I discovered American culture from many miles and a whole continent away. When I recall my initiation into the American lifestyle, I think back to my youth in Africa. The American way of life seemed, well, larger than life. The preconceived ideas I had of America were ones derived from years of observation broadcast via media channels. Most of it filtered down by intermittent viewings of movies, music and TV shows. Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, was a British colony. This meant most of the culture surrounding us, including the schooling, was of the British influence. TV shows were broadcast by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). Occasionally some American sitcoms were aired. Music was partly international, but the main focus was locally produced and relevant to the African culture.
We didn’t get a lot of country and western music. What little did come through showed me early on of the intense patriotism most Americans have for their homeland. A perfect example of this patriotism is one of country and westerns greatest, Brooks & Dunn. Their song “Only in America” touches on some of the fundamental American rights and cultural classics. The lines in this song that portray this perfectly go something like this: “Only in America, Where we dream in red, white and blue, Only in America, Where we dream as big as we want to, We all get a chance, Everyone gets to dance, Only in America”.
Whilst we did live in a third world country, it was a civilized nation and we did have movie theaters. Here, British and American movies were shown. The American movies were a huge influence on my ideas of life in America. Movies depicting American culture of Halloween and Thanksgiving, in particular were fascinating as we did not celebrate those traditions. Living here now, I can see that these movies accurately portrayed Halloween with all the fervor, fun and dedication that people put into this legendary night. We as a family, have years of lost participation to catch up on. Our children will seemingly never outgrow the delight in preparation, dress up and candy collection! Thanksgiving in the movies I watched always depicted family gatherings round a table overflowing with food and of course a huge turkey as the center point. Celebrating Thanksgiving now, I can see this ideal I had grown up with is correct in all its details.
Movies, having been such an influencing factor in my thought process on America, were fascinating to me. My younger self was awed at the scenes shown of traditional American life. “Grease” the movie showed typical high school life, with jocks, cheerleaders, locker rooms and school buildings. Football, baseball, softball and basketball nearly always featured in these movies. Fraternizing and partying was always shown with youthful abandon. It was so different to my way of life. We didn’t have football, baseball or cheerleaders. Instead we had rugby, cricket and drum majorettes (who marched in more clothes than cheerleaders wear!).
Other life altering impressions I got from American movies were depictions of Christmas in all its glory. It is with the same fervor we live it in the here and now. Lights on trees, lights in front yards and round the house, neighbors competing to outdo each other, all were proved to be reality on our arrival in America. I will never forget our being driven around the best neighborhoods to see Christmas displays. Our extended family already settled here, loved to see our jaw dropping reaction to such an excess of lights. You couldn’t do that back in Zimbabwe. If it’s not nailed down, chained down or secured, it will be “liberated”. This was a sarcastic term we used for the theft rampant in Zimbabwe.
Coming from a war ravaged nation of the third world, with material and basic goods in short supply, it was a slow adjustment to the excesses in America. We had been brought up reading and watching movies about immigrants moving to America to better their lives. We fit that description to a tee. The hard work my husband and I put in will only better the lives of our children, and gives them a better future. In return they will have to earn it themselves by excelling in school. Once again, the lines in the Brooks & Dunn song mean a lot to me, as we are living the American dream. “Where we dream as big as we want to” was seemingly written with us in mind! America is the land of opportunity, if you have the strength of mind and the will to work for it. This year will mark our tenth anniversary here. Since we became citizens of this great country, we have put down our roots. We rejoice in the fact that we can live here with all the civil rights due to all Americans. How lucky are we?
