Hello everyone! This is your first assignment. In order to sign in you must have a Google account (it's free and you can sign up directly from this page by clicking on "Comments" and then choosing Google ID). You'll create an account and then be able to leave your feedback. Answer the following question then check in to respond to two other comments left by others. Your initial response is due by midnight, August 19. Your responses are due by midnight, August 21 (Sunday night). Here's the question:
What does it mean to be an American? Without relying on cliches or shallow self-congratulating nonsense, what makes America unique in the world? For those of you who call another country home, what perceptions did you form of America before you came here to study? How did you develop those perceptions?
Your essay should be at least 200 words long and you must respond to AT LEAST two other students' essays (minimum 150 total responses).
Ok, good luck, guys! I can't wait to hear what you have to say!
Being an American, to me, is being part of one of the most diverse countries on Earth. In a small city like Somerset it’s hard to see that, but when I travel to Lexington, I see the diversity just by driving down the road. I see a Chinese church every time I drive toward UK and a German store when I go shopping up there. Not only is America diverse in culture and citizens, but it is also diverse in religion. Because we have religious freedom in America, we have a huge variety in religions. Religions in the US range from Christianity to Buddhism to Islam.
ReplyDeleteWhat sets America apart from the rest of the world is our freedoms. We as Americans have the freedom of press, speech, religion, etc. In a lot of other countries these freedoms are nonexistent, especially the freedom of religion. I think that growing up with these freedoms makes us a bit oblivious to the rest of the world and how they see us. We first came to America for freedom and a place to start over. We didn’t get these freedoms overnight; an entire war was fought to ensure that we could be free, and another war was fought to ensure equality among all races in America. Some people would give anything to have our freedoms, and we as Americans should know what it is like to have worked so hard for them.
As an American it is easy to take things for granite. In America even the most poverty stricken people are bailed out of disaster by our government one way or another... the government programs are limitless. We have freedoms here that are taken for granite everyday and sadly very rarely is it that we stop to think of the men and women losing their lives to keep it this way. In other countries religious freedom virtually doesn't exist and even if it does it is extremely limited. Being an American means you come with a whole list of rights and no one can over step them, you are individually given the power that not even a whole tribe of people could conjure up in another country. Being an American is something of a blessing for sure but taking it for granite sure does come easy at times. Something we as Americans should realize is that just as easy as we have things today, catastrophic circumstances could come tomorrow and take it all away. Some to sum it all up being an American means being "free" but this is one freedom that is not to be taken lightly. Be thankful each and every day.
ReplyDeleteBefore I came here to study I thought that America is a very religious and patriotic country. I also thought that Americans live a very different life. But when I came here I saw that America is not so different from Germany, we listen to the same music , watch the same movies and often eat the same things. I also saw that my statement about the religion is true, here in America a so many churches and everyone have his own way to believe in the religion he or she wants. In Germany we have only one church in each town, only bigger city’s have more churches and only old people go to church, so you may do not think that your country is very religious, but you just have to compare your country with others to see how religious you are. In my opinion the second statement is also true, because everywhere are American flags and you even pledge in school to your flag. For me as a somebody from Germany this seems very patriotic, because we only have our flag in front of government buildings and during sport events. I do not know why it is like this, but I think this is because of our history.
ReplyDeleteWell, before i got here i thought it would be like in the movies, with cabs, tonsssss of people with Nancy suits, and huge buildings but it wasn´t like that.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the bus would pick me up in the mornings and that i´d dress normal clothes, not uniform.
But as soon as i got here i looked around and i didn´t see what i was expecting, i saw cows, tractors and rednecks; exactly what i´m not use to see but i decided to stay here and give it an opportunity.
Now one year later i think it´s the best decition i ever could of take, I made new friends and they let me know and see how their culture is, how the system goes, their religion and what they eat.
I learned a new lenguage which is important, but i think it´s even more important the memories, the good and bad moments i had and all the things i´ve done.
