Readers respond to an article by Bim Adewunmi on encountering the reticence of British people after she spent a decade living in the US

It’s funny how returning “home” can feel alien and apprehensive when you’ve spent years living abroad (I’m back in London after a decade in the US – and I miss those friendly New Yorkers, 5 April). There’s a reverse culture shock when your world-expanded self arrives back in a city you’ve known so well, and missed, but now see through a different lens.

In my experience, something always pulls you homeward eventually. You miss the infrastructure, the convenience, the variety and, mostly, the people. Not just your close friends and family, but the general populace too: the shop staff who leave you alone, the fellow commuters who know not to make eye contact, let alone dare small talk, the restaurant bill that arrives with service already included and no pressure to calculate the appropriate tip.