Comments | blue_hours

blue_hours_too

Cultural

Feb 17, 2007 07:48

I always had this image of myself living in the Med region someday. Out of all the places I've been, the area has a particular pull to it, like some kind of natural image, imprinted A Long Time Ago, just waiting to happen, to be repeated. I'm particularly drawn to the Eastern and Southern Med, and different areas of Spain ( Read more... )

culture, world, california, moi, usa, observations, expats, eu, countries, childhood, life, people

Comments 6

remembrances February 17 2007, 18:12:04 UTC

Sometimes I wonder about that. Are those ideas true more so for Americans than for any other nationality or is it that these issues are more obviously apparent in Americans ( ... )

johnmill79 February 17 2007, 21:01:15 UTC

When I went to Madrid, we noticed the same thing, that is to say that Americans tended to travel in huge packs. Even though I was with a Spanish woman, I had a hard time keeping her away from McDonald's and the Hard Rock Cafe, because she was so worried about me being confused and not liking the culture much. Now I'll grant that not really having a handle on the language made me nervous in most places, but I still wanted to try and understand what was going on around me. And, I think if I ever go again I'll be more prepared, hopefully anyway.

snowyukiko February 17 2007, 21:43:03 UTC

Why are Americans likely to head straight to McDonald's or Pizza Hut when vacationing abroad?

YEAH SERIOUSLY!

And they complain that it doesn't take quite right! Ummm hell-ohh? We're not in the U S of A! Of course it's going to taste different.

snowyukiko February 17 2007, 21:45:59 UTC

*take taste

metamorpheus March 7 2007, 09:58:07 UTC

"From personal experience, I've noticed something else related to actual residency of Americans abroad. There's this gap - a greater gap than I've seen with other nationalities - between them and the local people, even other expats of different nationality. An American is most likely to seek out other Americans anywhere, most likely to try and create a mini-USA wherever they are. Why not learn about local culture instead and mix and mingle? I don't know. But it appears to generally be outside their comfort zone -- much more so than with other, more 'worldly' nationalities. I believe inexperience and language play a huge role in this, as well as the familiarity issue ( ... )

metamorpheus March 7 2007, 10:00:05 UTC

Oh and it drives me absolutely nuts when American students 'study abroad' only to return with numerous photos of their new American friends... what's the point of 'experiencing another culture' if one doesn't even 'experience another culture'!? Gah!