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Comparison Shopping
Dec. 15th, 2011 19:34I wrote a list of things I wanted to post about but hadn't had time to write up yet . . . and promptly left it in Canada. Oops.
I'm in Chicago, and frankly I really like the city of Chicago. This is off topic, but the city is so gritty with very majestic and dominating architecture, and the neighborhoods have such character. I know it is windy, and sprawling, and midwestern (sorry midwesterners but i'm not you), but I would live there. Anyway, so far, i've used my Celsius skills and bought cheap, cheap goods - i'm settling in fine.
Yesterday I learned how to cross the border in the easiest way possible: have someone with a more complex visa situation ahead of you in line. They didn't even look at my student permit or ask what i'm studying - easiest border crossing ever! Also did you know we charge some people $6 to get into this country? I know we are broke, but really!
This term there has been another American international in town that I was acquainted pretty much purely because we had a nationality in common. It was nice to have someone to chat with that was going through a similar culture shock ("Did they tell you they burned our white house?" "YES! WTF? That was the British!") . . . even though in American culture terms we are very very different (she is very religious, conservative, from rural Georgia, and still an undergrad). She was only here for a term - so when I go back I will be alone or have to find others that are similar . . . . frankly just having a person to vent to about the unreasonable stereotypes is probably necessary. We previously had focused more about the differences we were experiencing and the culture shock . . . but this last time we got together we talked about Canadians views of Americans and some of the ridiculous things that had been said to us. A lot of it I hadn't realized I was holding in, and having someone to corroborate was therapeutic.
It probably is partially the larger cultural norm to openly stereotype and say things that would never be acceptable in the US outside of very close friends and family, but the downright horrible things about America and Americans that have been said to both of us that we have had to laugh off is frustrating. I'm assuming they say worse things behind our backs. I can be quite harsh about America myself, but I also can't defend or explain every misconception that is lobbed at me. It's odd, because they seem to accept you as you on some level . . . . but still hold generalized stereotypes of Americans "Where's your gun?" that they try to apply . . . . even though it should be clear that if it doesn't fit for me, it probably doesn't fit for some other Americans too.
The other American spent term hanging out with the international (undergrad) students much more then I did, and found nearly all of them acted in roughly the same way regarding Americans, which isn't really surprising given our international reputation, but is frustrating. The only ones (take note, not all nations were represented and you could hardly argue that the sample was representative) that didn't say horrible things about the Americans were the German students. When asked why, they said something to the effect of "Think of what the world says/thinks about Germany and Germans."
All along I have been mentally comparing our declining empire with the British Empire's decline . . . . but perhaps a more accurate comparison is with Germany?
I'm in Chicago, and frankly I really like the city of Chicago. This is off topic, but the city is so gritty with very majestic and dominating architecture, and the neighborhoods have such character. I know it is windy, and sprawling, and midwestern (sorry midwesterners but i'm not you), but I would live there. Anyway, so far, i've used my Celsius skills and bought cheap, cheap goods - i'm settling in fine.
Yesterday I learned how to cross the border in the easiest way possible: have someone with a more complex visa situation ahead of you in line. They didn't even look at my student permit or ask what i'm studying - easiest border crossing ever! Also did you know we charge some people $6 to get into this country? I know we are broke, but really!
This term there has been another American international in town that I was acquainted pretty much purely because we had a nationality in common. It was nice to have someone to chat with that was going through a similar culture shock ("Did they tell you they burned our white house?" "YES! WTF? That was the British!") . . . even though in American culture terms we are very very different (she is very religious, conservative, from rural Georgia, and still an undergrad). She was only here for a term - so when I go back I will be alone or have to find others that are similar . . . . frankly just having a person to vent to about the unreasonable stereotypes is probably necessary. We previously had focused more about the differences we were experiencing and the culture shock . . . but this last time we got together we talked about Canadians views of Americans and some of the ridiculous things that had been said to us. A lot of it I hadn't realized I was holding in, and having someone to corroborate was therapeutic.
It probably is partially the larger cultural norm to openly stereotype and say things that would never be acceptable in the US outside of very close friends and family, but the downright horrible things about America and Americans that have been said to both of us that we have had to laugh off is frustrating. I'm assuming they say worse things behind our backs. I can be quite harsh about America myself, but I also can't defend or explain every misconception that is lobbed at me. It's odd, because they seem to accept you as you on some level . . . . but still hold generalized stereotypes of Americans "Where's your gun?" that they try to apply . . . . even though it should be clear that if it doesn't fit for me, it probably doesn't fit for some other Americans too.
The other American spent term hanging out with the international (undergrad) students much more then I did, and found nearly all of them acted in roughly the same way regarding Americans, which isn't really surprising given our international reputation, but is frustrating. The only ones (take note, not all nations were represented and you could hardly argue that the sample was representative) that didn't say horrible things about the Americans were the German students. When asked why, they said something to the effect of "Think of what the world says/thinks about Germany and Germans."
All along I have been mentally comparing our declining empire with the British Empire's decline . . . . but perhaps a more accurate comparison is with Germany?