DEAR AMERICA:

A NATION OF MUHAMMAD ALIS THEY AIN'T.

A letter home

About the Author

Who would expect to run into Salmon Rushdie and OJ Simpson on the same day…. AND whilst out to get something sweet from my local bakery… In New Zealand!?! How bizarre…

New Zealand like the rest of the world has this fickle love/hate relationship with America.

It’s a double-edged sword:

On the one hand, America - to antipodean New Zealand - is the big kid on the block. World class! Anything or anyone from America must be the real deal.

I went from being a small fish (actually extinct) in a huge pond to being a whopper in a puddle. The only problem was I didn’t speak English. I spoke American.

But on the flip side of the coin they also have this deep seated perception that we Yanks are a bit too crass and vulgar… Too rich, too loud and that we have no sense of ceremony…

I did nothing to dispel their beliefs.

Because I prefer to think - they are envious that we have something they don’t; Big Balls!

Ever feel like going out for that metaphorical packet of cigarettes and never looking back?

I did.

Come with me…

About the Author:

Joe Friday carried a badge.

53 year old American, coach/actor/broadcaster/writer - John Dybvig carried a philosophy that is unquestionably Red, White & Blue.

He’s worked in New Zealand television, radio and the print media for over 20 years where his outrageous Americanisms have brought no meaning to the term ‘diplomacy’.

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