LA Times: "Europeans think Americans are ignorant, bullying, greedy, trigger-happy barbarians. Americans think Europeans are snobbish, cowardly, bureaucratic, decadent, traitorous wimps. That, at least, might be the conclusion drawn by a visitor from another planet these days. The Iraq crisis has brought the relationship between the United States and Europe to new lows, unleashing ugly instincts and shrill voices on both sides."
Maybe there's more public squabbling these days, but Europeans and Americans have always thought dumb things about each other. Though I'd be tempted to say that, while they don't apply to the Americans *I* fill my world with, the Euro stereotypes about us are closer to the mark than the uninformed American hatred of, say, all things French just on general principle. And it's really not fair to hate the Germans anymore because of the Third Reich unless we're going to equally hate ourselves because of Japanese internment, Jim Crow, slavery, our treatment of American Indians, etc etc etc. C'mon. It *could* happen here. (And plenty of Americans living in Europe do, in fact, hate themselves and their country, but that state of denial is another topic for another day.)
When I was living in Germany, I felt like the freakin' US ambassador. Europeans rarely guessed I was American, and I hope I dispelled some stereotypes with my general politeness, intelligence, and willingness to speak a few words of a foreign language occasionally. ("But you're *American*! And you're speaking *German*!") Likewise, few Americans believe me when I say I visited Paris for four days and found everyone exceptionally nice, despite my absolutely craptastic tourist French.
The basic problem here is ignorance. Not stupidity, not meanness, but simple lack of knowledge. How many people are homophobic because they think they don't know any gay people? How many double-takes have I gotten, right here in the US, when it comes up in conversation that I come from a Jewish family? ("But you don't *look* Jewish...") Going back to an earlier conversation, why do East Coasters who've never been west of the Mississippi think California is to be avoided because of the high freak content? Go out, travel, meet some people. If you have the resources, use them. Then come back and tell everyone else.
Maybe there's more public squabbling these days, but Europeans and Americans have always thought dumb things about each other. Though I'd be tempted to say that, while they don't apply to the Americans *I* fill my world with, the Euro stereotypes about us are closer to the mark than the uninformed American hatred of, say, all things French just on general principle. And it's really not fair to hate the Germans anymore because of the Third Reich unless we're going to equally hate ourselves because of Japanese internment, Jim Crow, slavery, our treatment of American Indians, etc etc etc. C'mon. It *could* happen here. (And plenty of Americans living in Europe do, in fact, hate themselves and their country, but that state of denial is another topic for another day.)
When I was living in Germany, I felt like the freakin' US ambassador. Europeans rarely guessed I was American, and I hope I dispelled some stereotypes with my general politeness, intelligence, and willingness to speak a few words of a foreign language occasionally. ("But you're *American*! And you're speaking *German*!") Likewise, few Americans believe me when I say I visited Paris for four days and found everyone exceptionally nice, despite my absolutely craptastic tourist French.
The basic problem here is ignorance. Not stupidity, not meanness, but simple lack of knowledge. How many people are homophobic because they think they don't know any gay people? How many double-takes have I gotten, right here in the US, when it comes up in conversation that I come from a Jewish family? ("But you don't *look* Jewish...") Going back to an earlier conversation, why do East Coasters who've never been west of the Mississippi think California is to be avoided because of the high freak content? Go out, travel, meet some people. If you have the resources, use them. Then come back and tell everyone else.
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