Washington, DC - July 4, 2009
Happy Independence Day, friends. While thinking about this holiday and what it means to me, personally, I remembered the post I wrote on this day in 2004, when I was living in Seoul and missing home a lot. At the time, we were pretty worried about where our country was headed–and that was without a horrible economic downturn. Today, as we are still mired in war, recession, and political bickering, I found that these words that I wrote six years ago still ring true.
I hope this give you some food for thought–and some inspiration to stay in the fight to save our country.
On behalf of all the expats here, I’d like to wish everyone at home a happy Independence Day. Allow me to take this opportunity to share my thoughts on our great nation.
America is a great country. Not because our people are more industrious, more talented, nicer, or better than everyone else; not because God decided to bless America more than any other country. No, America is a great country simply because for me (and for the majority of my readers) it is home.
America is where I was born, where I grew up, and where I will grow old. It is where my family and my friends live. It is where my sons and daughters will live. And no matter how acclimated I will get to Korean culture and the Korean language, I know will never be able to feel as comfortable here, or anywhere else for that matter, as I would in America.
I am an American. I love baseball, rock and roll, college football, cheap beer, and hamburgers. So do a lot of other Americans. This may sound superficial, or at least heinously obvious, but I really like being around people that I have a lot in common with. In other words, I like being around Americans.
That being said, I am certainly enjoying this cross-cultural experience, and I feel like I will be the better person for it after I’m done. But I will also certainly come to appreciate the things back home that most of us take for granted. The diversity, for example. Jews, Italians, Asians, Blacks, Hispanics–they’re everywhere in the states (or at least where I went to school). Here, there are…Koreans. A lot of them. Okay, I live with a lot of Japanese people, but the diversity that one experiences in America is truly unique and certainly something that I miss.
I know a lot of things are wrong with America right now–Americans make headlines these days for being obese on a horrifying scale, performing poorly in school, and abusing prisoners in Iraq. The country is about to split itself in two during the upcoming Presidential election in what promises to be a bitter, polarized campaign.
Still, it is home. It’s the only one I have, and I love it for all its good and bad. My fellow Americans (whoo, there’s a doozy! I sound like a politician. But I know not all of my readers are U.S. citizens. But I digress), on this day, our nation’s birthday, I hope you find it in yourself to love your country, if for no other reason than because it is your home too, and it needs your help now more than ever.
They say you can’t go home again. I hope they’re wrong.
Happy Fourth of July. God bless America.
