I'm a Communist

Actually, no I'm not. At least not entirely. I think I'm more of a socialist - but I will have to work on defining that aspect of my political identity better in the next couple of days.

In any event, the reason I bring this political affiliation up now - used here as an epithet, by the way - is that this is what I have been accused of being (TWICE ) during the past 48 hours. Among other things, it seems that my being a self-naturalized doctoral candidate at UCLA makes me a "communist" - or worse yet, an "off-the-charts liberal" - according to some people whom I have met recently in West Virginia.

Another reason why I bring this "epithet" up now is because it allows me to segue into a short little discussion about my preliminary reactions of the U.S. after having been away from this country for an extended period of time. Just this past Thursday morning (Sept. 14), I touched down in Washington Dulles airport after a 13.5-hour direct flight from Japan and a long, two-year sojourn in Hayama Town of Kanagawa Prefecture.

Actually, whenever I come back to the States I like to take note of what instantly strikes me as unexpected or different about my country - I try to keep vigilant, storing a mental record of unexpected aspects or situations encountered during my first few hours back that I might not normally notice were I never to leave this country. On these ocassions, I suddenly find certain circumstances noteworthy, striking, and sometimes, I must admit, even strange. So I a mental record of these things because perhaps they might help me figure out what it really means to be "American" in the first place...

So... when I got off the airplane two days ago at Dulles Airport in Washington DC, here are some of the first few things that struck me about my country:

1) My country is much more ethnically diverse than I tend to give it credit for, even while living abroad. Suffice to say that the first Americans I saw when I got off the plain were not anglo-American - which, I must emphasize, was a true pleasure. Furthermore, as I was waiting in line at customs, I realized that despite my (own biased) expectations, I could see no visible differences between those people lined up in my line, the "U.S. Citizens" line, and those hanging out in the "other" line, that of the "foreigner passport holders." Both lines had a wide array of ethnicities of all categories. This, I found, was quite refreshing - although manifested to a degree that was heretofore unexpected!!

2) I don't mean to be judgemental here, but people look pretty course and rough in this country. I couldn't help but notice as soon as I got off the plane that most people (I won't label them "American", because clearly I can't tell anymore) seemed dressed for the beach, for a college dorm party, or for a taking care of kids in a nursery. In contrast to many of the smartly dressed people I see boarding planes in Tokyo (who, by the way, always make me feel entirely and inappropriately under-dressed), most people in the U.S. airport were wearing flip-flops (thongs), shorts, and T-shirts. Moreover, the were slouched back in their seats, had their arms flung across several chairs, and appeared completely and utterly cool and relaxed as they sat and waited for their flights. To my surprise, I even saw another man (presumably a construction worker based on his hard hat, work boots and bright, neon, orange bib) who, although clearly on the job, was slouched over a railing. After having gotten so habituated to encountering so many mannerly, uniformed, white-gloved and bowing construction workers in Japan, I couldn't believe how unprofessional this worker seemed by contrast; leaning against a guard rail as he communicated over his walkie-talkie, he seemed about to fall over to the other side. He was half-shaven, wearing a fuzzy midnight blue hooded sweatshirt .... and based on his position against the rail... I could see his .... butt crack!

3) If noticing such differences makes me a communist, I can't really say. But in any event, the third difference I have noticed on this go around has been that many people seem especially eager to broadcast their political views even when noone wants to hear them. Now recognizing this fact took a little more time than the first two did. I didn't even have a chance to talk to anyone other than my mother until my second day here. But then when that chance came, it greeted me as loudly as the bigger-than-life poster of Bush's image and the letter "W" that peered over my mother's friend's shoulder. I was in his office because, to his credit, he very generously allowed me to use his computer and thus his workspace to take care of some business I might not have accomplished otherwise.

Neverhtheless, when this W-fanatic looked over my shoulder and saw my title ("UCLA PhD Candidate") on the document I was working on, he was immediately off to the tracks. He claimed my school was for commies, and proceeded to lecture me that the only place worse in this country was Berkeley. Next he pontificated on the state of the union, especially those parts of it which are blue. For example, proudly he asked me, "what do all the blue states have in common?" When I shrugged, he retorted "They all have Republican governors because they know that Democrats can't work a budget."

So what's my point? That all Democrats DO know how to run the country - or their respective states - better than Republicans? Of course not. I simply want to note here, in my mental notebook, that this guy - and a string of others just like him whom I've had the wonderful opportunity to "hear out" later on this visit to West Virginia this week-end - doesn't feel any shame whatsoever in boasting about his political affiliations. Furthermore in his jovial and bold "American" (?) manner, he enjoyed making no haste to trudge all over the quiet reserve of a practical stranger by lecturing endlessly to her on the history and merits of his own way of thinking...

Ai yai yai. I've already had enough of this country. I guess I'm looking forward to moving back into my world of the so-called ivory tower, so at least there, I can pretend I, too, am in the Right... while yet preferring to lean to the Left.