One whole year… I’ve never been away from the United States for so long. I was only twelve-years-old the first time I left US soil. My mother won big on a church lottery ticket and all six in our family went to South America for two weeks. Well, to be honest, I had been to Canada at a younger age, but that never really felt like leaving the US.
One whole year – that’s how long I’ve been away this time. And I returned on the eve of my nation’s anniversary. Fourth of July weekend always engages with fireworks and cookouts. With my in-laws, we visited a civil war battlefield to listen to a symphony orchestra play national songs. Over thirty thousand people attended, sprawled out on a natural amphitheater lawn. Tarps and tents and blankets galore stretched away from the raised stage as battle hymns blasted. The largest Old Glory I’ve ever seen, raised by a crane, served as backdrop. And glorious she was, looking down to all the stars and stripes glittering throughout the grass. When darkness set in and the stage lights dimmed, the enormous flag was lit by cannon fire followed by forty-minutes of firework blasts. This was my big ‘welcome home’ from one more year in Asia.
As I was surrounded and overwhelmed by Americanisms, I forgot about Asia except for a brief moment. I teared up during the national anthem when my lips sang “For the land of the free.” Though America ever needs improvement, especially with encroachments of liberty like the Patriot Act and its ilk, we have freedoms my friends across the globe do not. And this makes me sad. Unfortunate facts of life in mainland China include the Great Firewall, one-child (and more recently one-dog) policy, lack of religious freedom and persecution for choosing the “wrong” one, and the inability to move freely within the country, let alone the world. At the same time, child obesity grows on the mainland due to fast food chains and more fatty foods in the general diet. America has affected China, but in such a depressing way.
There is, of course, also a lot to be said for the growth of China. The middle class is expanding. Life is modernizing. Millions have opportunities that were closed to their parents. The Chinese blogosphere and chat rooms are all abuzz, however malformed by censorship they may be. Despite terrifying pollution and tightening government controls, China pulled off the biggest Olympics to date. And they won the most gold too. The nation of one billion has returned the world stage, full of national pride, looking forward and expanding confidently.
Standing on US soil, admiring Old Glory with her flapping stars and stripes, it’s easy for me to pick at China. It’s difficult to erase ideologies I’ve grown up with all my life. It’s difficult to ignore heritage, no matter how screwed up some other country thinks it is. As hard as it may be to believe, many (most?) Chinese are of the opinion that there is a lot wrong with Old Glory and her beliefs. Yet despite so many differences between their five stars and our fifty, we do indeed share similarities. Perhaps nationalism is what roots both countries in such strength.
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