This past weekend I was in Florence and while there my friends and I met a lot of people from many different cultures. On our last night there, we were in an Irish pub just hanging out and we started talking with this guy from England, Jamie. He had spent about six months in America, when he was nineteen, so he knew all about the American social and political system. We asked him what were some stereotypes that he had about Americans. I think it's always interesting to find out what people from other cultures think about us.
Because he had spent time in the US, he really did have some opinions. He said that he found that when he talked with Americans he realized that he liked American individuals but not American policies. I thought that was really a comforting idea because a lot of times it feels like the individual Americans get lumped in with the ideals of our government, even though the majority of Americans don't agree with what the government is doing.
Another really good point he brought up is that Americans are very materialistic. He brought up grocery stores and I really thought about that. I've been grocery shopping here, and the grocery store I go to is pretty small by American standards. It's the size of the little grocery store in my town that people go to for "essential" things like meats and stuff but not for cereal or anything like that because there's "not enough selection." In Italy, the selection of cheese and meats and fruits are huge, but there may be only three to five brands of cereal to pick from, and in our grocery store, I don't think any of them have the processed sugars. This really communicates the difference that our cultures place on what we eat. The selection of pre-prepared foods in America is huge, but in Italy we found a rack of pre-prepared dried foods. I don't know what I would do at college if I didn't have prepared meals. The culture here is much more geared towards cooking and preparing meals and spending time together and the grocery store reflects that. People here are much more relaxed and enjoy spending time together and that happens when you are cooking a meal together or eating a home-cooked meal together. I never really thought about all of that until I realized the differences in our grocery stores.
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Okay, I should have read this one before I posted the one on the movie. It's ironic that I taked about food in that one when I didn't know that you discussed it in this one. The fact is we look at the grocery run as a big chore done once a week...they see it as almost a daily venture that contains the social element. We see meals as what we do to move on to the next activity...they are more concerned with the social interactions. Thank goodnes we have RoseAnn Barr doing commercials for the family dinner hour:) Also you brought up a good point about stereotyping. Jamie (that really IS an English name!) had a good point about liking individuals rather than the stereotypical American. However, if you guys were buying the pints, I would have to say his comments may have been less than impartial.
Love, Mom (Now it's after midnight--Goodnigh...sleep tight...etc.)
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