My Observations in the USA

My name is Sander Nys and first I would like to introduce myself. At the time of writing, I am an exchange student from Belgium in Arkansas, USA. My journey started around 5 months ago. During my stay I have seen and experienced a lot of distinct moments. Some of them are pleasant and others are concerning. I live in a small town called Ola with somewhere around 2000 residents. The area where I live is completely different from what I am used to growing up in Antwerp, a city of more than half a million residents. In this article, I will be discussing my observations so far considering my experience in the south of the United States of America. I want to inform you upfront that any observation I’ll describe won’t speak for the whole of the USA. This is solely my personal experience I want to share with you.

As I mentioned earlier, I grew up in the second biggest city of Belgium. A city full of concrete roads, buildings and a complex, occasionally illogical, infrastructure. At home, skinny trees are artificially planted and taken down once they have grown too big. City parks with an area as big as a few soccer fields and largely artificially maintained. Streets are as narrow as a volkswagen minivan.

To be honest, switching to the ‘Nature’ state was a harder adaptation than I originally thought it would be. Arkansas is rich in its nature, full of fauna and flora, which is largely conserved by humans. Their Natural parks all together are bigger than the area of Belgium, and a lot more beautiful. No matter where you go, you are surrounded by nature’s presence. At night, the stars fill up the sky so bright and clear, you can even see the Milky way across the whole sky. Breathtaking for someone who grew up in a light-polluted hazard.

There is one downside to this well-appreciated aspect of the state, and that is accessibility. The logistics of the state are deprived because of its widespread residential areas. In a medieval structured city like Antwerp, traffic can be bad but everything is accessible by foot or bike and thus you can save money and pollution on gas. In Arkansas, you are disadvantaged when you have to go to the store as the nearest Walmart is over half an hour away by car. That is the one freedom I truly miss of living in a city. Looking back at Arkansas’ history, people settled across its landscapes over just a few decades thus explaining the small concentrated areas.

Some people who I explained this situation to told me I was unlucky for ending up in such a small town. But let’s say I got an exchange in their capital city, Little Rock, with population of almost 200 000 people. I would still barely be able to go outside by foot or bike as these bigger cities are not constructed to be walkable cities. These cities have a checkers-pattern of 4 lane wide streets with proportionally small sidewalks and some streets don’t even have sidewalks. Crossing a street takes ages before it turns green for pedestrians and with many cars driving next to you, you don’t feel comfortable walking next to them. Most cities I have visited in Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Indiana, etc. during a road trip are all built in width and not in height. Building more lanes does not solve traffic problems. It invites more cars on the road, creating more pollution and unsafe streets. Some cities are trying to transform to a more walkable environment which I highly encourage. Walkable roads and energy-efficient public transport are the future of big cities.

My general concern on this observation is that the carbon footprint is immense per capita as the American Economy and households are fundamentally based on petrol engine vehicles. Since the USA’s withdrawal from the Paris treaty in 2017 was official, this concern of mine has only increased. The United States is preparing for an economic sprint but not for a marathon. Our earth on the other hand is already reaching the finish-line of exhaustion. No country is prepared for a scarcity in commodities despite some efforts towards renewable energy. I guess we’ll only realize this as soon as we missed the boat and discover that we are too late.

Like the Catalonian nationalism in the north of Spain, American patriotism is surely something you’ll come across if you visit the country. To give you an idea: around 150 million flags are sold annually in the United States alone. You’ll see them hanging notably and proudly in every store, institution or house. It truly is a beautiful aspect that one can be so proud of its nation. The Pledge of Allegiance, which we have to do every morning at my high school, is something I think enhances the love for the nation and is a subtle reminder of unity. When I asked several teachers and students what their thoughts were about the pledge, they answered it is out of respect for those who fight and have fought for the country. A respectful and required gesture as they would describe it.

For those who have visited the USA in the past, you’ll probably have noticed the hyper-politeness of some people although New York can be exceptional. This overwhelming politeness in stores and restaurants is something I’m also not used to. The smaller the community, the more engaging the people get as well. In one occasion, without realizing it, I was discussing my personal life with a Walmart employee with who I was waiting for another employee to return. Quite fascinating to see how scale of societies in western countries can influence the social behavior of people. In cities with densely populated areas, people are a lot more egocentric and closed toward other residents as there is a higher competitiveness in the air and a lot of unfamiliar faces. Some will say it mostly depends on the personality which is most certainly true but I would say that the scale is indisputably coherent.

The community I lived in was fairly small and was largely connected through the school and churches. Every family knew every other family and breaking news spread through calls faster than the news channels or newspapers. If someone was in need for some help, they would be supported by family, friends and the church communities. A perfect but enormously sad example is when a house burned down of a junior at my high school. The day after it happened, the principal took the student to go shopping as the child had lost all of its clothing. I even heard that several teacher prepared meals for the student to take home for her family. Their empathy and support is an instance I’ll certainly take home.

