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Very interesting dissection. Another interesting project is called NY Children that has a photo of a child from every country country in the world, but they all live in New York city. Shows the truly diverse nature of this country in one city.

really enjoyed your film, makes me appreciate my country.

Although this is a nice try, it does not diminish the fact that most Europeans have utter contempt and disdain for the USA, it's people, and culture. They merely wait for the chess game to play out.
Afghanistan has failed, and as it was openly stated to be a last test for NATO, itself is also in doubt. Germany sent a huge delegation to China, and the UK to India, both to boost trade. As far as the EU and UK are concerned, the light shines East. They merely wait for the inevitable crash of the dollar, and currently seek to insulate themselves from it. I feel Iran has been the EU's and Asia's proxy to stab the US in the back.

Cave Adsum.

Unfortunately some do indeed forget that America is a very beautiful, colorful, and multicultural land. Franz's point was not about Afghanistan, or NATO...nor do such matters define what America is and whom Americans are.
Franz Strasser does a fine job presenting the U.S.A. and it's peoples.

You should have driven across the country. 14 days of flying is not a big deal. Although it does show the perspective of immigrants in America, it doesn't really show what an American is. You visited big cities that really can't speak for the entire nation...except Kansas doesn't really fit in there.

I'm happy to see immigrants coming to America and creating successful lives. I'm not bitter, not do I think they are stealing [my] job.

How many cowboy hats did you see ?

Those shots could have easily been acquired from one location. I felt the clip lacked direction. 7,500 miles and 14 days and you reported a placated middle and lower class. What about the immigrant upper class? America is a dream that isn't realized by merely touching feet to soil. Because you lacked a solid plan for your story, you filmed many clips that generated more questions than answered.

Example: The family from India has "discovered" that there isn't anything in America that they can't find in India, and yet, I doubt it was America that deceived them into thinking otherwise. Furthermore, it leaves one to wonder home homesickness is effecting her opinion.

Diversity in U.S.A. is no secret and the "Leave it to Beaver" stereotype is hardly portrayed in Hollywood today. I believe your story would be more interesting had you showed the American dream and typical failures, successes, and dreams exceeded. Instead, we're left wondering if those working at Tyson are victims or have taken the first step towards realizing their American dream.

I greatly enjoyed reading this blog and seeing your perspective. I hope you do something similar to this again. I learned about how immigration has affected different parts of the country and how immigrants have affected those areas as well. Of course this isn't comprehensive as others have complained, but that cannot be expected with a country of this magnitude and diversity-- but isn't that the beauty of it anyway?

Thank you for your effort to explore and explain my country. Few foreigners seem to grasp the complexity of the US. I have had the good fortune to travel widely and, via the magic of the Internet, correspond and chat with people all over the world. I have found that many people abroad have misconceptions of the US. Europeans tend to believe negative stereotypes while people in developing countries tend to focus on positive stereotypes. What is missing is a balanced understanding of America and its people.

I blame the American entertainment industry for many of the pernicious stereotypes about the US. While it is easy to accuse people of putting too much stock in film or television (after all it is JUST a movie!), after a steady diet of American entertainment it is easy to succomb to the recurrent plots and themes and begin to believe that they mirror real life for the majority of Americans. Crime, racism, wealth, materialism, beauty, jet set lifestyles are just a few recurrent themes that warp foreign perceptions of the US. I still laugh when I think of the first time that a French friend visited me in Washington. He remarked with amazement, "I've been in the US for three days now and have yet to see a single crime!" I've lived in major American cities for the majority of my life and have never been a victim of a crime nor has anyone close to me.

There are many Americans who are insular and simply indifferent about the world outside of America's borders. However, there are also plenty of Americans who are terrifically cosmopolitan and truly knowledgeable about the world. Every developed country has its rubes and intellectuals.

As someone who lived in poverty as a child, attended an elite university, lives an upper middle class lifestyle, is gay, and an athiest, I've had a varied and perhaps atypical American experience. There is so much that I appreciate about the US and much that I would change. That said, I always return home from my travels grateful to live in America and appreciative of its many opportunities.

I thought this was a great blog. I also thought there was an interesting diversity of stories. Good job!

Six states? Fifty people? Those people and stories could have been found in a single moderately large city in this country. Indeed, a single moderately large town would have sufficed for that sample. Time to get down and dirty... Do fifty states in fifty weeks, by car or train, and you might *begin* to grasp the true character of this nation. Your time in Florida was a nice start, but that's hardly the soul of this nation, and the six other states are not going to fill the gap - not even remotely.


