The Jennifer Blogs

This blog is in response to a quote I read -- something Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks reportedly said:


"I don't understand the necessity for patriotism. Why do you have to be a patriot? About what? This land is our land? Why? You can like where you live and like your life, but, as for loving the whole country... I don't see why people care about patriotism."



Let me first say that I have been a *big* fan of the Dixie Chicks' music. I'm not going to go burn their CDs or try to get people to boycott their music. I just think what Natalie said was stupid. 

I was *blessed* to be born in the USA. I could have been born in any country on Earth. Growing up I would sometimes think these really deep thoughts (deep for an 11 or 12 year old, anyway). What if I had been born in India? Or Ethiopia? Dang Sally Struthers and her pleas for money in foreign lands where children were starving while I got all the macaroni & cheese I wanted, straight from the box. Sometimes with a hot dog, even. I would honestly ponder this at night while I was laying in my comfy queen size bed after watching my very own TV.



Usually the feelings of gratitude would quickly pass. I'd fall asleep thinking how lucky I was to have been born in the greatest country on Earth, but wake up thinking about a boy I had a crush on.



Later in life I thought about it less and less. I started to believe I deserved certain things - clothes and shoes, privileges, an education, etc - because I was a white girl born in America. I mean, that's not what I thought on the surface, but that's pretty much what it boiled down to. I never thought about the fact that those things weren't rights. They were privileges. And I was seriously taking advantage of them.



Fast forward to now. I left the US for Tokyo in September, 2007. After living in Japan for a couple of months, we got to go home for Christmas. Then it was back to Japan for a few more months before the Singapore move in April, 2008. In a little more than two months I will have lived abroad for a year. I have never been more homesick in my entire life.



These past couple of weeks have been really bad for me. I miss my friends and my family. I miss my dogs. I miss my church. I miss the familiarity of life. Not just the food (we actually can get Kraft Mac N Cheese here, but it is outrageously expensive). I miss driving on the right side of the road. I miss understanding how the bank works. I miss knowing how to pay my bills. I miss being in the same time zone with all the people I want to talk to. The kids miss public school with their friends, and Tae Kwon Do and sleepovers. I miss small group and Tuesday meetings and my candle parties. I miss knowing how to do my banking. I miss talking to people I understand who also understand me. I miss English words (it's a TRUNK, not a BOOT). I miss money that I can identify quickly as being a quarter or a dime. I miss being allowed to browse in the mall without being attacked by every sales associate. I miss going to the post office and understanding their shipping rates.



Don't get me wrong. Singapore is awesome! There are a ton of things I love about this country. Just the fact that we get to be here - the experience - is such an amazing opportunity. But I miss my country. I miss my people. I've never been to Nevada, but if I were to meet someone tomorrow who grew up in Las Vegas, they'd feel like my next door neighbor and they'd probably become my new best friend.



My friend Ruth sent me a video while I was still in Japan. It was of the Blue Angels doing a fly-over and dropping a large American flag. I cried like a baby when I saw the Stars & Stripes. I've never cried at our flag. Until you've been away from your country and have had to learn "how they do it over here," you can't fully understand what it means to love your country.



My friend Robin married a Canadian who recently - finally - became an American. I think I'm prouder of him and happier for him than anyone else (except Robin).

One thing about Singapore, too, is that their government owns the media. In other words, every newspaper, TV station, radio station, etc is run by the Singaporean officials. You cannot say anything against them on TV or radio. You can't speak out against what they're doing or question them in any way. The people here don't seem to mind either. You can't complain to businesses if you are treated unfairly. People here just don't complain if they get bad service, a fly in their soup, or anything else that might cause a person in the US to file a lawsuit. Here you can't even talk to a manager about it.



My mom and dad were both in the Army. Both my brothers served in the US Navy. My husband was in the Army. I went to college. I know that people I'm very close to have served our country, yet it never meant to me what it does now -- now that I am so far away from the familiarity of the United States of America. So far away from Wal*Mart, Target, Panera Bread, Church of the Highlands, I-4, The Gulf of Mexico, Cows, Suggestion Boxes.



Still, I know we're here for a purpose. We aren't really sure what that is at that point, but we'll figure it out. And this weekend my friend Alicia has advised me to hit the Fourth of July festivities here in Singapore. It'll be a slice of America and I'm not gonna miss it! I only wish Natalie Maines could have been here every step of the way. Maybe, just maybe she'd tear up when the Star Spangled Banner plays and the fireworks explode overhead. I know I will. God Bless America.