What aspects of American culture are often misunderstood? (1 Viewer)

[David Susilo]

what I don't understand:

1. World Wrestling Federation when every member is American.

2. The phrase "New York is the Centre of the World".

3. The numerous "World Karate Championship" competitions in the US where nobody outside America joins.

4. The "U.S. way or the highway" attitude.

 

[Holadem]

2. The phrase "New York is the Centre of the World".

Er... it is

--
H

 

[Keith Mickunas]

I think the Hawaiians might disagree.

What do you mean Yee-Ming? Has Hawaii had a royal family since becoming part of the US?

 

[Paul_Sjordal]

OK, I couldn't resist more comments…

L. Anton dencklau wrote:

Actually, I think what is probably the least represented in american media/pop culture is just how completely different urban and rural lifestyles are: and you can take that further, Life in the industrial midwest states is different from the plains, is different from the deep south, is different from the desert southwest, is different from the Urban centers on the east coast, is different from the pacific north west....

Actually, sir, most countries have the same differences between rural and urban areas. Furthermore, most nations feature regional differences. There are lots of things foreigners can get wrong about us, but this is one area I'm sure they understand just fine.

What I find interesting is that farmers in every democracy enjoy far more political clout than their population size would suggest.

Because of our geography, many Americans have a distorted idea of what "different" is. This is also related to misconceptions others have of us.

In many parts of the world, you can get in a car, drive for a couple of hours and be in another country, with a completely different language, different customs, culture, etc. In America, you can drive for days and still be in the same country. In the off chance you actually cross a national border, you're in either Canada or Mexico, neither of which are really all that different from us (contrary to what you'll hear from Americans, Canadians and Mexicans on that topic).

Consequently, Americans have a distorted understanding of what different really is. Many will look at relatively small differences (e.g. white and black, northeast and southeast, west coast and east coast, etc.) and convince themselves the other group/culture is totally alien. By contrast, anyone who's lived on the French-German border, or the the Iran-Iraq border, or the Korean-Chinese border, etc., can tell you how insignificant those differences really are. Even the genuinely "foreign" cultures we encounter around here (immigrant communities) are in the process of assimilating into ours.

I can't emphasize enough how incredibly massive this country is. Not just in geography, but in population, and events (the Chicago metropolitan area has as many people as Sweden). There is a lot going on and it's frighteningly easy to lose track of the outside world while you're here. Before moving back to my own country, I found the insularity of my countrymen disturbing. After living here for years, I now have to kick myself to remind myself that the outside world exists.

Why do most Americans speak only one language? Because I can get in my car and drive for days without encountering a coast nor a border. Even in the French-speaking parts of New Orleans or in Chinese immigrant communities, I can still get by on English alone. It is not at all like Europe where you are in constant contact with people from other countries who speak other languages.

Then again what do you expect? The entire Western Hemisphere basically uses 4 languages. Four. Switzerland alone uses that many.

Of course, what we do have is great diversity amoung individuals. Nearly every family has a different nationality mix and the majority of our families have been here for less than 150 years. (Old world cultures have all been around for thousands of years whether you have recorded history to account for it all or not.) On top of that we have a culture of "individuality worship," probably more than is strictly good for us.

I hope no one is offended by this, but when I was a child living in Europe and Asia, the homogeneity of old world nations kind of creeped me out.

• Please, please, please don't think all those fast food chains have anything to do with what our cuisine really tastes like. We eat it for the same reason you guys do: it's fast, convenient and cheap. Very few of us actually like any of that slop. (Well, kids like it, but you know how bizarre their tastes can be.)
• Why does McDonald's make money in France and China? England I can understand, but France and China? Are you telling me there's not one Frenchman or Chinaman that can come up with something more convenient, faster, cheaper and better suited to the French or Chinese palate? Shame on you all! Actually, double shame on the Japanese: they already have an ancient culinary tradition similar to modern fast food, only it's a lot healthier and tastier.
• Why in the name of all that's good do any of you pay perfectly good money to watch our TV shows? I don't bother to watch any of that crap and I live here.
• Gun owners around here are a minority, regardless of how loud they get. I may support the right to bear arms as guaranteed by our constitution, but I personally will never own one of those stupid things. Sure, a higher percentage of American households own guns than other industrialized nations, but 35% isn't 100%. Try not to confuse the two.

 

[Chris Lockwood]

> When Rwanda blew-up we didn't send in any troops

Yeah, but her talk show was doomed from the start.

 

[Keith Mickunas]

Why in the name of all that's good do any of you pay perfectly good money to watch our TV shows?

I think that falls under "the grass is always greener". I greatly prefer British comedies, but I've heard of British comedians saying American TV is better. Of course, it may be that we generally only get the better British shows, and perhaps the same can be said in other countries of our shows.

