Today I think I’ve learned a great deal.

One of the first things I noticed yesterday on arrival here in the USA was the huge number of ‘Stars and Stripes’ flags everywhere. I got off the plane and the first thing I saw was one, since then I’ve seen dozens of them. They were all around the airport, along the journey to Princeton, on cars, walls, roofs and in and around the hotel itself.

Comparing the United Kingdom and the United States of America couldn’t be more different…in the UK we mostly seem to fly the flag of the little bit of the UK that we associate with – Scotland, Wales, England or whatever. I’ve always found that hard given that I was born outside of the UK and so don’t closely associate with any one bit of it. I also have a problem in that when I applied for my first passport I was devastated to be told that I didn’t deserve one because of being born outside the UK. My Dad got most upset that he was serving ‘Queen and country’ and I was born in an RAF hospital so he felt (and rightly) that his child did deserve a UK passport. Of course, the passport office realised their mistake and gave me a UK passport after all. Every time I renew it, I go through a similar problem. When I left the UK yesterday I was quizzed by passport control as to why my passport said my place of birth was Dhekelia. All-in-all it makes me not really relate to being English if you can appreciate that. Even though I’d say I am about as British as it’s possible to be.

It made me realise that the thing the USA has is a great sense of national pride….or at least it certainly looks that way from a new visitor. You don’t see flags of individual states, you see the Stars and Stripes. The unity of the states seems comprehensive. In Europe I think we sometimes find it hard to believe in unity, I often see evidence of us all pulling off in different directions. It’s not only an issue in the UK but is also true across other European countries too.

Here though, it’s about being an American it appears to me.

I’ve learned that most of the American people I’ve met are very much like us…same hang-ups and same goals so I wonder why they unite behind their flag and we seem not to?

I’ve also learned that meat is a must here. At breakfast I had to ask for something to be cooked for me because even the scrambled eggs had ham in them…the poached eggs had corned beef with them and the potatoes had bacon! At lunch, there was nothing veggie (despite telling them in advance I am veggie) other than the cold salad accompaniments that everyone else had as well as their food. Before I left home I was worried about putting on more weight while away – three cooked meals a day, need I say more. At this rate, I think I’ll be going home lighter rather than heavier….