I'm an American who's lived in Europe for 10 years - these are the 3 things about US culture that I miss the most

Jessica Stillman

The author, Jessica Stillman, is an American living in Europe.

• I'm an American who's lived in different European countries for the past 10 years.
• When I think about what I miss about living in the US, believe it or not, all my answers have something to do with politics.
• Despite the many problems in US society, there are still things Americans should be grateful for.
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As an American expat who has been bouncing around Europe since 2008, I often get asked what I miss about America.

There are lots of easy answers I could give that reflect my own personal experience and quirks: Fig Newtons, summer temperatures below 100 degrees, conversing with checkout clerks without thinking about how to conjugate a verb, and full-length shower curtains (what's up with the useless half-length glass dividers, Europe?).

But when I reflected on what I miss about America on a deeper level, the answer I came up with surprised me.

Everywhere you look these days, people are complaining about the state of politics in America, the divisiveness, the nastiness, and the lies. Three minutes in the depth of what passes for political conversation on YouTube or Twitter shows that the critics have a point.

But nonetheless, when I think about what I really miss about American culture, all my answers have something to do with our politics.

These are the three things I miss the most about US culture.