Now, i think the people from U.S is very patriotic for instance they put the american flag everywhere, even outside mcdonalds and im not saying that´s bad im just saying that i haven´t seen that kind of patriotism, like in Mexico we just have flags in important places like big buildings, government places etc… We also sing the Mexican anthem every monday at school but that´s it. Our kind of patriotism is not very different than the one in here, we just don´t put flags everywhere. But everyday i thank God for let me be here and for let me learn new things such as lenguage and culture and I´m happy to be here. (:
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ReplyDeleteWhat does it mean to be an American? How are we different from the surrounding countries? It means that when I leave my house I don't have to worry about putting on a headdress or covering my face. Any day of the week I can go to a church, mosque, temple, or synagogue of my choice. I'm allowed to disagree with the government that the people have put into office. I have the same opportunity as anyone else to build a successful company. America is the land of opportunity; it doesn't matter what sex, religion, or color you are. America is different from every country in the world because of how it began. America was founded on the Bible, which gave us the freedom we are proud to boast of today. Other countries were built on mans ideals. Mans flaws. Over time you can see the holes in their systems because of human mistakes. Being an American means standing for the ideal society but sadly as we grow more powerful and successful we draw away from our roots, the Bible. No matter how down hill our beautiful country may slide though, I will always be proud to be an American for at least I know how it began.
ReplyDeleteDaniel:
ReplyDeleteI'm happy you like it here; even though you called us rednecks. :) I believe that many people get the wrong idea of America before they come here because of the fantasy movies we produce. A missionary once went over to an Islamic country and she said that before she arrived they had already formed a negative opinion of her because of the American movies they had viewed. Even though we were not what you were expecting I'm glad you have enjoyed your new home here in America. :)
Jessi:
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. As Americans we definitely take our freedoms for granted and we need to thank God for them every day.
Catelyn:
ReplyDeleteOur freedoms are definitely not free. So many men and woman suffered to allow us to have these freedoms. You are correct, we need to realize how hard the founders and past and present soldiers have worked to give us and their families certain freedoms.
Naturally makes you think about a country when it visited, or in my case, living there for almost a year.
ReplyDeleteI thought about the people. I believe that they are only interested in their country. But when I arrived, everything was different. Americans are open-minded, they like other cultures and as a "non-Americans" makes you feel like belonging. I believed that in America everything is different, or more precisely, in Kentucky is much different than anything in Austria. But it was not. The surrounding area looked almost exactly like this. One thing is different. The people are nice and they greet you always.
One thing I'm fascinated with America and that are very different religions. In Austria, the most Catholic. But so many people here have a different religion and they spend so much time with their religion. They go to church every Sunday and make a lot of voluntary work. In Austria, people also do volunteer work, but not about the church. When I go to my church in Austria, I only see twenty people, but if I go to church here, I see so many people.
One other thing I've seen here, is the love to the country. Every American is proud of his country and it shows you. For example, at school, when all stand up, put his hand on his heart and face the American flag. In Austria, no one would do that.
To me being an American is amazing. I have the right to get an education, share my faith, and have a chance to be anything I truly want to be –whether that means garbage collector or president. Being an American means that just because I don’t live in a mansion, my voice is still heard and I can make a difference not only in America but in the world! How amazing is that to say a fifteen year old girl has pretty much the same rights as our government officials, well, besides the fact I can’t legally drive or vote yet. But anyway, you get the point. I think America is unique in the way that we have a government in which the people including men and women and people of all nationalities and colors have a voice in the election and choose who runs our country. A lot of people can’t say that. As I sort of touched on earlier I can share my faith in America and that’s pretty unique. I go to a Christian school, I carry my Bible around, and I, as an American, have the right to do so freely. Not to put down other countries, but I would be tortured or even killed in some places if I did that. Sometimes I forget or take it for granted how truly blessed I am to be an American
ReplyDelete-Rebecca
Lydia-
ReplyDeleteI completely agree! Our country has such great freedoms. Like you said we can attend any church we want, be a part of any religion and not have to worry of being persecuted, the government can’t force us to dress a certain way, and we can agree to disagree openly. Not many countries can say that. You also mentioned that we have the opportunity to open our own business and become entrepreneurs for our own benefit. Again you said that our country was founded on the Bible. I believe that is evident in that we are so incredibly blessed as a nation, we are also beginning to think that we have the power as we continue to advance. I hope and pray though as new generations continue to move up, we will begin to back to our original foundation. Like you I am extremely proud to be an American.
