So I'm going to try something a bit different today that will pretty much be a wall of text. Short backstory:

I was sitting around drinking with some friends, and inevitably we start comparing the East vs West opinion on certain things. I suppose specifically, the American perspective. I asked about the Taiwanese perspective, which was pretty much boiled down to "Everything is for the group." I thought "Does that mean America is for the individual?" I guess it sort of is, but I thought about the daunting task of "How do you explain America to someone has never been there?" In the spur of the moment I was struggling to form coherent thoughts, so here is my explanation of America: Abridged.

I think the thing most people don't get is that America is really damn huge. The 2nd largest country in the world, unless you count China + Taiwan (they don't here). A few months ago someone was saying how they wanted to visit New York, and then pop on down and visit Miami. You do not "pop on down" to Miami from New York. Your perspective is wrong because you can get to the south of country in an hour and a half by train. You're looking at a several hour plane ride for that detour.

Unfortunately because of our size, we don't have easy accessibility to cultures like Europe. We only have 2 countries we can visit easily. Canada is one, but apologies to Canadians, it really is like America's 51st state. I don't mean to say that you are American, you have a lot to be proud of in your country that in many ways, is better than ours. What I mean is that there is no culture shock going from Canada to America. So while their is appeal to visit it once, I think because it's so similar repeat visits are usually not a priority.

The other is Mexico, which is more different culturally. However, Mexico is no slouch of a place either. To get to the border isn't difficult, but to someplace like Mexico City, you're looking at a long drive ahead of you - one that would be better served by a plane, unless you're on the tip of Texas. Coupled with the fact that some parts of Mexico aren't safe right now, and the fact that you need a passport. For many Americans it's hard to justify the price of one, because a plane trip anywhere else is too expensive. That's not to mention that for each of these countries, a city is really only convenient if you're near the border. If you live in the middle of Wyoming, driving to Canada or Mexico is simply unfeasible. Also, we have 50 states that are in many ways separate countries themselves. It's hard to justify a $1000 plane trip for each person, and passports, when there is so much to see in America already.

But, the American dream has still attracted scores of immigrants from other countries. One of my favorite things about America you just don't realize, is that we're extremely diverse. Whites are real close to becoming a minority. A minority! Even a midsized place like Cincinnati has a billion ethnic foods, and god forbid if you Google "Chinese food in New York City". We all needed to speak the same language, and for various reasons that became English. Spanish or French may be useful if you live near Mexico or Quebec, but there's really nobody to practice and 2nd language with. Because of that, any we pick up is lost pretty quickly, along with the culture a 2nd language could provide.

My point in all this is that what we learn about other cultures is usually by second hand experience. Without first hand accounts, we basically take the parts of a culture we like, strip out the other stuff, and sell it back to you. I can imagine someone from another country would hate this. You see us picking out the parts we find appealing, throw it all into a big pot, and stir. But then at the same time, you'll realize we do this to our own culture. I don't think anyone really expects How I Met Your Mother to be an accurate portrayal of life in New York. Seriously, have you SEEN how big that apartment is? (Also, why has Ted spent several years telling his children of sexual conquests?) It's the ideal New York we want to see. So when we meet a genuine foreigner, I think we're very curious because we don't really know anything about you.

But we know you all know about us. Granted we are still the biggest economy in the world, and have a large influence on the globe. But I think most people know about America from either our TV or military. Hollywood is quite good at pumping out entertaining things. Key word entertaining, not accurate. I hope nobody sees Baywatch and expects all beaches to be like that. And as far the military, well, people marching through your country with guns doesn't usually give off a good first impression.

If you can believe it, I'm just now getting to my point. I think most people see Americans as uncultured and arrogant. Uncultured, I completely agree with for the reasons mentioned above. But for arrogant, I think it's because we're raised with this idea we can be anything we want to be. As a result we think we can do anything we put our mind to, which can come across as cocky. It's hard, but not impossible to claw from abject poverty to wealth in a single generation. Our stories are full of rags to riches, nobody to somebody types of stories. It's an idea we really hold on and run with. Creativity and self expression is fostered and seen as a good thing, because who knows, you may create something the world needs. Failure doesn't have the stigma it does in other cultures. It's expected in your life you will try many things. And you will fail a lot of them. And you will try again until you get it right. That concept is much more foreign elsewhere, pardon the pun. There is a strong emphasis on getting it right the first time, even when learning. As a result people are very cautious and tend to pick the easy route. However our constant failure makes us tough and makes us grow up faster. I did a post about the Asian school system last year, but I had several kids in China who couldn't do the most basic of life tasks at 16. At 16 in America, we give you a car and say "Go out and become members of society". We pile on responsibility early, knowing somewhat that you will likely mess it up at some point. But you'll find your way regardless, and be better for it after. While at the same time, we look at people who have failed with the attitude of "Well, they just didn't try hard enough."

Whew! Well if you read all of that, I give you major props. What do you think it is to be American?