Whenever europeans see anything about America, they usually see New York, Philadelphia, LA, Miami or San Francisco. We base our views on these places. Having visited most of these places myself, I can vouch for the fact that they are exciting places to visit. But what most europeans don't realize is that these places are the outer edges of the country. In between New Your and San Francisco, there is 3000 miles of nail studio's, skating rings, graveyards and parking lots!
Having spent some time in illinois and Minnesota, the contrast between places like california was immense. Not just because of the bitter cold, but just the sight of it. There are better roads in India and Malaysia than in Chicago. There are dangerous cracks everywhere! Fast Food restaurants grow like weeds and giant cars polute the air towards a point where it hurts to breathe.
Yet, the people are the same extremely optimistic americans you see everywhere else. Which makes it even more unbelievable. Americans must be the most optimistic people in the world. I guess "the american dream" is still very much alive. "the dream" is the notion that anyone can and will succeed at being the best. Its called a dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it. Simple statistics will show you that.
But there I was, wandering the streets of Chicago. It did give me an opportunity to see the real America, which fascinated me. The real America is not times square, not Miami's south beach and not Hollywood Boulevard. The real America is a parking lot with a blockbuster, a seven-eleven, a barnes & Noble and burger king. around this block you will find row after row of stone and plywood homes, the odd cracked window and a giant monster of a car in the driveway. All this linked together by cracked roads and sidewalks which suddenly stop in the middle of nowhere. Above all this are pole after pole with electricity and telephone wires which get kocked out at the first sight of a medium-sized storm. I guess those low tax rates come around and bite you in the ass after all. Or perhaps oil pipelines in Iraq are more important than roads in Illinois. who knows.
So what makes it worth visiting this gray place? Simple! The american people! No matter how far the have sunk into debt, no matter what they have to deal with, you will not find an american down! they are friendly and optimistic, hard-working people, no matter what! That's commendable!
~ Jeroen Breukels