-Rebecca
K. Sellmaier-
ReplyDeleteTo begin, I am sorry I don’t know how to spell your name! Anyway, I am so extremely happy that you are enjoying America. I can’t imagine how it feels being away from home for a year, but I am glad that you have found the people of Somerset friendly and welcoming. I am also happy that we are different from what you would expect, especially in the Kentucky aspect. Like you said, when it comes to religion/denominations in America, saying we are diverse is an understatement. I found your essay very interesting in the fact that I knew nothing about Austria and now I know a bit about their religion-so thank you for that. To close, I hope you have a wonderful time in your stay in America and I hope you learn a lot form us and that we continue to learn about you and your country too.
-Rebecca
What makes America so unique to me is, the freedom that we are given as citizens. In many ways we have taken our freedom for granted . Amendment 1 of The Constitution states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” We as Christians in American have the freedom to stand out in the middle of the street and hand out Bible's and have Church's on every corner on the street, and we sometimes don't realize how lucky we are, in most countries you cannot own a Bible or there is only one church per town or city. We also have the freedom to protest and be open about opinions, in some places today such as Sierra people are losing their lives daily by protesting against their system of government. Some people are taking those rights and freedoms for granted, and we really shouldn't be. We should be thankful for our wonderful country. Now don't get me wrong, America isn't the sweetest cup of tea at times, but we have to learn from our mistakes and learn, grow, and be prosperous.
ReplyDeleteJessi: I have to say I do fully agree with your opinion. We as American's take everything for granted. but I'm sorry to say, It bugs me that you didn't restate the question in the first sentence If I had no knowledge on this assignment I wouldn't have been able to really grasp what the essay was truly supposed to be about until the very middle of the paragraph.
ReplyDeleteLydia:
ReplyDeleteI love your essay! When I read this it really made me stop and think more about our freedoms (even after I had written my essay). The way you pieced it was short, sweet, and simple but yet it covered the main points. you did a fantastic job in my opinion.
Rebecca:
ReplyDeleteI really liked your essay, but I have to disagree in some cases with the statement "Being an American means that just because I don’t live in a mansion, my voice is still heard and I can make a difference not only in America but in the world!" That's a big statement, and in some cases it may be correct but in others their are some people out their that think they should have the only say in how things are done. People in this day in age are really judged by outward appearances and the government in my opinion only care about the people who can afford to buy a mansion.
Christian:
ReplyDeleteI think it's really cool that you consider the US to be very religious and patriotic. I didn't really think that from an outside perspective that the US would seem very religious, especially because of most of the movies and music that we have here. I do see how that is the case in Somerset, mostly because of all the churches. I can see where you get the patriotism, because it's hard to walk down the street with out seeing an American flag.
Staci:
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that we do take these amazing rights for granted; people die every day trying to get the rights that we have. We should be much more appreciative of the things that we have even if, as you said, “America isn’t the sweetest cup of tea”.
Rebecca:
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on our rights, but I think you kind of blew it out of proportion when you said that we have a chance to be anything we want to be. True, we do have that chance, but everyone is trying to claw their way to the top which makes it hard to reach our goals. I think you are right, but even if we do have the legal right, it’s hard to achieve such goals.
What does it mean to be an American? When I first read this question I thought, “Well, this will be easy” But when I sat down and looked at the keyboard I went blank. What does it mean to live in a country like America? First I thought of our freedom. We take it for granted a lot of the time. Do you realize that without the freedom of religion and free speech our lives would be so much different? Especially being in a Christian school, if we didn’t have freedom of religion and speech we might not even have a Christian school to go to. We could all be forced to believe one way or another. Secondly, I thought about our security here in America. Yes, sometimes it is a bit annoying going through security line at airports and such but if you really think about it it’s so important to our safety. Our government makes sure that we are very well protected.
