Greatest Country??!!!.

As an expat, I have often been asked the question - What is your favourite or the best place you have been to?

I never really liked being asked this question.  I feel each country is unique.  Each one has good and bad points and you can't really compare.  I also feel that when you visit a country, your visit experience influences your opinion.  (ex. - Were you held up in customs, Did you get food poisoning, Did your room turn out to be a suite instead with an ocean view, Did you have the most exciting ride of your life?, etc.)  When you live in a country, I think that is when you form a more accurate opinion.  There is something about experiencing day to day life that sets it apart!

This past weekend the CLAN (the Engineer's extended family) got together in Louisiana at his parents place.

The CLAN is BIG!  At any given gathering, there are at least twenty-five people (paper plates necessary).  The CLAN is very welcoming and usually the number of people balloons to include neighbours and random acquaintances off the street (not really, but there are always a few extra people included as extended family).  At this particular CLAN gathering, my CowboyBro-in-law(BiL) and his wife, CowgirlSis-in-Law(SiL) came with their kids from Colorado.  CowgirlSiL's parents also came down from Ohio.  For the blog, we will refer to her parents as Mr. & Mrs. "S".  Now we haven't seen Mr.& Mrs. S since CowboyBil and CowgirlSil's wedding ten or so years ago.  My parents, MoustacheMan- MM and Gorgeous G'ma- GG were also present.

So, my parents, Mr & Mrs S, CowgirlSiL, and I were chatting over coffee and tea (for me, of course) after breakfast one morning.  The conversation turned toward our repatriation.  GG said to Mrs. S how thrilled she was to have us back in the States and close to them. I don't know if we will EVER be forgiven for the 4 years we took TSS & WittyGirl to the other side of the world away from all the G'parents!

Mr. S says to me, "You must be happy to back in the States"

I replied, "Yes, VERY happy!  Don't get me wrong, I loved our time over there.  It was an incredible experience and I feel blessed to have had the opportunity, but there is no place like home.  An expat assignment makes you realise the USA is truly the greatest country of all!"

BACKGROUND:  People have said this to me before - "You must be happy to be back in the States" - and I've replied exactly the same as I did to Mr. S. -It has almost become a rote answer!

Mrs. S chimes in and says, "Interesting, Name the top 5 reasons, off the top of your head, why you think the USA is the greatest country of all!"

WOW!!!!!

I was blown away by the question!  I had never been challenged on the statement - most Americans just nod and agree with me!  Secretly, I think Mrs. S is a Social Scientist like me- she must be a tea drinker.  I am so glad she asked me to name the reasons - It made me think and these are the conversations that I started this blog for!

Off the top of my head - sitting at that breakfast table I could only come up with two reasons.  Mrs. S. was kind and said I could get back to her with the others (She wasn't going to let me off the hook, though).  So it has taken me a week to come up with the top 5.  I have struggled with writing these into the blog because the written word has many limitations, the worst being - You will not not read it as I meant it to be read! - Does that make sense?  This is a conversational question and is supposed to move and flow between participants (preferably over tea or coffee).  So, as you read the reasons below, please keep in mind that I am being concise with my answers for the sake of the blog and I probably have much more to say with examples and stories.  Also, in coming up with my reasons, I discovered that they are interrelated - there are threads that tie my reasons together and I found that to be very interesting.  This weaving together of threads is another reason this is meant to be a conversation and not written word.  When you pull on a thread it leads your thoughts or the conversation in another direction.  

That being said here are my reasons the USA is the greatest country!:

1. OPPRESSION IN OTHER COUNTRIES

I have visited eighteen countries and lived in three. One third of the countries I have visited, I would describe as oppressive - meaning the government unjustly inflicts hardship on its people. (Now this is an example of how, if we were conversing, we could go in many different directions - we could talk about the government itself, this history of the people, the culture as reasons why there is oppression - see what I mean? - Also, my opinion of a particular country I visited could have been tainted by my experience on THAT particular trip and what the country was going through at THAT particular time).
One country in particular, put me over the edge.  I could NOT reconcile what their government did to their people.  They had no hope, no way out of their situation.  It broke my heart.   I regretted ever booking the trip.  I'm glad my children saw country's special sites and I'm also glad they saw the oppression too as it deeply affected us and made us grateful we are Americans. I PRAYED my family through the rest of our time there.  I distinctly remember the greatest feeling of relief when our plane touched down in Singapore. Remember, how I said I don't like to name my favourite place - well I can definitely name this country as my least favourite.
I think every American should have to live in, not just visit another country.  For all our government's flaws, it does not oppress its people.  Even the most down-trodden among us has the freedom to change and the hope of change.  This leads us to my second reason.

