First Time Being Called an American

In the past three years teaching English online for different companies I have acquired quite a few private students.  I am really considering make this my full time while traveling and maybe I’ll even get new students during my travels.  I have had students in S. Korea, China, Japan, Poland, Russia, Brazil, and Thailand and one thing they all have in common is international travel.  They all travel.  I feel like Americans are so inundated with the idea the America is the best and it’s better than every other country that we don’t leave.  At least the people I know aren’t traveling internationally as often as they are hitting Atlanta, Texas, Vegas, and Miami.  I also think about the first time I left this country.  It was the first time I was ever called and American without the hyphenated African but I never thought of myself as an American until that moment.  It was a strange feeling and I did a lot of reflection. (I’m going to dig that paper up – it got me an A).

There’s a whole world to see and with all the great that comes with America…well..there’s also the bad.  Every other news story is race related.  There’s a complete lack of acknowledgement on how this country was developed and how systematic racism is ingrained in ever structure of this country.  It’s frustrating.  I think about raising my child somewhere else all the time…

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