ReplyDeleteWhen I flew overseas to Europe this spring break I loved almost everything about it, the people, the cities, the food but when those 12 amazing days were over it really made me realize just how lucky we are here in America. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with Europe (trust me I LOVE it and would LOVE to go back) but there is just something about America that makes me feel important and safe and wanted. It’s just home.
Daniel:
ReplyDeleteYour essay was awesome. (Except for calling us rednecks) I have never really thought anything about all the flags being everywhere. I guess I’m just use to it but we really are very patriotic. I’m so glad you like it here. I hope you get to stay for a while.
K. Sellmaier:
Your essay was great. I love reading and hearing about the differences between my culture here in America and your culture in Austria. I never would have thought about some of the things that are different such as saying the pledge. To me, that is just normal day life and I actually become complacent towards it. But I guess it is something I really should put more thought into and realize that its actually a right to do be able to do that every day. Anyways, Awesome job!
Daniel:
ReplyDeleteYour essay was awesome. (Except for calling us rednecks) I have never really thought anything about all the flags being everywhere. I guess I’m just use to it but we really are very patriotic. I’m so glad you like it here. I hope you get to stay for a while.
K. Sellmaier:
Your essay was great. I love reading and hearing about the differences between my culture here in America and your culture in Austria. I never would have thought about some of the things that are different such as saying the pledge. To me, that is just normal day life and I actually become complacent towards it. But I guess it is something I really should put more thought into and realize that its actually a right to do be able to do that every day. Anyways, Awesome job!
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBeing an American means that I can become or do anything that I want. I can have any opinion I want and make said opinion as public as I want. I can further my education, make a living however I want, and live whatever way that I see fit. In America, there is almost an endless amount of opportunities and that's just what makes it so unique. This country is the most diverse conglomeration of people that I know of. We consist of almost every kind of race, religion, culture, and ethnicity.
ReplyDeleteIt seems crazy to me that our foreign exchange students think of America as such a patriotic and religious nation. In Pulaski County, most everyone claims Christianity and attends church somewhere, but this is Somerset, Kentucky; In other parts of the U.s. it's the complete opposite! I never realized how easy it is to forget about or not appreciate all of the freedom that we do have. In Pulaski County, we have at least one hundred churches. Where as, most of the foreign students have said there is one church per city where they're from. I can't imagine the size a church would have to be to capacitate our entire county of church goers.
It is also interesting that reciting our Nation's pledge every morning, upon force, seems so patriotic to foreigners. I've said the Pledge of Allegiance a million times but never considered myself to be patriotic because of it. I suppose it really is though. We have our flag hanging EVERYWHERE, and that never seemed very patriotic either. I am blessed to be an American.
Amen.
What does it mean to be American? Well to me it means just having the freedom to get up in the morning and not be afraid your city is going to get bombed or someone coming in your house to take you captive. (Haha) I also think about how great we’ve got it! How we have the freedoms that we have, in some other countries they don’t have the rights and how we are the freest nation on earth.
ReplyDeleteYou know America is great when everyone else is trying to get in. work and trade are more respectable in America than in other places, and I just think that I am so lucky to be able to call a place like America my home! We have more social mobility than other places (including Europe), But the best thing is that we as women can go out and work if we want to, we can do whatever we please and we don’t have to stay home where nobody can see us . We can vote and even be in congress or run for president! I feel we are so blessed to have these rights, compared to many other places.
~ Amanda Wiggington
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI think that is so true, how we have such a large number of the different races and different cultures and people who come here to better themselves or make a better life! and how the saying the pledges over and over makes us seem "patriotic" and there are flags EVERYWHERE and sometimes we don't just stop and think.. "wow i love america!" and think about why we have that flag we just look at it and think.. "oh hey! a flag.."
Staci,
ReplyDeletei really like reading your essay because of how you talked about how people take things like our freedoms for granted and how sometimes we think we have it hard when really we have it so easy its not even funny and we need to think about how much we have instead of crying around about how hard we have it, or how we never get a break.. so i likedd yours :))
I’ve always thought about America, that it is or was the country of opportunities.
ReplyDeleteAnd I’ve always had the “American Dream”, with “The Good Life”.
