Send Me Forget-Me-Nots

So I'm currently sitting in a McDonalds, on my MacBook, picking pieces of french fry salt off of my fingertips cautiously before pressing them to the white Apple product's keyboard, Dr. Dre's Solo Red Beats are blasting "N*ggas in Paris into my overly-victimized-by-music ears. This is actually completely by coincidence, but very fitting seeing as what I'm about to write about seems to be titular to my situation. Aside from my headphones, which are pretty much the modus operandi in the US the rest of my outer appearance wouldn't illicit any sort of second glances wearing burgundy colored pants, a matching scarf and a chocolaty fedora.

It's all merging together! 

This is perhaps, the most indicative sign of the syndrome that Jay Z & Kanye West were thinking of when they decided to make such a catchy song.

At this point I've spent more time in Germany than my other two times weighing in at a few over 100 days and if it at any point felt foreign and odd, that has all evaporated; quite contrarily, its the memories of America that seem to be fading rapidly, the things I would earlier eaten my hat if I'd got them wrong, I would now tentatively answer; tip toeing around the hard questions about what it's really like in America, afraid I may be confusing things I've observed here as the "norm" for back stateside.

Okay, George Washington was the first elected American President, the Constitution was written & ratified in 1787 & 1788, the flag is red white & blue with 50 stars and 13 stripes. Give me a break I don't mean the easy stuff that has been ground (I wrote "grinded" the first time) into my head time and time again, I mean the real, tangible America.

The interesting thing is it's really not an issue. Last year, when the aforementioned song came out I was comfortable in Frankfurt with one of my good friends, laughing & chuckling at how fitting it was that we were busy living life to the fullest with an aptly titled song telling us how to live. I always had America in the back of my head, though, everything was like an extended vacation with the end always well within reach, this time the "end" is the very last thing I want to think about.

What exactly, beyond spending a majority of my twenty-two years there, is the everlasting allure of the US? I think some of the charm has worn off. I am so proud to be American and I love my country very much but I can't hide the fact that I have an equally open love for Germany and as I've been here I've had a hard time distinguishing what is truly the essence of American culture, it's going to be fun to dissect that more as my time here continues to grow longer but for now I need a reminder of some sorts. I thought the election provided me the proper jolt that would make everything crystal clear, on the contrary it only made things more muddled (you know, the bickering, name calling and bullcrap cannot always be masked by the red, white and blue confetti and Barack's captivating smile)

But honestly, I was thinking about it as I heard the police sirens of a German police car speed by. My mind was confused as I asked myself, "what do American police sirens sound like?" and then I thought of all the things about America that I've forgotten, or even more appalling, I've never even thought about:

What is the sound of the average American home's telephone? Germany has a distinct ring tone that I would gander 70% of all stationary phones use; from the home that I've been in for a little over a month to the restaurant in the middle of Boonies, Deutschland with the most delicious desserts known to man.

What does free water taste like? Yes, water is still a problem but I've adjusted rather well to the constant dehydration, you simply just reprogram your body to not need the fluid. But in America I'm pretty sure there's this thing called free refills, what do they taste like? What's the quality of free water, it's one of those things I wonder about, can it really be as good as bottled water? Germany's made me water elitist, sue me.

Are there any clocks on military time? Can't lie, I'm not sure I'll ever set my phone back to the 12 hour clock. It just doesn't make sense anymore.

What Channel is ESPN? This might be cheating, on basic cable I knew it like the back of my hand, 31 in NC, 46 in ATL but seriously, with my digital box back stateside I'm going to struggle so hard finding the channels I usually frequent. My laptop has become my best friend for all things streaming.

How do Automatic Cars Feel? I love the feel of the ride in a manual car, so smooth, so responsive, so willing to be driven. What is the appeal of automatic? Is the actually a reason we love them so much or is it just the whole convenience thing? 

It's just crazy how many things about my home country I've forgotten, of course there are more but these are the ones that I've taken thought to ponder. Honestly the fact is pretty scary, how quickly the things that are minute get replaced with other things equally minute. Such a introspective post I've written here!

So tell me America...what's your lasting appeal?