How Others See Us

Townsville, Australia

They really love to shorten everything here! 

I was curious what people here thought of Americans, so I began asking my friends as soon as I could. The first thing they usually said was loud. Americans are loud, and like to flout their opinions. They like to eat a lot of food, and they eat unhealthily. They think of Americans as somewhat, if not completely, ignorant about things. The general idea of what an American (or a sceppie) is widely varying. They make a lot of fun of us, but have a general fondness for us.

A friend of mine from Townsville, said that his idea of American's came from the movies and television shows that depict American culture and people. They are focused on little things, like drama; they sometimes have a hard time grasping concepts; they eat lots of fast food; sports are everything; etc. However, after having a lot of interactions with Americans through James Cook University, he says that Americans are all different. A lot of the people that come through fit his idea of what an American is, but then there are others that do not. He said that I do not fit what he thought most Americans were like. I'm a lot quieter than a lot that he has met, I am not as into partying as the others are, etc.

Another friend of mine who is also studying abroad, however she's from Canada, thinks of Americans as very patriotic and very focused on outward appearances. She was surprised that I was not an extremely patriotic person, and that I didn't spend hours getting ready for the day like in the movies. Canada has a pretty similar culture to America, they are basically the little brother to the world, but they are also different.

Clearly, views of Americans vary across cultures. The people that I have talked to about their views used to think of Americans in general, because they did not know a lot. But now that they have met a lot of Americans and have become friends, they think of people more as individuals. It is important for people to respect the culture and background of a person, but to not judge them by it. The individual is important to look at - their personality and their interests - and to focus on who they are, rather than where they came from.