Stereotypical Americans

In the midst of writing a 10 page final, for my Marketing in the EU class, I had to use the toilet. Walking to the bathroom, I glanced over to the living room where my Spanish host family was sitting. They were all watching the news and it just so happened there was a featured story on the U.S. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! The story was about a very tan mother, from New Jersey, who was taking her little children tanning. I could be wrong but I think they could've found something a little more important going on in the USA's current events. Legit ANY other news story would have been less ridiculous than this. Why does the media want to hate America?

Ever country I've visited in Europe has presented me with the same view of the United States. Everyone thinks we're big, fat, McDonald's eating idiots and it's all the media's fault! Of course people will think we're stupid if all they hear about our current events are about the kids on the Jersey Shore, guns, obese people and war. To them, you're either a hick or live in a metropolitan city and live like those on the Upper East Side in Gossip Girl. It's unfortunate but it's true. People I've met along the way of my travels have given me their negative perspective on Americans and I constantly find myself sticking up for my country. It's exhausting and unfair. I'm not saying there aren't some people in the U.S. that don't fit the bill, but I don't want to be treated based on my stereotype. Not only have I had to deal with the outside judgement of strangers, but I also had to deal with the judgements within my own University.

I am currently enrolled in the University of Alicante's International Business Program and am taking classes in English. Therefore, the students in my classes are from all over the world. In each class of mine there are students from at least 13 different countries and all between the ages of 19 and 45. Since there is a small selection of classes, the same people are in the majority of the ones I take. In the beginning, it was hard to have a full conversation with anyone. No one wanted to really give me the time of day because I was American. Not that I care what people think of me, but I was determined to get them to crack. I tried to sit in different areas of the class each day so that I could better interact with my classmates on a more personal level. I convinced myself that the cold expressions were just ignorance and I was right because almost every one of them have warmed up to me and we've all become very close especially because we share a common ground in a foreign place. They have all told me that my American friends and I have changed their perspective on the U.S. and they couldn't have been more wrong. Except, they still think we're loud and obnoxious but now at least they tell us to our faces and we make jokes about it.

The first couple months, each country had their own row in the classroom (unofficially) and didn't interact with each other much. Now, we all sit together and hang out outside of class too.  I can't tell you how lucky I feel to have friends in over 20 different counties. It's pretty impossible to explain how my perspective on the world has changed and how it's changed for the good.

In a class of mine, Cross-Cultural Business Behavior, there was an exercise one day where the students from each country grouped together and wrote down what they imaged people stereotype about them and also what they think of other countries as well. Hesitant at first, everyone eventually spit out the truth and it turned out to be really fun and brought us all together. The other countries' stereotypes of the U.S. included: McDonalds, fat people, cowboys, guns and Obama. It's pretty pathetic but expected when the only knowledge Europeans gain of us is from the horrible media.

Just a snapshot of my friends.

Germany, Canada, USA, Holland & Slovenia.

China, Germany, USA & Japan

My friends and I are changing this negative mind set, one person at a time.

Now that I've finished my long-as-hell paper, I'm off to tapas with my friends from Holland, Canada, Finland, Ireland, Germany and Japan. So crazy!