Through Your Eyes

The World Cup ended with Spain defeating Argentina 1-0. My congratulations to Spain and their amazing team. For all of the teams that participated it was a hard fought road to the playoffs. I will also offer my apologies to team USA. Even though I had not followed them through all the trials and tribulations of their season I did watch them in their last game. And, as my friends will tell you, that is usually a sign they will lose, which they did. I have resigned myself to the fact that I am a jinx when it comes to sports teams.

Soccer, or football as it is known in Europe and beyond, has not been that popular in the US in the past. But this year was different. We all seemed to catch the fever. I suspect it will only continue to grow. But it is not the sport I want to discuss today, but its fans, particularly those from overseas. Not only did you bring your love for your team but you brought a perspective of my country that we seemed to have misplaced somewhere between right and left. Maybe we all need to see ourselves through your eyes. So I wanted to share a few videos.

They came, they saw, and they partied:

Lawrence, Kansas embraces Algeria:

On the street interviews with visitors:

While I have been rather amazed at the embrace of Walmart and Ranch dressing by our visitors I can understand their surprise at the scale of our food, our drinks, our stores and our country in general. Even I have been awed at Costco.

But beyond the simple cultural differences there are deeper ones that travelers from overseas can remind us of. They are the result of how our country was born, how we have grown and how we have tried to be true to what our creators envisioned. So it is this last video that touched me more than any other.

This fellow is from Germany and has lived in the United States for two years. I think what he has experienced helps explain some of those cultural differences.

This is the heart of our country, the freedom to dream. May we never lose that. Thank you to all of our visitors who helped me appreciate my country again on our 250th birthday.