America is already great!

I always advocate that blogs are for building your business, but, you know, sometimes, you might just want to write, to share your point of view, get something off your chest or tell a story. And that’s OK - it tells people a little more about you and gives them a personal insight.

I haven’t written anything about my time to date in California, but I felt compelled to convey my love for this country in amongst all the election hype. This piece started out all celebratory and positive, but it would be too glib to ignore the negative. This nation has its faults, like all countries: some make the headlines worldwide and hang around in the sub-conscious of everyone who lives in the US, but there are others too, just in the ‘every day,’ of course. This piece definitely focuses on the positive, however.

US elections are very different to those in the UK as I’m sure you know; aside from the technical details (I have a better understanding of the electoral college now and Iowa caucuses), they’re ‘darker’ in spirit, there are more insults being thrown around and the campaigning goes on for far longer. It’s ‘pick a side’ time, now though - you’re red or blue, left or right, (and this time, men vs women, in my opinion) and unlike the UK, there isn’t really another option.

Anyway, with all this division and negative stories, I wanted to write a piece about why this country doesn’t need to be made great again (to steal a Trump line for my purposes!), because it already is!

America is great at patriotism

Americans love their country. They can see its faults too, but they are proud. The American flag adorns many a house and the stars and stripes are emblazoned anywhere they can. Their rousing national anthem (the music for which is actually British, did you know? But the lyrics are a US poem about defeating the Brits so …) is played at many a sporting fixture, professional, college, high school: the mass of spectators furtively searches around the stadium for the flag and then faces it with hand on heart; they sing or as is often the case, listen to someone else singing the anthem, whooping as the singer holds the note longer on the last ‘…land of the free.’ There’s no disrespect, no booing. Gets me every time.

This patriotism spreads to their military veterans who are venerated and receive special treatment, with a public holiday too on November 11. At many sports events that we’ve attended, a military veteran has been highlighted on the big screen at some point in the game, their service history detailed. This is met with cheers, a huge round of applause and maybe the odd tear. I would love to see the UK do this more - such a simple act but it really highlights the sacrifices made by others and gives us all an opportunity to show our appreciation. (For balance, I should add that sadly many veterans don’t receive the help they need, living in poverty or on the streets.)

We’re not as outwardly patriotic in the UK except perhaps around sport and royal family events, although I suspect the latter is waning. The Union Jack has a tendency to be associated with nationalism these days and that’s a real shame.

America is great at ‘belonging’

Patriotism is one way of feeling as though you ‘belong’ to the United States but this feeling of belonging runs deep and into other areas of life. The affiliation that people have for their alma mater astounds me.

I loved my time at Leeds University and if they were up against another university in sport or appeared on University Challenge, I’d cheer them on, but do I wear Leeds Uni merch? Do I follow their sporting/academic progress? Would I travel hundreds or thousands of miles to watch them? Sorry Leeds but no, no and no. But here, they do, well into adulthood. It bonds people, it creates a sense of togetherness and solidarity. I was chatting to an American friend about this; she’s a UC San Diego alum and was saying that she could be anywhere in the US, the most obscure of places, she might meet another ex-UC San Diego student and they’d connect.

The feeling of solidarity and belonging is created in part through ‘uniform’. We recently went to watch the Oregon Ducks college football team play in Eugene, Oregon with an alum of the University of Oregon. It was a seven-hour drive there but what an experience! The Ducks’ colours are green and gold, and we were told to wear green - who decides I don’t know but it was across their social media, on their website and of course, in the official Ducks shop. The stadium was, therefore, a sea of green which was a sight to behold, and immediately, we Brits, wearing our green Ducks’ merch, felt as though we belonged. We were high fiving other Ducks fans, cheering them on and singing along (their song is ‘Shout!’, you know, the Lulu one!).

That same feeling of belonging is evident with sports teams from high school upwards, and faith: mega churches attract hundreds of people to worship and it’s another way that people connect, strongly and gain a sense of belonging.

America is great at sport

Sport is a big part of American culture. It’s a chance to be patriotic and reinforce that feeling of belonging and is part of that wholesome American image - strong bodies, amazing teeth, sporting prowess.

