Foreign Perspectives

As promised, I wanted to comment on a foreigners perspective of the U.S. Its insightful because as Americans, we are constantly fed how we live in the greatest country in the world and no other can compare. Yet Europeans, especially, tend to disagree.


One of the things I was asked is, what do Americans think of Europeans. After thinking about it a few minutes, I came to the conclusion that I think it boils down to education and class. Those with no college education and a lower class status tend to think Europeans live in run down shacks in a third-world environment. When the truth is, although they do live in smaller homes than the average American, the quality of life is much better. In terms of their living environment, it tends to be cleaner and more upgraded than a typical American home. I think lack of exposure (usually this means lack of money to travel, but sometimes it also means lack of desire) among Americans and the "land of the free" type perception makes us very ignorant about the rest of the world.

Of course, I did point out the stereotypes we give Europeans - bad teeth, every-other-day bathers and socialists. I think even though these are stereotypes, they're pretty accurate ones.

So some of the things she pointed out about the U.S. - some I recognize, others I didn't:

- The US healthcare system sucks. I informed her that Americans tend to think socialized medicine is just eerie and that this leads to the government making decisions over who lives or dies. The notion that in socialized medicine there is a master list, rating those who deserve healthcare and who doesn't, is quite prevalent among many Americans. She laughed it off and said that there are no lists and that everyone gets treated appropriately. AND, she said that if you so desire, there is always privatized healthcare. I have to agree with her. My grandpa is 85 and just had surgery twice in the past year, even though it was a relatively minor, non threatening procedure.

- Americans are a throw away society. Everyone uses single-use products. Silverware, tupperware, paper towels, etc..

- College here is in some ways much more time consuming. In most of Europe, your grade consists of a difficult comprehensive final exam. You either pass or fail. Here in the US you are flooded with all kinds of assignments throughout the semester and then given a fairly easy final exam. She thought the American technique was better. And as much as I despise all the papers I have to write, I have to admit students understand and retain information much better this way.

- People here are ultra mega religious. She pointed out that in Europe there are plenty of believers, but nobody really practices, except for the traditional ceremonial events. The whole organized religion thing is perceived as almost cult-like. Amen to that.

- People spend all day drinking coffee here. I explained that 1. our coffee is watered down in comparison to the yummy lattes in Europe. and 2. Americans need it to survive; we don't get the abundance of vacation and holidays Europeans get.

- Our food is horrible. Everyone eats out or eats junk food. Nobody cooks decent meals or uses fresh ingredients. I couldn't argue with her there.

- Fat chicks everywhere. Ok, so she didn't point this out. I had talked to my cousin on the phone while she was here and somehow the subject of "Americanas gordas" came up. Thank god that I am no longer in that category.