When do you most feel like an American? (Or a Brit, or a Swede, or a Deutschlander, or a Russian, or a . . .)
This is not necessarily when you are most proud of your nationality–I am definitely proud on July 4 and Memorial Day.
But I feel most like an American when I am cruising down the highway on a bright sunny day with the windows down and the rock and roll blasting from my speakers[sup]1[/sup]. To me, this just seems like a quintessentially American activity. It is a defining act of my membership in the good ol’ U.S. of A.
[sup]1 Ok I drive a Mazda, I admit it.[/sup]
Like Sapphire,
At baseball games, and for some reason, especially when filing into the stadium with the rest of the crowd.
Voting. Slam dunk. And for some reason, especially this year, probably because of the high turnout at the polls.
When I cross state borders. Maybe it’s a reminder that we’re the United States. And maybe it makes me think about our freedom to travel within our country while elsewhere some people don’t have that freedom. When crossing the borders, I frequently have a little talk with the state I’m leaving and the state I’m entering. (Okay, it’s weird. So sue me.)
Driving through the American Southwest, or hiking in the mountains in any of the western states. Especially when stopping at cheezy little mom-and-pop burger stands in the country.
I also felt very, VERY American when touring the Boston area several years ago. Not only seeing Revolutionary War sites (the U.S.S. Constitution really got me going), but seeing Fenway Park, the epitome of Americana. For me it’s a west-coast thing. In the west, Really Old Stuff is rarely over a hundred, hundred-and-fifty years old. Seeing New England homes and buildings three hundred years old was a real trip.
I pretty much always feel like an American, I guess that comes from living in a foreign country. I super-feel like an American when I’m the only one in a gathering and everyone is grilling me about this and that aspect of American culture/politics/whatever. Grrrrr…sometimes it sucks to be the token American!
Actually, being an ex-patriate serves to remind me often about what I like and don’t like about the US (likes include customer service, open and friendly people, big spaces, big food, big houses (big everything, really); dislikes include a refusal by most Americans to accept that there is a world out there and that the people who live there might be perfectly happy where they are, the cost of decent health care, and the increased likelihood of being shot by Charlton Heston).
I like living in London; more specifically, I like being an American living in London. But that hasn’t stopped me from pretending to be Canadian on occasion while travelling on the Continent!
(Oh, and if one more person sends me that *&$^ing “Declaration of Revocation”, I’m gonna scream…:mad: )
I’ll second that second, jr8! Oooh, and I do miss the big houses! And hot water in the public restrooms, dammit, that is the one thing I hate, hate, hate about Germany…having to wash my hands with cold water.
Oh, I almost forgot – I feel very American when singing “God Save the Queen” (which as anthems go is pretty dreary but mercifully short). It’s like being an agnostic in church.
I rarely feel like an American. I don’t think my country of citizenship has much to do with my personal identity. Personally, it is more important to me to that I am a Californian than American. If California seceded, I would go with my state without a second thought.
That said, I felt very American when travelling in Europe. I was living in Israel at the time, and rarely had my nationality mentioned there (probably because most of my acquaintances were also Americans). But when I was in Britain and Ireland, I could almost feel my accent become more pronounced, like I wanted to point out that I was a foriegner. I have no good explanation for why I did this.
I’m another American expatriate; I live in Scotland. I feel like an American most of the time, what with living abroad and not really being able to forget about it. Although that feeling has lessened the longer I’ve lived here. I’ve been missing American life lately (not the least because I’m missing my family a lot, particularly what with being on my own for TG and likely the holiday season too). We just got satellite telly and I’m already addicted to the mostly American channels like CNN. Helps me feel a little closer to home.
As for my husband, I think he feels most Scottish when:
a) he’s watching Braveheart or Highlander
b) there is bagpipe music in the vicinity
c) we’re visiting the States and everyone is falling over themselves to talk to him and admire his lovely accent
and/or
d) he’s had a dram or two (or three or four or five)… That’s when he really gets into his patriotic Highland ramblings.
You got the latter part right, neuroman. A “broodje kroket” is a kroket (typical Dutch snack - a deepfried roll with meat paste in it) on a roll. Add mayonnaise (or mustard), and chow down!!
I feel most like an American:[ul][li]singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” or “America the Beautiful” on the 4[sup]th[/sup] of July.[]voting and jury duty (the latter, only once so far). These two things are when “we the people” are the democracy.[]visiting historic places.[/ul]kroket? Ah, now I get it:[/li]
Most of the time that I feel like an American (rather than just an Earthling) does involve when I feel proud to be one: July 4, Memorial Day.
When I vote, too.
Watching the Olympics, especially the medal ceremony with the anthem and raising of the flags.
When someone messes with us as a country, i.e., bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut; attempted assassination of Reagan; bombing of the U.S.S. Cole; Oklahoma City bombing.
In more secularly American ways, how about when you’re having a barbecue on a hot summer day?
When you’re going on a long road trip, all the while remaining in the USA.
I wonder if people realize how uniquely American it is to go to regions where people are noticeably different from one another (South, East, Midwest, Southwest, West), and yet we’re all Americans. I think that’s so cool.
In Europe, a long road trip ends you up in another country. In the few countries where it would be possible to do something similar (Russia and China), movement from place to place was at one time restricted, and now isn’t practical for most people.
A hot summer day at the grill with friends is a good one. My mom’s second husband was from Tehran and my dad’s second wife is from France and neither of them get that at all.
For me? Watching the shuttle go up is a good one. The dream is alive after all…
And I live near Washington DC. Hitting the national mall on July 4 with half a million of my fellow americans to listen to music, hit the museums, drink weak american beer and watch the fireworks…
Now that’s american!
And heck, this thread makes my sig all the more meaningful!
