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Dec. 10th, 2013 07:52 pmHere I am reading a Reddit about Americans visiting Europe and experiencing culture shock and I come across this: Bicycle riding is a mode of transportation and not a variety of controversial subcultures.
Oh my god, I never thought of it that way before but yes!! It is thought of that way here! Even in Oregon! And in Portland! For those who aren't aware, Portland is considered one of the best cities in the US for cycling. With all our bike lanes and a large fraction of our people biking to work (a whopping 6%!), we've won awards for being extremely bike friendly. And yet, sometimes, I see that guy peddling his bread delivery on a bike and I think, "What a weirdo." No, I think "What a hipster weirdo. This is so Portland." And I was born in Portland. Spent the first decade of my life there. Visited it regularly even after we moved away. Pretty much all of my extended family lives in or around there. And I still think of it as an alternative life style.
America really is weird.
The other thing is apparently Americans are really nice. Which isn't something I've thought of before. In fact, I've always thought we weren't a particularly kind people. Perhaps it's because I don't meet that many Europeans. But the ones I must be pretty Americanized because I can't recall them being all that standoffish. I would think nothing about engaging a stranger on bus or the cashier at a supermarket, introducing myself, talking about my life in a somewhat superficial way and asking about theirs, but apparently, this is not done. And I consider myself to be somewhat shy. o.O
Some of the stuff I was actually aware of -- the fact that Americans are prudes for example. Yeah, I can handle someone killing another person in pretty gruesome detail but show me a woman topless and I go x.x
Violence is A.OK! Sex, not so much! Is that really so weird? I wonder because American culture is one of our biggest exports so I feel like the rest of the world knows America pretty well even though the reverse is definitely not true. I have the benefit of being a second generation American (although, lately, I seem to be seeing first generation a lot more often so I'm not really what the correct term is nowadays) but the disadvantage of living in Oregon. We're white here. We're very, very white. The next biggest racial group is probably Hispanic. In my town, it's probably about a quarter to a third Latino but we have a higher population of them due to the fact that we're an agriculture town and the fact that there are a fairly large amount of migrant workers coming and going (and staying). That has caused me to be somewhat racially clueless. And I can definitely see how much more clueless the white people around me are. They have no other culture informing their views. They have to want to understand different cultures in order to think differently about other cultures and for the most part (myself as well), we're too lazy to make that effort. Or maybe they just can't even begin to conceive of it? I don't know. I just know Americans are weird.
Okay, it's getting late and I have to run to the store. Today is the first day since our cold snap and the ice and snow are finally melting! Traveling to work and the store isn't going to kill me anymore! Yay! It's absolutely remarkable how positively balmy it is when it's 30 F as opposed to 7 F. I stood outside today without a coat on for less than a minute today and I didn't feel like I was going to get frostbite. It was amazing!
And oh my god, I had to Google synonyms for the word "jacket" in order to spell "coat." WTF is happening with my English? I want to believe it was just a stupid brain lapse but the whole incident is scaring the hell out of me. o.O
Oh my god, I never thought of it that way before but yes!! It is thought of that way here! Even in Oregon! And in Portland! For those who aren't aware, Portland is considered one of the best cities in the US for cycling. With all our bike lanes and a large fraction of our people biking to work (a whopping 6%!), we've won awards for being extremely bike friendly. And yet, sometimes, I see that guy peddling his bread delivery on a bike and I think, "What a weirdo." No, I think "What a hipster weirdo. This is so Portland." And I was born in Portland. Spent the first decade of my life there. Visited it regularly even after we moved away. Pretty much all of my extended family lives in or around there. And I still think of it as an alternative life style.
America really is weird.
The other thing is apparently Americans are really nice. Which isn't something I've thought of before. In fact, I've always thought we weren't a particularly kind people. Perhaps it's because I don't meet that many Europeans. But the ones I must be pretty Americanized because I can't recall them being all that standoffish. I would think nothing about engaging a stranger on bus or the cashier at a supermarket, introducing myself, talking about my life in a somewhat superficial way and asking about theirs, but apparently, this is not done. And I consider myself to be somewhat shy. o.O
Some of the stuff I was actually aware of -- the fact that Americans are prudes for example. Yeah, I can handle someone killing another person in pretty gruesome detail but show me a woman topless and I go x.x
Violence is A.OK! Sex, not so much! Is that really so weird? I wonder because American culture is one of our biggest exports so I feel like the rest of the world knows America pretty well even though the reverse is definitely not true. I have the benefit of being a second generation American (although, lately, I seem to be seeing first generation a lot more often so I'm not really what the correct term is nowadays) but the disadvantage of living in Oregon. We're white here. We're very, very white. The next biggest racial group is probably Hispanic. In my town, it's probably about a quarter to a third Latino but we have a higher population of them due to the fact that we're an agriculture town and the fact that there are a fairly large amount of migrant workers coming and going (and staying). That has caused me to be somewhat racially clueless. And I can definitely see how much more clueless the white people around me are. They have no other culture informing their views. They have to want to understand different cultures in order to think differently about other cultures and for the most part (myself as well), we're too lazy to make that effort. Or maybe they just can't even begin to conceive of it? I don't know. I just know Americans are weird.
Okay, it's getting late and I have to run to the store. Today is the first day since our cold snap and the ice and snow are finally melting! Traveling to work and the store isn't going to kill me anymore! Yay! It's absolutely remarkable how positively balmy it is when it's 30 F as opposed to 7 F. I stood outside today without a coat on for less than a minute today and I didn't feel like I was going to get frostbite. It was amazing!
And oh my god, I had to Google synonyms for the word "jacket" in order to spell "coat." WTF is happening with my English? I want to believe it was just a stupid brain lapse but the whole incident is scaring the hell out of me. o.O
