I moved back to the US after 25 years in the UK. People abroad were more polite than Americans, but I never quite fit in there.

• Dana Mayer moved back to the US after living in the UK for 25 years.
• She used to get frustrated by the British tendency to accept mediocrity.
• Now, she cringes when Americans demand a free meal because their drinks arrive five minutes late.

I wasn't prepared for how much the US had changed when I moved back. I'd been living in the UK for 25 years, but when the pandemic kicked off in March 2020, I decided it was time to go home.

It wasn't until returning that I realized how British I'd become and that "home" was more difficult to define. Now, after having lived almost half my life in each country, I feel equally in love with both, although for very different reasons.