Studying abroad and living in another country for six months
has its challenges, and one of the most trying is integrating within the
culture as a foreigner. Of course I’m not exactly here to blend in fully, but I
also want to keep myself open to any cultural changes that may affect me whilst
I’m here. That is to say I want to retain my identity as an American and
therefore let that influence how I experience all things British here.
America is a topic that comes up a lot in conversation here.
Many of the British people I meet find me interesting and ask about things like
American football and Donald Trump. One evening a few American friends also studying abroad met with some British friends, two boys, and they asked us about the gun control issues in America. We ranted for a good several minutes about it, and the two boys just watched. When we finished they said how they were intimidated by our knowledge. This was surprising, as we were fed the idea that Americans are seemingly 'dumb' in foreign countries. I guess things can differ both ways. Anyway, these two boys didn't ask us about gun control laws to share their own views. They wanted to know an American's perspective on the issue. So it isn’t so much that the Brits don’t know about
these things already, it is that they want to gather a perspective on them from
an American. When
talking to a new Brit, I of course ask if they’ve ever been to America. So far
the most visited place has been Orlando Florida. This makes a lot of sense, what
with the theme parks and resort experience America so expertly sells to the
world.
Upon interviewing my British friend Jake that I’ve made
here, I was able to grasp a perspective on how I have been associated with
where I come from. When I asked Jake what he though of America, he went
straight to geographical differences. He sees America more sprawling with
cities and towns than with the fields that populate the U.K., but he imagines
the south to be more rural. This image was garnered mostly through American
films along with how it has been portrayed on TV. He spoke of America to be
seemingly more ‘modern’ and ‘fast-paced’.
As for me, he didn’t exactly have too much to say, as he
said he didn’t know quite what to expect an American to be like. He was
interested in my involvement with Greek Life and if it really was like the
movies. I told him that mostly what is portrayed in the media is a large
exaggeration, but that at some big state schools you can expect what they show
in movies and TV. He asked about how a fraternity works and the kinds of things
we do as well as the friends I’ve made there. British students are very
interested and enthused with the idea of Greek Life, and it is something I get
asked a lot about here. Jake didn’t describe me to differently from how I
describe my American friends. There weren’t any major cultural changes that
came up, as the world is indeed becoming more globalized.
Adapting communication has not been something that I’ve
faced as a barrier here. For the most part I am able to retain my American
slang and word choice. It is mostly the pop culture references that are missed,
as there are numerous celebrities that are not well known in American culture.
This was figured mostly in a game of Cards Against Humanity – British Edition. While
I want to be influenced by the changes I am exposed to in culture here, I don’t
necessarily want to ‘fit-in’. My goal is to retain my identity as an American
and let that influence how I perceive the cultural changes in a way that is not
hindering or blinding.
It's not surprising that the most characteristic understandings of America to foreigners are large cities like Orlando, New York, etc. Being in New York, although many of the people who live here are originally from other countries, you are often faced with many more who are visiting just to shop and go to Times Square. It's then easy to see the whole country that way; filled with large cities crawling with people and lights and tall buildings. If only they were to visit Meadville.
ReplyDeleteI have been spending a lot of time with people born and raised in the city and its surrounding areas, and although they are aware of the existence of different terrains, they often ask me what it's like to live in a suburb in the midwest. They know and they are right to assume that the people, ideologies, and culture are very different, and they wonder how I, originally from New York myself, ever became comfortable in these new settings. I hadn't truly, and that just goes to show that one can never lose their true identity, whether that's being an American or a city child.
I understand what is like trying to understand other people's slang. Talking to people in India --- even in English! --- is such a struggle. I often say something and get a weird look which means I have to try to figure out what words were slang that I used.. not the easiest task. Few people that I have met in India have been to the US, however many have relatives in the states. When I ask where, the number 1 answer I get is "a very big village". From there it is impossible to figure out which village, although I assume they usually mean NYC or Chicago. In that sense, most Indians consider the United States to be a place sprawling with cities as well.
ReplyDeleteIt's understanding that other country's see America how it's portrayed in the media and I think that's the same way many Americans formulate their ideas about foreign countries. This reminds me of one of the skits we watched with Trevor Noah on the daily show at the beginning of this class. He was showing pictures of places in America and Africa and asking which one was where. This is an exaggerated example but people perceive different places by what they are shown and I think that viewpoint multiple abroad students have been discussing goes both ways.
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