Videos of moments like this have been taking over social media since the World Cup began in early June: A Dutch man thrilled by the size of a gas station, or an Italian man excited by a gallon of milk. European fans are shocked by the fun they're having discovering American culture.
But beneath the easy-to-shrug-off fast food and things being abnormally large (which is very much a part of the culture), is the hidden ingredient that makes it all possible.
“The people are amazing,” the viral German tourist “Freddy” said on CNN. “So welcoming. The culture is amazing. It’s like Europeans are getting a new view of America right now.”
Freddy gets it. Welcome and hospitality are at the centre of American culture.
If not for the waitresses hyping the Swedish man up, the Waffle House would be just another diner. The Scots would not be drinking Boston dry if it wasn't for the thousands of Bostonians who greeted them with open arms to celebrate their culture and share their own.
At its best, American culture is home to all. That's why, when the Bosnian team arrived in Saint Louis, they were greeted by tens of thousands of Bosnian-Americans (Saint Louis is home to the most Bosnians outside of Bosnia), it's why Ghanaian-Americans came out to welcome Ghana in Virginia, and why half the American men's football team are bi-nationals.
It's easy to write off American culture as nothing but bits and pieces of others (which it partially is), but that purposeful ignorance ignores the melding and mixing that happens after all of these remnants come together.
Sigmund Freud, who visited only once in 1909, dismissed the US as “a gigantic mistake” – too prudish, too money-grubbing, too uncultured to take seriously.
In fact, many European elites have, since the nation's founding, viewed the US as a cultural wasteland lacking deep history, fine arts, and philosophical depth.
Today, as an American who has chosen Europe as home, I am always shocked by the impulse of many Europeans to share similar opinions. So quick to dismiss American culture without a second thought, all while often having never been there.
These are often highbrow critiques, which miss that much of American cultural richness comes from the lowbrow: the disenfranchised, the immigrant, the refugee, the different one. This is the culture that is so uniquely American and which shocks Europeans upon arrival.
In Europe, I can never truly be Belgian or French. But the opposite is true for Belgians or French who immigrate to the US: anyone can be American. It's the result of a long culture of welcoming people from distant lands, united by a bond of creed over soil.
When everyday Europeans go to the US, they see this culture for themselves – in fact, they're handed it on a plate. “THIS IS THE BEST FRIED CHICKEN FOOD EVER. THE SAUCE MANNN,” wrote a Scottish man on social media after visiting a Raising Cane’s in Boston. “WE NEED THIS IN THE UK!!”
Little did he realise that this distinctive Southern fried chicken is often traced back to a Scottish frying technique and West African seasoning traditions. It's the product of enslaved Africans and their descendants in the American South who were forced to cook for their white enslavers. “For African Americans, it regularly features at community gatherings,” said Adrian Miller, a soul food scholar, to Ark Republic. “Fried chicken creates community.”
For Americans, seeing Europeans enjoy their culture has offered a return to the soul of the nation that has been so hard to find in Trump’s America, where ICE commits killings in the streets and disappears undocumented individuals.
“FUCK these videos have been lifting my spirits so hard,” one wrote on TikTok. “The pure joy I have watching these videos has restored something broken this past year,” wrote another.
For Europeans, it offers a renewed connection that transcends the animosity created by governments and corporations that would rather see the transatlantic relationship split.
“The America we are experiencing is the one we were promised growing up,” said one Scottish woman on social media. “We were apprehensive about coming, we were expecting to be met by ICE, you know, the political climate we all see on the news, and that could not be further from the truth of what we’ve actually experienced,” she continued.
I find myself oddly grateful to FIFA of all things – bribe-soaked, Trump-peace-prize FIFA – for bringing people together when governments work so hard to keep them apart.