I was moved by the BBC’s Washington Correspondent Rob Watson’s farewell address as he prepared to leave the US after 10 years of residency.
You will want to read the whole article, but here are a few brief excerpts:
As infectious as their happiness is their optimism and “can do†spirit, the sense that there is no problem which does not have a solution.
As a European, what I found most refreshing here was the remarkable lack of envy in American society.
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When Americans see someone doing well, they do not grumble about it being all right for some, instead they say, one day that could be me.
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I have marvelled too at the country's ability to absorb so many immigrants, from so many different places, and at the ease with which Americans adapt to change.
Driving it all is the American dream, which still motivates immigrants and those born here alike. A belief that tomorrow is always a better day and that there is nothing you can not do if you really put your mind to it.
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Until I return, I will not mind telling anyone that the rest of the world has far more to learn from you than it has to fear.