08 [voice] LOL PRETEND THIS IS POSTED AFTER JUSTIN BIEBER PERFORMS... HAS HE PERFORMED YET
I... to be honest, I still think of Independence Day as the 19th of August--and there is nothing wrong with that. That is independence day. Most people refer to this as the "fourth of July", anyway, so it is not confusing. But it is always a little strange, despite that, to be a... well, a foreigner on another country's national holidays. I mean--it is not always a bad kind of strange, necessarily! But it is a reminder of that disconnect, and how alien one can begin to feel.
The holiday means so much to so many, however, even if it is sometimes disconnected from nationalism and more of an excuse to eat a lot of food and watch fireworks... [DERP] Um, no disrespect meant. But that significance makes it something worth thinking about, even if this is not my country... or my world, for that matter. Looking at it from that perspective, none of us on the Network are really American citizens. The president here is not the president anyone knew, and the US government--while its actions are... not unlike those the government where I am from might take, it was obvious that many people did not agree with them. And yet the way people conceive the nation is somehow separate from all of that. People will celebrate today, for many different things, regardless of what they think of America, or whether they think at all. It is... interesting how that works, and how much I would like to understand it.
Understanding is not the same as becoming, though, and that is natural and right. Nevertheless, I hope you have all had a happy holiday. We have not had excuses enough to celebrate, as of late--and in a place like this, there will always be need for them. [MOST AWKWARD PAUSE EVER] I... just spoke for a very long time.
[she turns off the communicator, almost as hideously embarrassed by this entire post as I am, then adds on five minutes later:]
And I will admit that I do not know if I ever wish to understand the appeal of Justin Bieber.
The holiday means so much to so many, however, even if it is sometimes disconnected from nationalism and more of an excuse to eat a lot of food and watch fireworks... [DERP] Um, no disrespect meant. But that significance makes it something worth thinking about, even if this is not my country... or my world, for that matter. Looking at it from that perspective, none of us on the Network are really American citizens. The president here is not the president anyone knew, and the US government--while its actions are... not unlike those the government where I am from might take, it was obvious that many people did not agree with them. And yet the way people conceive the nation is somehow separate from all of that. People will celebrate today, for many different things, regardless of what they think of America, or whether they think at all. It is... interesting how that works, and how much I would like to understand it.
Understanding is not the same as becoming, though, and that is natural and right. Nevertheless, I hope you have all had a happy holiday. We have not had excuses enough to celebrate, as of late--and in a place like this, there will always be need for them. [MOST AWKWARD PAUSE EVER] I... just spoke for a very long time.
[she turns off the communicator, almost as hideously embarrassed by this entire post as I am, then adds on five minutes later:]
And I will admit that I do not know if I ever wish to understand the appeal of Justin Bieber.