 

[Yee-Ming]

Has Hawaii had a royal family since becoming part of the US

True, no monarch since it entered the US, or indeed since probably around 1900 (not sure when the last king died/was deposed), but in the sense that if you consider what constitutes the US today, one small part of it did have a monarch in the late 19th Century, well after George III was turfed out.

 

[Chris Lockwood]

> Oh yes, she looked at a US map. She just assumed the US map covered about the same square miles as the same size map of Poland.

Does she think her (sort of) neighbor, Russia, is also the size of Poland?

 

[Adam Barratt]

This has turned into a fascinating thread, but I would really appreciate it if we could ease back from any overtly political debates (eg. US foreign policy). Ta.

Adam

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Does she think her (sort of) neighbor, Russia, is also the size of Poland?

Of course not, Europeans have so much more knowledge about the world around them than the average "clueless" American. They know how big Russia is and they know you can visit Disney World, the Grand Canyon and Niagra Falls in the same weekend and that McDonalds is our national cuisine. It's us ignorant, arrogant Americans who don't know things important to world peace and prosperity like cricket rules and the capital of Lichtenstein .

 

[JamieD]

World Wrestling Federation when every member is American.

Not even close. Oh well.

 

[MarkHastings]

There is a lot going on and it's frighteningly easy to lose track of the outside world while you're here

That's a great point. I have enough trouble keeping up with the cultures surrounding my own state that I don't have time to even begin to learn about the cultures in a far away state (from CT) like, for example, California. I went out there once and it felt as though I was going to another country. The east and west coasts are SO different that they are virtually different countries all together. Or even take the differences between the North and South.

With experiences like this, you can easily see how I have an even harder time learning about other countries when I barely have enough time to learn about all the cultures in my OWN country.

 

[Greg*go]

When I went on my 3000 mile U.S. road trip, I was amazed that I could by liquor AND beer in the same store, let alone at 11:00 p.m. at all. Here in PA we still have some kind of weird Quaker law in effect. And it was neat to finally be in a different time zone, even though it was only 1 hour difference. And when we went to Canada, I was amazed that they had different color currency, and 2 dollar coins! And the exchange rate was most favorable for us, at least it was a couple years ago.

If I ever go across an ocean I'm worried my head will explode from culture shock. I'd love to go to New Zealand or Australia for a few weeks and cross the international dateline. Once I get the money I swear I'll get a passport.

 

[David Susilo]

I'll second that notion. Go visit Australia and NZ. Especially Tasmania. Aussies are great. I used to live there and still wanting to one day go back and live there.

 

[Malcolm R]

Trust me. A lot of Americans don't understand that either.

 

[andrew markworthy]

The helpful chiming in of Andrew with the United Kingdoms point-of-view kept things in an overall friendly, amusing light.

Dave, I want your babies. The rest of you haven't been taking my 'criticisms' seriously, have you?

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

If I ever go across an ocean I'm worried my head will explode from culture shock.

Getting rid of misconceptions is part of the pleasure of travel......

I remember driving up to the German border from Saltzburg a few years ago. There he was - the German border guard. He was wearing a black uniform, cradling a H-K submachine gun, and holding a leash connected to a very large German Sheppard. All those visions of trouble from old movies flashed across my mind. But I rolled down my window and asked him in my best Hoch-schule Deutsch if he wanted to see mein Ausweiss. But he wrinkeled his nose and just waved me on. The dog looked at me, yawned, and laid down to nap. So much for old movies.

 

[Holadem]

When I went on my 3000 mile U.S. road trip, I was amazed that I could by liquor AND beer in the same store, let alone at 11:00 p.m. at all. Here in PA we still have some kind of weird Quaker law in effect.

Try CT, the alcohol curfew was actually raised to 9PM a couple of weeks ago, from 8PM . Of course it's still no go on Sundays and holidays. This is possibly the most retarded actively enforced law I have ever heard of. Meanwhile you can probably buy guns at Walmart on sundays, and after 9PM if they are open. I am fairly certain that most foreigners would find this unbelievable, I certainly did.

--
H

 

[Lew Crippen]

Dave, I want your babies. The rest of you haven't been taking my 'criticisms' seriously, have you?

Andrew, I assumed that you noted the ‘tongue-firmly-in-cheek’ smiley in my overall post.

As for the Empire, it has been said that the Dutch merely exploited, putting nothing into their colonies infrastructure, the French (of course) adopted a laissez faire attitude in running their colonies and the British actually attempted to improve their colonies.

In the 18th/19th Century scheme of things, things were (relatively) better than our historical, revisionist view of today.

 

[Jason_Els]

Getting rid of misconceptions is part of the pleasure of travel......

