Little things I like

It's now been ten months since I left New Zealand to come over to the UK, and on reflection I have to say that I've probably found the transition easier than most - I had a job, a place to live, and supportive friends and family already over here. So rather than struggling with London rent, homesickness and terrible English food (OK, I'm maybe still struggling with terrible English food) I instead got launched right into the swing of things. I have however found myself missing certain things at home, while appreciating others here.

Here:
Premade food. Oh my lord the premade food at the supermarkets. You can get fantastic microwave meals here, and they go on special for less than the equivalent of $4 a lot of the time.

Carrot sticks - I love carrot sticks, and hate making them. The solution? Ready-made carrot batons!

Tea (and everything that goes with it). If you want a speciality tea shop here, no problem. There's chains of them to choose from!

Opening hours and free takeout delivery - hungry at 10pm on a Thursday evening? No problem, you can choose from Chinese, Indian, Italian...and get it delivered for free!

Fashion - Londoners are STYLING. And they don't care if you wear weird things.

And they like to stuff penguins, apparently.

Home:

Good fresh fruit and veg - I have to say, it's a bit of a roulette wheel here. I've had some fabulous fruit and also some really rubbish overpriced stuff.

Good Chinese food - I don't know what it is about these British people, but it's been a real struggle to find really nice, decently priced Chinese (and more importantly, Hong-Kong style food...)

Okay, so this is ACTUALLY from transit in Hong Kong...

Traffic - there's SO much traffic in London, and you all sort of drive around each other. Much quicker to get the tube most days.

Space - back yard? Detached house? Forget about it unless you have a cool couple of million pounds (or don't live in London...)

Look, these houses AREN'T all stuck together!

These are just some of the things I notice, but it also makes me wonder - what are the things that other people notice when they move countries...?