h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Have you ever lived in a foreign country? If so, was there anything you really really missed from home that you couldn't find there? Particularly specific products and services rather than places and people.

Would you mind taking a minute to answer the following questions?

1. Your country of origin?
2. The country you live(d) in?
3. How long did you live/have you lived there?
4. Reason for living there?
5. Your age?
6. The things you missed?




azahar

1. Your country of origin? England
2. The country you live(d) in? Germany
3. How long did you live/have you lived there? since 1976
4. Reason for living there? Got married to a German
5. Your age? 50
6. The things you missed? see the following threads .... and I've been working on an entry, but keep forgetting to complete it.

F43746?thread=57887
F43746?thread=66828

Apart from which, this was a talking point, some time back.

The standard answers still apply now, as they did 30 years ago: Branston pickle, Dettol, Marmite/Bovril.

Don't forget to ask expats what they prefer about the country they're living in - it's not all bad out there - and it's not all good back home, either.

Might I also refer you to A494525

(TC - the H2G2 archivist!!!)

And what are your answers, Azahar?

hi TC,

Thanks for the links - very informative! Though I still hope people will reply to the specific questions I've asked.

My answers are:

1. Your country of origin? Canada
2. The country you live(d) in? Spain
3. How long did you live/have you lived there? since 1992
4. Reason for living there? it's home
5. Your age? 48
6. The things you miss/missed? sour cream, Orville Redenbacher's microwave popcorn, bagels, kalamata (sp?)olives, lemonpepper, M&S knickers


az

1. Your country of origin? USA
2. The country you live(d) in? Puerto Rico
3. How long did you live/have you lived there? 1 year
4. Reason for living there? I left Lousiana because I missed blue ocean and snorkeling, had split up with my boyfriend, and had a job offer, decided it was time for an Adventure.
5. Your age? At the time I was 32
6. The things you missed? Efficiency, because things are done very differently there. I missed the freedom women have gained here in the US, to do whatever jobs they are capable of, to go wherever we want to alone, to not be called "an abberation" because we have no/husband/boyfriend/children, because that's not the focus of our existence. I missed being able to easily find shoes that fit my big feet, and I missed having a bathtub and oven in my apartment. I also missed having reliable street signs, got creatively lost all the time because things aren't marked consistently. I don't remember missing any specific foods or products, had a great time trying new things.

1. Your country of origin? England
2. The country you live in? France
3. How long have you lived there? Nine years now
4. Reason for living there? Married a French Girl
5. Your age? 37
6. The things you missed?

Apart from the obvious - Good Beer! it's a difficult question to answer - on a day to day basis, nothing, but I must admit that when I go back to the UK and walk into a Tesco for the first time I'm always struck by that 'kid in a toy store' feeling - so many things I haven't eaten for soooo long

1. Your country of origin? Norn Irn
2. The country you live in? Luxembourg
3. How long have you lived there? 3 years
4. Reason for living there? Working with the EC
5. Your age? 43
6. The things you missed?

Again, a full list on my Personal Space! Tayto cheese'n'onion crisps, the sea, and good customer service are top of the list. There's plenty of specialist shops where I can get Marmite and Heinz baked beans so i don't miss them....

Hmmm, I'll try and get around to answering later.

Hi all,

I have a few answers for these questions, but not the time right now...

But for the context:

1. Your country of origin? England
2. The country you live in? France
3. How long (have) *did* you lived there? 5 years
4. Reason for living there? Working (but out of choice)
5. Your age? 30
6. The things you missed?

Ah well, not so many, really, cos I always loved plenty of the things that *were* available in France but not in the UK.

In fact, now that I've been back in Blighty for a year, I could probably do at least as well answering the question, "What do you miss having returned to your 'home' country after living abroad?"

well, more later, gotta w*rk!
spiff

Oh yes, the sea. I MISS the SEA.

Did you say you missed the TEA, TC?

Hey - yes ... what did happen about those PG Tips?

Any suggestions as to what country is like where you come from or would be somewhere you wouldn't mind living? I found I felt very at home in Israel.

But living there is not the same as holidaying there..

1. Your country of origin? UK
2. The country you live(d) in? Switzerland
3. How long did you live/have you lived there? 1 year
4. Reason for living there? Student Internship
5. Your age? 23 (when I was there) 24 now
6. The things you missed?

Oh dear, almost too many to mention. Marmite, prawn cocktail crisps, tin-pot local radio stations, being able to listen in to other people's conversations on the bus, having friends or a fulfilling job or a sense of purpose.....

