Homesick!

Hanging out with an American who yelled at the bouncer in the club for saying "queu" instead of 'line' and then sitting in a McDonalds by myself at 1 am after ordering a large "chips" (fries) before yet another American song came on the radio (probably 75% of the songs here are from the U.S.), and having a ticket to a super bowl party burning a hole in my pocket has had a profound effect on me. I'm homesick!

Being in Europe makes you more of a patriot than you ever thought possible. The general impression of Americans are friendly, loud, naive, and a bit ignorant. Our culture is ubiquitous: every country plays our songs, eats at our fast food restaurants, and wears yankees caps (yuck) but America is viewed strongly as the "other".

Although back in the states I think I would draw a very clear distinction between myself and a gun-totting republican from Texas, over here, as soon as I hear an American accent, I've instantly found a new friend who knows the wonders of flip cup and (American) football.

I think being abroad has made me more proud of my country and more introspective of our faults at the same time. America is like your mom. You might rag on her all you want for the way she is but as soon as someone else does it, you're ready to fight to the death.

P.S. The fact that I'm slightly drunk right now has hopefully not played into what I'm saying ;)