Sam Culture Shock

I am finally home from spending 3 months in Europe and I will not lie in that it feels good to be back. However, there are many parts of society I still cringe upon each of my returns. Obesity, apathy and naïve people that constantly complain are all aspects of our culture that I despise. I have read through the other reflections and I see that everyone else has also heavily realized these major flaws in our society upon return.

It was really sad yet amazing to realize how ahead most of Europe is over the U.S. with ‘being green.’ I have fallen in love with the SmartCar, yet it is not even approved in the U.S. yet, go figure, instead our streets are packed with gas guzzling SUV’s, giving people far more space than they will ever need. People here constantly complain about our climbing gas prices when we are only facing half of what it costs over there, ringing in at $6/gallon. With concerns to obesity, I realized that people just typically eat a lot less with portion sizes. I know this is also something the other girls noticed as well. As previously mentioned, the apathy of our society toward politics is downright sad. I really wish there were more classes or even a major devoted to learning about the world and current events because I believe that alone is so important. I have been happy to see that bit by bit it seems like more and more people are jumping on the issue of global warming, yet I cannot help but think it might be too late before we are really able to make a true difference.

While I was traveling around with my mom, we could not help but yet again cringe at all the loud, rude, obnoxious American tourists. The volume of our culture is typically much louder than most others and here at home, that is fine and really does not seem out of place. However, even when my mom came over I constantly had to remind her to tone it down because as a whole, most countries are much quieter (except for Italy, hah we felt right at home!).

I was continually impressed yet also had the constant growing feeling of incompetence as I met so many people that on average spoke up to four languages fluently. I have decided I do not feel I would even be very comfortable returning to visit until I am fluent in at least another language.

The last bit I am happy to return to is the U.S. dollar! I finally feel like the costs are reasonable again, of everything! The dollar continually went down in value to the Euro as we traveled and it seemed like everything was just so costly. I am happy to be back in the land of baseball, as my Cubs are finally doing decent this year, or at least they were. However, I am excited to share these experiences with others this coming fall.

Allison Culture Shock

I apologize for not getting around to blogging until now.

When I first arrived home, the main culture shock I experienced related to laziness and its effect on the environment. Americans are just lazy. My community isn't very big, but I would get stares from the passing cars every time I walked up town. I even had some people pull over and ask if I needed a ride, who were then very shocked when I told them I wanted to walk. I see people every day using their cars to drive only like 4 or 5 blocks and then I hear them complain about gas prices. I have noticed that even though my town is half the population of Wageningen, it is twice the land area. We really have made everything cater to lazy lives.

With this, I have also noticed more and more obese Americans, children especially. It is really something I hardly ever saw in Europe, especially France and Italy. This really is something that needs to change in our society, but when discussing it with friends back home, they seem to just have an attitude of acceptance.

The final culture shock issue was one that I realized while in Europe but had never noticed the extent, this being xenophobia and naivety of other societies and even our own politics. I had been asked several times in Holland whether it was true that Americans don't pay attention to government issues. I unfortunatly had to say that it was true. I would say that only about half my friends even know who is currently running in our primaries. And if Americans don't know about our own government, they surely don't know what is happening in Holland or Italy or anywhere that we are not at war with. I found myself fumbling when asked about the Italian system.

Xenophobia is also still an issue. Right when I returned, my boyfriend began traveling around the midwest with his company. One night he began discussing how he wanted to get a job that would send him to other countries. The coworker he was traveling with was very confused by this and told him that there was no reason to ever want to leave America and that all other countries were worse than us. He just couldn't understand why someone would ever want to even travel. Since I was told about that conversation, I have had more and more people tell me that they just aren't interested in going anywhere outside of the U.S. and "what is the point of learning about thier culture." I understand that some people just don't like traveling, but this seemed more like a dislike for international travel.

I don't want to ever be one of those Americans.

Alanna: Culture Shock

After returning home from Denmark my family and I took a few weeks off to travel, some of which was very unexpected. I was therefore not able to write down my initial thoughts upon returning home from Denmark.

During the past few weeks I have gone to Toronto and New York and throughout these travels I have noticed several outstanding differences between North American and that of Denmark.

Prices on groceries and every day items were the first thing that struck me. After spending 9 weeks converting everyday items from Kroner to Dollars it really made me realize how much more expensive things were in Denmark. It gave me a greater appreciation and understanding of how taxes work and how each country handles their tax system.

The second thing that shocked me when I got home was the profound rudeness I experienced while traveling to New York. New Yorkers, or American city people in general, are not friendly and welcoming. While trying to travel through midtown Manhattan I mistakenly entered the wrong subway terminal. I backed up and went to the information booth to ask for help and was immediately scolded and was told with attitude to go through another gate. In another instance while standing in time square the other day a few foreigners were trying to ask for directions. Several people gave them the cold shoulder and one guy even had the nerves to mutter under his breath, "Learn some English" as he walked away. I was disappointed by these American's behavior. Even though I spoke another language and was placed in a different environment the Danes (and other Europeans that I had encountered) were for the most part friendly and helpful when asking for help or directions. If they could not speak English they would direct me to someone who could. There was no hesitation or disregard towards me. It proved to be very comforting. I'm not sure why people in the U.S. are so unwilling to help. Whether it's the fear Americans have distilled upon themselves or the sheer lack of respect, I can't help but wonder why Americans have become somewhat narcissistic. Perhaps it's the crowded population or the hustle and bustle of a large city that makes Americans unfriendly. Whatever it is I feel that it is giving the world a negative image of Americans.

Although I have experienced some negative things while returning home I still like my country. I just hope that one of these days we can open up to other countries and one another.