Oh, and one more item for those college students who become grad students and decide they need to do field study, if you come out to a reservation in the northern plains and decide to hold a noon meeting, then YOU are on the hook for catering lunch. If you don't, prepare for a seriously insulted crowd. This includes dinner time meetings also. Brown bagging is not acceptable.
Getting to Know Americans
71–80 of 178 posts
Re: Getting to Know Americans
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
Many time they are not even ready to acknowledge that things can and often are done better outside their own country. The sense of NIH is very strong. I agree with this, but I haven't actually been to a country that wasn't like that. Certainly here in Denmark, many Danes are quite certain that Denmark is run better than any other place. ;-)
I am Danish but "left" the country 7-8 years ago. The last few months I've been back to prepare for my move to the US, which will be my second time living and working there. It's remarkable how absurd the Danish world-view appears to me now after living abroad in several very different cultures. The social welfare system is more attractive than ever, but the provincialism, the we-are-the-best attitude, and the subtle…
I'm American but grew up in the Canal Zone. I've been in Germany a lot the past two years. My girlfriend is German and lives in Berlin. My impression is that Germans really do believe they are the best. They will never say so publicly but deep down they really believe it.
My girlfriend's dad joked about Americans and hamburgers. I offered to make him one since he'd never had one. He emphatically said no. I'm a picky eater and hate cabbage. I politely declined to try some of his dishes because of the cabbage thing. He asked if Americans were always unwilling to try new things. I pointed out that he wouldn't try a hamburger and he got upset. He didn't see it as hypocritical. (It didn't bother me that he didn't want to try one. I don't care what people are or aren't willing to eat.)
There were other things and then it dawned on me. He really thinks his was is the best and can't understand how someone would think differently. He was in the Wehrmacht and his attitudes gave me a creepy feeling.
I know this is anecdotal but I've gotten this impression from many Germans of different ages. Germans think they are better. It cracks me up when I hear Germans talking about American arrogance.
Re: Getting to Know Americans
#73"Be patient if Americans are ignorant of some aspect about your home country. Use the opportunity to educate and share, just do so in a polite and brief manner." Citizens of other countries always like to point out how Americans are ignorant of other nations and their cultures, oftentimes failing to realize that within their own nation poverty is rampant and the majority of the population remains illiterate (yes, alt…
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that there's noone on earth who grew up in one country, moved to another one, and managed to completely forget about salient facts like the poverty level in their original country.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say you maybe don't know that many people from overseas.
My Iranian ex girlfriend often liked to point out how Americans are ignorant of other nations and their cultures. Her most common criticism is that Americans didn't know a lot about the occupation of Palestine.
Strangely, she seemed more or less unaware of Iran and Iraq's occupation of Kurdistan, and was only peripherally aware of Iran's occupation of Baluchistan [1].
I've similarly met South Americans, and even one Indian (!), who made serious comparisons between US poverty and true poverty. You can only make a comparison like that if you forget what true poverty really is.
[1] This was only by chance - her uncle got sent there as part of his term of forced labor in the army.
Re: Getting to Know Americans
#74It's hard to tell what perspective this article is written from. There are many subjective qualifiers. For example: > Americans place considerable value on punctuality. From a German perspective, this is wildly untrue.
Germany is the only place I've ever lived where a couple will sit in their car outside their friends house for 10 minutes (having arrived 10 minutes early, of course) in order to be precisely on time.
As I recall, we'd consistently horrify them with our American-ness by walking out to their car to invite them in early.
Re: Getting to Know Americans
#75"Be patient if Americans are ignorant of some aspect about your home country. Use the opportunity to educate and share, just do so in a polite and brief manner." Citizens of other countries always like to point out how Americans are ignorant of other nations and their cultures, oftentimes failing to realize that within their own nation poverty is rampant and the majority of the population remains illiterate (yes, alt…
Well, you certainly don't sound very open to me. No one expects you to be experts. It's just that some Americans regard America as the central of the universe and never bother to learn about the most basic facts about "the rest of the world". Many immigrants complain about the ignorance because some americans have ridiculous ,false or outdated stereotypical information about their countries. It's no doubt that Americ…
I think a lot of this has to do with the cultural starting point in the U.S. The idea of American exceptionalism is quite common amongst the political punditry. Say something often enough and it begins to get believed.
