Don't call me a F _ _ _ing "EX"-patriot . . . the failings of Intercultural Training.
Today was a profound day in my life. One which will in all likelyhood be a watershed day that I will remember for the rest of my days. The day I discovered my inner American. That's right folks, scratch me and I will bleed the stars and stripes. After the day's discourse, I discovered something about myself that even I found surprising . . . I am, and will always be profoundly American and I am not ashamed. If this were to be a self help meeting, I would certainly not have a problem with standing before a room of my peers and stating "Hello, my name is Ryan . . . and I am an AMERICAN". With this revelation, I realized my mission here . . . the reason for my adventure. It is not to learn the language or even the cultural practices. It is to make myself a better American.
Now I ain't no "Merican" like in a country and western song, but rather American in the way it matters. In the way same way it matttered to Washington and Jefferson. So don't call me a F_ _ _ ing ex-patriot. I am a Patriot in every sense of the word. I don't live within America, America lives within me. We spent the majority of the day today in intercultrual training at my wife's place of business. The goal of the day was to make us understand the ways of the French and how our two cultures are different. The US has many failings and there are many wonderful aspects of our new home that are better than our old. These are the things that I intend to bring home with me. It is clear to me now however, that I come from a rich and diverse heritage that is bred of stength and honor. A place where individuality and self reliance are not dead, but alive and well in the heart of those that remain faithful.
I could write a disertation on the finer points of the day, but the bottom line is that each culture has it's own brilliance, but ours shines a bit brighter still. The things that I cherish most about myself and certainly about my children are those things that are typically American and are simply not tolerated in our new home. I am loud and expressive, self confident and individualistic. A lone voice in the night that can be heard screaming the truth. That is my right. That is my America. I am not one of the whole, the group does not speak my mind and I am free to choose. I am not forced to know what I know or believe what I believe. Don't get me wrong, there are aspects of the group centered model that are very appealing and work very well.
As American's we fear that which we do not understand and we are quick to try and label and classify our world. The very term "Socialism" sends shivers down most of our backs, but there are concepts here that we as American's should take note of, because our way of life is indeed broken. It is a way of life that is worth saving. It is worth fixing. It is something to be proud of. The French system is not "Socialism", however there are very grand social aspects to it that we should learn to embrace not fear. They have it right to some degree, but believe me when I tell you that they too have much to learn from us . . . our tolerance, our self-reliance, our respect for self expression, the very hallmarks of our American way of life.
Alas I will leave you with words that are not my own, but I think they speak my mind on this my 39th day:
" . . . I'm the enemy, 'cause I like to think, I like to read. I'm into freedom of speech, and freedom of choice. I'm the kinda guy that likes to sit in a greasy spoon and wonder, "Gee, should I have the T-bone steak or the jumbo rack of barbecue ribs with the side-order of gravy fries?" I want high cholesterol! I wanna eat bacon, and butter, and buckets of cheese, okay?! I wanna smoke a Cuban cigar the size of Cincinnati in the non-smoking section! I wanna run naked through the street, with green Jell-O all over my body, reading Playboy magazine. Why? Because I suddenly may feel the need to, okay, pal?"
So, go out tonight in your big ass SUV and have a steak on me. You're ruining our way of life and keeping it alive all in one fell swoop. God bless the USA!
Day 39
1 comments:
Neither the French, nor the Americans have it right, but the Ancient Greeks did. It's called the "Golden Mean," or to bring it in to the 21st Century, moderation in all things, including moderation.
No sage, no set of volumes could ever teach what you are learning. I envy you. We will speak much of individualism, (what is it, who has it, etc.) when we visit. Not enough room here to do the subject justice, but Voltaire might be a good starting point for us.
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