Haugen's poem regarding relatives coming back from America sent a few thoughts through my brain. Does America really fundamentally change the way someone appears? I would like to think that it is simply psychological, that this parent or sister simply thought that their child or sibling changed drastically because they wanted to believe they did. No one place should alter the feeling behind someone's eyes. Or should it... Well, not enough to confuse someone as much as this poem seemed to be.
But then I think back to my time abroad in London and Scotland, and my fellow Amconer Mike made a comment. There we constantly saw American symbols, could watch Friends at 11, and saw American news. "People here," Mike said, "must get tired of constantly being bombarded with American culture." The American ideal can alter the communities it comes in contact with, and it seems to be spreading. I don't doubt this individual was extremely altered by their experience. So I suppose yes, this all does make sense to me.
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