This is my friend Mark, who is mentioned here from time to time.
Mark is a foreigner.
He loves our country.
And he's paying us a visit today to tell us some of the reasons that he feels this way.
If you miss me, I'm visiting Jenny's blog today, to tell you why I love America.
Observations on America.
By a foreigner.
In the past twelve years I have traveled extensively in the United States, including several summer driving holidays. In each case I have been delighted with the experience and, if anything, wished that I didn’t have to leave.
Like a lot of good things, my continual return to the US has been more due to good luck than to good planning. My wife is a Filipina, which means that she is “persona non grata” throughout the world when it comes to touring. It seems that every country assumes (as does the US) that she will be trying to immigrate rather than tour. The difference is that once she has established that she is indeed a tourist, the US takes her at her word and generously issues her with a 10-year multiple entry visa. Contrast this with Canada, the country of my birth. Personal visits to the embassy and proof of marriage to a Canadian Citizen only procured a single visit three-month visa. Ironically, while it is easier to migrate to Canada than to the USA, it is definitely easier to be a tourist in the US.
So many things are easier to do in the USA, from renting a car or a motel, to finding food to eat or clothes to wear. All of the above are great value and so easy to do. Besides, the US is perfect for the traveler who likes to be spontaneous. If I had to put a single word on it, I would call it ‘choices’ or ‘freedom’, and it extends beyond the “trivial” activity of touring. As a foreigner, I have many of the same freedoms that American citizens enjoy while I tour. I can travel freely, but I can also buy and sell property.
Americans of course probably take all this stuff for granted. This is as it should be. I wish that everyone could live in a country where the freedom to travel extensively, to buy and sell, and enjoy such a range of choices were the same.
Aside from travelling in the USA I have done a little travel through Asia and the third world. Now that is an eye opener. One is very conscious of deference to one group at the expense of another. I have been both the beneficiary and the loser in the game of ethnic stratification. I have endured the unwanted attention of the hustlers (who are so aggressive at Egyptian tourist spots) as well as the petty corruption of police and commercial discrimination against foreigners. For example, although I am married to a Filipina and have children who hold Philippine citizenship, I cannot own land in the Philippines. Foreigners can only have part ownership in condominiums. But nothing stopped me buying land in the US.
I live in Qatar and I enjoy living here, but I am not free here. I need my employer’s permission to leave and to return or to buy a car. Travel by car to Dubai, a short 250 miles away requires visas from Saudi Arabia and the UAE plus special documents for the car. This usually takes about three weeks to organize and, of course, requires employer permission.
It is not just the beauty of the Grand Canyon or the California Coast or the east coast hinterland that draws me back to the USA. Next summer I will probably tour the USA again. Perhaps it will be the ultimate freedom of a bike tour. In any case, while I am there I know that I will be treated with dignity and expected to return the same. And in every moment of my stay there, I will enjoy freedom.
Thank you, Mark.
Mark will be re-visiting this topic in future posts.
I would like to meet your friend, AND if he does a bike tour, I might just have to invite myself along. I'd like to know his opinion on the differences between the US and Canada. A lot of what he said, I never realized.
ReplyDeleteHaha, he doesn't do manual power, Brenda, strictly the motorized version. Which I have seriously considered inviting MYSELF on, but I don't think Jeff would stand for it! Next time he comes, we shall have a party.
ReplyDeleteHinterland! Now, there's an interesting word choice for the place where freedom began. I love the hinterland, such as it is. And I don't know about anyone else, but I am happy to report that in our family we have never taken anything about our beloved country for granted. God forbid.
ReplyDeleteMy sister, who is married to a Frenchman, lived for many years in Quebec and I know what you mean about the endless red tape. I admit that seeing her experience that bureaucratic quagmire put a lot of things in new perspective for me.
Thank you, Mark, for your timely and on-point observations about our matchless liberties. There really is a reason tens of millions want to live on American soil, and many will die with that desire still in their hearts. God Bless America ~ the greatest nation to ever exist on the face of the Earth.
Thanks for the tourists perspective, Mark. I am guilty of taking our freedoms for granted, too.
ReplyDeleteWell said Mark. You may come to my house at any time for a meal, a bed or just a visit. You and Grace were so fun to be around and then to bring Sue!! Wow, such friends can never be replaced, neither can being an American by birth. I feel privileged. I tear up with the flag goes by. I get aggravated at people who denigrate the military, those young people have better things to do, like raise their young families and be home (can you tell Nathan is deployed?)with them. Instead, they give up a little freedom to defend ALL we have and enjoy. And before I take over Sue's blog, I will hush!
ReplyDeleteI loved your post at Jennys' blog. This was very interesting too. I think we don't know how good we have it here.
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me have the floor on your blog Sue. As you can guess I have always been a big fan of the USA. And yes the freedom issue is the biggest reason. The impression that I have is that unlike most other countries, the government in the USA has not yet tried to worm it's way into every facet of people lives. But its is not just the government it is the attitude of people generally.
ReplyDeleteBack on the tourist theme. One kind of touring that I hate and refuse to do is the package tour. You know, get on the bus here, get off there. Got to this site now go to this hotel now. I think I would rather be at work than take a holiday like that. Coincidentally, there are not a lot of package deals for travel to the US, while on the other hand in a lot of countries it is hard to do any other kind of holiday. Kind of makes you think why that may be..
I like guns.
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