World of wonders / Clip joint
Today: Ian Williams, academic and sometimes writer, blogging at Stuckness; and Amy Chu, artist and publisher of Camoot.Journal.
Issue No. 583
Welcome to the U.S.A.
Ian Williams
Baa-aahd Haircuts
Amy Chu
Welcome to the U.S.A.
by Ian Williams
My habitual morning dose of TikTok brainrot is one-third news, and two-thirds memes, short comedy, and bewildering weird stuff. Until roughly three days ago, when it became nearly wall to wall coverage of foreign visitors to the United States for the World Cup.
These videos are doubtless pushed by the mysteries of the algorithm: I’m a soccer fan, there’s An Event, the discourse demands it. But a curious thing: the videos are mostly quite charming and feel genuinely in awe of American culture. The visitors seem to like these United States, even as they find it all a little insane.
They are from everyone and everywhere. The makers/narrators are German, English, French, Senegalese, South Korean, Algerian, Australian, Brazilian. They’re from every continent, but even so, certain common themes emerge: how big everything is, Taco Bell, Waffle House, grocery stores, and how friendly we are.
My particular favorites are the Norwegian contingent at UNC-Greensboro, just down the road. There, on the small soccer field of the seventh-largest university in North Carolina, the Norwegians are baking in 98-degree heat. Today they got a tour of the UNCG library’s donut room, where my wife used to work. Someone ran into Erling Halland, maybe best striker in the world, at a nearby golf course. Norwegian news interviewed the locals, who were unfailingly nice and slightly odd in that way only Greensborians can be.
Keep us breathing fire!
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