Talking to friends in India several key topics came up in their perceptions on American culture. These topics include: drug use, family ties, and personal behavior.
Many people I talked to said they viewed Americans as a people who follow their vices. The primary thing I heard is that many people felt that Americans were interested in frequent drug use. I was shocked to hear such rumors because living in America I saw virtually no drug use in the world around me. These rumors come from sources such as Hollywood movies and the fervor to legalize marijuana in many states.
One thing Indians love is living with family members even into old age. Therefore, Americans not living with parents into old age to an Indian makes Americans seem less close to their family. Again, I would say this is not necessarily true. Although Americans may not be as close geographically to their parents many people still keep in touch through phone call, social media, etc.
Finally, many Indians find Americans to be very rude. In my opinion, my time in India sort of verifies this perception relative to those in India. Indians have been perhaps some of the nicest people I have met in my life making most Americans seem like total assholes. Conversely, I would not consider Americans to be innately rude per se. Living with Americans my whole life makes the behavior seem more dilute and ordinary. What is common behavior for me is rude behavior for those in India.
Talking to Indians many perceived me to have had an easy life living with a silver spoon in my mouth. This, in comparison to the stark reality of many Indians, may honestly be true coming from their eyes although I definitely would argue otherwise in my own perceptions.
Many people I talked to said they viewed Americans as a people who follow their vices. The primary thing I heard is that many people felt that Americans were interested in frequent drug use. I was shocked to hear such rumors because living in America I saw virtually no drug use in the world around me. These rumors come from sources such as Hollywood movies and the fervor to legalize marijuana in many states.
One thing Indians love is living with family members even into old age. Therefore, Americans not living with parents into old age to an Indian makes Americans seem less close to their family. Again, I would say this is not necessarily true. Although Americans may not be as close geographically to their parents many people still keep in touch through phone call, social media, etc.
Finally, many Indians find Americans to be very rude. In my opinion, my time in India sort of verifies this perception relative to those in India. Indians have been perhaps some of the nicest people I have met in my life making most Americans seem like total assholes. Conversely, I would not consider Americans to be innately rude per se. Living with Americans my whole life makes the behavior seem more dilute and ordinary. What is common behavior for me is rude behavior for those in India.
Talking to Indians many perceived me to have had an easy life living with a silver spoon in my mouth. This, in comparison to the stark reality of many Indians, may honestly be true coming from their eyes although I definitely would argue otherwise in my own perceptions.
Very interesting how Indians live with much older members of their family, it's quite a cultural difference from the United States where once one graduates high school or college it's almost expected to be living on their own. It's also interesting how many perceptions of Americans come from movies and other media, and what many Americans do not realize is that our culture does the same to other nationalities.
ReplyDeleteIt is really interesting to hear about the differences between Americans and Indians. I didn't realize that they thought we were all druggies. I can see where they would get that impression because Hollywood does strongly portray that in movies. Here in France the people I talked to also commented on the college drinking habits because they found them to be completely foreign and strange. They specifically asked me questions about fraternities and fraternity parties, which are frequently depicted in Hollywood movies too.
ReplyDeleteThere is a movie that I would like to see here that is a comedy about a french family that goes to America to find the American dream. I'm very anxious to find out how they depict Americans. I'm sorry it'll be very amusing.