A mind is a terrible thing to waste

[McFarkus]

I started to click on a few comments to multi-quote them, but there are just too many. I've always thought Americans were the most provincial people in the world. Don't need to know geography, because USA=Universe. When I was travelling in Europe I recall overhearing one American tourist say to his wife, "Honey, France would be really nice if it weren't for all these foreigners."

[Nighthawk]

I started to click on a few comments to multi-quote them, but there are just too many. I've always thought Americans were the most provincial people in the world. Don't need to know geography, because USA=Universe. When I was travelling in Europe I recall overhearing one American tourist say to his wife, "Honey, France would be really nice if it weren't for all these foreigners."

[CDNSushi]

Yeah, well... Unfortunately the U.S. doesn't have the corner on the market for stupidity. Get that all the time here too.

A friend (who had lived in Japan and learned the language) told me that he overheard a group of Japanese tourists in Italy who were trying to take a picture of each other in front of a fountain and one said to another, "Try to get some foreigners in the picture. It'll make it look more exotic!"

(Not even realizing that when they travel outside Japan, THEY are the foreigners).

[TNKiltedWolf]

While sitting in one of the cafeterias here at the University, a couple of attractive ladies were talking to a Frenchman (with an obvious thick accent), obviously flirting. He however, wasn't too thrilled with them, but was being polite. Then they started asking about his accent, and guessing where he was from.
"England?"
"Germany?"
"Switzerland?"
"Norway?"

plus several others...
They never did guess France, and he finally told them. I just shook my head, and hoped that he had a better interaction the next time.

[Cherub]

Yeah, well... Unfortunately the U.S. doesn't have the corner on the market for stupidity. Get that all the time here too.

A friend (who had lived in Japan and learned the language) told me that he overheard a group of Japanese tourists in Italy who were trying to take a picture of each other in front of a fountain and one said to another, "Try to get some foreigners in the picture. It'll make it look more exotic!"

(Not even realizing that when they travel outside Japan, THEY are the foreigners).

My dad got that once in Isreal however he was on the receiving end, an old lady pushed by him in the bank saying in hebrew "I'm not waiting for a D--m tourist" only to be told off in Hebew as my dad is fleuent having lived in isreal for 7 years in his youth.

[ali8780]

I've always thought Americans were the most provincial people in the world. Don't need to know geography, because USA=Universe.

Ok, I'm sorry, but I have to jump in here.

On the one hand, I am seriously disturbed at the lack of knowledge and/or respect for other cultures that is sometimes displayed by my fellow US citizens, but...

On the other hand, I feel the need to defend them. Our country is unique in size and circumstance, we only border two other countries and unless you are among the few who live by those borders--they are far away from our homes. Many US citizens have never had the privilege of traveling outside of the country because it is extremely expensive to do so. We do not have the opportunity to travel around a lot of small countries that are extremely diverse like those in Europe do. Of the countries that border us, Only one of them speaks a different language (ok, I know that a chunk of Canadians speak French, but most of them also speak English--even if they refuse to acknowledge that fact.)--Spanish, which we are all learning because those who illegally immigrate from Mexico and other South American countries don't bother to learn OUR language or respect OUR culture (see France, you're not the only ones). So most of us work and live in situations that only require we come in contact with English speakers or Spanish speakers, so can you blame us for not learning 500 different languages? Or knowing extensively about other cultures? I'm not necessarily condoning idle mindedness, but let's be realistic about our expectations for the average US citizen.

And quite frankly, it doesn't make it any easier for us when the rest of the world prefers to categorize all US citizens as bumbling idiots who are loud and obnoxious and don't give a fig for anyone else in the world (I know there are those people out there, but it doesn't comprise the whole country). Nor do they make it easier for us by making fun of our attempts to speak their languages or embrace their culture (Plastic Paddy's?). When I travelled to Europe with my family we were constantly being mistaken for Germans or other Europeans because Americans couldn't possibly be that quiet and respectful, could they? Believe it or not we are not all obnoxious or disrespectful, and dang it, I'm proud to be a US citizen.

I think that this is a natural side effect of living in large country--I'd like to have someone pluck a Chinese man or woman out of the center of the rural countryside and poll them on their knowledge of European cultures and accents and see how well they fare. And yet it is always the Americans who are held to the impossible standard.

Wow--I guess this is a button for me. Sorry for the rant, but I feel much better having gotten this off my chest.

[McClef]

It's not just a matter of whether one has travelled or not Ali but of what geographical education one is given whether in school or by other media.

Canada is a big country too but they seem on the whole to have a much broader knowledge of other countries. In China the most popular second language is English and they are taught where everything is.

A news media that covers so few items of international news does not help awareness either.

Those who want to learn more will learn more and make use of the resources available. X Marks is a great international forum for learning more about other parts of the world as much as for kilts.

Every country has its "knowledge challenged" citizens and indeed it would be unfair if only the US was singled out for this but I don't think that the size of the country is in itself the reason - watching some of our UK quiz programes would soon disabuse you of that notion!

[The Barry]

I think that this is a natural side effect of living in large country--I'd like to have someone pluck a Chinese man or woman out of the center of the rural countryside and poll them on their knowledge of European cultures and accents and see how well they fare. And yet it is always the Americans who are held to the impossible standard.

Wow--I guess this is a button for me. Sorry for the rant, but I feel much better having gotten this off my chest.

I don't want to stir up trouble, but I believe that the real problem has a lot more to do with our complacency than our geography. People depict Americans as bumbling idiots because we travel the world expecting people to bow down to our wishes. I've traveled much of the US and Europe and I can attest first-hand to the arrogance and ignorance of my fellow countrymen.

Stupidity and ignorance are everywhere. But we don't have an excuse for it here in the states, we live in a country where education can be had by all. But we're just too damned comfortable and isolated to give two cents about other cultures. The "plucked" person from China doesn't have access to the freedom of information and learning that we do. There's no parallel there.

[/rant]

[ali8780]

I don't want to stir up trouble, but I believe that the real problem has a lot more to do with our complacency than our geography. People depict Americans as bumbling idiots because we travel the world expecting people to bow down to our wishes. I've traveled much of the US and Europe and I can attest first-hand to the arrogance and ignorance of my fellow countrymen.

Stupidity and ignorance are everywhere. But we don't have an excuse for it here in the states, we live in a country where education can be had by all. But we're just too damned comfortable and isolated to give two cents about other cultures. The "plucked" person from China doesn't have access to the freedom of information and learning that we do. There's no parallel there.

[/rant]

Look, I understand that there are people in the US that act and feel this way, but it's the generalizations that bother me. Why is it never assumed that most of US citizens do care about other people of the world and want to be sensitive to their situations? Just because a handful of the more obnoxious ones travel around?

I don't consider myself a special circumstance, I grew up in a medium sized community in the middle of the rural US where I spent almost the entirety of my life and gained an average public school education. My mother was a Farmer's daughter and grew up in a town who's population could all gather together for a night under one building, and my Father was the son of a blue collar steel worker who never saw more than a radius of 30 miles around him for his whole life until recently, and yet I have never assumed that the US=world or that other cultures didn't matter. I've always tried to be sensitive to other people, especially while traveling in their countries--why is it so ridiculous to assume that there are more people like me out there?