Even though I know it’s not like that, I still wanted to try what it was like to be an American.
I knew Americans were Christian, but I didn’t know that people was such devout Christian. People from Europe only know what they see in the movies, or here from somebody.
I don’t know exactly what its like to be an American yet, but I hope I will found out before I leave.
Its not that you cant do the same things in Denmark as here, but here I have so many more opportunities.
Before I came here I thought America was the greatest country, but I have realized it is everything I had thought before. In the future I plan to move to America and attend college. So, having this opportunity is the greatest thing ever! I believe that Denmark could learn a lot of the American’s governmental policies.
And maybe America could learn something from Denmark to!
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt's like a big dream and now I'm here.. I'm dreaming about that since I was little! America is different from Italy in some ways... School is different, politic is different, so many things that can make a nation the best of the world.
ReplyDeleteWhen I thought about America I thought about a perfect politic system, perfect school, a patriotical and religious country... But I learnt that's not so true..
This evening I spoke with my host mum about American politic and I learnt that it's not so perfect; for example there are a lot of problems about medicines and stuff... But I was right about a patriotical and religious country; it's a free country and everyone are proud to be American! It's a very important thing.
Italy isn't a patriotical country and I was surprised to see so many American flag in a lot of garden and to see people very proud to be American. I think that this thing makes a so unite country. Everyone in Italy would to be American and I've the opportunity to learn about this amazing culture and maybe to become as an American person (maybe..).
I hope to know more about American school and also to learn how it's to be American.
Marta Civettini
Before I went to America I thought I was coming over seas to live out the so-called ’American dream’. Just like in the movies. I never thought that going to American would mean being so faithful to god and so confident in the their nation, USA. In Denmark it’s not common to go to church every Sunday. It is normal to go to church at Christmas and that’s it. I am Christian, so I don’t mind going to church. In Denmark we don’t use our National anthem that much, not like here in America, where you know that everyone is proud to be an American Besides getting used to saying prayer before school and before dinner, I have to get used to behave a special way in school and to eat the food over here. In
ReplyDeleteIn America every thing is bigger than in Denmark, it’s not perfect, but it’s still a great nation. I have heard of a lot of the problems the Americans have right now. I have seen more car wrecks and heard about more deaths than I ever have in Denmark. Heard even more about The financial crises and political crises, but even though you have these problems, the Americans keep staying the loving, polite and happy people I have ever met.
Any of these things I mentioned, wasn’t something I predicted before I left, but that is something that will make my stay even better…
- Josephine Pedersen.
Before I came, I thought here was free and everybody could have a lot of time to do his or her own things. They can use their talent on the things they are good at. They have time, bunch of time! And I thought people were friendly and nice here. I watched a lot of American movies. In the movies, the schools were way better than ours. And people had their own houses, they lived in beautiful places and had neighbors to play with. I thought that was so cool. Before, when I still played golf games, I wanted come because we don’t have teams in China at school, even college. And my parents said here has teams at school, so I really wanted to come. And now I’m here. Everything liked what I thought, even better. But now I understand why I wanted to come so much. It’s not only because of the stuff I like; it’s because of the culture. I love the culture here; it cannot just say in words, it is way more than that. What I can only say is I love to be here.
ReplyDelete-Cindy Yu
Marta,
ReplyDeleteWe both from other countries, I can feel the way you feel. It’s like if you never come, you always think here is a fairy tale, even though it is a fairy tale at a lot of times, it’s still different feelings. So I know I made a right choice to come.
Josephine,
ReplyDeleteYou will love that you chose to come; you will love here, because I am. Actually, I don’t know what to say about being here, because the feelings can’t just say in words. Even now, I still don’t know how to describe it. It is something in to your heart; I think that’s why people love here. You will feel it after a while.
