a magnified culture...

Back in this country of mine...for how long I do not know...but feeling the lack of cultural stimulation....hmm...on second thought...maybe not...

In all fairness, I am getting to know a new edge to my culture.  A portion that I wasn't personally acquainted with before, I suppose.  I have, over the span of my life traveled all over this great country (minus a few bits here and there, sorry Texas).  And over the course of the last two years I have come into contact and become pals with people from all parts of this nation.  It was my ignorant belief that that experience had afforded me a genuine understanding of most of the diverse facets to our people.  

Upon moving in with two native Californians and one devoted Cali transplant I quickly learned that I come from a very, very different world.  Our cultures and our ways of being are in polar opposition in many ways.  So as I learn more and more about my Californian crewmates I am also struck with the culture that stares me in the face within Seattle.  

The fun part for me is that I think I have a sense of objectivity now more than I ever did before.  Previously when I had lived in the US I hadn't done a lot of overseas traveling and thus my perspective of our culture was incredibly limited and insular.  Now, I am afforded a sense of being out of place.  I am a visitor to my own country in a way.  This allows me to remove my rose colored glasses and put on my magnifying glass.  To look at your own culture with such acute transparency is exciting!

So...here I sit, in my Magnolia based apartment in Seattle, overlooking the Ballard bridge and in a daze with the tiny bit of sun that I watch setting in the sky.  And I am amazed at two things:  how different I feel from my Cali compatriots and crewmates (let's call them the Cali crew) and how much I adore the Seattle natives.  I find the Cali crew to be fascinating in their laid back attitudes and preferences in cooking.  I find the natives warm, welcoming, and fairly easy to talk to just like my Midwest folks from home.  Cali crew misses the sunshine more than I do, I guess I'm just used to not seeing it!  But the natives are admirable in how much they consider their environment, they create and innovate, and they look forward to a long hike or a peek of the sun.  Both groups are simple folk, but in a different way than I am.  

What does all this objective observation of my culture tell me...a million things that lead to one crucial thing to remember as an American: to remain humble.  What makes us special is our diversity.  What makes us work is our curiousity.  What can enlighten us is our conversations. 

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