I’ve been working as an expat for a while now and have had the privilege to visit a number of countries. My most recent experiences have been on Sakhalin Island of the Russian Federation, Oman and Australia. My time in Russia was undoubtedly the most fun and eye opening. Oman was different with the extremely hot weather, the calls to prayer in the mornings and the restrictions of Ramadan. Australia has been the easiest to transition to, other than everything is quite expensive. During my travels I have met all kinds of people who aren’t all that much different than you or I. They love their families, work hard to be the best parent they know to be, have bills to pay and are working to provide for their families. Our blood is the same color, our feelings are just as fragile and our hearts desires are similar.
What I haven’t come across is very much anti-Americanism. Sure I’ve heard complaints but not with the frequency or passion I had been warned of. For the most part the people I meet have lots of questions about the cities, what the people are like and the variety of things we have available to us. I have had a few complaints, the biggest of which our apparent lack of interest in the rest of the world. We don’t watch many global news reports and aren't very interested in World Cup Soccer, “Footy” or Cricket. For the most part we aren’t bi-lingual and we aren’t all that well traveled. All of which I concede are pretty much true. I must admit our lack of interest in many of the affairs of the world caused me some concern and forced me to turn inward for a bit of reflection. Why don’t we watch global news or take interest in other sports? Why isn’t being bi-lingual emphasized more? Why aren’t we very well traveled? Good, valid questions I think. It was my time in Russia that helped me find an answer that made since.
Sakhalin Island is just north of Japan’s island of Hokkaido. The weather on Sakhalin can be pretty fierce. In the winter it is not uncommon for Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the islands largest city, to have a meter and a half of snow on the ground. The island is mountainous, majestic, rugged and wild. The summers do get warm with a few days getting close to 30c. But if you want warm sandy beaches you have to go to Thailand or Vietnam. You want quality household goods? A trip to South Korea is in order. Most countries aren’t near the size of the U.S. Nor do they have the vast and diverse regions that we do with plains, rolling foothills, mountains, deserts, two oceans and a gulf. America really does have it all and a consequence of that is we don’t have to go anywhere to visit, see things or to experience a different climate, language, or culture for that matter. You like to ski? We have mountain ranges on both coasts and in the west. You want to surf? Hello California. Maybe you like warm water scuba diving, well then it is off to Florida or the Gulf Coast (go diving on abandoned oil platforms the biodiversity is truly breath taking). Maybe your interest is year round warm weather, you’ll be moving to Arizona, New Mexico, or southern California. I’ll say it again we really do have it all. We have the best of everything, but, in my opinion we also have the worst of everything, which may be discussed later.