You know the first thing I'm gonna do...

You know that part of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, when the cursed pirates are trying to decide what they want to eat first as soon as the curse is lifted? I've been trying to decide the something similar myself for when I return to the States. While Europe is far from a curse, I still have my list of things I miss stateside ready to go.

• People

I miss my family and friends fiercely, as you might expect. They're quite possibly the greatest group of folks there is, and I'll soon be within range of them. The first couple months of time back will be spent trying to catch up on a year's worth of missed time. I couldn't ask for a better welcome home.

• Food

I'm from the South. We take pride in good cooking and reward it where we find it, which is nearly everywhere. Britain is not particularly known for its food, and the dishes that are well-known are famous for being strange and tasting stranger. Blood sausage, haggis etc. Louisiana is known for bounties of delicious food, not to mention a few particular fast food places I can't help but crave. Also, there's just never anything like your own mom's cooking, whoever you are. 

• Conveniences 

I've known I'd be in Scotland for a limited time from the start, so I've been without a few conveniences I'd grown accustomed to. For example, owning a car and driving instead of walking, having a dryer for laundry, having a dishwasher, owning a bathtub instead of just a shower, having access to a microwave and having my own comfy bed to sleep in. I plan to take advantage of as many of these as I can as soon as I can. 

• Console Games

Like I said, I knew Scotland was a temporary plan, so bringing any gaming consoles (except for a DS) was out of the question. Not to mention the fear of frying an expensive piece of hardware by using an adapter on its power supply. I've recently become the owner of a PC, so I've had access to some Steam games, but I still prefer my console. I've missed out on most of a year of new releases, and I'll be playing a bit of catch-up when I can afford it. 

• Long business hours

Most businesses in Edinburgh (except bars, of course) aren't open past 10 pm and/or aren't open before 9 am. Baton Rouge, being a college town, is the land of long business hours. If you want to go out to eat at midnight, no problem. If you need to do some late-night grocery shopping, you're good. If you need to run to the drug store before work, they've got you covered. It'll be nice to have my options open once again.

While most of this list isn't life-changing, I've grown to miss a lot of it over the past 12 months. I can't explain how nice it will be to have laundry that doesn't take a couple days to hang-dry. After thinking about it, I believe I've made a decision. You know the first thing I'm gonna do once the curse is lifted? 

... Eat a whole bushel of apples.