Theo Bruinsma: Coming To America

There was a song during the eighties by the Scottish rock band, Simple Minds, called "Promised You A Miracle." But I always heard it as "Promised You America."
In 1983, after graduating from high school in Holland, I stepped aboard a KLM Boeing 747 to Los Angeles, California. It was a one-way ticket to paradise, at least so I thought at the age of eighteen. It was to be my long awaited escape from the Dutch rain and wind to a land of sunshine and opportunity, from grey skies to blue skies, from socialism to capitalism.
As a teenager growing-up in Holland, I used to watch numerous American TV shows. The one that I really liked was Magnum, P.I. starring Tom Selleck. At this time in Holland there were only two government television channels, and they didn’t commence until 3pm in the afternoon and ended slightly passed 11pm. And though Magnum, P.I. was featured only once a week, it provided me with enough inspiration to enter the world of palm trees, white beaches…
In 1983, after graduating from high school in Holland, I stepped aboard a KLM Boeing 747 to Los Angeles, California. It was a one-way ticket to paradise, at least so I thought at the age of eighteen. It was to be my long awaited escape from the Dutch rain and wind to a land of sunshine and opportunity, from grey skies to blue skies, from socialism to capitalism.
As a teenager growing-up in Holland, I used to watch numerous American TV shows. The one that I really liked was Magnum, P.I. starring Tom Selleck. At this time in Holland there were only two government television channels, and they didn’t commence until 3pm in the afternoon and ended slightly passed 11pm. And though Magnum, P.I. was featured only once a week, it provided me with enough inspiration to enter the world of palm trees, white beaches…