According to the Webster’s Dictionary, an American means of or in America. I am proud to be in America which makes me be an American. Being an American is a major blessing to me and should be to you to. I am proud to be an American. We should never be ungrateful to be an American. I think God has blessed us and has a reason for us to be an American. Our government may not be awesome or perfect but to be IN America is awesome, great, fantastic, and so on. Besides just being in America I am thankful that God has given America the freedoms that we have today. I am thankful for those men who came together and wrote laws and rights and freedoms we still have today. Those freedoms make us different. The freedom of religion, the freedom of speech, the freedom of assembly, etc. those are blessings we have. I think us as Americans, we can take those for granted and we get so used to them, we forget to thank God everyday for those freedoms. We also can’t become boastful about the freedoms we have. People around the world in different countries don’t have numerous amounts the freedom and rights we have today. As one country together and as individual people, lets never boast, be ungrateful, or take everything we have for granted, because it truly is a gift from our God.
ReplyDeleteBeing in America automatically gives us advantages in many ways. For instance complete freedom, which is all thanks to our founding fathers and military. It started out rough but we have come so far. But we haven’t always been so lucky to be this free it took a lot of pain, suffering, and death for some just to get us here. It’s amazing to think thousands died for just us to have what we have now. That to me alone means the world. There are things America has improved in and then other things not so much. I’m not so sure how other people view on religious views. But I think that we use to have stronger believers that really had passion for God and lead as true examples. Then we had just the ones completely aginst God. Yes there were still those who faked it and put on a good show. But now however I think there is more of that more the fakers people who are in it for the glory to themselves. And yes there are ones who are true but so many more are trying to take God completely out. Like schools, pledges, take out Ten Commandments. It’s everywhere. But all in all I love being an American and I believe that once we get a new president we may be better off
ReplyDeleteJessi I totally agree we do take many things for granite! We depend way to much on our government its teaching people not to work and they will get everything handed to them on a silver platter. And in the end its only making America a awful place with no morals people either exspect everything handed to them or think that money can get them any where. when in reality its turning us into the worst people ever!
ReplyDeleteLauren I really enjoyed your essay. I really like your second paragraph it really speaks the truth Somerset really does have a lot of people who claim to be a Christian. Its really sad when you set back and look at how many say one thing and live another. It makes me wounder what our exchange students think by the time they leave. All in all your essay was great and very interesting! Good job!
ReplyDeleteBeing an American to me is having freedoms and special privileges that a lot of times go for granted. Every American is born with the same privileges and job opportunities no matter their wealth or power. America is different to me because so many other nations discriminate on race, wealth, or family history. Although Americans have their own opinion on race and such their freedoms and privileges are the same. America is often called the “Boiling pot” because of the many different people that live here. You can go to any large city and literally find hundreds of restaurants and shops from other countries. You can easily go to a restaurant and learn a lot about their food and traditions. Even though America is really young compared to others, we have learned a lot as a nation. We still have a lot to learn and are improving from our mistakes. We are one of the most advance nations that have made life changing discoveries. We have changed the world and how it operates. We still have religious freedoms but slowly I see it being taken away. I believe we need to be taught more about our nation’s foundation so we can understand and start building it back.
ReplyDeleteWell what it means to be an American can only be described in one word. Freedom. When the first colonies were settled and the first forms of government were set up they wanted to be different from the rest of the world in that they could be free. What does it mean to have freedom? It means to be exempt from external control, interference, regulation, etc. What does that mean? That means that they had the freedom to control their land and people how they wanted to. Sometimes we as Christians need to stop and think of how some other countries are. Christians are being persecuted all around the world and we sometimes take it for granted that we can worship God how we choose. I think our freedom is just another chance for us to spread the word of God. We need to realize that we retain our freedom if we wish to live as we are. Our country is quickly falling away from religion. We need to remember that one day we might not have this freedom and we need to take advantage of it while we still have it. God has sent us here to spread his word and he has put us in this country to make it easier and we should use that.
ReplyDeleteStaci,
I love how you stay positive about our country. I agree that we have an amazing country. Even though, as you said, it isn’t the greatest cup of tea, it is still an amazing country.
Rebecca,
First of all, I love how you pointed out the small things like carrying your Bible around. And I totally like how you compared us to government officials. I mean even though we can’t vote or drive yet, we still have all the other rights just as any other American citizen has.
