AMERICA ○ LAND OF ALL LANGUAGES

Hopping off the plane back from Mexico I began the mad dash to the customs line. This time as I entered the vaulted room I was blown back not by the sheer number of people, but the kind. Every kind of people.
Japanese, Korean, Thai, Filipino, Chinese, Nepalese, Sudanese, Kenyan, Congolese, Indian, Bolivian, Argentinean, Guatemalan, Colombian, Peruvian, Pakistani, Egyptian, Slavic, Scandinavian, Hungarian, Austrian, Italian.
I’m used to the variety of peoples in the U.S., especially in my own community, but there was something that struck me this time. Perhaps the White House Circus, the culture wars, or the disillusionment and dissatisfaction I have with my country had me stopping to consider that all of these people wanted access to what I had just gone to another country to escape.
They don’t want the above issues of course, but the best of what we export — the business, pleasure, family, education, exploration, opportunity, and diversity.
A reminder that while we here in the U.S. are dragged down in the muddied waters, even still, others see clear, powerful waves.
I was excited to be back in my own country.
The country where you walk outside and see —
Japanese, Korean, Thai, Filipino, Chinese, Nepalese, Sudanese, Kenyan, Congolese, Indian, Bolivian, Argentinean, Guatemalan, Colombian, Peruvian, Pakistani, Egyptian, Slavic, Scandinavian, Hungarian, Austrian, Italian.
Where you hear —
Japanese, Korean, Thai, Filipino, Chinese, Nepalese, Sudanese, Kenyan, Congolese, Indian, Bolivian, Argentinean, Guatemalan, Colombian, Peruvian, Pakistani, Egyptian, Slavic, Scandinavian, Hungarian, Austrian, Italian.
Where you befriend, buy from, sell to, marry, divorce, love, hate —
Japanese, Korean, Thai, Filipino, Chinese, Nepalese, Sudanese, Kenyan, Congolese, Indian, Bolivian, Argentinean, Guatemalan, Colombian, Peruvian, Pakistani, Egyptian, Slavic, Scandinavian, Hungarian, Austrian, Italian.
Where your nationality does not denote your race, or even sometimes, your language.

