Top Ten Reasons I'm Glad to be Back in the US

*** And here's a top 10 list of reasons I'm glad to be back in America/Seattle:

10) Free water in restaurants. Everyone knows I generally don't drink water, but it's like the song says: "You don't know what you've got til it's gone..." So I must like water at least somewhat. Also: Drinks served above room temperature!! People in Eastern Europe believe that if you drink something cold, you'll get sick, so drinks are served kinda lukewarm--gross!

9) The ability to customize my meals--in the Czech Republic, people just don't understand what you mean when you ask them to "hold the mayonnaise and cheese and substitute spinach for lettuce."

8) Deodorant. That is, other people wearing some.

7) The weather: I came home to overcast, gloomy skies and 68 degree weather. I don't care if it's cold, I love it.

6) Air conditioning... You know it's scarce when restaurants in Prague actually have signage advertising that they have air conditioning. The general lack of air conditioning combined with #8 made for an awfully smelly city.

5) Peanut butter. This is a delicacy that is totally underappreciated by Europeans.

4) Knowing where the hell things are. Even in 3 weeks, I still didn't know where I was half the time.

3) Starbucks. In Seattle, you can't throw a rock and not hit one. It seems excessive until you go abroad and there isn't a single Starbucks in sight. For some bizarre reason, the big chain in Prague is KFC. It isn't even McDonald's!

2) My friends and family: I can't wait to catch up with everyone!! (And free phone calls to my family... after too many $20 phone calls from the CR... Uh, yeah, I checked my phone bill some time during the first week and now I'm way too scared to check it again.)

1) MY BABY, SIDNEY!!! He's now only 2 states away and I'll have him back in 3 weeks!!!!