I have been living here in the U.S. for over seven months now and sometimes it feels like home. At times I can even imagine living here permanently -- it happened when I was in Athens, Ga. and when I was in Savannah (likewise, it definitely did not happen in D.C or anywhere in Northern Virginia).
Usually, these feelings are wrapped up in the illogical flights of fancy that are characteristic of a tourist or a distant fan of a culture. They are superficial experiences, sure, but truly enjoyable nonetheless. I thought Savannah was gorgeous. Athens has a type of warmth and a fun vibe that I haven't felt anywhere else I have been in the world.
It's not just certain physical locations that make me want to live in the United States, either. When I drink good American beer -- despite my initial experiences, it does exist -- and watch many hours of college basketball, I am supremely happy. I can't do that at home. When I am welcomed into the house of a new friend (yes, the stereotype about the South's friendliness is thankfully and wonderfully true) I have the feeling that I would rather not leave. When I see my favorite musicians -- bands that normally wouldn't make the trip all the way down to the South Pacific -- play a concert not once but twice at a live venue, I can see the advantage of living in such a huge entertainment and media market.
Moreover, I like many of the values that are celebrated in the United States. Whilst I wasn't particularly enamored by everything he said, President George W. Bush made an excellent point during that State of the Union address. He said that one of the United States' greatest strengths is the people of the United States. I couldn't agree more. Here at the University we can see in the faculty and the students that great thinkers are helped by the quality of the (top) tertiary education. That is without a doubt a better resource than any gigantic factory in China or those points of U.S. outsourcing in India.
Furthermore, the nature of the competitive market in the U.S., while far from perfect, allows people to flourish and be as innovative, if not more innovative, than many other parts of the world.
However, there are other times when I wonder if the United States might not be the right place for me.
For example, I was once asked at a party whether as a foreign student the Christian right disturbed me. Yes, I told the inquirer, it does. Now without opening a large dogmatic can of worms, some of the attitudes I have heard that intertwined theories on "race," sexuality and Christianity whilst I have been in the U.S. have been, quite frankly, scary.
Realistically though, this ignorance occurs everywhere. There is a great line in the novel "Trainspotting" regarding a black character who gets into fights in Edinburgh for no other reason than the color of his skin. It goes something like this -- in Scotland, people say that racism is an English thing.
Likewise, I get tired talking to other foreign students who point the finger at the United States. As a great broadcaster in New Zealand once said to me, for every finger one points, there are three pointing back towards oneself. France, as we have seen recently, is far from a paradise of understanding. Nor is Britain -- remember the Bradford riots? Nor Spain or Australia. The Aboriginal people of Australia have been on the receiving end of some of the most abysmal racism in world history.
And certainly, I am not making a utopia out of the country I come from. New Zealand is a young, post-colonial country that has to deal every day with its colonial past. Moreover, in New Zealand, there are times when individuals are chastised for the same reason they would be appreciated here. In the eyes of some, any type of confidence equals arrogance. Achievement, and the enjoyment of achieving, is seen as "showing off." We even have a name for this soul-sucking phenomenon: "Tall Poppy syndrome." Along with our disproportionately high rates of domestic violence, it is the thing I hate most about the country where I was born.
Nonetheless, there are a thousand things about New Zealand that I am proud of. Being the first country to give women the vote. Our far from ideal, but reasonably open, racial discourse. And of course, our intellectual and cultural superiority to Australia. (Just kidding, Matt. ... Not really though.)
So, what am I getting at? There is no paradise. The locals I saw on television after Sept. 11 who proclaimed that the attacks couldn't happen to the "number-one nation in the world" were tragically wrong on two counts. First, Sept. 11 unfortunately taught us these atrocities can occur anywhere. Secondly, the U.S. is not the number-one nation in the world. The U.S., like many other countries around the world, is a great and relatively free but imperfect place. On the upside, even some of those imperfections can become strengths in the struggle to change them.
Chris Garland is an exchange student from New Zealand. His column usually runs biweekly on Thursdays.
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