But it's all alright now, as I'm back home!

P

1. Your country of origin? USA
2. The country you live in? france
3. How long have you lived there? 15 years
4. Reason for living there? married a frenchwoman
5. Your age? 48
6. The things you miss?

used to miss the climate, but got over that... used to miss peanut butter, mexican food, a bunch of things that are now readily available; unfortunately they have come accompanied by even more things that i didn't miss at all! missed going to see the giants play, until i went back recently to find that the "cheap seats" are now $30! i used to sit in the bleachers for $2.50!

frankly, i miss a lot more when i go back from france to california. it(='s no accident if the german term for "living in paradise" is "wie Gott in Frankreich"!

First of all - thanks to everyone who has posted to my original questions so far.

Secondly, I should probably 'fess up and tell you that Noggin and I are thinking of starting up a shop here in Seville that offers stuff to foreigners living here - stuff that they miss from home.

As this is still in the idea stage I don't think it goes against any House Rules about doing business here - especially as it isn't a business . . . yet. So we're not advertising or anything like that.

We just thought that getting some feedback from our international friends here would help us know more about what sort of things to stock.

We have really appreciated the info we've received so far and hope to get much more.

Thanks again, everyone.


az

I don't want to put you off this if it's your dream or anything...

But in the 10 years I've lived in Lyon I've seen half a dozen different shops come and go offering 'exotic' or 'english' products... The only ones that worked (for a limited time) were franchise operations - and those because they were selling 'fake' Irish goods to the French... The problem they all seem to have when targetting Brits is that firstly the Brits take one look at the prices and say 'stuff that, I'm not that desperate for PG Tips/Carrs Biscuits/Whatever...' and the second one is that you either compromise and buy stuff already available on mainland Europe - thus enter direct competition with the hypermarkets or you have stuff imported yourself - go through all the hassle that entails and end up carrying a _huge_ stock (Transport) - It costs my mother more to ship me a box of books and videos for my son's christmas presents this year than it would cost me to ship a pallet of whisky (600 bottles - approximately 1 tonne in weight) from the UK to France.

The only outlet that really made money in France was Marks and Sparks... and god alone knows why they sold them off in France - they must have been making a fortune in Lyon.

Well it's a long time since I lived in Spain, but at the time I missed decent milk, I think. But things have changed radically since 1974.

I remember being fascinated by the stationery there, and shoes were cheap.

Nowadays you can find most things anywhere, if you know where to look. (For example Turkish and Russian shops sell decent tea - I have even seen PG Tips in a Turkish shop) Well, it's a start...

And the worst thing is leaving Radio 4 behind, but you can listen to that on the web these days.

The first thing in a shop for expats should nevertheless definitely be digital radios!

And what you can NOT get in Germany is souvenir tea towels. Don't know why they never caught on. (I was just thinking of the Irish shop in Karlsruhe, and what you can get there - it's mainly teatowels and linens with celtic patterns on, trays, oven gloves, etc. As well as rows and rows of whiskey bottles)

My lodger works in such a very boutique - if you have any specific queries, I'll happily interrogate her

Thanks Whisky!

We do realise that the vast majority of small shops that open end up closing within a year or so. Meanwhile, there is quite a good 'small shop' market here. We've been looking at those that have worked and have tried to figure out why.

Thing is, we are not only going for a UK market, but a more international one.

I was quite devastated when M&S closed all their European shops, including the one in Seville. I actually think their food shop did quite brisk business but the clothing didn't move so well. Meanwhile, I still have not found a better place in Seville for knickers and end up having them sent to me by friends in the UK.

Also, when I want (need?) my fix of Orville's microwave popcorn I don't *care* what the shipping costs are - and often the postage costs twice as much as the actual product.

As I say, we are just doing lots of research at the moment. And all opinions are welcome. As well as the little 'survey' I started.



az

Az,

Be careful. When we lived in Azerbaijan niche suppliers did well. Heinz beans, tonic etc. but very quickly the big boys sign up as suppliers to Heinz and Cadbury Schweppes and they have the networks and money to get your niche products all over the place at prices you can't compete with.

it's true that M&S did a good trade in foodstuffs; pity they didn't stick with that, but their main trade, clothes etc. was hard pressed by niftier shops like H&M, celio...

i read about a brit here who makes a living selling the kinds of products you intend to at open-air markets; less overhead!