But every flag has a side you can’t see. During my stay, I’ve seen a vast majority of the American landscapes because of a road-trip I’ve done recently departing from Arkansas towards New York. Passing through numerous neighbourhoods varying from farmlands to 5th avenue, NYC. Like all countries in the world, poverty is a notable but definitely an overlooked problem. In some countries, political incentives are the cause of social and economic issues which can only be addressed by alternation of the law or government. In the USA some regulations will favor the major companies instead of the independent SMEs, look at the telecom market in the last two decades for instance. But my concern doesn’t lie with the company representative in the three player game of our economic structure. It lies with the household-player which takes up a big role in consumerism.

One day, my host brother and I were heading back to our house from school when I was looking outside the windshield and noticed a impressive red Dodge Charger on the driveway of a house in the neighborhood. Once my eyes glided towards the house, I was shocked to see what condition the trailer home was in. At first I thought that someone financially more privileged was visiting the home but ever since that striking observation, it has always parked in that driveway. Hereby I started noticing this particular situation of a high tier cars in front of a less maintained homes quite often. I don’t think it would be inappropriate to say that this isn’t the most effective way to manage your financial situation. What probably is the main cause of this, is the financial illiteracy and the ‘importance’ of social status. You can also blame debt-fuelled consumerism because it is the primary reason for our economic growth but also inequality. If someone doesn’t know how to manage it’s bills and is misguided by all the marketing defining an out-of-reach ‘American Dream’, how can one get out of a debt-pit they created themselves? Not to mention how far the financial institutions go to make you contract a loan. Letters, commercials, “free financial advisors”, billboards, e-advertisement, etc. all stating 15.000 dollars is available without any requirements, even in cash. It seems like 2008 has been erased from people’s memories and fears.

Living in the USA also means being confronted by a lot of politics. I’m not going into full detail on this subject but the confrontation between liberals and republicans is astonishing. They blame each other for certain mistakes or decisions. Certain supporters think their opposites are completely different creatures wandering on the earth while nevertheless they have similar thought about common subjects.

In most countries you’ll have to choose for a particular party. Some countries have a wide range of political parties, like Belgium, others don’t have a choice. In the case of the United States, I think it is a bit weird that one has to choose between a democratic or a conservative party. Both are essential components of a society. Let me bring it down to a simple metaphor. The society or nation is represented by a single person. The laws and regulations which keep the person protected and behaved is a nice fancy suit. In this context we would expect the suit to be a perfect fit. When the person or society grows, the suit will change with it. But not every limb grows at the same rate. This means that certain parts of the suit, or legislations and laws, must remain the same while others change dramatically. On the other end, not adjusting the size or government to the evolving person or nation, opens the door for social and political agitation. My reasoning behind the story is that the United States is way too complicated to simply choose between left and right. I am well aware this is an oversimplification of the political structure behind the US government but in the eyes of the average citizen, it comes down to this choice.

A majority of my time I spend in the USA, is spent in the classrooms. I am attending the Two RIvers High School in Ola. This high school is fairly new with it’s opening in 2011. The reason this school exists is because of a fusion between 3 other schools as there weren’t enough students attending these schools to keep them running. This is because more and more people are moving closer to the bigger cities. I have mentioned the problems of accessibility above but my focus is now on their educational system.

Some of you might be familiar with the American educational system. I’ll describe it in a nutshell how the system is implicated in my school. In the beginning of September, you choose what courses you want to take in the 8 periods available in a day. This one-day will count for Monday through Friday. Everyday is the same during the whole year. When the semester is over, you can change your roster again if you want to though. Some of the courses you pick can benefit you with credits for your college profile. Once a course is finished, you don’t have to take it again in the next year.

Some teachers are great and others shouldn’t be teaching at all but this is something you’ll see at almost every school in the world. My problem lies with the schedule arrangement. How can every course be equally valuated like for instance mathematics and drivers education? And how can it be when you finish physics in one year, you can’t continue studying it the next year without repeating the same chapters? This blew my mind for a second, as you can’t focus on the career you want to pursue. My host brother had to take courses he did not want just because he had to fill in the gaps in his schedule. Another difference with the majority of western school systems is that sophomores, juniors and seniors share the same classes. This could unite the school but there is barely any reference in what grade or intellectual level you truly are. As you are able to choose your own classes, some kids pick the easiest ones and therefore have no obligations and show no commitment throughout the year. This concerns me as it is particularly dangerous for unmotivated children and their future.

What I do love about the high schools is there facilities and unity. Although the football teams didn’t do well during the season, the school is still proud and support the players. I feel connected and I truly feel like a part of the school. This is because of many activities and clubs at the school, which makes us work together and hang out together after school hours, like a teambuilding party with other colleagues.

My stay in the USA has been great so far. I am thankful for the people who take care of me and the ones, like my parents, who have given me the opportunity to do this. This is an experience where you meet new people and learn how to adapt to new environments and challenges. This is something they can’t teach you in a classroom and I would recommend anyone who has the opportunity to grab such an opportunity. The experiences I have acquired will stay with me my whole lifetime and this experience has shaped my mentality enormously. the reason of my writing is to share my train of thoughts on certain topics that I have observed in my surroundings.