Cultural exchange

I'm coming up on a year in country now, and I've been thinking about things I will take back with me to the States. Recipes, habits, hobbies and stuff. I've also been thinking about things I will NOT take back with me. Here is a list for your reading joy:

Keepers
*Borsch
*Vareneky
*Using sour cream in the most interesting of ways
*A love of veggies
*Walking everywhere
*Patience
*Flexibility
*Making just about anything and everything from scratch (bagels, veggie burgers, pizza dough, sauces, cookies, more and more and more...)
*Making all my own teaching materials
*Hospitality, Ukrainian-style (which means insisting the guest eat as much as physically possible, stay as long as possible, and come back as often as possible)
*Juice
*How excited my kids always are to see me
*My dog! (I wish!)
*My landlady's laugh


Leavers
*Homemade dog food
*Language barriers
*Deep fears of getting stranded somewhere
*Ukrainian TV
*No central heat
*Thick turtlenecks and heavy coats (BAH winter!)
*Getting shouted/honked at when I'm running
*No SMOG checks

All in all, Ukraine's in my heart, and though my time here is short, I'm glad it's a permanent resident. :)