My ex-Third Grade Teacher, Mrs. Keating, sent me a message
that was posted up about the differences between Europeans
and Americans. It kind of got me thinking, and I wrote
this back...
First, the prompt:
.Patrick, commented on how he thought he was missing something, possibly
something European, that his cheery, optimistic American soul did not get
and he found Kundera's would very rigorous, dense and specific. Well, at
the risk of being even more politically incorrect than above, I think
there are several differences between Europeans and Americans at play
here. Many Europeans find many Americans rather superficial (not that
this is my impression of the folks on this board!), all friendly on the
surface but not a lot of depth to their conversations. European pub and
coffee house conversation can be highly charged debates, usually
political or ethical, sometimes religious. Although we can be just as
trite as the next person! The other aspect is that Americans seem to be
brought up to be more optimistic and to always look on the bright side.
Europeans find this cheer leader style somewhat oppressive. Americans
find that Europeans look for what went wrong, why it would never work
etc. They see this as worse than not being optimistic, being totally
negative and against whatever is being discussed. They see it as
fault/blame finding. But to Europeans it is anything but, they are not
doing it to find fault or attribute blame but to clear away, fix things
up and see through to the real core of the issue.
My reaction:
Hmmm...this is very interesting. I've been out with people who have
laughed at my enthusiasm for things, and at my excitement when I'm talking
to people, and said that here, it would be considered sarcasm. I think
that yes, Europeans are brought up to be more pessimistic, but that also
might be a reflection of their place in the world, both politically and
economically.
I was just thinking that many Europeans are growing up listening to the
stories of the past, listening to the history of their nations and the
empires that have BEEN, but at the same time, don't
hear a lot of encouragement to succeed as much. Many of
the students here hear that they are on a set path in
University, but, for the most part, don't seem to
really think that it is very much compared to a path
that they might have taken in the States. For example,
computers are seen as the territory of Bill Gates and
Americans. Hollywood is where the movies and the money
are. I've talked to a few students that have thought
about going to American universities, despite the cost,
because they thought that the opportunities and the education
might be better. The past can be brought
into the present if a glorious future is possible (1930's Germany), but I
think that lots of Europeans don't see the same amount
of glory of the past ever coming again,
and have resigned themselves to that fact. Americans are in a priveleged
position because we're at the fore of a lot
of science and computing - and we're constantly
told how good we are, how advanced and powerful and strong our nation
as a whole is. Europe, I
think, seems to be in a place where the individual countries, or even
Europe as a whole, are doing quite well, but there is the belief
that there is someone
better than them at economic and military
affairs across the pond.
I think that Americans are brought up in a competitive atmosphere as well,
and are expected to be good at a wide range of things. Europeans
specialize very early on - British students, for example, know what they
are going to major in when they enter the University, and 80-90% of their
classes are just within that field for the three years that they study.
At Pitzer, maybe 40% of my classes have been in my major, and the
remaining 60% have been in different fields to make me more
"well-rounded." I think that maybe the knowledge that there is a lot of
potential knowledge out there, and a lot of potential jobs, might make
Americans a little more...childlike? in the way that they handle new
situations, because we kind of seek out answers and resort to outside help
when we absolutely don't know what to do (the stereotype of men driving
without asking directions) whereas when Europeans encounter a situation,
if they don't know what to do, they'll call a specialist or a friend who
knows about it.
Andrew
If anyone has any thoughts on this, please contact me! I would
love to hear them!
