Texpo

For anyone who doesn’t already know, the 2010 World Expo (the modern-day equivalent of a World’s Fair) is going on right now in Shanghai.

I recently finished a tour of duty on behalf of my home state, Texas, which held week-long activities at the USA National Pavilion with the goal of attracting tourism and investment to the state. Check out this news clip of Texas at the Expo…

The Expo is supposed to be a place where you can learn more about different cultures and get a glimpse of the future. I’ve talked to Americans who can remember visiting the 1964 World’s Fair in New York when they were children. And now, a whole generation of Chinese kids will carry the global impressions they gained in Shanghai throughout their life.

But my own Expo experience was a little different. I walked away with a deeper appreciation for my own culture and history.

When you grow up somewhere, it’s easy to pass over the truly appreciable things around you. It’s just like the countless Chinese people I’ve met who have never visited the Great Wall while every expat has been more times than he or she can recall. As I listened to the Marshall Ford Swing Band serenade the throngs outside the USA Pavilion and championship trick roper Kevin Fitzpatrick lasso curious Chinese kids, I saw the Texas legend through the eyes of an outsider.

All around, old and young alike squeezed in to hear the music and see a real cowboy. The hats, the boots, the attitude are all iconic. But just think how the influence of traditional Texas culture still reaches our world today, from blue jeans to guitars and, for some, fringe. You can’t understand just how compelling the Texas story is around the world until you’ve seen a crowd of Chinese people tapping their feet to sounds straight outta the hill country.

I’ve always been more of a suburban cowboy myself, and I don’t expect to be sporting cowboy boots anytime soon. But as I write this post, I’m listening to a compilation of Texas musicians. It’s not just country western anymore, but every genre. It reminds me of the taste, vibrance and character that has always been deep in the heart of Texas … and is perhaps one of the few true examples of uniquely American culture. Maybe deep in my genes is still a trace of that quite, rugged, frontiersman.