Does traveling make you appreciate being an American more?
I think traveling HAS made me appreciate America a lot more. Not because the rest of the world is deprived or so awful that we should appreciate what we have in America. To the contrary, I've been having a really great time. A lot of the world has a lot to hold over us in a lot of respects. I think it makes me more appreciative, more open to people, more appreciative of what it's like to live in a place like Detroit. I'm just more tolerant and open-minded about different cultures. Buffalo is a different culture. I look at Buffalo and Buffalonians as a different culture now. Ten years ago, I would have looked at them as those poor guys who live upstate, and I'm lucky enough to live in Manhattan. That's the way I would have seen it 10 years ago. Now I see it as a very distinct personality, a very distinct culture with its own architecture, its own kinda feel. It's, actually, a weirdly wonderful place. Even in winter. I think it took me traveling around the world to get to that point.--
Yep. We say it over and over again: To know is is to love us. It's nice to hear a guy like Bourdain give us some props for being a culture unto ourselves in a way. I don't know about the rest of you, but I get the reference to being "weirdly wonderful." Bourdain might just as well have said "unexpectedly wonderful" of "especially in winter," but the end result is all the same; we hold some treasures and nice surprises for anyone with preconceived notions based on age-old stereotypes.
Stated like only Mr. Bourdain can say. I was quite apprehensive about what his take of Buffalo would be but I am glad he saw through the stereotypes.