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I'm asking this because I have found that after I spent a considerable amount of time in Asia, I came to appreciate the US much much more. More than I ever imagined.
There I lived on the 7th floor in a building WITHOUT STAIRS. No fridge (whatever carton of milk I bought I had to drink the entire thing within an hr), and a barely working hotwater heater that ultimately caught on fire one night.
Lots of fire-hazardous places. Earthquakes or tremors would shake the building foundations and nobody would bat an eye. Everyone kept on working.
An extremely powerful typhoon came thru one summer and blew my window in along with a torrent of leaves and branches. A portion of the ceiling also fell down on my mattress, along with some rat poo. (Ok, I know this can happen in the US too...) Yet, everyone still went to work. Typhoons were normal. Money was still to be earned. All my co-workers found it silly when I told them I wanted to stay home because it was too dangerous to be walking around the street with debris flying at me.
Stray dogs everywhere on the streets. Poor things, dirty, hungry, diseased, and injured, with no Humane Society in sight.
And totally crowded. Buses especially. Everybody's sweaty and nobody wears deodorant (at least I couldn't tell). Traffic accidents are very common, motorcycles especially. I'm surprised I came out of it alive, as I took a lot of cabs.
Oh, and I could barely breathe. Every day was like wading thru a cloud of black smoke and I'd be holding my breath until I clambered onto a bus or into a building. Not to mention acid rain.
Sure there are some nice things there but I missed things like Reese's peanut buttercups (which I didn't eat much of but suddenly because it wasn't available, I missed it).
Also, I wasn't used to being bombarded by strangers asking intrusive questions like "Are you married? Why not? Don't you have a boyfriend? Why are you still single? Why, why, why?" and when I did have a boyfriend "When are you getting married? Are you having kids? How many? Why not?"
And of course, "How much money do you make?"
In America, nobody does that unless they know you very very well and are very close to you. E.g, your Mom.
I have been to Europe. Italy, spain, Greece, France, Turkey,England, Ireland, Scotland.
I have been to the Middle east and to Asia.
I love Thailand second only to the USA. There are things we can learn from these so called third world countries. For 1 how to be happy with what we have rather than worrying about what the Jones family has.
That said. No where is more free. No where has so many opportunities.
No where has the variety or the diversity.
Every country that I have ever been to has haters, has issues simular to our own. Poverty abounds in Asia.
Go to Naples Italy and you will find slums worse than any here. Go north of via roma and you will find yourself in mortal danger.
A city is a city. The same dangers apply what ever city you visit.
The most rudde behavior that I have ever encountered was in France.
The most rude tourists that I have ever encountered in Thailand are French or Australian. That said my fellow Americans have embarrased me more than once with their condensending attitudes towards the locals.
Did my travels affect my attitude towards the USA? Of course it did.
Some like Europe. I liked parts of it and detested others. I would not return to Europe if it was an all expense paid vacation. No salary offered would convince me to return to the Middle East. Egypt is an arm pit. Turkey is much the same. Israel? Not a chance.
Asia? I love Thailand and Thai people. I like Japan but am very much aware that we are tolerated there. Sort of like when you visit less than loving inlaws.
I have lived in Mexico (quite rural, very urban, and in between), Iceland (very rural and urban), and London and it makes me appreciate the fact that I am able to see the US comparatively- and honestly, it doesn't do well in comparison.
I spent about 4 months in New Zealand in college (mid 1990's). a couple things that stuck out in my mind -
phones. (This was pre-cell phones for everyone) university dorm rooms didn't have phones. everyone used the phone in the hall. Private homes didn't have a phone in every room. There was one, on a long cord, in the hall way. I liked the simpleness of it. It was like the US of a few decades earlier.
Health care. Several of us US citizens got sick, went to a walk in clinic, were treated, medicated, and didn't pay a dime. I liked that too.
I have lived in Mexico (quite rural, very urban, and in between), Iceland (very rural and urban), and London and it makes me appreciate the fact that I am able to see the US comparatively- and honestly, it doesn't do well in comparison.
Interesting re Mexico. Why do so many want to move to the U.S.?
20% of Amers believe in socialism.
It is logical that when they go to Europe,they will see it positively...
They will say that higher taxes are OK,since u get "free " healthcare etc...
The 52% of Amers who want capitalism,will enforce their beliefs.
And the 28% of Amers who "are not sure ",will be converts to capitalism.
In fact,red states & Rep administrations should sponsor trips to Europe,to make the Amers proud to be Amers...
I have travelled & stayed in many Euro cities.
They are vibrant like cemeteries. Nothing happens. Stuck with the past,with the classical culture,with kings & nobles...
Absolutely! I've lived in Europe and Asia and it completely makes you realize we live in the best country in the world. The biggest thing I noticed is other countries are defensive of their problems and never acknowledge them. In India, for example, they are in denial of their social issues and their lack of a social welfare system and instead want us to focus on Bollywood and their IT industry. In Europe, they are in denial of their overt racism particularly their emerging and growing neo-Nazi movement in Germany and the anti Romani (Gypsy) population in eastern Europe. We complain about the racism in this country but it's nothing compared to Europe. China has a whole host of civil rights, environmental and criminal transgressions. The Chinese were the worst. In India, you can have a civil debate about their problems although they will be defensive. In China, you can't even bring the issue up and they get hostile about it.
That being said, I think other countries are better about manners and acting with respect. You don't see a lot of loud good ole boys in Europe. Even the poor and lower middle class in Europe understand the concept of class.
I lived in Nigeria for a month to see my family, and it really made me appreciate my parents working hard to come to the US and create a better life for themselves, then later each other, and then much later, for me and my siblings.
I went to a village that had no sewer system, no electricity (my uncle's home had a generator thank God), corruption everywhere where you had to bribe people to NOT steal your things off of a moving bus, poor health, poor education, fewer rights for women. It was crazy.
A guy proposed (in a way, by asking for her dad, which is pretty much lingo for I want to marry you in the village) to my sister, assuming she was an adult. She was only 13, but because we were well fed, we seemed older than we really were. That was kind of...bothersome.
Girls being laughed at for riding bikes because its thought that girls can't do it.
Lots of other things. I just enjoy being American. We were our problems on our sleeves. We're honest about our problems and we work together to fix them, even if it takes a while. You can have the big city life or the small town living, with variations in between. Beautiful landscapes. While we are pretty low on the list of healthy nations, we're HEALTHIER than most nations in the world, and people really tend to forget that. We've accomplished a lot in our <400 years here on Earth and I think that's worth bragging about.
I <3 America.
That said, I wouldn't mind traveling abroad to other countries. But home is home. I dont' think it's wrong to want America as your only home either.
I've been to Brazil, Europe, and Jamaica. They make you see both the good and the bad in the USA. Poverty-wise the USA is very well off, and our standard of living is the best. Things cost more elsewhere and people make less. That being said it seemed that in other places, especially Brasil, people were happier than Americans. They would walk around with smiles on their faces and were happy to help each other out. They would literally be willing to fight each other for the opportunity to help a stranger. By contrast Americans seem unfriendly.
Everywhere I went people were in disbelief that Americans reelected Bush. They realized that everyone makes mistakes so understood Bush's first term, but again! They assumed most American's were retarded and warmongers. I quickly dispelled this motion by explaining how Bush stole the elections and how most Americans hated him.
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