Dear America

I'm just finishing up a lovely three-week visit with you, and I want to tell you what it's like to visit you after living in China for almost a year.

You need to appreciate what you have here:
Blue skies
Food that you can eat without wondering if it will make you sick
An open Internet
Roads that are paved and smooth
Air conditioning
Stores that sell anything you could want to buy
Elections where voters actually get to pick their next leader
Drinkable tap water
Green parks, green roadways
Lakes as clear as tap water
Ice cream
Bagels
Newspapers that can write the truth
Maine blueberries
Garbage cans
Baseball
Good coffee
Living anywhere you want to live
Crossing the street without having to look in every direction
Rain storms that don't flood your cities
Dishwashers
Clothes dryers
Shirts without sequins or ruffles
Blue skies
Body lotion that doesn't whiten the skin
Pizza
Lobster rolls
Good beer
Bourbon
Kayaks on pristine lakes
Blue skies
Air that smells of cut grass, not machines
Raisin bran for $2 a box
Sugar free gum
No one spitting in the gym
No one spitting on the sidewalk next to you
Blue skies 

Trust me on this. We're pretty lucky. And we tend to take it mostly for granted.