I'm back from New York City last night and I need to get out more. The Arabic music at the hot dog stands on every corner ... all the French people parlez vouz - ing Francais and taking pictures, all the Asians reading newspapers in funny characters. It's so different. South Florida is so closed up compared to New York City. Well, you can't really compare ANY city to New York ... but still. I'm tired of the typical "groupings": the Hispanics, the Haitians, the Brasilians, and the White people. Also, the random Russian kid. Just to think that almost every BIG city like New York in the world is diverse.

I'm moving out of America after college. I can't get stuck in the American cycle, the American way of life. I do not want the "American dream". I don't want a white picket fence, two kids, and a Ford sedan. I'll be content conforming to a one-bedroom apartment in the middle of Düsseldorf with no car, but a handy Metro pass if that is what it comes down to. At least I won't be near Americans, that's for sure. I don't want my children to grow up in a society where the education is mediocre, which is supposed to be the base and foundation of them as a successful individual. I don't want to have to pay for simple things that should be the responsibility of the government. I don't want to have to drive 10 miles to get to work when I can just take the metro and be there in five minutes.

Everything (almost everything) about Americans is the exact opposite of what I believe in. I am so DIFFERENT as a person that I do not think I would ever be able to live here as a working adult. Now, because I have no other choice and I am finishing up high school and going to try to fast forward college.

I do not feel American, despite my U.S. of A passport. This is not the greatest country in the world, but the greatest OPPRESSOR in the world. There is no culture, but that of McDonald's, MTV, and mass consumerism. This country is so backward and closed minded, oblivious to the rest of the world. I can guarantee you that nobody (ok, maybe one person) in a high school class knows that Bahrain is a country in the Middle East. I can also guarantee that most American high school students or people in general! For that matter believe that the United States won the Viet Nam War. We write our textbooks from our point of view, we are always the victors even though we may not be, we skew the words to make it seem so. We are forced to spit out the pledge of allegiance every morning and expected to believe in God.

Pres. Bush says we should spread our seed of democracy all over the world. Shoot, what if they don't WANT democracy. Who ever said democracy was the ideal form of government? The citizens of the USSR back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s were better off than in today's 21st century Russia, says a man who has lived in both times. We should mind our own freaking business here until it comes down to the point that Americans are being killed in [insert hostile country's name here]. That's when we should act. Maybe being a superpower isn't that great after all.