Zen and the Art of Travel: Home and Away (or Why I Love the USA)

"You do not know the worth of water until the well is dry." So the proverb goes.

The benefits of travel are many: a broader perspective and world view, an understanding of international issues, and a context for one's own beliefs. My grand Japan adventure has allowed me to learn many things about this new country. Additionally, I have an entirely new perspective on life in the United States and what it means to be an American. 

In truth, every place has its roses and its thorns, but it's much easier to recognize the negatives that surround you, wherever you are. Throughout most of high school and college I became increasingly disillusioned about my own cultural values. I was ever the cynic about politics, about the bombastic, wasteful, lazy, and inconsiderate American persona. I was skeptical about the dominant American ideals: wealth, power, fame, beauty...materialism and militarism.  In many ways I was ashamed of being an American.

As I prepared to come to Japan, as a cultural educator, I asked myself, "What is American culture?" What makes us unique? I thought about idioms like, "As American as Apple Pie" or "As American as Baseball." Similarly, my students have great difficulty addressing Japanese culture. However, based on a recent Facebook poll conducted by myself, most Americans have at least some idea about what Japanese culture looks like. They think of anime, technology, drifting, sushi, and chopsticks. They think of white rice, honor, samurai, and "The Karate Kid."  Maybe they think of martial arts or calligraphy. But is that what Japan is, really? We think of a stereotypical, over generalized image of Japan; one without nuance. 

Now that I am in Japan, I find myself teaching not about a nuanced America, but instead, a simulacrum and a stereotype. My students find it easier to understand a simplified, cut-and-dry explanation of holidays, food, and music in English. When someone asks me, "What is your favorite American food?" it is difficult to say, "enchiladas" or "pizza" because my students would look at me confusedly and ask "Isn't that Mexican food?" or "Isn't that Italian food?" It's really difficult for me to talk about Lady Gaga as the penultimate American musician, and generalize about a land that's as vast and diverse as America.

I recently read this article in the Star Tribune about exchange students and their perceptions of America as compared to their home countries. "Fast food (they were amazed by the portions and super-sizing). Free refills. Huge refrigerators" and "A Russian student, for example, was perplexed about why everyone in Minnesota seemed so chipper. 'Why do people talk to me?' he asked Lee-Dobbs early in the school year. 'Why are they so happy?'"

I have discovered, despite some lingering misgivings, that I can be proud to be an American. It's a place where you can look someone in the eye and really speak your mind. You can be confident and bold and show emotion. It's a  place where all kinds of different people live together and learn to understand one another; I miss the diversity of the U.S.A. It sounds like a platitude, but I honestly find this amazing in comparison to Japan. We are open to change. I love how women are respected. I love the vibrant fashions and music and flavors. You know what? I love American culture. 

Spending a year abroad was one of the best things I have ever done. New experiences, like travel, give you a better understanding of who you are and where you come from: a broader perspective. As outsiders to a new culture and temporary outsiders to our own, we can see our culture and selves more clearly. Travel is about opening oneself up to a new way of living and gaining a better understanding of the world and oneself from this detached perspective.  Furthermore, you don't realize how much something has truly influenced you, its value, until you are removed from it, or, "You do not know the worth of water until the well is dry."

I can't wait to call America home again.