Column: These visitors' viral World Cup videos are showing what really makes America great

There’s the Scottish shot instrumentality who marveled astatine our wildly varied scenery and welcoming communities arsenic helium walked from L.A. to Boston, arriving successful clip to spot Scotland play Haiti connected Saturday. There’s the German traveling successful the other absorption from Atlanta who could not get implicit the wonders of the hospitable South, from Stone Mountain to Buc-ees. There’s the Swede promoting the powerfulness of ranch dressing, the Italians marveling astatine fountain drinks with crystal and escaped refills, the English rhapsodizing implicit chickenhearted parm and conscionable astir everyone shouting retired the friendliness of the businesses that served them. Even the “beauty” of American trucks, large yellowish schoolhouse buses and eight-lane freeways person gotten their just stock of shout-outs.

Just successful clip for the semiquincentennial, the churning waves of societal media discontent person parted and fixed america a glimpse of however these United States look (and taste) to wide-eyed World Cup attendees. And it is glorious.

Also a invited relief. Our stint arsenic a World Cup big has not, you volition surely beryllium shocked to hear, been without controversy. President Trump is connected grounds insulting galore of the countries participating successful the games. His assertive migration and tariff policies, wide and continual dismissal of NATO and, especially, his determination to articulation Israel successful a warfare against Iran prompted galore calls to boycott this year’s tournament, which the U.S. is co-hosting with Mexico and Canada. As precocious arsenic past month, the operation of these concerns, arsenic good arsenic precocious summons prices, were being blamed for the galore unbooked edifice rooms and unclaimed seats successful assorted big cities.

Then determination were warnings astir the American summertime vigor and complaints astir the adoption of hydration breaks and the four-quarter system, arsenic good arsenic the information that galore of the stadiums were miles distant from metropolis centers. “Don’t effort to locomotion to MetLife stadium!” became a fashionable station connected societal media by Americans acrophobic that Europeans didn’t recognize the world of the U.S. interstate highways.

Scottish superfan Craig Ferguson.

(Jamie Johnston / Sipa USA via AP)

Scottish shot instrumentality Craig Ferguson (not the comedian) didn’t listen. It took him 8 hours and helium doesn’t urge it — seriously, bash not bash it — but helium walked the 14 miles from MetLife to Central Park to beryllium it tin beryllium done. At slightest by idiosyncratic who has spent 4 months traversing the country.

In February, helium acceptable retired from the Santa Monica Pier heading for Boston successful an effort to rise consciousness of, and astir $1.4 cardinal for, the foundation Scottish Action for Mental Health and go the archetypal antheral to locomotion crossed the United States successful a kilt. Arriving Friday, helium achieved those goals (and got to spot Scotland triumph its archetypal World Cup crippled since 1998) aft documenting his adventures exploring the miraculous diverseness of the American scenery and shoring up the conception of the stubborn, indomitable Scot.

He is conscionable 1 of galore contented creators utilizing the World Cup arsenic a crushed to research America. The astir celebrated frankincense acold is a German instrumentality known lone arsenic Freddy, who has gone viral connected X with posts of his travels done the South successful which helium is thrilled by everything — the fireworks astatine a warm-up game, the size of a assemblage stadium, the upland views successful Georgia and Tennessee, the euphony of Ella Langley, the fig of choices astatine a soda station, the quiescent quality of the Louisiana countryside, the commercialized magnitude of Outdoor World and Buc–ees (“DUDE LMAO THIS IS A GAS STATION”), the gastronomic pleasures of Waffle House and Wendy’s. The South hasn’t had specified an enthusiastic booster arsenic Freddy since novelist Pat Conroy died.

FIAGO (Finn Agostinelli) provided akin rhapsodies for Chicago, particularly its blistery dogs (“Petition to get a Portillo’s connected the Reeperbahn successful Hamburg!!”) and World Cup visitors person rapidly learned the perils of the large Texas versus Kansas City barbecue debate. The hospitality of American towns and cities, and the tastiness of American food, is seemingly a large revelation for galore World Cup visitors — the online praise for mac ‘n’ food and chicken-fried steak, tater tots and Italian subs, has go truthful overwhelming that immoderate are opening to fearfulness important value gain. Call it the FIFA 15.

Given each the morganatic governmental concerns swirling astir this World Cup, and the inevitable instrumentality complaints, it isn’t astonishing that “visitors successful America” has go societal media’s opus of the summer. It’s a dainty to person our Big Gulps and Taco Bell addictions, our Walmarts and tremendous parking structures, praised alternatively of shamed — and to spot the awe galore newcomers consciousness erstwhile confronted with the size and diverseness of our country. (And if Europe decides to commencement putting crystal successful soda, that would beryllium large too).

Paraguay fans clasp a emblem during the 2nd fractional of their team’s World Cup radical signifier lucifer against the United States connected Friday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

At a clip erstwhile our national authorities seems determined to enactment america astatine likelihood with the remainder of the world, it’s beauteous to beryllium reassured that the satellite does not hatred us, and possibly much importantly, that we are susceptible of welcoming that satellite with unfastened arms. After all, who’d person predicted that Lawrence, Kan., would go a bastion of pro-Algerian pride? This wide-eyed admiration of what we really look like, connected the ground, from oversea to shining sea, is simply a balm connected much than 1 level, and truthful is the grounds that galore Americans are surviving up to that admiration adjacent erstwhile our leaders are not.

In a state this large, governmental differences are inevitable. But for much than a decade, we person allowed them to go divisions, exploited with endless messaging of “red state, bluish state, them state, you state” designed to oversimplify existent beingness successful immoderate fixed spot and incite a taste civilian war.

Ferguson and Freddy and each the World Cup visitors who station — oregon don’t station — connection a saccharine reprieve from each that fury and shame by reminding america that, contempt each our precise existent problems, America is large and beauteous and acold much dynamic than immoderate color-coded representation could ever capture. And that whitethorn beryllium the champion 250th day contiguous of all.