Home of the Free

The first full night that I was here, Emily, Amy, and I went to Emily’s favorite restaurant in town and met a few of her Greek friends. When they sat down, they immediately broke into perfect English and began conversing with us about American movies and books and media. Amy asked a guy named Viscillis how he knew English so well and his response was, “Playstation,” followed by gregarious laughter. Later that night, as we walked down the street speaking in our American accents, a young Greek man yelled after us, “Obama!” which was responded to by the Greeks with more laughter, and with cheering from most of the Americans. The second night that I was at the house, I watched “Grey’s Anatomy” on television with Mrs. Steen, who watches it every night at 11 if there is not a Greek basketball game on during the same timeslot. It was at this early point in my trip that I realized how much the American culture permeates into the rest of the world, either due to tourism or publicity, or dare I even say the high quality of our products and entertainment.

This is something that I did not expect, since I had been told for the past years of my life that most countries in the world tend to reject and resent anything American. But even in my first two nights in Corfu, it became apparent to me that the American culture and media is often embraced more often that we give ourselves credit for. When I hear people here talking about the economic crisis (which is happening everywhere), there doesn’t seem to be any blame for the American government, but rather is just a force that needs to be dealt with. The only point of negativity that I have experienced is toward George Bush and the torture controversy, which is an understandable point of sensitivity since it is an international issue and could, by some points of view, be considered America breaking the agreement of the Geneva Conventions, which was a world-wide agreement. However, the rest of American politics and American culture does not seem to be a sore point in the eyes of the Greeks, and the appreciation that they show for movies and books and TV shows that are American is refreshing and surprising.

So, where is this “America VS. The World” syndrome rooted? It has been ingrained in me ever since I began travelling internationally (which has been maybe 6 to 7 years) that I must not try to seem American when I’m abroad. However, all of the people that told me this are American. All of the people who travel internationally with fear, trying to hide their nationality, are American. All of the people who seem to be ashamed are American. I would argue that this syndrome starts with the American people, and it’s my goal now to understand why.

In the same conversation at the restaurant in my first night here, we were talking about which part of Greece Yorgos and Viscillis were from, they asked us where we were from in the states. I responded, “North Carolina,” and Amy responded, “Georgia,” quickly following this with, “But I would rather be from Greece, or anywhere else.” I pondered this for a second—Why is she ashamed? What’s so bad about being from America? I responded by unsurely saying, “I don’t know, I’m proud to be from America. I know that we made some mistakes, but I like my country. I don’t know…” Emily, sensing my discomfort in standing alone in my pride, interjected and said, “It’s ok, there’s nothing to be ashamed of,” and the Greeks responded supportively.

In other cases of the volunteers that I have met here, many of them have completely disowned America altogether. Mark and Molly began their world-exploration trip as a form of escape from American politics and what-not—to become citizens of the world rather than citizens of America. They never talked about American politics or its masses in anything but a clenched-jaw tone of offense, indicating that they thought it was ridiculous, amoral, something to be fled from. Brian, another one of the volunteers from America, has not spent more than a week in his native country for more than 6 years. He spoke of his journey to other countries as a result of “wanting to leave America and never come back.” So he never does, and I can’t even imagine what that feels like.

I guess some people can make a home anywhere they land, but not me. I can find home anywhere I am, but ultimately everywhere that I find it is just an imitation of my true home. Something I will always go back to.

So, in terms of my experience of being an American in Greece, I am most shocked by the way that other Americans talk about our own country behind its back. This notion that the American people are stupid, that the American politics are damnable and unforgivable, and that the American culture is violent and morally degenerate is a self-destructive seed that we planted in ourselves, as far as I can tell.

America used to define itself in terms of endearment—in terms of freedom. Freedom is limitless in the absence of hate. If we hate ourselves and are ashamed of who we are or what we have become, our freedom will implode on itself with no outside forces and no one to blame but ourselves. From what I have seen around the election time this year and from my trip to Corfu here, we are inching towards that every day.

Now is not the time to orphan your country, America. Not now, in the hour when it needs the most mothering.