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Letters from America
I live in the good old USA, now for someone that is not born to this land, it
can be, and often is, a confusing, frustrating and wonderful place to live.
This week is the fourth of July, now to the rest of the world this week is
just another week, but to Americans it is the celebration of their nation and it
birth. In many ways it has been diluted somewhat from an earlier
time, but it is still an important flag waving exercise for most Americans.
Americans are a very patriotic nation, and in truth they have a lot to be
patriotic about, they love their country and most people can see nothing better
then America, it is in fact a wonderful place to live, and I for one love living
here.
The people are a mix of all things strange and wonderful with the best and
worst of all that you can imagine, I came to live in this country a
reluctant captive of the love of my life. Now Dawn is a native and
can see nothing weird about the place, I on the other hand see such strange
paradoxes around me every day I some times just want to laugh out loud and at
other times cry.
One of the first things to strike you on arrival in the US is the number of
churches, boy do these people love to go to church, unlike Australia where a
mere 3% of the population go to church on a regular basis in the US about 40% of
people go to some sort of church on a regular basis, and that brings me to the
TV church people, my goodness what a bunch they are, I shall refrain from my
usual comments on them but they have to be seen to be believed.
Now at the same time this culture produces some of the most bestial people
you could imagine, now that to me is a paradox, how a country as seemingly moral
as this one can produce and foster such monsters in its midst. I
read a piece in my local paper the other day about a mad man that had killed and
eaten a little boy, and then served parts of him up to others, now that is one
sick man. Now the thing that struck me is that, even in my local
paper this piece was on page five not even a lead piece, now what that tells me
about the country I am not sure but it is a worry when the public is that sated
with violence that this rates only a small page five piece.
Do not get me wrong now, there is much that I love about this country, for
one my car, I drive a Cadillac and love it, I also love that I can get in almost
every town in the country breakfast at 3 am, now this might not seem a big deal
to you, but as one that works strange hours, often long into the morning this is
a real big deal.
This brings me to yet another thing, food, once the newness of the change of
country evaporates thee comes a time when the tastes of home are missed with
much passion for tastes not had for a long time, now the Outback Streak house
just not cut it when it comes to those things unavailable here, such as a chicko
roll and real fish and chips, not to mention Tim Tams etc.
This piece is far from finished, so I will add to it as time goes on, hang in
there
swagy@aussie-expat.com
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