Eh, general ranting.

[ickaimp]

I have never thought of myself as an American.

It's not a patriotic thing, it's not an anti-patroitic thing. It's just never been part of my personal identity.

S'like, I grew up in Los Angeles. I never lived in LA. However, I did live in Tucson. There's a difference there, y'see?

And then I moved out of the United States of America. And suddenly, it's become... well, not so much my identity, but a label that I've suddenly been stuck with. This is Icka. She's from the States.

Hi. My name is Icka. I talk funny. Excuse me, "Exotically" (not my word).

Think one of the comments that has infuriated me the most was a former supervisor telling me "There's an entire world outside of America, you know."

No, I never would have guessed. That must be why my passport has funny looking stamps in it.

Then today I was reading an entry over on detective_conan: "Is Conan really that inconsequential to our fellow American anime fans?".

-There's an entire world outside of America, y'know.

*head desk* *head desk* *head desk*

Part of it is Fandom related. I remember being surprised about the time I met Kosagi to find out that she was in the States because that raised it to a grand total of 5 active Detective Conan fans inside the US. Everyone else I knew in the fandom were scattered across the globe.

-granted, with the introduction of Case Closed, that has changed, but it's still a bit of a surprise to realise that there are DC fans in the States.

It was recently pointed out to me that the US is a very isolated country. There's only two countries bordering it and there's two very large oceans on either side. To get anywhere, save Canada and Mexico, requires a plane trip that on a commercial jet takes over 9 hours. And that's bred a very insular mindset.

-How else can you explain country that calls a championship for it's national sport 'The World Series', then doesn't invite anyone else?

*sighs* I guess living outside of the US gives me a difference in perspective I never had before. Americans, by and large, are not stupid. They're Ignorant. And most of the time, they're ignorant that they're ignorant.

*trails off*

... Y'know, had a whole rant here... but now I'm just tired. Both physically and mentally. Cause, y'know... I get tired of being looked at funny cause I'm from the States, so I must be slow or stupid, cause all people know about the States is what's shown on TV. The Simpsons. South Park. American Idol. Sopranos.

... yes, these are your ambassadors of american life to the wide world...

I -like- not being in the US. I don't like 'being American' tacked on as part of my personal identity. I AM MYSELF, DAMMIT. And Myself belongs to this -World-, not a single country.

I hate the fact that as David's looking at universities world wide, one of the considerations is will me, as a US citizen, be able to live there? Because there are quite a few places that being American is at worst deadly, at best constantly harassed. But if I was from a different english speaking country, I'd be fine.

I hate watching the news, seeing what Bush is doing now and knowing people are going to ask my why the Americans allow this and not having an answer. Because the US is a democratic society, therefore everyone in the country must be responsable for his actions.

It's not that people are being rude here or anything, but I still get these questions and I have no answers for them.

It just... it gets old, y'know?

Comments

[kosaginolegion.livejournal.com]

I suspect mileage may vary. We have pockets of exceedingly conservative people who haven't bothered to realize that there's a whole world out there and pockets of people completely fascinated by the outside world's culture.

The media doesn't help. It so often presents the very worst of our national character. Our bombastic personalities, our selfishness and our bigotry. It embraces stupidity as a way of life and degrades anyone outside the norm as the designated butt, there only to be laughed at. Even when it attempts to be cool and 'with it' as far as basic human rights are concerned it can't help but be self-concious and lacking in believability. I could go on about that subject for hours, though.

I note too that I would rather not be blamed for the current so-called government. I voted, but not for them. Unfortunately, I also live in a state that was under control of his party and, worse, had its elections rules set up by someone who was also a member of that government.

Yet, I take heart to some extent. In maps of the country that shade each county by its voting record, America is not red and it is not blue. It's purple. In some places a little redder than blue, with pockets of greens and yellows here and there. We have not, entirely, fallen over onto our right sides, lain down and allowed our rights to be walked over. You might remind the questioners that 52% doesn't really represent a majority and that - honestly - we're not all like that.

Aside from that, don't be ashamed of being American either. Be proud of the fact that you were able to - despite the media and the folk who would rather hide their heads in the sand - grow up cosmpolitan and interested in more than what lies beyond our borders.

And no, I don't know why they call it the World cup either.

[xenogram.livejournal.com]

It was set up by a newspaper called "The World".

[kosaginolegion.livejournal.com]

Awww, there you go bringing logic into things. I never knew that, not being into sports. Good to know, though.

[slothphil.livejournal.com]

Snopes says otherwise, however: http://www.snopes.com/business/names/worldseries.asp

[kosaginolegion.livejournal.com]

There you go, messing up a nice story with facts.

Actually, I could have checked myself. Ah well.