I don't blog, at least not on my dear ol' weary wednesdays, as much as I'd like to. This would be bad if I wasn't writing or getting thoughts out some other way. The fact that I'm traveling abroad by myself is reason enough to write, but since I came here with the plan of "alone time" and I'm getting just that, means that I should write even more. I'm writing plenty on my travels in my traveling blog , and writing still more on my travels and a few subsequent thoughts in another medium, yet I still feel that there is more to be said. I think a reason for this is my constant realization to the world around me that being abroad is bringing. I usually don't think about the world or its problems or its inhabitants or its future or past, but being out and about has me thinking now. It's got me thinking about America and her role in the world, her education system (or seemingly lackthereof), her economy and especially, why I'm proud to be an American.
I'm not a politician, an advocate for war or peace, a civil/gay/feminine/whatever else rights movement follower or a part of a union. I'm a normal American guy who is getting the chance to see some of the world and because of this opportunity, I'm seeing things that I like and don't like about my beloved country. I will preface all this by saying that I am more proud to be American than when I left home. I haven't given much to my country, but she's given plenty to me and for that I'm grateful. So here's the brass tacks.
America needs to up our education requirements. Indiana's foreign language requirement in high school is 3 years of one language or 2 years of 2. What will 3 years get you? If you take Latin like I did, nothing. If you take Spanish like a lot of my friends did, it will get you conversational at best by the time you've finished college. If you actually apply yourself and go beyond the requirement because you enjoy it, you might actually become fluent and after four years of extensive study and several semesters abroad, you may even be able to consider yourself bilingual. If you take 2 years of 2 languages, at best you will be able to remember a few words from your first two years and be able to order food and ask where the bathroom is after the next two. It's sad. I met a couple of Finnish guys in London during my first week in England. They had just turned 18 and were seeing a little bit of the world before doing their mandatory 6 months of military police service or two years of reserve duty. They both spoke Finnish, English, German, conversational French and conversational Swedish (Swedish is very different from Finnish and comes from the same base as Estonian and Hungarian). Finland requires English and German from grade 2 on and in middle school through high school you get to choose between French, Spanish, Italian or Swedish. By the time these guys get out of school they know at least three languages fluently and are conversational in at least one more. How many do I know? English. That's it. And from my test scores, I'm an above average student. That's sad. And who the heck is Finland? This is why America will have a tough time continuing to be a world power in the next generation. We have manhandled the world into speaking our languages and doing things on our terms, but I doubt it will last for much longer.
America needs new books and new classes about world societies. England doesn't have bad food, bad teeth and people saying "Ol' Chap" and "cheerio" every two seconds. They've got great food, great teeth, and you get laughed at if you try to say "cheerio" around here. It has become what some people will call Americanized, but I'll call it multi-cultured. As Americans, we realize that our culture is a melting pot. Americans can't claim one culture because we have so many. England used to be able to claim an "English" culture of great beer, steak and kidney pies and football, but with the recent rise of immigration from Eastern Europe and Muslims, it's become a melting pot as well. The world is changing, England is changing, and America still has the idea that the "Redcoats" are still over here mad that we beat them 200 years ago and haven't moved on since. England has continued to change and America's view of Britain needs to catch up. HOWEVER...
America has surpassed the Britons in the beer category according to this America's palate. By the small sample rate of Oxford and London pubs that I've been to and the beers that I've had, American microbrews are better. The Stout category is reserved for Guinness, and I'm sure the pinnacle will be found upon my trip to Dublin, and for cask and real ales, Britain can have it. But as for Pale Ales, India Pale Ales and ESPECIALLY Porters, Bell's alone beats England, and that's not to mention the other 50 breweries in America that I've come to love. England, where the best beer has always come from, where Porters were made, hasn't come up with a porter that can beat a Bell's Porter, a Bad Elmer's Porter, or even a Sierra Nevada Porter, and that depresses me. It's December, porter time in England, and I went looking for a good one the other night. I went to a few pubs trying to find one, and I found one. It was a porter, no doubt, but nothing in flavor, fullness, aftertaste, and certainly not robustness as any of America's finest. Somebody please send me some porter.
Other than that, America is still my home. We have all the landscapes that Europe offers, all the foods and beverages and most of the cultures, better roads, nicer people, and best of all, we're cheaper. You think New York is expensive? That's average living to a Brit, Austrian, or Belgian. You want cheap, go to Bratislava, where the McDonald's Big Mac meal costs 100 Slovakian Korunas. Wait... That's $5.00, and it's only $4.00 in America. Yeah, I'm glad my fast food costs less and my gas is 5 times cheaper. Is it fair? Probably not, but I didn't make the deals. Our nations shrewd leaders have gotten us to where we are, and the world would be a different place if America was different. Would it be better? Maybe. Worse? Maybe. Either way, I'm still proud to be an American. Now somebody find me the basic franchising costs to build a Taco Bell over here. I'm dying!
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3 comments:
Interesting thoughts here.
I remember when I was over in Paris, I had some experiences that sort of gave me a new perspective on how Europeans think of Americans. Particularly since the beginning of the war in Iraq, there has seemed to be a heightened discontent with Americans in general. I spoke with one young man in particular on my last night in France (though his English was broken, and I must confess that my French is virtually non-existent, we still managed to communicate and have a good talk about it)
I didn't really know how to feel or react to what he said, and I didn't necessarily agree or disagree; but I am thankful, in hindsight, to have had that experience of being an American outside America. I think it forces you to broaden your perspective (whether you agree with peoples' impressions or not). And I hope that, as you say, it only deepens one's pride for their homeland, by being able to better acknowledge the 'goods' and the 'bads'.
So yeah, good post. And I pretty much agree with you all the way.
Nice post. And I remember having the same sort of thoughts. The interesting thing for me was seeing how much pride others really did have in their country. You don't often find that in our generation of Americans.
I also think it would help Americans to learn more foreign languages, but I wouldn't put that at the top of the list. Europeans are forced to learn more languages, because their countries are smaller than Texas and all border each other. If they want to compete in the business market, they would have to learn English at the least and then anything above that just makes them more marketable. For an American, we're lucky to already be speaking the global economy's language. Plus, we have only have two borders and the northern one speaks a slightly distorted version of English. So, I agree that we're a bit uncultured as a nation, but I think other countries have the advantage, because they are forced to be cultured out of necessity.
Well stated. I do agree on the global economy scale, and I guess I didn't factor that into my rant, so thanks for reminding me that. I guess I just get frustrated at myself for not knowing anything besides English and how to say I know "a little" Espanol and I choose to blame the schooling system and not my poor choice of academic studies while I had the chance.
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