Katarina,
First of all, I want to say that I’m sorry because I know I spelled your name wrong but that’s just how the teachers have been pronouncing it. But I also wanted to thank you because you noticed the little things that Americans do for their country. And the diverse religions is a reason why we love our country so much. We are proud of our religious freedom and we like to use it!
K. Sellmaier :
ReplyDeleteI’m glad you like it here! I thought Austria would be completely different too, until I read your post. I hope you can make the best of going to church here and meeting new people. I thought it was interesting that nobody would pledge to the flag like America. I guess I do take the flag and my country for granted sometimes.
Lydia Ramsey:
ReplyDeleteYes its very nice not having to worry about a headdress or a man controlling you all the time. A lot of people don’t even think about it when they step outside. I think that all countries have mistakes and holes, but could change it around if they really wanted too.
Catelyn A.:
You are right. Since most of us were born in America we really don’t think about our freedoms. And still today we are fighting for our freedom and security because of others who want to take it away.
Patricia.Smith I really like your essay! I especially your second sentence which says, “Every American is born with the same privileges and job opportunities no matter their wealth or power.” For some reason that made me start thinking how blessed we are to be in America. It made me think that some family may be the poorest of poor but yet they still have that advantages and opportunities to succeed and make something of their life and future! Good Job!!
ReplyDeleteNathan Adcock, your essay was really great I thought. I loved how you summed up the word American into one word and that is freedom. I also really liked that you explained what freedom is and how you explained that. I really liked your definition of freedom, it was so right! Lastly, I really enjoyed how you related freedom and free with the opportunity of sharing and spreading the gospel because that is true we have that advantage to share how we believe!! Great Job!!
ReplyDeleteTo Josephine:
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Josephine, in Europe the people do not go to church very often and are not so religious like here. I also think that you will find more believers here than in Europe. I also think that our food is about the same, maybe we do not have so many fast food chains or Mexican restaurants, but we eat a lot of the stuff too. I agree with you that America has some problems at the moment, but Europe has the same problems, maybe not Denmark or Germany, but many other European countries like Ireland, Greece and Spain. And like everywhere in the world nothing happen here or in Europe, because the politicians want to get reelected. I also agree with you that the people here are more friendly and polite, my host family sometimes talk with people they do not know in the supermarket or at the swimming pool. In Germany the people won’t do that.
To Daniel Gonzales
ReplyDeleteI really like your essay, because it describes my feeling a little bit too. I also do not expected to come to school with a school uniform, but I think it is not to bad. I do not live here so long like you, but I really like it here. What I like here is, that the employees in restaurants or grocery stores are friendlier. I think it was a hard decision for you and your parents to leave Mexico and to come over here to life here. I agree with you that the people in the United States are more patriotic than in other countries, but like you I think it is not bad.
Victor:
ReplyDeleteI agree that America and Denmark could learn a lot from each other. Political and social. I would love if people in Denmark were just like the American citizens.
I do also agree in having this opportunity is the best that have ever happened to me. I think, that living in America is any Danish teenagers dream and I feel blessed that I’m one of the lucky ones how gets to live it out.
Christian:
I did also think that America was very different than Denmark, and I agree that we have many of the same things. We do see the same movies; eat the same food and listens to the same music. But the difference is, from Denmark and America, that the Americans have so much more of everything than the Danes have and the things you have, like houses and cars, they are so much bigger. And that’s what I think, is one of the biggest differences.
Being an American is a privilege that so many people take for granted. Many people do not see the advantages Americans have over so many other people groups in the world. In America we have public schools so that everyone, even those who couldn’t afford to send their children to school, has an equal chance as the rich families. We also have freedom of religion. Anyone can worship anywhere and at any time they like because of this freedom. People can choose to worship God, Buddha, Allah, or just choose not to believe in anything. This can be a positive and a negative influence on our society. And lastly we have a freedom of speech. All around the world people want to be heard and their governments just won’t allow them to speak, but here in America we can speak our minds and the government cannot control what we say. We have a right to our own opinions and we have a right to share those opinions to others. America really is a land of freedoms and we truly have been blessed by God and are continually blessed by Him. I truly am proud to be an American! God Bless America!
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