USA

People often ask me why I love the USA so much. They seem not to comprehend how someone can not love the country in which they were born, and decide to leave it, and consequently, also leave their parents, their friends, their job, and their whole life to move to another country and start their life all over.

When I was about ten years old, I started to realize how Western I am. This soon became a serious problem as I was living in a Middle Eastern country. Too many factors kept pushing me into looking for an alternative place I could call home. Therefore, I made a list of all the things that I like, and those that I don't; all the things that were dear to me, and those that were not.

A list of handful western countries was generated, and I soon tried to find out in which one of those places I could be the happiest. To make a long story short, the USA was the answer. Since that time, I started looking for the proper timing and opportunity to move to the USA and enjoy the life about which I always dreamt. Fifteen years later, it finally happened. I packed my things and moved to Houston, Texas where I was lucky to find a job.

For many people, the story ends at this point, but not for me. For me, loving the USA is like loving anything else in my life. It's an all or none response. I cannot pretend to love something and not fully support it. Obviously that also applies to the place I call home. That goes for being supportive of its government to being supportive of its economy to being fully integrated socially including its culture, its language, its customs, and its traditions. Finally and most importantly, I can't love something and hide it or be ashamed of it. I am proud to be an American.