About to begin a new chapter of my life in their country, I was utterly convinced that very few Americans were normal according to the standards on which I usually judge people. In addition, the country simply seemed too big to grasp fully, mysterious in some ways, and maybe even a little dangerous. The usual reaction I get when talking to people at home about studying in the U.S. is something like this: “I don’t think I could live there, it’s just too far away, and isn’t the crime rate pretty high over there? Oh, but it’s great that you’re doing it! Living the American Dream!”
In the reality of what is the United States, I have not yet encountered this dream. And I doubt if I really believe in its existence. It’s simply too intangible an idea. To me, though the country still does seem vast, it did not take long for it to become completely demystified. This is not a dream, but real life – and I can’t do anything but love it. Rather than being intimidating, the size of the country is what makes it so full of opportunities for a person to shape life as he or she pleases. And coming in as an outsider is no barrier to fitting in and utilizing what the country has to offer. It is made easy by the astonishing openness that the people has been conditioned into by their heritage as ’the great melting pot’ (or salad bowl, as I think is more fitting).
However much I like the U.S., it does have its less positive sides. Some stereotypes about its citizens are true to a great extent. Americans know America. Period. I am left shocked and speechless every time, but it still happens regularly that I get asked the question, “So is your country, like, uhm, a democracy?” This usually happens after I tell people about the Faroese tax system, from which people infer we are some kind of communist satellite state. And, call me arrogant, but it does seem like an unreasonably large proportion of Americans outside of Hollywood dress as if they are completely oblivious to the concept of fashion.
But regardless of Americans’ knowledge of international relations and fashion beyond the mid-1990s, the people whose lives have crossed mine (the majority of whom have been college students) all seem to have a great ability to actually get something of worth out of their existence. In short, they use the opportunities they have, they realize that living is more than subsisting, and thus they shape their lives in accordance with who they are into microcosms, which they can truly cherish.
So, while the former president (and perhaps future ‘first man’) and I inhabit each others’ homes for a short time, how should this distinguished visitor be viewed, being of the peculiar American ‘race’? To a greater degree than most, this man has shaped his life in accordance with the greatness with his character. While not pronouncing him super-human, as his slip up has become much better known than his first-rate public policies and most everything else he has done, there is something very sympathetic, yet brilliant about the man. Even now, when the spotlight is on his wife, he still stands firmly and comfortably behind her, seemingly not in need of media attention personally. In this position, his humanness becomes more evident than when people saw him as the image of the peak of earthly power. Given this, I suggest Bill Clinton be taken at more then just face value as a great political figure. Much can be gleaned from a man whose self-awareness has allowed him to take on the world and come out on top. Now, he has even come as far as the Faroe Islands.
Name: Bjarni í Liða
Occupation: Studying economics and philosophy at Wheaton College, Chicago.
Drinks too much coffee, plays too much sand volleyball, and listens to music.
