After living in Austria for a total of 9 days I have been noticing many things that differ between my my home in the States and in Austria. Out of all of the things I have seen and learned these stand out the most:
1. You can smoke just about anywhere you please. Which both disgusts and shocks me. In a country with amazing healthcare system you would think that at one point or another someone would have had a thought to run a PSA about how smoking can kill you.
2. You can bring yours dogs anywhere you please! Which delights me and makes me so happy. Except when they get too close to me in a restaurant...then I am displeased.
3. Everyone speaks more than one language. When people talk about how many languages they speak they don't even count their native language. So this means I speak zero languages....
4. Everywhere in Austria is laid back except for the grocery store...
5. I am too loud and obnoxious, I have heard a similar sentiment about myself in America but in a country of soft-spoken and reserved I'm practically a public menace.
6. I get told I act like an American, in America if told that I would probably break into God bless America and whip out a mini flag, here this is not a good thing, so this leads to a lot of embarrassment.
7. Most educated people in Europe know the geography of the states, Canadians even know our capital cities. So where does that leave me...stupid and acting like an American
8. People have preconceived notions of Americans, that we are all looking to conquer other countries and steal their resources...well I guess I can't argue that.
9. Public transit is always on time in Austria! (except for today for some reason, but thats a different story)
10. Everyone eats fried food but no one is fat, hmm but in America everyone eats fried food and everyone is fat...I must find the answer to this predicament.
This blog is not meant to be a social commentary but being labeled and stereotyped every second forces me to think about it. If I ever wondered why the rest of the world dislikes Americans the answer is right in front of me...we bring it upon ourselves. We are different both in amazing ways that I appreciate and in shameful ways that I am not proud of. If I want to be loud, excited and friendly should I stop just because the people around me don't understand me?
Here's my advice on being American without being hated: be yourself except try to listen more. That's basically my advice for all of America...
ReplyDeleteI am loving this blog! I noticed though that though people have quite the negative stereotype, they are shocked if you don't love (or at least appreciate) where you're from. They expect patriotism but prefer a good dose of respectful assimilation and self-awareness on the part of foreigners. This will absolutely be a soul-expanding, mind-opening, and physically beautiful adventure.
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