2.  FREEDOM OF CHOICE

Many may argue that the enormous amount of choices we have here in America is a bad thing.  I'm on the fence on that.  However, I deeply believe the FREEDOM we have as Americans to make a choice is a good thing.  The BILL OF RIGHTS is a good thing!  I will tell all Americans to read those BILL of RIGHTS - get to KNOW them.  Teach them to your children.  It is what sets the USA apart from other countries.  This is what our men and women in uniform defend!

3. CLEANLINESS

Again, this is a conversation that can go in many directions!  I say "cleanliness" because we have access to clean water (out of a tap, no less).  Americans, in general, take this for granted.  If you have never been outside the USA, then you might not know that clean water is rare!  It is precious!  It is a luxury! You have to PAY for it - to drink or use a restroom, brush your teeth, take a shower.  They don't automatically refill your glass at dinner!
This is not to say that the USA is the only "CLEAN" country -Singapore is quite a clean country itself.  I'm just saying the USA has access to clean water, clean food sources, clean medical facilities.
Actually, in my opinion the USA is the most wasteful country - but that would be another blog topic for another day  isn't it nice that I have the Freedom to choose to speak about my country - even if it is a negative!

4. FOOD 

Now this came up at the breakfast table.  I say FOOD, not because I think America has the best food! (In my opinion, Belgians make the most delicious food - See post on April 8). There is a lot to be said about home cooked food - the food you are used to, that you grew up on! However, I say FOOD because we have it!  We have super huge grocery stores stocked with tons of food.  The USA also grows its own food.  And it is cheap!  I know, we Americans think it is expensive and that the prices are going up, but in reality we pay less for food than other nations. Now before we go off on a tangent - Yes - I do know there are people who go hungry everyday in the USA. - Remember what I said about how I'd rather this be a conversation so we can talk about it!  And YES - I do know we are becoming a more obese nation with all our abundance of food.  And YES - I do know we are a wasteful nation and much of our wasteful habits could feed the world.  My point is that Americans as a whole, have access to an abundance of food.

See what I mean - #4 would have involved a whole morning of conversation maybe two pots of tea!

5. CHRISTIANITY

Now this ties back into #2, but  Mrs. S. asked why I believe the USA is the greatest country and so I'm sharing my experience as to why.  I am a Christian.  Our family is Christian.  The USA is a Christian nation.   For all you Atheist/Agnostics who are squawking right now about separation of religion and state - hear me out (because I know thousands of you are reading my blog - ha ha).  The USA was founded on Christian principles!  READ the Founding documents, if you don't believe me.  Living in Singapore, I encountered all five of the world's major religions!

WittyGirl came home one day in Singapore when she was in 2nd grade from a birthday party of one of her classmates.  She had shared with her friends something about what God had shown her. One of the girls challenged her that she had no right to think she could speak to God as a friend.  WittyGirl was upset by this and had to stand up for herself and what she believed in.  When WittyGirl retold the story to me, I was surprised!  I had explained to my children before we moved to Singapore that there are other religions and that not everyone had the same beliefs as us.  This never would have happened in the USA. I had failed however, to give my children the tools to defend their beliefs.  As a parent, I was unprepared for this. I had taken for granted that everyone knows about God and Christianity on some level.  In the USA, even if your neighbour was Hindu or Agnostic it didn't affect your family.  In the USA we have freedom of religion.  In Singapore, we were also free to practice our religion.  Some nations don't give that freedom.  As a Christian, though, the USA is great!  The USA is founded on Christian principles and we aren't challenged much on what or why we believe.  As a Christian, though, that is also a BIG REMINDER to not take it for granted.

So  Mrs. S, these are my top 5 reasons.  I would love to brew a pot of tea and share more!