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I got dropped in a small town in North Carolina. It looked like a very typical American town. The road signs, the diners, it reminded me of American tv shows. Ironic how I think of television when I see the US. A US audience would think of home when they see it on TV.

The signs were so intriguing to me because I had never seen this in real life. Only in media. But this isn't real life either. Anyway, I understand what the signs mean, but they are different than the signs we know in the Netherlands. I realise I would probably draw an American stop sign instead of a Dutch one if someone asked me.

I tried to find 'more' but the roads I was following didn't show much. Just more American houses and the occasional sign.

I feel like I found many if the same things in one place. I don't know why a small town would three different banks next to each other. There was also what seems to be a hospital. Which was surrounded with different pharmacies and clinics. I suppose it helps people find everything they need in one place. I just feel like I've never seen it like this. They are all in different buildings instead of different companies in one building. Perhaps that's just how it goes when there's more space.

I wonder if Americans consider Aldi a European thing. Is it even European?

I thought there'd be no way any Black People live here. This tiny gospel church indicates there probably is a Black community here.

Having the American flag out still irks me. Patriotism in general, actually. Throughout the years holding this flag proudly has become synonymous with bigotry to me. Is that a harsh assumption? yes.

After scrolling through the map I found a great amount of churches. I decided to pay them a visit. I soon realised that there are too many to count. They vary in six and shape. Some look more like my idea of a church, others look like they're literally being run from someone's back yard. They aren't all the same kind of church as well. The baptist church seemed the most common. But there is also a presbyterian church. I have no idea what any of these different churches are about.

This answer on Quora explained some differences between the baptist and presbyterian church. I feel like the differences aren't that big but that might also be because they introduced some words I do not know. I think I don't actually understand how Christianity works...

the facebook pages of the churches had livestreams and recordings of their services. there was singing and reading, all things that seem typical for a church. the christ church of Lenoir had a black pastor and the choir was also made up of black people. All the other churches I found on facebook only had white people there. The vibe between the two different churches was very different.

since it's facebook, people can interact with the posts. Most comments are people thanking the church for sharing the service. Nothing critical, just general comments showing their appreciation. Overall a peaceful environment for religious folk.

I found a meme page. It was labeled as satire/parody. I was highly intrigued by it. once I checked it out it was a bit disappointing. there were only 5 posts and they had a bit of a 'ok boomer' humour. It wasn't very critical. I suppose it was a little anti republican?? but nothing hard hitting, or funny, really. I assume it was a bored young adult who is frustrated with this town, but ultimately doesn't have the passion to make a change.

So I decided to focus on the town of Lenoir, North Carolina. I zoomed out and could not find any big towns nearby. Charlotte is the next best thing but my first derive shows that there's not much exciting happening there either.

I did some research on Lenoir and their demographic. I disappointed, but not surprised. As you can read, the town is predominately white. the 0,7% asian population is also just ridiculous.

In high school I did a research on ethnic diversity and tolerance in the town of my high school. The demographic seemed quite similar. my roommate pointed out that there are actually many similarities between Lenoir and my hometown. Except Lenoir is so aggressively American.

I think this photo set is indicative of the race situation of this town. the Chinese/Japanese restaurant sign is replaced by a Mexican restaurant sign in between two moves on the google maps. This area is just reserved for any mediocre 'ethnic' kitchen. They didn't even change the shape of the sign. I wonder if anyone else notices the Chinese traditional roof design is in top of a Mexican restaurant.

The food at these restaurants were never meant for the people of that culture. That's one thing I know. Or maybe it was, and the 0,7% asian population wasn't enough to keep the restaurant running.