Americana has its charms, and for the foreign mind that’s spent a lifetime watching American movies, many of these whimsical tropes were nothing but on-screen magic, until, of course, they realized that it wasn’t just fiction: That’s just America, babyyy.
Okay, America has a bad rep sometimes, but some enchanting and charming things don’t exist anywhere else.
As a born and bred Amurican myself, raised in the deserts of the Southwest and coastal beach towns of Southern California, I’ve been steeped in Americana since day one. Frontiersmanship was ingrained in my soul, the call of freedom echoed in my mind, and baseless confidence steeled into my bones; naturally, it’s the American way. While there are many things I’d love to change about this country, there are even more small charms that I wouldn’t trade for the world. When the diner server calls you “Hon,” or when an old cowboy runs to the other side of his dually truck to open the car door for his woman, my heartstrings are tugged, and my mood is magically lifted.
It wasn’t until I met and married a foreigner, a Frenchman, that a lot of the simpler Americana moments became obvious.
To him, America is a movie set come to life, reflecting the films and the TV he watched with dubs or subs since his own childhood, but to me, America was just how it was; nothing to it, right? As I’ve grown older (and hopefully wiser??!), I realized that there IS something to it. Ice cold lemonade on a wraparound porch and fireflies at twilight are more magical than you’d think. Yellow school buses are as cartoonish as the tumbleweeds bustling across the 8-lane freeways. The prom king and queen will always be royalty, and cowboys really do be wearing 10-gallon hats.
So despite the vastness, the diversity, and the strange ways of the local Walmart, America has proven to be the wild, wild west that it’s portrayed in films. The ground spouts misty fog in Manhattan, and bartenders have heart-to-heart conversations with strangers every night, and that’s a part of our charm. Culturally, the outside perspective of Americana is fascinating because it’s the smaller moments that define Americans just as much as the loud moments, but it’s the quiet confidence, the smiling sweetness, and the good ol’ boy mentality that make them who they are.
Chime in with the tourists and take a gander at what Americans look like from the outside, because the answers from travelers online may surprise you in ways that are both wholesome and heartwarming at the same time, making your average American mind expand and appreciate this country for all its worth.
Author: Kayitsi.com
