Americans nned to learn about other countries.

[Rainbow gatherer]

I am so amazed at how little Americans know about the people of other countries. My roots are in Sweden and I visit there pretty regularly yet even educated people in my city (Eugene, Oregon, a very progressive city I might add) always ask about naked people in the streets, legal marijuana or rampent sex. Give me a break -- I have seen more nudity in my city on the bike path than I have ever seen in Sweden, laws against marijuana there are stiffer than many southern states and as for sex the people are so reserved it's a wonder they ever meet someone of the opposite sex.

They know so little about Europe I can imagine how they feel about the Middle East. A movie a while back showed Tehran, Iran with goat herders in the streets. In reality it's a very cosmopolitain city -- you'll see as many goats there at you will see in the streets of Seattle.

I was wondering, being someone who has organized exchanges between cultures in business, are there any foundations out there which deal with country to country contacts? Wouldn't it be interesting to have our schools, for instance, doing projects over the internet with schools in places like Europe, Iran, etc.? Maybe then they could exchange teachers and help solve this cultural illiteracy? I am just so frustrated that if anyone has any suggestions please share.

[nickinSTL]

1. Reminds me of something that happened when I was in 8th grade...

I had lived 5 years in Germany, my dad was a civilian working for the army, and someone in my class asked, "Germany? Isn't that in Russia?"

:wtf:

I was so astounded, I couldn't answer.

[BlueEyedSon]

2. and science

and history
and english
and math

did i miss anything?

[yorkiemommie1]

3. i work in an ESL program for adults

and as a result have met people from places like Eritrea, Mongolia, Nepal, as well as places that are more familiar to Americans. Since I do all of the testing for incoming students, I've met thousands of them. They all seem to know more about my country than I do of theirs and when I bring up something... oh, say about how the US deals w/ other countries they inevitably say, 'that's nothing new to us, it's you americans who don't know! I've had Turks, and Brazilians and Argentinians etc all say the same thing on different occasions.
Some of our teachers have taught ESL for over 20 years and even they don't get it. They regard people who don't speak English as being children. Never mind that we've had doctors and lawyers and professors come through our program!

[Rainbow gatherer]

4. other nations.

Sad, but isn't there anything that can be done?

[pitohui]

5. well what do you suggest

we have a huge movie industry that allows people of all languages all over the world to see what life is like in america, no wonder they know a lot about us

we already subsidize the airline industry, if americans wanna see other countries, they can do so cheaply enough

or should taxpayer also subsidize hotel, food, and art museum visits

we don't even have universal health care, somehow, i don't think providing students or whatever with foreign travel opportunities is going to be a real high priority

you must know that rich kids and upper middle class kids already have lots of opportunities to enjoy foreign exchange programs

[Igel]

7. So, the question is:

How much do the Eritreans, Nepalese, and Mongolians (respectively) know about Nepalese, Eritrean, and Nepalese cultures (respectively)? I'm betting they know no more than you know. And that's the real test.

Otherwise, you're saying you should know about dozens of cultures, while people from another culture should know theirs and yours.

They have a vital interest in knowing your culture and language, but your interest in their cultures is likely to be as a tourist or purely abstract. These are different motivations, and set different tasks.

As for how the US deals with other countries, then you have a nice split between 'us' and 'them' (with the boundaries shifting sometimes). Much of what they know isn't quite true. (Having read other presses in other languages for years, it's sometimes rather enlightening what gets reported, and how. Each interprets the other's motives in light of his own culture, sometimes showing how backward and pathetic the other is, sometimes how enlightened and advanced one's self is. Or vice-versa, if there's advantage in it. Jingoism and "victimism" know no borders.)

[sweetheart]

6. Sounds perfect for young spies

Perhaps we could send the boy scouts.

[Igel]

8. I've been abroad a bit.

And I've seen immigrants and exchange faculty/students/visitors in the US.

I've been asked about drive-by shootings, and how bad is it having the Mafia run things, what about the troops in the street; I've been asked to take sister-city exchange folks to see my apt., figuring that I was more average than their hosts, or they'd point to a map and say, Take me there ... and there--unable to believe that the city wasn't mostly destitute ghettos with massively overcrowded apartments, and poor, empty, run down stores. My roommate, working in maintenance, said he had to fix stoves on which immigrant families had built cookfires.

And this was the 1980s, when I lived off of Cal Young Road, a bit west of Coburg Road. In Eugene.

Many of them know only of America what they see in the movies. Which means they're like us. The stereotypes and misconceptions were horrible, esp. among those that didn't know English. Those that are fluent in English know more, those that have lived here know more. It's held true in Poland, in the Czech Republic, in Russian, and among the Macedonians I've known.

Frequently assuming we're all just the same gets you part of the way. But we're not always all just the same: sometimes it's as bad a mistake to assume we're the same as it is to assume we're completely different. And the differences can be surprising, and sometimes deeply color our (or their) perceptions and assumptions.

I'd get involved in either the Eugene-Irkutsk or Japan sister-city programs, or see about starting a sister-city relation with a city in another country. I'm personally having trouble keeping up with what I need to know for reading the newspaper, and working in Slavic studies. That leaves maybe 150 countries, and a couple thousand cultures, off my radar.