Submitted by Kelly Mi on the 2019 winter session study abroad program in New Zealand sponsored by the Department of Computer and Information Sciences…
I think most would agree that one of the most interesting things about travel is seeing cultural differences and how different societies are organized. America is such a huge place and such a cultural monolith that it can be hard to imagine living outside of it, but leaving can give a lot of perspective.
However, I recently heard something that made me think of how I perceive cultural differences. It was on an episode of This American Life – I went back to find the segment; it was episode 362, “Got You Pegged.” It was a narration by Chuck Klosterman, describing a recent trip to Germany he had taken. He talks about how the people he met in Germany had an incredibly low view of Americans, “even when compared with how the United States is viewed by France.” But the crux of the piece isn’t the stereotypes themselves, but where they got them. As far as he could tell, many stereotypes about America were based off of random, trivial details of American pop culture that actually had very little significance, like a girl who thought Americans loved the show Baywatch simply because Joey on Friends liked Baywatch. “I can’t help, but recognize all the things people do that A, have no real significance, yet B, define how outsiders see them.”
I have to say that I am guilty of some thoughts along these lines. For instance, one thing I noticed in New Zealand was how many sports clubs there were. Bowling clubs, cricket clubs, bridge clubs, even petanque clubs, all with dedicated facilities. I have not personally read the 2000 Robert D. Putnam book Bowling Alone, but I know the gist – that the decline of American bowling clubs in the 60s and 70s was symbolic of a general decline in civic engagement and, therefore, the efficacy of democracy. As a result, the proliferation of sports clubs here led me to the opposite conclusion – that people here must be deeply connected to their local communities. But is that really fair to say? Of course, it’s a bit more flattering than the Germans in Klosterman’s piece, who viewed Americans as “barbaric and vapid.” But it’s a bit of a leap considering I have never actually attended any of these sports leagues.