There's a scene that will likely forever remain in my mind - from the beginning of one of C.S. Lewis' works, I believe, and it basically tells of a man who sets off in search of a church that he reads about, and once he gets miles out from home along his journey to find this magnificent church, he looks back homeward and realizes that this church he seeks is actually his home - where he's originally from. But had he stayed, he would have never realized. It took the journey away for him to realize.

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I've been asked by many international people (over the past few summers, here in Germany especially) :

"Do you think America is the best country in the world?"

And a few even directly follow up that question with a remark, before allowing me to speak at all:

'I sure hope you say no.'

and

'What a joke of a question!'

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I had a conversation with a man yesterday about journalism. About news. About media. And funding. And bias.

In Germany, public media outlets are state-owned, meaning there is a definite and well-known slant, if not in the tone, at least in the coverage. It's a mandatory bias, fueled by money. Money coming from the government for news? More jobs for journalists! More news coverage! Breaking news! Specialty stories! A more informed public! Too good to be true?

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~ "Oh, you're from Detroit!? It must be really scary living there! ... I saw a documentary once..."

~ "Michigan, which one is that again?"

~ "Do you live near Flint? I've heard bad things about that place."

(None of this is made up. Or exaggerated. I promise.)

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When talking about how safe Munich is, guns alway inevitably come into conversation. You can't buy a gun in Germany, after all, they say. And the bottle spins violently toward me, the American. Guns.

In my short, not yet even a month here in Munich, I've been asked whether I voted for Trump.

I've been told that Germans hate Trump (such a terribly generalized statement, oh my - because I know of at least one German who does like Trump).

I've been told that Americans aren't healthy.

That Americans "have to be the first to do everything. Flag on the moon? Americans just had to do it. Claim their territory."

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Assumptions, assumptions, assumptions.

America. How can it possibly be the best country in the world, to an outsider? When all they hear is the bad. The crime. The death. The corruption. I won't in the slightest deny that these terrible things exist. No use in justifying or validating the darkness of America.

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But me, an insider now on the outside, I can't help but see the light.

America, the Beautiful: Miles & Miles Away