My friend left yesterday to return to her normal, European life. We exposed her to Bass Pro Shop, Starbucks, Route 66, Target, Grocery stores with restrooms, super friendly Wal-Mart clerks, Southern accents, an inexpensive Pedicure, Clearance sales, and her first Dr. Pepper. She gained weight. She left with plastic cups boasting our favorite BBQ joint. She now has an impression of the great state of Oklahoma. Hmm.
I noticed her reactions. She shook her head a lot. I'm pretty sure the shaking was in disbelief at the size of our food portions, stores, some people, drinks, roads, shopping carts, cars, the size of ... pretty much ... everything. It was a whole new experience.
It was fun to give her some really great memories about historic places ... places in which their history in comparison to her native land is ... well ... new. In fact, the apartment we occupy in Vienna is older than the state of Oklahoma. Our new country with our new history was something she marveled at. She loved the new attitude of people openly sharing a hello, a description of tomorrows' weather, or what was good on the menu. It was refreshing.
One of the phrases I kept hearing roll of her surprised lips and into the open air was .. "This is just like the films!". Aspects of our lives in the U.S.A. reflected what she has only seen in the movies. The old fashioned diners, the typical American neighborhoods, even Wal-Mart was just how she imagined them from the American films she has digested ... only bigger!
It's great to look at something familiar through new eyes. I'm pretty sure there is a modern day parable in there somewhere. But for now, I've got to do a load of clothes in my huge washing machine.
Feeling Continental,
christina
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