Love of Country

It’s 9:15 p.m. in Eastern Europe, 3:15 p.m. in Columbus County. As school buses are rumbling out of parking lots in the rural area of my childhood, only a few cars drive on the city street below. The wind was fierce today, and for the first time I can remember in recent years, my nose, cheeks and even my teeth got cold. I walked outside and my molars felt like they do when a kool-aid popsicle is eaten too fast or ice cream is chewed instead of being allowed to travail down the throat at a leisurely pace.

Only days ago, I watched arguably the most powerful man in the world speak in the Olde Towne of my new home city - Bratislava, Slovakia. As my body became its own version of an orange-topped popsicle, I shuffled and danced to defrost my feet. Simultaneously, I proceeded to meet all the people around me in the four-hour wait for America’s president to take his place in front of the crowd of thousands gathered in the square.

“Slovakia welcomes President Bush,” the signs said. I was glad there was a welcoming spirit,

Mariellyn and I laugh with Anna and Eva, two of our new friends from Slovakia, whom we met while waiting for President Bush to speak. The picture was taken by Andres, a photographer from Texas - who held the camera over his head pointed backwards to capture us dancing to the live music to stay warm.

though I knew under that was also understandable reserve. The people surrounding me were eclectic. They ranged from two women who worked within the Slovak government and were old enough to have lived most of their past life under Communist rule, to a photographer from Texas, to the well-traveled son of a diplomat now based in China, to the children of missionaries, to a young Slovak woman who had worked a few months in Ohio and wanted to return.


I love diversity and the different perspectives it brings. Slovakia’s only has 19,000 sq. miles, compared to the 52,000+ in N.C.; its entire population numbers at about five million - and yet it has experienced generations of being owned and operated by foreign monarchies and hostile governments. While waiting for George W. to speak, I looked around and saw more Slovak flags in one place than I’ve seen in all the time since I’ve moved here.

Until you live here, it’s hard to understand why a country wouldn’t want to display its flag much in public. I love America. Even with all its problems and politics, it’s still home to my heart, and its foundations – a democratic government, capitalistic economy, freedoms to research, publish and worship – are unlike any other in the world, and I am eternally grateful. I proudly display my U.S. flags within my home…very near pictures from Slovakia and my small but growing collection of Slovak emblems.

Yet, for most Slovaks, showing or wearing their country’s flag is nationalistic, not patriotic…and being nationalistic is a frightening echo of a past that included numerous nations who suppressed their country and forced it to become socialist. We, in America, remember the horror of watching planes fly into skyscrapers and people leap to their death. Here in Slovakia, the memories are of a peaceful day in the 60’s when Communist tanks rumbled through their city and a young man stood in front of one of the armored machines with his hands raised…as if to stop its invasion.

While there were not many physical deaths that day in 1968, it was followed by decades of dying dreams, limited opportunities, religious oppression and the proliferation of lessons in “how to compartmentalize your life so as not to endanger your family’s welfare.” Children were taught to abide by school rules, to limit their honesty in public and to confine their goals to those that were attainable in a vacuum. In some ways, this kind of captivity is more detrimental than the loss of life, because one can’t even know how insidious is the lasting effect of freedom lost.

How can I explain what is an understandable reserve to those of us who are so wealthy in freedom that we don’t even recognize its worth? I was so proud of my President last week. His speech was well written; he at least attempted to speak Slovak (I do wish someone had helped him more with his pronunciation), and Mrs. Bush was gracious and supportive, even in the freezing cold. There are many Americans and Europeans who do not like President Bush, and I can see why, based on their own understandings. Yet, I am so thankful we have a president who is a man of faith and who strives to live accordingly.

Oh, yes, he makes mistakes. Is there one of us who doesn’t? Then cast the first stone. But for me, with all my fallibility, I choose to respect him and pray that he will continue to grow in wisdom and discernment. My admiration will grow if while taking a stand and sticking to it, he will also continually be willing to see that relationships with other countries are important in the global perspective. The world is becoming smaller, and we must love our enemies as well as our friends.

Imagine South Carolina or Virginia or even Florida, California or New York rolling in with tanks, guiding submarines into our shoreline or flying jets laden with bombs into our airspace. We might keep our own N.C. flags inside our homes, too, if we’d had decades upon centuries of suppressive rule from our invading neighbors. When we allow our minds to walk in someone else’s work boots, we might find that we’re not quite so quick to judge another’s reserve as apathy or weakness.

In America, we’ve fought friends who became foreigners for our independence, brothers who became enemies for our right to self-govern, and foreigners who came from countries we consider political allies. We’ve fought for freedom at home and abroad. Sometimes the fight has been wrong; often, it has given and maintained for us our rights.

Then again, freedom only becomes a right in a country whose citizens are willing to fight. Sometimes, the war is with guns, sometimes with candles, sometimes with communications. My prayer is that, ultimately, more battles are won with the latter than the former, but I know there are seasons for all things.

Patriotism is a good thing. Nationalism can be dangerous and detrimental. Living abroad helps me understand where Europe and others may differ in perspective from America. I don’t have to condone or condemn a differing opinion. I choose love over hate.

So I may not fly my American flag out my Slovak window, out of respect for the history and perspective of the country I presently call home. Yet, my flag proudly rustles in the air of my apartment. When asked, I will always state my love for the country of my birth. While I’m so proud to be an American, I’m also grateful this red, white and blue-blooded woman gets to live in Slovakia. The experience of doing so is “growing me.” I cannot stay the same person I was, for I understand things differently now. My prayer is that I am more compassionate as a result.

Slovaks are like Tar Heels, and many Americans, in general. They have a love for family and a desire to see their country improve. I can see it happening, even if it happens differently than it might in the States; of course it does - circumstances are different here. Yet, this country, which would fit nearly three times within the borders of N.C., has lots in common with communities in the States.

As the Slovak Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda said right before he welcomed President Bush to the podium (in the square where multitudes of Slovaks lit candles for change in 1989): “Slovensko je malá krajina s veľkým srdcom – Slovakia is a small country with a big heart.”


Editor’s Note: Wallyce Todd is a Columbus County native who lives and works in Bratislava, Slovakia, as a journalist for Trans World Radio. She can be contacted at sonshinesestra@yahoo.com or through her personal website: www.wallyce.szm.com .