Homesick

I've been feeling homesick for several months, probably since Christmas. The holidays always make me homesick but this year was worse then before and I'm just faced with how very long it's been since I left Canada - more than three years ago. Not only do I miss family - which is huge for me given I have such an enormous family and we are all pretty well connected to each other, I miss Canada.

The food - I desperately miss Canadian bacon. What I wouldn't give for a nice

pound of Maple Leaf or Schneider's bacon. I would fry the whole fucking thing up and eat it right there, out of the frying pan. What they call bacon here in Australia doesn't even come close. It isn't smoked, and it doesn't fry up particularly crispy - not that melt in your mouth crispy at all. It isn't cut the same, cured the same, and tastes nothing like it. Damn, I miss bacon. Other food I miss are a proper hot dog. I don't know what they have done to produce the smushy shit they call hot dogs here, wrapped in red plastic mush, but it tastes nothing like a proper hot dog. Epic fail again. I miss real Miracle Whip. I can buy an Aussie version here, but it's too white, and tastes very little like what we can get back home. Another - cheesies. I absolutely adore Humpty Dumpty brand cheesies, and Cheetos. There is nothing even remotely comparable here. Orange cheddar is another. There are some tasty cheeses here, but nothing like a good orange cheddar. You can't buy orange cheddar here at all. 

Shopping carts - I know, such a trivial thing but I absolutely HATE Australian shopping carts. They have four wheels that swivel that makes them a damn nightmare to control when the ground is sloped. You cannot push from the handle, rather you have to walk beside it and hope it doesn't run you over. It strains my back each and every time as I wrestle to control them. Stupid design, epic fail. 

A simple friggin phone number. The phone numbers here come in so many different formations, I never know if I have all of the numbers or not. In Canada and America, the formation is the same EVERY SINGLE TIME. 123-456-7890. ALWAYS. I think I might have written about this before. In Australia, it can be 1234-456-789, or (03)1234-5678, or 12-34-56, or 12345, or 1234-123, or for mobiles - 0123-456-789, or if calling my mobile from out of country, 123-456-789. Very odd to have a phone number that starts with zero. 

I miss listening to Canadian's speak. I'm surrounded by Aussies, but also by a ton of folks from the UK, so Irish, Welsh, Scottish and the Pom. It was a real treat to speak to a Canadian at Bluesfest, but I hardly ever get to meet other Canadians. I'm the only one at my office, despite its size. I have my GPS voice on Canadian just so I can hear something other than Aussie - a bit over the accent at times. Love my Aussie friends, but miss my Canadian ones. 

Medical stuff - miss not having to pay at the doctor's office, and getting a prescription filled for more than 30 days at a time. I always got 3 months at a time at home - they refuse to do that here, though not sure why as I don't have a drug plan, so I'm paying cash. And because my scripts all run out at different times, I am at the drug store 3-4 times per month instead of 3-4 times per year. I do, however, appreciate the cheapness of prescription medications here though. 

Distinct reversed seasons - Not that I miss snow, but other than temps dropping by 10C from winter to summer, there is little to signify the change of a season. Some trees drop their leaves but there are no fall colors. I still can't get used to having Christmas in the middle of a hot summer, though I was quite tickled to spend my birthday at the beach last year - first time ever. But when trying to describe when something happened - in spring, or last winter, or last summer, I slip all the time. For me Christmas will always mean turkey dinners and snow, not beach and barbecued shrimp. 

Now for what I don't miss - SNOW. This past winter was epic in Canada, with snowstorms still continuing into May, which is a bit ridiculous. I am very thankful to be living in a country with no snow (other than a dusting in the mountains of two states). Winter may be a bit damp here in Melbourne, but I can still wear short sleeves and sandals most every day. It does get chilly at night, but that's when I really enjoy curling up with a blanket on the sofa, and wearing a cozy sweater and socks. I also don't miss the condition of the roads. Australian roads are far superior to anywhere else I've driven - smooth, wide, with rare potholes. Now I know in Canada and America the pothole situation is mostly due to snowplows, frost, and too many transport trucks on the road, but it sure is nice to drive in this country.