There was a time when it was common amongst the Chinese intellectual class to think China was the best. In the 1400's Chinese emperors acquired a very anti-foreign attitude and Chinese exploration declined rapidly. Roman citizens thought Roman civilization was the best. My point is, imperial arrogance is common.
Re: Getting to Know Americans
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think a lot of the beef with "typical Americans" is with your last type. If you get off the coasts you can find a whole bunch of Americans who are seemingly proud of not knowing anything about the rest of the world.
Not surprising when you consider that most people came here to get away from something, (poverty, repression, etc.) For no small number of Americans, the rest of the world is a proxy for "that place my ancestors left because it sucked ". The US was isolationist before it got dragged into the world wars, and has become interventionist not because it's interested in conquest, but because the past century has taught it…
Well, in my experience at least, the people I'm griping about are pretty far from "off the boat". They see themselves as natives, and their ancestors left europe 150 years ago because it was a totally different place then. Not much to do with their current viewpoint on, say, Brazil or China.
Re: Getting to Know Americans
#77It's hard to tell what perspective this article is written from. There are many subjective qualifiers. For example: > Americans place considerable value on punctuality. From a German perspective, this is wildly untrue.
America isn't the most punctual culture, but there are plenty of cultures that are much more casual about lateness, including some Middle Eastern, South American, and African cultures. Most Americans brush off as much as 15 minutes of tardiness, but in some cultures, 30-60 minutes isn't uncommon. The German student who consistently shows up a few minutes early may be annoyed that fellow students show up a few minutes…
At least here in brazil, where punctuality is generally disregarded, classes start on time (at most 5min tolerance) and people arriving 45min late to a scheduled appointment shouldn't expect to find anything waiting for them.
At the same time, social events in general happen always an hour or so later than announced, except for small gatherings and things with a fixed timeframe such as going to the movies. As a naturally punctual person I've arrived in birthday parties thinking I was being fashionably late and found everybody still pre-shower and the place a mess.
Re: Getting to Know Americans
#78This seems a bit more accurate for New Yorkers than as a primer for Americans in general. "Observe their focus on themselves, rather on than their families" was particularly a "bwuh?" for me. In a university area (my local one is definitely like that), sure, but not in general.
By Asian standards, particularly Chinese, Americans are outrageously selfish. But it's true that Europeans (and perhaps most cultures) would find nothing unusual in Americans' value of self vs. family.
Re: Getting to Know Americans
#79It's hard to tell what perspective this article is written from. There are many subjective qualifiers. For example: > Americans place considerable value on punctuality. From a German perspective, this is wildly untrue.
America isn't the most punctual culture, but there are plenty of cultures that are much more casual about lateness, including some Middle Eastern, South American, and African cultures. Most Americans brush off as much as 15 minutes of tardiness, but in some cultures, 30-60 minutes isn't uncommon. The German student who consistently shows up a few minutes early may be annoyed that fellow students show up a few minutes…
IST: "Indian Standard Time"
When a family member invites us over for 7:30, they mean 8:00. If you actually arrive at 7:30, they're still getting ready themselves.
Re: Getting to Know Americans
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that there's noone on earth who grew up in one country, moved to another one, and managed to completely forget about salient facts like the poverty level in their original country.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say you maybe don't know that many people from overseas. My Iranian ex girlfriend often liked to point out how Americans are ignorant of other nations and their cultures. Her most common criticism is that Americans didn't know a lot about the occupation of Palestine. Strangely, she seemed more or less unaware of Iran and Iraq's occupation of Kurdistan, and was only peripherally aware…
Careful, that limb might be thin. I live in NYC, remember? Just looked around my immediate office, there are 4 people from 3 different countries within 10 feet of me. (well, one of them's out today, so 3 from 2 countries unless we expand that radius to 30 feet, but you know). They all know the difference between 1st and 3rd world.
Most Americans do have quite a slanted and often factually incorrect view on the situation in Palestine (been there, seen the wall, the checkpoints, the very blatant racism and the total lack of opportunity). Not to say that the typical Iranian is likely much more enlightened on the subject, but someone else being dumb doesn't make you smarter. (also, on your tu quoque in regards to Iran, there's not a lot to defend about that country but at least they give equal legal status to all people within their borders, kurdish or baluchi).
Any viewpoint that starts off with "Americans are so much more enlightened than any other nationality" is probably an extremely unenlightened view, is all I'm saying. The chinese guy upthread got it better than I did.