same as you apart from it's FILTHY here. And it smells. Litter everywhere.

And everything is AT LEAST 20 minutes away. Usually 3 hours and.

Maybe we should look at Singapore next time?

Oh, and no wine in Gold class.