Returning to the US, I landed in Detroit, and then caught a plane for Tri-Cities Airport, here in the mountains. As we landed, I sang the national anthem under my breath. I wanted to shout, "I'm coming home"!
At customs, the officer looked at me quizzically when I said I'd spent six months in China. He inquired what I'd been doing there. When I said I'd been teaching English, he whistled, broke out in a grin, and saluted.
It's great to be back. Great to to understand the language, read street signs and get into my email whenever I like. Great to cook in my own kitchen and have a bed where the springs don't stick in my back. Great to know that if by some mistake, I park illegally or run a stop sign, the consequences will be uniform under the law. Great to post to my blog and see it whenever I want. Great to be able to open any website, even those having to do with politics and religion. Great to be able to talk politics openly with friends.
Like many people born in the Northeast I am a liberal, and like most people with my political leanings, I have disliked what I regarded as gratuitous displays of the American flag, though we fly it at home. But now, I shall post it on my office door, along with my hours and the linguistic cartoons.
No country is perfect, but US citizens enjoy many rights. We have to work to keep these. I consider most precautions taken at airports to be reasonable, in light of recent events, though I am disturbed that Homeland Securtity fingerprints invited visiting scholars. In China, no one did that to me. And I hope we shall soon see the last of our government reviewing our email without a warrant.
In a time of global terrorism, people can be persuaded to relinquish their rights in the name of security. Once eliminated, by legislation or practice, rights are hard to gain back. The Chinese accept practices we view as invasions of privacy out of custom and concern for safety. China is learning to relax a dysfunctional and over-controlled system. We would do well in these times to hold to our traditions, especially the Bill of Rights.
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