Immigrant groups shaping the country?! You've failed, completely, to grasp the single most central, inescapable fact of America; The *entire* population is an immigrant group, and the nation has *always* been in demographic flux. Did you learn about the German wave coming into Texas? It happened hundreds of years ago, but still influences that internationally-iconic part of the country. What did you find about the refugees of Ireland... from 1847? Massive cultural landmark there, set by immigrants. Did you get down amongst the French-descended bayou country folk? The Finns? The Swedes? The Poles? What about the Cubans and the Vietnamese? The *old* wave Chinese? Good Lord, you *must* have at least taken a short look at the impact of the Chinese labor drafts imported to build the transcontinental railway, right? Right..? It looks to me like you did a once-over lightly with the new, far more superficial Chinese impact, not the old, literally earth-moving, wave.

Nope... Your homework isn't even *remotely* done. You've presented a shallow, sterotypical, catering-to-popular-perception fluff piece. I don't doubt your intentions are earnest, but you fell far short of the mark.

I'm about to embark on my road trip that'll take me from Montreal, Quebec all the way to the Florida Keys and back.

I have been on many road trips in the USA. Utah, Arizona and New Mexico are also amazing.

Why do I do it?

Because I just love this magnificiently amazing country that the United States are. Incredibly diverse, incredibly rich in culture and incredibly satisfying for a tourist.

There are supernations for tourism. The USA is certainly one of them.

I agree with a majority of the posters here ... the pulse of America in 14 days! Impossible.
I've been traveling America for years and have only scratched the surface of what this
country is about.

I also couldn't help but notice the negative undertones of the people interviewed here,
almost as if Mr. Strasser sought out and put forward only unfavorable reviews here.
.
Almost all said they were unhappy with their lives since moving to America. Hmmm.
This whole report seemed a bit slanted. If there is so much negativity and disgust with the
life here in the States I suggest these folks head back to their home countries. No loss.

Good job Franz. I second the comment above that you should visit all 50 states. Sounds like a pretty good gig if you ask me, and I would certainly watch.

Thanks so much for such a down-to-earth, un-hyped look at daily life for new immigrants! I don't think people realize how much work/effort goes into making news videos like this. A video per day, with that many interviews, plus travel time is amazing! I'm embarrased by all of the whining and complaining about the video blog. I wish we Americans would take more time to self-reflect. As for me, I'm going to let your videos teach me and help me think about the immigrant community in my area, what it must be like for them to be here and what I can do to create a better sense of inclusion in my community.

Very good job Franz ! We've followed your vlog from Germany and we 're curios about your next blog or trip. You 're a master of his trade ;-))

Nice job Franz

You really should try convincing your supes to get together a project as said earlier, of 50 states by 50 weeks, as well as places perhaps influenced by the US presence (Philippines, Liberia), or territories (Guam, Puerto Rico). It really is a beautiful land here.

That said, there was one thing I think you didn't emphasize in your vid reports - it was touched at often, but only slightly. And that is that we are not people who are crazy about diversity, like in the UK, for example. Our country is many peoples, who left their old land behind, and they were reforged into the American - a single culture, a single ethnicity. Like the Borg perhaps, in how the desire, the need to assimilate is paramount. Your video in Kansas kind of touched on it - people are uncomfortable when an ethnic group keeps to themselves. Our experience over the years means we have adopted a no holds barred assimilation model, one where the old bridges are demanded to be burned, old culture and old traditions smashed. And like an assimilation, we then pick up the pieces we like.

Your interview with the Indian family highlighted a lot, as there is now a shift in process - for quite a many good years now, our unsaid absolute demand that immigrants assimilate was submerged. Thus, in the not so old days, technology was used to connect you to your new family, the American family - not to keep one foot still set behind in the old land. An extreme example of non-assimilation one can find in France perhaps, of immigrant neighborhoods here - endless rows of satellites. Not so long ago, it wouldn't have been able to exist. We still, ina sibverted way, demand that immigrants assimilate, and that we are willing to do all that we can to help them, but that THEY must make the decision to join. Thus, its why the poem of Emma Lazarus on the foot of the Statue still resonates with us - we demand that our immigrants "yearn to breathe free", demand that, like New Hampshire's motto says, that we "Live free, or die". Its not enough to be like those PRC students who came here only to study and then go back. Again, not so long ago, that wouldn't have flown.

But the shift is going back again now. The assimilation flame is starting to light again. But on a side note, understanding this attitude will enable one to see the peculiarities of American culture, and what so makes the world marvel. It also helps one to understand why people used to think America was God's Promised Land, or the nation that God made as an example to man. And indeed, why deep down, we still do.

PS - And if you want German feeling home - goto Wisconsin :).

PSS - I am an Indian ethnic by blood, a Punjabi. But to me, America is my homeland, American is my ethnicity. I live this land, I breathe this land, and I will die with this place in my heart. I only have one home, and thats this place. Because home is where the heart is.