Australians like to think of ourselves as a sport-loving people, but it is next-level in the US. Every event is a spectacle, with pre-gaming at nearby bars or in the car park, huge productions involving dancers, presenters and other entertainers during the game, traditions like food or songs specific to one team or stadium, half-time entertainment, crowd involvement, music, lights … the whole show.
And that’s not just top-tier professional sport – it’s everything from high school matches upwards.
Pop culture icons
Taylor Swift is just one of many pop culture superstars to come out of the US. Credit: Wolter Peeters
Spend time travelling around the States and you begin to understand just how many cultural icons this nation has produced. Whether you’re into music (rock, jazz, blues, hip-hop, rap, country), film and TV, sport, or even politics, the US will inevitably be home to the biggest names in the business.
We have a few celebrities here in Australia, but nothing like the star power that the US seems to pump out so effortlessly.
Diversity of landscapes
Angels Landing, Zion National Park, Utah.Credit: iStock
Americans are often derided for their lack of interest in the rest of the world – half don’t even have passports. But I have to defend Americans here in some respects because their country boasts at least a continent’s worth of natural attractions, if not more.
The landscapes are incredibly diverse, with everything from tropical islands to Arctic tundra, desert valleys to Rocky Mountain highs, rugged coastlines to jaw-dropping canyons, deep-south swamplands to great lakes. In Australia, we mostly just have hot, and really hot.
Barbecue
Traditional Texas barbecue puts Aussie barbecuing to shame.Credit: iStock
Anyone who tells you that American food sucks has been eating too many burgers and fries, and not enough barbecue.
There’s a deeply ingrained culture of grilling across the US, though it’s most obvious in the south, in the likes of Texas, Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas. And I’m here to tell you that it is very, very good. Far better than the thing we call barbecue in Australia, the snags and rubbery steaks on gas cookers.
In the US, brisket, pork ribs, sausages, poultry and more are seasoned and smoked low and slow, until they’re juicy and oh-so-tender, served with sides like slaw, cornbread and mac and cheese. It’s the absolute greatest.
Mature approach to drug laws
Admittedly, this doesn’t go for every state because the US is a convoluted place and some areas are far more progressive than others. But still, the country famous for waging a war on drugs has gone ahead and legalised cannabis for recreational use, just like that.
In almost half the country – 24 states – buying and using cannabis for fun is totally legal. In another 14 states, its use for medical purposes is A-OK. When will the rest of the world catch up?
Lack of cynicism
It’s not like I think Australia is a particularly cynical country, even if we do have a culture of tearing down successful people. But still, the citizens of the US always strike me as being particularly lacking in cynicism.
If you want to have a go in the US, to try to be amazing, to attempt to do something incredible, people will cheer you on. Ambition is encouraged. Desires are taken on face value. That’s something to applaud.
Diners, pizza and craft beer
America’s ’50s-style diners are something we could use here.Credit: iStock
Following on from my entry on the American barbecue culture, I give you a few more food and drink icons I would happily transplant.
First: down-home diners, the old ’50s throwbacks with home fries and eggs over easy, bottomless caw-fee drunk in slick vinyl booths. Love them.
Also, pizza! Pizza that tastes so distinctly American, a simple pepperoni slice that I could eat every day (though Chicago can keep its deep-dish).
And craft beer, which we have already adopted from the US, though not quite to its full obsessive extent.
Culture of seeing and loving your own country
Americans love seeing their own country on road trips.Credit: Getty Images
In this modern world of climate change, cost-of-living crises and over-tourism, wouldn’t it be great if we all inherited a little of the American love for domestic tourism? See your own country first. Buy an RV – or in our case, a campervan – and visit every state and territory. Explore deep into places you’ve never been before. And love every moment of the experience.
Holiday celebrations
New York’s Rockefeller Cente at Christmas. The festive season is a magical time of year in the US.Credit: iStock
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Christmas in the US, particularly in the colder states, is truly magical. All the lights, trees, people out ice-skating and shopping and strolling snow-covered streets. I spent a couple of Christmases in the US when I was a kid and I will never forget them.
But then, Americans do every holiday and event on a large scale: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Independence Day … it’s all joyful, and it’s all good.