Back to Stateside Life

Having been back to the States for about a month and a half now, I can definitely say there is evidence that my perspectives have changed upon returning home.
First, as my lung condition has required me to have several biopsies taken and make various trips to the hospital in Houston for all sorts of tests, I have a new appreciation for being privileged to have health care.  Since I have just come from a place where the societal mentality is that universal healthcare is a moral obligation of its citizens to provide to one where it seems to be a free-for-all, I can only imagine what someone who has an illness like mine but no healthcare must be thinking.  In fact, if they're anything like me, they believe that it's just a chronic cough.  However, if they had the resources for a CT and some blood work, they would see that the problem is much more serious and that if they could get these tests they might at least be on the long road to recovery.  I feel like my insurance company must be kicking themselves every time a request for something I need comes in, and they probably do this because they are providing the care that I literally need to keep this from becoming something fatal.  Free enterprise is good, but I have a new understanding of why people believe some things ought to be universal and why anything less than this is unacceptable.  I also have an appreciation for reasonable regulation.

Well, I did it.  I made the return trip to Whataburger and ordered the Triple Meat Triple Cheese.  A bad I idea?  Undoubtedly.  Delicious?  Absolutely.  Somewhere between balling up my greasing sandwich paper and experiencing what I can only describe as my body's unequivocal rejection of the lipid-loaded delicacies did I look around and notice there was a high concentration of obese people around me.  Even in Houston when I make my trips to the hospital:  obesity.  It's a plague that seems to be fueled by the way we get from one place to another.  Being the individualistic culture that we are, I've noticed how everyone has a car.  Well, just about everyone.  We are very individualistic (not that our European friends don't have some of this as well).  But more than that, we don't put much thought into our public transportation.  Perhaps its geographically inconceivable when you consider the sprawled-out nature of Houston and other American cities.  All of this makes for less walking as their would be in a major European city, where demographics are more dense.  Although, Berlin seems rather large and it had a fantastic train system.  Point being, we aren't a very "fit" nation, and our current method of city planning and lifestyle does not lend itself towards burning calories.

On the note of transportation: Texas.  Trucks.  BIG trucks.  Giant wheels.  Let's be real.  We waste a ton of gasoline on trucks and SUVs that we often don't need.  We complain when prices go up, but nobody's behavior is changing.  It's a reality I'm not certain people consider around here.  We don't live in a place where space is an issue, where we've got everything the world has to offer.  By the way we live our lives (I've noticed our lack of recycling) we seem as a culture to be lacking in gratitude.  Since I've been to places where conservation is a legitimate issue, I think I'm just more aware of how our society can improve in this area.  I don't mean to play the "America is evil and Europe is enlightened" game, but we do have a few things to learn.

America is typically one of the more outwardly religious nations in the world, along with Russia and a few others.  However, in comparison to Europe, College Station might as well be a monastery.  I do have an appreciation for a spiritual pespective, and feel it is something valuable in itself when not entrenched in unrelated political dogmas.  The churches in Europe felt a little empty and a bit like relics of a past that seems more like a shadow of its former self.

There's been a high dosage of classic A&M conservatisim since settling back into campus.  While I have an appreciation for much of what these people believe and say, I also wonder how how many of them have come to these conclusions after exposure to a number of radically different opinions.  I think it is better to know why you believe something rather than simply what you believe.  In this way, reason tempers extremes and lays a foundation for rational philosophical ideas.  Who says having some diffrerent people around will make us unfriendly anarchistic atheists?  I think that's a perspective shared by some here, and I think an overhaul might be good for the soul of campus.  I would like to see myself and the people around me challenged by diverse relationships as much as they are by their education, even if they don't agree with the opinions to which they are exposed.  Again: to learn from others, engage them, and then understand one's reasoning--this seems wise.

I'm glad to be home, and despite the stark differences between here and Germany, I am happy to find myself where I am.  I know that I have brought back something quite valuable.  However, I think it may take a bit longer to fully unravel all of what I've truly learned on the other side of the Atlantic.