My American Dream has ended and I am back in Europe (Amsterdam to be more precise). But even though I am long gone from Williamsport, I continue to struggle with shaping up a coherent answer to the question that I have asked upon my arrival in the USA, namely, how real is that image that we are buying into when watching American movies, listening to American music and buying American brands?
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| United States Capitol |
Now, I still need more time (and probably more hands-on experience!) but I am becoming more and more convinced that that image is certainly true in one aspect: America is Freedom. In this context, using American brands etc allows us to get a bit of that freedom for ourselves. It is this feeling, of being able to achieve anything one wishes for, that I certainly had when living there. It was the sense of immense liberty and independence that made me feel as if there was nothing that could stop me from achieving my dreams. It is a whole another question whether this freedom is actually fairly utilised by the American people, but one thing is for sure: freedom in America is like nothing else!
PS. The funny thing was, after coming back, I decided to sign up to a local gym. On my way there I thought: "It was fun to listen to American radio (Kiss Fm!), I liked the songs that they used to play. Will miss that...". To my surprise, the first thing I noticed when entering the new gym was the same song I used to hear over and over again when working out in the gym in my college:D
