Advantageous to Integrate

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During the last few years of the previous millennium, I lived, worked, shopped, and socialized in Austria. By the time I left, many of the people who did not know that I had left from Las Vegas to live in Austria believed me to be either Swiss or Danish due to my command of the German language. Although I did take classes in High School to learn German, I learned most of what I now speak because I spoke it there.

We were encouraged to study the language and use it whenever possible. As such, I gained a reputation for being one who never spoke English with people who spoke German fluently. One prominent leader there told me only a few months ago that he remembered me because I refused to speak English with him. At first, it offended him, but when he realized what I was doing, he gained a great deal of respect for me. He is only one of many to tell me that.

I believed that it would help me to integrate into their society. I continued to study German up through my final days in country. I attended their festivals as often as I could, watched “Die Fledermaus” in the Stadtsoper, ate their foods, shopped at their stores, hiked their mountains and joined them in celebration of their holidays and remembrances. All of this I did because I did not know if I would ever have the opportunity to return to Austria to revisit opportunities lost if I did not avail myself of these chances at the time.

One night, sitting around after dinner, I saw direct evidence of how well this had served me. The Hofers were complaining about all the foreigners who come into Austria and take over the jobs, the culture, etc. I pointed out that I was also a foreigner. They turned to me and said, “yes, but you’re ok. You’re not here to change our society.” Later on, another leader paid me the compliment of addressing me in German. Gerald Roth had a fluent command of English, he having lived in Manchester, UK, for several years, and as such, he usually spoke English with Americans to be sure we understood exactly what he said. After someone heard him speak to me in German, he pointed out how Gerald had never done that to an American before, especially interesting when you consider that there were others who outranked me, yet he came to me.

Around that same time, I had a funny experience. I was in the Vienna main train station to pick up a new associate I was to train. I spoke with the ticket agent quite a while trying to determine my best options to return that same night and then went over to get my day passes for transportation within the city. As I stared at the board, a woman tapped me on the shoulder and said very pronouncedly and slowly, “DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?” to which I responded, “Yes, I’m from Las Vegas. How can I help you?” She was taken aback. As I recall they were from Louisiana and were surprised to find I was an American after having watched me hold several other conversations prior. Most people were surprised when I produced my American passport, like the customs agent at Vienna-Schweichau Airport, who swore based on my attire and my conversation that I was one of his countrymen and not a Yank. I was given locals discounts and special treatment everywhere I went because I looked and spoke the part of one who belongs. It saved us lots of time and money and opened interesting doors to opportunities we might not have otherwise had. All of this they did because I respected and honored their laws and customs.

This past week, a Texas lawmaker came under fire for requiring an appellant to speak English at a hearing protesting a bill that applied to him. The man has been a resident of the United States for 23 years and refused to speak English.  I once accompanied another of our associates before the magistrate of Tirol. When the court officer asked why I was there, I explained that Casey had been in country for all of two weeks, but that I had been there for almost two years and had been asked to accompany him during his disposition. The officer was most surprised to find that I was not one of his countrymen. Casey was excused with his ignorance. The man in this story, Antolin, has no such excuse. He has contempt for American law and American customs, thinking we should conform to his notions. Only in America does the minority hold sway over the majority; only here can the tail wag the dog. The Texan was correct.

Immigrants will never be embraced as long as they refuse to integrate. Austrians accepted me because I learned their language, their history, their customs, their colloquialisms, their landscape, and their people. As I have found true in this country, I frequently knew more about the history and infrastructure of towns where I lived than the natives. I often gave directions or recommendations, told stories about monuments and such, helped people who were lost, or even interpreted between citizens who, for their own dialects, could not converse with each other, even when I had only lived in the area for a few months. Sheepish though these people sometimes felt, they embraced me wherever I went because they knew Austria was my home as long as I lived there.

Unlike the Mexicans, I was respected by the natives in my temporary home. Mexicans tend to be the only nation that comes to America as a block that insists on bringing Mexico with them. If Mexico was so great, why did they come here? Similarly, I had a coworker once who talked about how much better things were at a previous facility at which she had been stationed. After a while, it bothered me enough that I asked Chrystal, “If it was so good there, why did you leave?” She went back. I respected that choice.

Immigrants are fond of the melting pot theorem. Mexicans tend to resist blending at all, adopting little of our culture and abandoning none of their own. It’s similarly true in certain neighborhoods on the Eastern Seaboard. While in Boston, I scared a cluster of folks in the Italian quarter because I responded when they started to make suggestive comments about some people directly in front of me, and they did not expect me to speak or understand Italian. The homeless man sitting right there and I got a good laugh out of it when they scurried away sheepishly. Too many do not blend in, even while they insist that others do precisely that. Everyone wants to be accepted for who they really are without having to return the favor.

The benefits are interesting, amazing and far-reaching. Since returning from Austria more than a decade ago, I have many friends there still. Some have asked me when I plan to return and offered to put me up if I come to visit at no cost for lodging. Some have asked me to come visit. Some of them remember how I helped them with their homework and asked nothing in return. I am welcome there as are the immigrants who integrate themselves into American society.

I got to know and love Austria because I immersed myself into their cultural beliefs, values, norms, and practices. Immigrants who come to America will find things to love and praise about her as they do likewise. Like the Reverend Ford tells Pollyanna, “we looked for the good in them, and we found it”. Like so many things, we only find them when we look, and so it seems to me that finding the good in America requires nothing more than taking the time to look for them. As long as you’re looking backwards to your old home like Lot’s wife, you will miss the opportunities and virtues available to any here who avail themselves thereof.

What we ask is for people who come here to respect us. I was accepted among Austrians because I respected them and knew them. Our motto is E pluribus unum or “one among many”, which implies a unity, or else it would say “one of many”. I don’t care what color people are, how tall they are, how rich they are, how smart they think they are- I am interested in people who love America and see her virtues and support them. Like so many things, we forget betimes to notice the good things we see because they are there all the time. That’s partly why when people ask us how we are we frequently mention only the negatives, because the positives are constant and the negatives are uniquely different and therefore at the forefront of our minds. Respect for the virtues of America belongs on the forefront of the minds of every person who calls this nation home.