Isn't that the truth! My college roommate married a wonderful Irish woman and promptly moved to Ireland to live. I'd been invited a few times but always had images of Irish Spring (a soap that purports to be Irish even though it's made in New Jersey), shillelaghs, shamrocks, leprechauns, jovial clergy, car bombs, and endless pints of warm Guinness at the pub. Not being remotely Irish I kind of dreaded the idea of going. For those who don't know, New York and Boston are full of Irish people and our St. Patrick's Days are practically bank holidays. Irish-Americans take tremendous pride in their heritage but their vision of it, as it turns out, is a little skewed.

Having been now three times to the Emerald Isle I can truly say I'm so happy that Ireland was nothing remotely like I imagined it to be.... well almost. The only shamrocks I saw were on the Aer Lingus planes and the only time leprechauns and banshees arose in conversation were when I brought them up. No shillelaghs, no wise-cracking priests, but instead a genuinely warm and generous people who make me feel like a visiting family member every time I visit. There is a lot of Guinness however but I've come to really enjoy it and now drink it as my beer of choice. Nothing like a well-pulled pint.

My friend and I ventured north to Belfast to see the north and the experience, sadly, did live-up to my expectations. Belfast was like an armed camp. Though there was a multilateral ceasefire in effect the tension was unreal. Armored black mariahs prowled the streets, high-rise apartment buildings were turned into army fortresses and the Mourn Mountains, which circle Belfast, were covered by a giant observation complex covered with black glass and antennae that virtually circled the city itself. We spent our day shopping for linens and driving around the Unionist and Nationalist housing estates taking pictures of the remarkable murals extolling various causes and groups. To park anywhere requires having the car searched with a dog and driving over an open pit where someone inspects the underside of the car. The biggest shock came in Banbridge when we stopped for lunch on our way home. Upon emerging from the restaurant we went to the car and as we got in a British soldier who looked no older than 16 appeared around the corner and took aim with his rifle directly at my friend in the driver's seat. From the other side another soldier did the same aiming directly at me! I nearly soiled myself right there. Behind them a group of soldiers scurried across the street and we both sat there frozen wondering if we should raise our hands or whatever. My friend started the car hoping that doing so would prove we weren't driving a bomb car. That seemed to work and soldiers disappeared from our sight but as we passed the intersection we could see them aiming at us from the cover of the side alleys. Upon our arrival home his wife told us that the police had called upon her asking if the car had been stolen and if she knew us by showing her a picture of us sitting wide-eyed and pale-faced in the car like deer in the headlights. British intelligence, it seems, is as efficient as its reputation. My English relatives sometimes wonder about the U.S. and the gun situation here but I like to remind them the only time I've had a gun pointed at me was in the UK :rolleyes. The actions of the army personnel, while harsh, were understandable. Just a few months later a very large car bomb went off in Banbridge not more than 100 yards from where we were. I recognized the street in its devastation-- and again the Garda came to my friend's house asking if the car (and he) was still there and if I was in the country and if I was of Irish descent. It seems they still had the picture they took of us and were checking all leads. Again, understandable, but highly unnerving.

The whole experiences I've had in Ireland led me to try to understand the whole situation there by reading everything I could about the Troubles and the history of Ireland itself. Now when I go I have an insight into a people not usually afforded to the average tourist. I know locals, I can get around, I understand the rhythm of life there and what events are in the news. I can tell you about the Easter uprising and Eamon DeValera and all about the IRA and the groups and players and causes in the North. Being American has given me a unique perspective as I don't have any ideological agenda to fulfill.

If anything, the possible resolution of the Troubles as we see it today, has taught me a great deal about the Middle East conflict and I think that if we apply the lessons learned in Ireland there is a very real possibility of peace in the Middle East as the conflicts are very, very, similar.

So yes, travel can be illuminating a tremendous number of unique and surprising ways. One of the most beautiful things I saw in Ireland was their celebration of Halloween (or Samhain as the Irish call it). On Halloween night bonfires are lit on hills and people gather and tell stories of their deceased relatives and then go down to the cemetary and visit the graves of the deceased and recount events of the past year. There is a belief that on Samhain night the veil between the dead and the living is at its thinnest and the bonfires are lit to show the souls the way back home (we even did some pagan dancing). The kids dress up in costumes and parade, the pumpkins are carved and lit (the gourds they used to use were awful, pumpkins are much better ) and generally everybody has a good time. It's a blast! Now this was all in a rural area. Not sure if the city people still do this sort of thing but it was a wonderful window into one of the few remaining practices of the Celts from before the time Christianity, a tradition handed down for thousands of years.

I don't believe it's possible to truly understand another culture without actually going and experiencing it. Being a Western country that speaks English, Ireland wasn't so far off from my own culture but how people live, think, their values and traditions are all things that no book could possibly convey. And that makes me wonder about how we can even remotly think we understand the rest of the world beyond what the media chooses to convey. How can other cultures know anything about us as well unless they've seen and lived it? These days the ramifications of not knowing are dire indeed.