JOURNAL
(Photo to the right, taken by Aimee Zaring in Santorini)

America the Beautiful
July 4, 2008

On an early summer morning on the southwest side of Louisville, Kentucky, a group of fifty or so women from across the globe gathered in the basement cafeteria of an old parochial school, now home to the English Language Teaching School of Catholic Charities. The gathering looked like a mini-Olympics ceremony, each round table representing a different country: table one, Iraq; table two, Somalia; table three, Russia; table four, Burma; table five, Cuba; and so on.

Bosnian-native Zeljana Javorek, a former Catholic Charities client and now ELT coordinator, had invited me to this cultural exchange meeting. Before the meeting, she asked if I would be willing to share a few points about American culture. I told her sure. How hard could that be? But then she pulled out a long list of topics she wanted me to cover, including religion, cultural values, rules and behaviors, family life, health care, and social welfare.

On the plus side, I was the only American-born citizen in the room. The other attendees had been in America only one to six months. I figured even if I said something inaccurate, my audience would
be none the wiser. On the negative side, I was the only American-born citizen in the room. I, solely, was responsible for essentially delivering a State of the Union Address--in ten minutes or less. But how to describe the nation’s beleaguered health care and social welfare systems in just a few, clear, concise sentences? And what did America value? One scan of any tabloid magazine rack would surely contradict the high-minded answer I was trying to formulate about the importance of family and community.

As I listened to the women, aided by interpreters, report on how couples married for life in their countries, how large families were valued, how women visited each other in the mornings and shared tea and raised their children together, I found myself feeling less confident about the rah-rah America speech I was about to deliver. Should I tell these women that
one out of every two marriages in America ends in divorce? That often family takes a back seat to career and other responsibilities? That couples today are opting to have fewer children, or none at all, for a variety of reasons—one being, it’s just too darn expensive?

As luck would have it, there wasn’t enough time for me to convey the finer points of American culture, but I was allowed thirty seconds to share a quick message. When I stood, I still wasn’t sure what I would say. But then I looked out at that sea of multi-colored faces—some plain, some made up, some wrapped in scarves, but all of them brave and beautifully hopeful—and I suddenly remembered what I loved most about America. It was right in front of me.

Some of you might remember the catchy tune from Schoolhouse Rock, “Elbow Room.” Click here for some nostalgia!