Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth.

For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.

The ex-audience has been captivated by a German guy known as Freddie, who's been posting about his travels across the American South.

He's here for the World Cup. He's eaten at BW3s and Taco Bell, marveled at Bucke's, tubed the Chattahoochee, and been blown away by the size of an SEC stadium. In Houston, J.J. Watt put him up in a five-star hotel room, and he's headed later in the month to an Ella Langley concert in Oklahoma City. Hosted this year, mostly in the U.S., the World Cup has brought thousands of first-time visitors,

like Freddie, to the country, and he isn't the only one posting on social media about the

experience. Many are shocked at how welcoming Americans really are, compared to what they

expected when they arrived. As a woman named Skyler put it in a post, quote,

I came to America expecting a

great World Cup. What I didn't expect was how welcoming everyone would be. Every local I've met has

been desperate to recommend places to visit, food to try, things to see, Americans, thank you,

end quote. The stories are great, a New Jersey deli that rolled out the red carpet for an English couple,

a Scottish guy that held his first helping of North Carolina ribs as if it were his first child,

an Italian guy amazed by unlimited refills on soda and free ice, a Swedish woman who learned

there's better Wi-Fi flying over the Rockies than she had back home.

All the wealth, beauty, variety, and friendliness of ordinary Americana is apparently blowing minds.

Freddie was impressed by a gas station in rural Alabama, the Bass Pro Shop, and a Waffle House,

as much as he was by a private tour of the New Orleans Saints facility.

Now, many foreigners who visit America only see New York, L.A. and Disney World.

International news about America is constantly headlined by dark accounts and sinister accusations.

So is American news, for that matter.

Even without the obvious bias, the journalistic maxim of if it bleeds, it leads,

often will make things sound worse than it is. And there's always the dual temptation of either

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