National Identity Crisis
I had the opportunity to attend the International Festival at BSU this weekend. It was enjoyable to see different countries represented through their native forms of music, dance, and attire right here in the heart of the Midwest (I apparently missed my favorite part—the food).
It makes me wonder what it would look like if this country were represented at such an event.
If I were in, say, India or Japan currently attending an institution of higher learning and was asked to physically represent the good old US of A, I am trying to imagine what I would do. How would I pull that off? How would I communicate to the international community my, or our, specific identity?
In jest, of course, I could eat cheeseburgers while flipping through channels on a television. Or maybe show off my traditional attire of business casual khakis and button-downs.
I am really curious if anyone out there has ever been outside of this country and seen an event of this nature where the USA is represented. I would appreciate any feedback on this. It would be enlightening to know how we can be summed up, how our collective entity can be described in a physical fashion.
Blues songs? Pop culture trivia? Cowboy boots? What makes us what we are? And more importantly, what are we, and how do we communicate that?