The saying, “It’s a small world” is very appropriate in some cases, but in others, it is completely false.  When you think about it, the world is so gigantic that it seems almost impossible for countries that are thousands of miles apart to communicate.  However, we have one very important thing that helps us communicate and that is technology.  Technology connects and helps people keep in contact all over the world.  In Franklin Foer’s opinion, the sport of soccer is a major thing that connects the United States with other countries.  He explains different aspects of this opinion in his book, How Soccer Explains the World.

In Foer’s opinion, there are two opposing sides to globalization in the U.S.  There is one side that embraces a cosmopolitan culture, which is basically the view that soccer can connect two countries through treaties and organizations.  The other side is called American exceptionalism and people who support this are anti-soccer.  In this belief, people think that America shouldn’t stoop so low as to be influenced by other countries.  They also believe that America has been shaped by its unique form of government and should not take advice on how to be run by other countries. 

In my opinion, I don’t see this happening very often in the United States today.  For example in Firoozeh Dumas’ book Funny in Farsi, her and her family come to America from Iran and are very accepted by everyone they meet.  Her teachers in school were welcoming and helped her a lot with her studies and learning English.  Her neighbors recognized that Firoozeh and her mother didn’t know how to get back to their home one day after school, so they helped them find their way.  This alone shows how accepting the United States is of other cultures.  If people from other countries were not accepted here, they wouldn’t continue to come to visit, study, or even live. 

When I studied abroad, I saw this reoccurring theme of acceptance everywhere I went.  People always wanted to strike up conversation and see if we would actually try to communicate with them in their language.  If we did try, we were accepted that much more.  In cases like this, I think that the more effort people put forth to become knowledgeable about other cultures, the more accepted they will be.  This can also create positive, or sometimes negative, views of cultures as a whole.  In saying this, I think the United States can teach the world how to accept everyone for who they are.  Many people come to the United States to seek opportunities and they know they most likely won’t be turnedaway.  In Spain for example, this may not be the case.  While I was there, I learned that they have very strong opinions about people immigrating to their country.  Many Africans try to immigrate to Spain, but the people there don’t like this.  Many Spaniards that I talked to thought they needed to have stronger border policies.  This may be true in America as well, but if people want to come here legally, I think we are very accepting of that. 

When asked to talk about what the United States can learn from the world, I had a hard time finding examples.  Since I do not really follow politics or compelling world issues, I could only think about the superficial things.  For example, we can learn about the food from all different countries.  In Mohsin Hamid’s book The Reluctant Fundamentalist, him and an American man are sitting at a café having a conversation about all sorts of things.  At one point in the conversation, Changez, the main character, asks the American man if he wanted something to eat.  He ordered their food and when it came, the American man had never tasted anything like it. He was even reluctant to eat it at first.  After he tried it, he liked it.  I think this shows how the United States is often skeptical of trying new things.  Also in this book, the American man feels threatened by one Pakistani man.  He thinks that he might have a gun or want to hurt him.  Changez catches onto his feelings about this man and confronts him about them.  He asked what made him think this man would want to hurt him.  This is also a reoccurring theme in the United States.  People don’t really trust others around them if they don’t know them on a personal level.  This couldalso be something the United States can learn from other countries.

On that note, I think the world can constantly be learning about itself through interactions with different cultures.  I am a strong believer in accepting everyone for who they are, no matter where they come from or what color skin they have.  Soccer is one way to connect people from around the world, but I think there are many other things that justify world relations as well.  

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