Amid the ongoing COVID-19 lock-down, a title such as "6 Happily Surprising Things About Living in America" almost feels like a work of surrealism, as if it doesn't quite belong, or as if its writer somehow failed to "read the room".
But to me—and I reiterate this within the video itself—it's important that I reflect on America's many revelations for the very reason that I wish, one day, to be surprised by them again.
Before living in America, my relationship with the U.S. had been informed exclusively by the things I saw on television or read in Stephen King books (mercifully, New England residents aren't marauded by a malevolent clown).
But fiction very often omits the finer details. The movies had me believe that Americans were brash, fast-talking go-getters; that sports fields left no room for soccer; and that national parks were the sole property of John Wayne.
When I stepped foot off that plane all those years ago, I walked into a world that was as unfamiliar as it was astonishing. Reflecting back after more than a decade, here are 6 happily surprising things about living in America.
Thanks for watching! Let me know in the comments below if you were surprised by any of the things I was... err... surprised by.
But to me—and I reiterate this within the video itself—it's important that I reflect on America's many revelations for the very reason that I wish, one day, to be surprised by them again.
Before living in America, my relationship with the U.S. had been informed exclusively by the things I saw on television or read in Stephen King books (mercifully, New England residents aren't marauded by a malevolent clown).
But fiction very often omits the finer details. The movies had me believe that Americans were brash, fast-talking go-getters; that sports fields left no room for soccer; and that national parks were the sole property of John Wayne.
When I stepped foot off that plane all those years ago, I walked into a world that was as unfamiliar as it was astonishing. Reflecting back after more than a decade, here are 6 happily surprising things about living in America.
Thanks for watching! Let me know in the comments below if you were surprised by any of the things I was... err... surprised by.
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