... to consider two weeks of
paid vacation generous.
... to live in the divide between a culture who worships (from afar) the concept of a strong family life, and a family who can't bring themselves to actually care about each other.
... to be frightfully aware of my deficiencies as an educated human being, especially in the areas of languages, religions, and philosophy... and yet to be repeatedly unable to make headway against those deficiencies. Does growing up in the most mediocre of American public schools shape your brain such that, despite being an intelligent human being, you're forever deficient in those areas, or is there some other explanation?
... to live everyday with people who consider themselves progressive as they go about their racist, sexist, classist lives.
... to hate many of the things my government does, and yet watch the myth of representative democracy get in the way of my effectively protesting those things.
... to become increasingly aware that few non-Americans understand the good things about being American. And that the parts of my culture that get exported to the rest of the world aren't the parts of my culture that I'm proud of.
... to take shit from people of other nations about the parts of my culture I dislike and am actively working to change.