It is human nature to categorize, generalize, and put others and themselves into groups. I think that this is one of the greatest downfalls of human nature, yet we are all guilty of it. History has shown that horrific things can happen when we take a group of people and say "you're different."
One German girl told me last night, "America. I grew up loving America. But for the last eight years or so, not so much." Blunt and a bit hurtful, but I understand where she is coming from. She had nothing against me, but 'America' in general was what she didn't like. She was also the one who said that she "didn't like the English, even if they have good accents. They aren't very nice and have bad food." So I guess you can't take everything someone says to heart.
A Danish girl I met was shocked when she asked if I had studied any other languages besides English and I told her that I have studied French and Spanish. She said that she was under the impression that Americans never studied any other language because they thought that English was good enough.
On the other hand, my impression of many Europeans that I have met is that they drink and smoke... a lot. Then I remind myself that you can't generalize a whole country, let alone an entire continent. Isn't that what I would want others to remember when they find out that I am an American?
The last thing that I would ever want to do is knowingly group an entire people into one category. For the past two weeks I have been asked "are American high schools like American Pie or High School Musical (because clearly they are one or the other)?" or "are all American girls cheerleaders?" It is so funny what kinds of assumptions we make based off of media and a single encounter. It's like asking someone from England, "do all British people drink tea?"
What I have decided is that a Saudi Arabian, Belgian, South African, Korean, American, and Englishman can all sit down together and share in the delight of a good cup of tea. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what nation a person comes from because each person is unique despite what worldly label, attribute, or identity we may give them.
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2 comments:
Mmmhmmm, I completely agree. I encountered the same things in my discussions with people from other countries, both in the States and in Europe and have come to similar conclusions.
Maybe we can all share in tea not because we are all the same inherently, but that we all have so many things in common because of colonization, imperialism and globalization. Haha. I don't mean that, ... bad cynical joke I guess. :)
"To each his own." While I agree with the statement on most levels, it becomes problematic on others.
That statement is also a very American mentality. Wait, am I generalizing? :o)
I am thoroughly enjoying your writing, Brigitta!
Love you lots.
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