uh-merica

(written Tuesday 29 June 2010, 3:05 pm Japan Standard Time)

I wouldn’t exactly call myself a patriot. While I don’t want to be overly political, I will say that I am not always proud of my country and all that it does, and there is much American foreign and domestic policy that I don’t exactly agree with. I have been to and lived in countries where the United States is appreciated and, I daresay, loved. I never once met a Malagasy person who had anything bad to say about America or Americans, except maybe that they had heard it’s a violent place, and compared to Madagascar and many countries, it is; moreover, American flags are fashion statements in many places outside of our borders. I have, on the other hand, also been to places and in situations where I have pretended to be Canadian, for fear of associating myself with a nation of questionable popularity in certain places. I cringe when I hear Americans say ignorant and ethnocentric things, and I definitely join in the mocking of our monolingual nature – What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual. What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call someone who speaks one language? An American. I’ve been impressed in recent months to see Chinese people go out of their way to accommodate people like me who have the audacity to live in their country without speaking their language; there seems to be a general cultural idea that English should be widely spoken, and a cultural and personal shame among the many who do not speak it. It is easy to get out of many situations, even with security or police officers, by playing the “Ting bu dong” or “I don’t understand” card. I’ve explained to Chinese friends that this blows me away because Americans are often sadly and incredibly intolerant of those who don’t speak English well or at all – forgetting that it’s a difficult language, some people are newly arrived or just visiting, and those people are usually trying harder to speak English than most native speakers ever have, Americans are quick to insist that those who aren’t fluent in English can “get back on the boat” or “go back to where they came from.” I’ve been incredulous in recent months at the law institutionalizing racial profiling in Arizona; sure, foreigners are profiled, targeted, and taken advantage of at times in other countries, but usually countries that we try to distance ourselves from, not countries calling themselves things like “the land of the free.” Imagine an American police officer, not knowing much more Spanish than “Hola,” confronting a Spanish-speaking immigrant whose English vocabulary is limited to a few key phrases like “I don’t understand,” and upon realizing that he can’t communicate in this confrontation, responding with humility and grace, realizing that maybe the immigrant should work on his English or maybe he, the officer, should work on his Spanish – communication is a two-way street, after all, and while I believe Chinese is the official language of China, the United States actually does not have an official language. You wouldn’t know it from some attitudes.

Anyway, before I sound too virulently anti-American, let me note that I have been rethinking some of this recently. Why? The world has come together in the Southern Hemisphere in the name of the beautiful game, that’s why. I’ve been watching as much World Cup as possible, and while I was sad to see the U.S. team eliminated by Ghana a few nights ago after a good run that saw one incredible last-minute win and another come-from-behind that should have been, my cheering for the U.S., in something that doesn’t involve nukes, bombs, immigration policy, or anybody being killed, has reminded me that when the circumstances are right, there are reasons to cheer for the United States, and maybe even reasons to be proud to be an American. Most of my friends in Beijing would probably actually be really surprised to read that first paragraph (if they could access this… wah wah) after seeing how I cheered for the U.S., sang patriotic songs, and proudly waved our flag (literally), because my support of the team almost pegged me as a patriot. When all of those things that dishearten and embarrass me about America are absent, though, and the come-from-behind, never-say-die (well, until overtime) American spirit remains, I really am proud of my country. I read in a New York Times article that Alexi Lalas, an American soccer superstar from the 90s, said that none of his teammates in a European league would ever have the same attitude as an American when they were losing a game, the can-do attitude that is necessary for a comeback. I was so proud to see the American team come out in the second half the way they did in the 2-2 tie against Slovenia; after all, they were down by 2 at the half and many would have assumed that it was over by then. They came back to score three goals, one of which was famously disallowed by a ref who gave no explanation and to my knowledge has not been given any games to ref since. Between that, tying the traditional powerhouse England (lucky, yes), and scoring on what felt like the millionth try against Algeria in the 91st minute, when it really was down to do or die, catapulting the team from an early exit to first in their group in a split second, the Americans impressed me with their spirit. I think we have much to learn from the rest of the world. However, I’m proud to be from a country where we’re privileged enough and idealistic enough to really believe we can change things about the world around us. I’m proud to be from a country where I can watch our soccer team come out for the second half and be confident that I have every reason to keep watching the game, 2-0 deficit or not. America doesn’t always make me proud, but I meant every line of every patriotic song I sang and every tongue-in-cheek statement I made about loving freedom during those two weeks of determined footballing.

I’m writing this in the Tokyo Narita airport, although I’ll be in the States by the time I post it, as my blog is fortunately not blocked here but unfortunately inaccessible because the Internet costs $6 to use. I left China at 8:30 this morning (Tuesday the 29th), and I’ll get into LA at 11:10 this (?) morning, over 12 hours from now. I’m time traveling. Tonight I’ll proceed to Denver, arriving at midnight Tuesday night, about 30 hours after leaving Beijing Tuesday morning with a 14 hour time difference. I’ll be there for the week and home over the weekend.