I know, I know I’ve banged on about sport quite a bit. As a family, we love sport and we’re fortunate to have been to many live, professional sporting events whilst in California. And that’s because America is so good at it. Tickets are pricey just as you’d expect so it is a treat, but at the same time, events are accessible. They’re family friendly; bad language is forbidden; alcohol is on sale but I’ve never seen anyone drunk - at the baseball and (American) football they even bring refreshments to your seats; it’s welcoming; there’s no bad feeling, no vitriolic chants except to the referee sometimes!

And it’s so entertaining! There’s spectator participation on a large and loud scale (I’ve lost my voice a few times!) and yes, games go on a while with all the breaks, time-outs, changes of players in football but that’s when the spectator games, kiss cam and on field/court performances kick in. It really is fun for all the family and compelling - you want to go again!

The Duck at the Oregon Ducks vs Boise State football game, Autzen Stadium, 7 Sept 2024

The way professional sport is organised is also pretty interesting. Professional sports people go through the college system and, if they’re good enough and make the grade, are drafted from there, at highly produced, highly-anticipated televised events. If you don’t make it to the ‘big time’, you have a degree and the experience of playing college sport in front of tens of thousands of fans in the stadium and on TV in your back pocket.

Thanks to this very clear and defined path, children are playing sport from a young age and if they find a sport they love, whether they want to take it to elite level or not, they’re likely to continue through all their schooling including college (colleges look beyond academic ability and want to know about all your extra-curricular activities). I have frequently been asked what sport I did at college. Erm. Does the Otley run count?! Quite different cultures, I think.

America is great at nature

Driving through Death Valley was a lifetime highlight and the tunnel view at Yosemite is simply breathtaking. Standing at altitude amongst the Rockies was literally breathtaking whilst standing at the roots of General Sherman ticked an item off the bucket list. And don’t get me started on Lake Tahoe, which I just adore.

Now I know that Americans didn’t ‘make’ the above and all the other areas of beauty within these 50 states, but they are really good at preserving them and, well, keeping things simple.

Firstly, to visit many of them you need to buy a pass. Passes are not extortionate and are there so that they can track the number of visitors and limit them accordingly. And then once you’re in the national park, for a country known for its commercialism, these ‘Wonders of the States’ are pretty much left for your wonder. There are hotels and places to eat but not many. It’s just not as commercial as similar places in the UK and that has really stood out for me.

Americans are also good at advertising areas of natural beauty and other places they’ve visited through the power of merchandise. (They love merch.) Every day you’ll see someone in a t-shirt decorated with a tourist destination’s name in fancy font; cars are decorated - some crazily - with stickers promoting Yellowstone / Hawaii / Grand Tetons. They’re proud.

And quite honestly, it’s been handy for us newcomers, providing us with inspo as to our next weekend adventure!

A few extra things that America is great at …

Weekend getaways - they know how to pack life full of experiences and, importantly, pack carry-on luggage like pros.

Ice cream - ok, this one’s personal but Handel’s Birthday Cake ice cream is one of the greatest things ever.

Turning right on a red light - apparently this is just in California, but it is a time-saving bonus. In the UK, it would be turn left on a red, of course but just think about how useful it would be!

Wine. We live in California, need I say more?

Holidays - a holiday in the US is a one-day event, not a two week break but they go all in! Halloween, Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving. But do you know what they don’t have so much? Chocolate Easter eggs. Weird.

Bulk buying - everyone seems to buy in bulk from the likes of Costco. I used to scoff at my parents in the UK who did this but now I’m in the gang. Perhaps it has something to do with the cost of living in the US?

Sunshine - California is the Golden State thanks to the discovery of gold and the subsequent Gold Rush but the sunshine is pretty golden too and is year-round. We’re very lucky.

These are just a few of the reasons I love America and think it’s great already, but I would love to hear your opinion, for or against. Please comment below.

Caveat

There’s no way that a country this big and made up of 330 million people is completely as I have experienced. I live in a fairly affluent city in a progressive state.