You know it's time to visit Ami-Land when...

...your German students know the latest American lingo and you correct them, as any good teacher would, only to find out after posting the question on FB, that they were right and this age-old word has assumed a new meaning while you were away

...you start craving MGD

...you can "schimpf" your kids better in German than in English and it just feels right

...you start eating french fries with a fork

...you have no idea who's on the American national soccer team, but know everysinglesolitary player on the German team, who they're married to, how much they earn, where they live, and even what position they play

...you start wearing socks with sandals and start telling your kids to do the same

...you can't fall asleep without a hot water bottle

...you proudly translate a conversational exchange for your folks (from A-M-E-R-I-C-A) and, only when you are met with blank stares, do you realize that it was all in G-E-R-M-A-N (sadly enough, this has happened more than once)

...you read the word "peeps" and think your friends are talking about the noise baby chicks make

...you start adding corn to your Tex-Mex

...your kids absolutely refuse to eat Mac-n-Cheese, Hamburger Helper, Spagetti-O's, and Betty Crocker cakes, claiming they "taste strange"

...you start waiting for the "green man" at the crosswalk

...your body has lost all of its resistance to air conditioning, an amenity that you neverever thought you could live without, and you end up loosing your voice, sneezing, and whoozing after a mere two days in Texas

Oh Lord. This is f-u-n. I have spent more than a decade here and am in love with this sweet country, but considering I could go on and on, it's high time to start looking into flights for a visit back home.

Happy Friday.