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Stephanie Howell

reading, organizing, shopping, momming too close to the sun. Home is wherever the Army sends us.

American Observations

American Observations via Stephanie Howell

  • It is loud.
  • It is bright.
  • It is super overwhelming.
  • The roads are huge and the drivers are slow.
  • It is cold everywhere.
  • The portions are enormous.
  • Servers come to your table a lot and we feel rushed almost everywhere we eat.
  • Ice water is delicious.
  • There is an app for everything.
  • There are too many choices.
  • People don’t seem to look up from their phones.
  • Much less cigarette smoke.
  • I miss the coffee.
  • I love the convenience.
  • People randomly engage/talk to me less.
  • I love Target and go 4x a week.
  • I really dislike Starbucks.
  • I miss affordable produce that is naturally free of any chemicals.
  • I don’t miss the inefficiency.
  • People are more impatient here.
  • I can’t get over the fact that mail comes right to my door and I can get anything from Amazon in 2 days.
  • I forgot about tax.
  • The cars seem huge.
  • It’s nice understanding what everyone says, all the time.
  • I walk MUCH LESS.
  • I miss hearing and speaking Italian.
  • I LOVE being able to run the washer, dryer, dishwasher and oven without tripping a circuit breaker.
  • It seems like there is excess everywhere.
  • I can find clothes that fit me again.
  • I really missed Chik-fil-A.
  • I can text anyone in the country for free and I don’t have to pay for each voice mail!
  • Gas is cheap.
  • Gelato is ridiculously expensive.
  • I feel like a newborn American baby.

Comments

  1. I feel like I should slap you on the Ass and yell, “Welcome Back Mrs. Howell.” You think you’d have flashbacks or punch me? In other news, D & I might be in DC on 5/20. Pencil me in for bad coffee… xo

  3. Welcome back to America, Stephanie. I think America is loud and excessive and I’ve never even visited another country! 🙂 I do love it in other respects though.
    Now that you’re here, I think an East Coast Gossamer Blue girls event should happen.

  7. The trick will be merging the best of both places together into your own blend of Zen. As for the coffee, I wish I could help. The best coffee I have ever had was in Rome, and the best coffee I had at home was a bag of Madagascar coffee straight from the island, brought back by my brother.

  8. Your wonderful husband fights to keep ALL that is America safe for us all to enjoy ! Thank you and God bless our great, often times in excess, United States of America!! ❤️
    Welcome home !!

  10. Very interesting. Cool that you recorded this while it was all still fresh in your mind. It sounds like the economies of scale that make some things cheaper & more efficient here can also translate into a loss of intimacy, less time to savor meals in peace, less high quality produce, etc. But having experienced Italy, you can try to bring some of what you loved there into your life in the U.S. Welcome home.!

  11. Welcome home! My family was stationed in Italy for three years. I want to high five you on every point made!

  12. Love the picture of you all in DC! My daughter is a freshman at Univ. of Maryland and loves going to DC! So glad you get to go to Target!

  13. I guess I’ll see if I feel the same when we PCS back to the states. Still have over two years here in Ramstein Germany.

  15. Thank you for perfectly summarising my observations when I left the UK (and Italian coffee) for the US a year ago. It will soon become your new normal. Keep up the good work of documenting your thoughts. X

  17. Welcome home! Come visit Colorado! Free place to stay and best coffee at Yeti’s owned by Baylor grads!! Bless you all.

  19. Welcome home! You will definitely miss that amazing produce in Italy…don’t know why we can’t get the same quality here in the US.

  20. Welcome home !!! Best wishes for a smooth transition. Your observations, as always, are spot on.

  21. What a precious picture of your family. Little C is not so little. She the perfect addition to your family. Good think J is a straight forward, broad shouldered man with all of the estrogen that will be coming his way soon. I will miss sharing your Italian experiences but so sweet to greet your new adventures. Hugs

  23. I distinctly remember moving home after living in London. I was in the Houston airport waiting to get my bag and this stranger randomly started chatting with me. I thought it was so odd! Reverse culture shock from being a Londoner for awhile. It takes a bit which I’m sure you’re anticipating. But you’re a different person too!

  26. Having spent only 2 summer holidays ever in USA (I’m from Northern Ireland) this post is exactly the reason I became an American blog reader 9 years ago. I loved the differences and couldn’t believe Americans lived like that every single day. Totally fascinating so thanks for sharing!

  27. Ha ha! Reverse culture shock is so real. I had all those same thoughts when we moved back. Why is good produce so expensive! Why is the coffee so bad! Why do I need to go to target so much when I was just fine without it for so long! Why did I spend so much of the day walking and still only walked a fraction of the time I used to!!!

  28. Welcome home. You have a beautiful family.
    Come visit the “other Washington” some time.
    Lots of good coffee here.