Oh Beautiful for Spacious Skies and Amber Waves of Grain
Before I left for Spain, I was speaking to a friend of mine and he said that his partner, who is not American, gets anxy after a while and starts talking trash about America. I said I know the lingo as I live with a European. It’s all America sucks, Americans do this, etc. My friend said, “Truth is I am an American but I like it here.” I said, I know and guess what, they do too. My European partner has been here for over 25 years, while his partner has been here over a decade. Obviously, if it was better there, they’d be there.
No?
That said Europe has it all going on in terms of lifestyle – something every American could use a big dose of. While their bathrooms suck (unlike all the ubiquitous European spa bathroom you will see in a architectural magazines), their kitchens are tiny and there is no a/c on hot hot hot days – but all in all, they take time to go to the coast, to read, to go out for walks and to see friends, and they manage to negotiate all the electronic devices we have without being devoured by them.
So which is better? Why choose, why not enjoy the best of both?
July 6th, 2012 at 5:44 pm
This sooooooooo mirrors my experience with my Indian husband, my German soninlaw! I understand what you’re saying. And I can’t explain South Carolina, Arizona, and Mississippi (and Florida too) any better for them. To paraphrase one of my favorite blogging pals, “Whatareyougonna do?”
July 7th, 2012 at 3:19 am
I’m wondering Alice now that I’ve sort of turned off the news, if it is not better to do so because honestly my interactions day to day here in Spain suggest that people are surviving the crisis, are comfortable with their lives, and that’s certainly not what you read in the paper. If North America is known through our news you’d think we are all consuming parasites with bloated egos and no concern for the rest of the world.
We are going to be hosting a friend from Croatia who came to America wanting to not like it, so he did not – another came wanting to love it and so he did. I keep going back to why does it have to be one way or the other? Why not see the perfect reality in the imperfection to borrow a quote. 🙂