-"Which cars do they drive in America?"
-"Do people in America like George Bush?"
-"What is school like in America?"
-"Which sports are popular in America?"
My response usually starts with, "Well, it depends where you live, but where I'm from..."
But the situation is often too complicated to be explained with one sentence. Obviously there are going to be many more hybrid cars on the environmentally friendly West Coast than in sparsely populated Montana. Of course the residents of liberal New England aren't going to be quite the fans of Bush that some in his home state of Texas are. Clearly the school system in Fairfax County isn't going to be exactly like the school system in Colorado or even that of neighboring Loudon County. Naturally there are more NASCAR fans than ice hockey fans in the South. But in America, in general? I have no idea.
A couple of weeks ago, this issue of Stern came out.
Picture from www.stern.de
The cover reads "California: the Better America". Of course I was immediately offended that a German magazine called the America I live in the worse America, but I thought I'd give it a read anyway. The article was actually pretty good; it focused on innovation in Silicon Valley and environmentalism all over California.
The article portrays a part of America with which many Europeans can more easily identify. Some Europeans might also find the health care system in Massachusetts or bans on the death penalty in more liberal states great.
These are more examples of the small differences that make it really difficult to describe "what it's like in America", and even more so difficult to give a concise answer to any such question. But in the Cultural Studies class that I helped teach in the first semester, we spent a fair amount of time on this topic, so I had the chance to try to develop some sort of general answer.
We divided the United States up into five regions loosely following the divisions of the US Census Bureau: the South, the Northeast, the Midwest, the West, and the Pacific. Then, the class was divided into five groups, and each group made a presentation about the economic, social, and political characteristics of the region. Of course there are lots of differences within these regions: Northern Virginia, for example, could be considered an island of the Northeast at the edge of the South. But at some point you have to give up detail in order to keep the project doable.
One thing that occurred to me during the activity--apart from the diversity of the nation--is how little I know about how life in other parts of America really is. I've lived my whole live in Northern Virginia, and the only other place I know fairly well is the Midwest because I have so many relatives in Wisconsin. I don't think that life in Texas is really all that different, but I don't have much to judge that on.
The project turned out very well. One of the highlights was a group of German students' mock slang dialog(which actually wasn't all that appropriate for school, but hey, "it's all good").
I guess the most important point to this is to take the diversity that we can see in our own country and realize that this applies to other countries, as well. Of course the political views in Catholic Bavaria are going to differ from those of the industrial Ruhrgebiet in Nordrhein-Westfalen. So, the question, "What is it like in Germany?" is just as difficult.
What are the first things that come to mind when you think of the answer to that question? If the answer is a jovial man holding liter mugs of beer, wearing Lederhosen, and eating pretzels the size of a steering wheel, then you've got a stereotypical picture of a specific part of Germany called Bayern, or Bavaria in English. The truth is, I haven't seen a one pair of Lederhosen in my 8 months here. I suppose this stereotypical image comes from Oktoberfest, the most well-known festival in Germany, but it's not at all an accurate image of Germans in general.
Speaking of Bavaria, also known as the Texas of Germany, I'm taking a train there on Saturday for the first week of spring break. I'll be visiting a friend in Augsburg and then traveling with him to Munich. Hope you all have a relaxing week off! Comments, questions, and discussion are always welcome.
10 comments:
Good post! I linked you from my blog.
One of the instances this that caught me off guard the most was being asked by my boss, a brilliant epidemiologist, whether I had noticed a difference in smoking prevalence between the US and Germany. Talk about regional differences! I felt like an idiot but I wasn't really able to say. I can only compare the areas where I've lived!
Another one that cracks me up is "American pizza". My German teacher wanted us all to tell her if we like American or Italian pizza better. What is American pizza? New York pizza? St. Louis pizza? Chicago pizza? (In the end my theory is that to the international crowd, American pizza = Pizza Hut pizza.)
Kevin, your comments and your students'questions about regional differences in the U.S. are thought provoking. I hail from California. I went to college in northern CA which is actually the bay area, not really the northern part of CA, and literally grew up all over the state- in the desert, on the coast, and in the mountains. One could do a regional study on California alone! Each part of the state has its own flavor, economy, and political base. It is always interesting to hear what people in other countries think about American ways. Makes me want to know more about regional differences in Germany, now! You must be learning so much. Great post.
Thanks for the comments. Heidelbergerin, I would have to say that America is (unfortunately) represented by its international corporations. In this case, you're right, America pizza = Pizza Hut pizza.
Ms. O, I guess you were lucky to have spent so much time in "the better America". :-P That cover still offends me slightly.
Although Germany is much smaller than the United States, the regions and dialects are much more prevalent here, because many groups of people have lived in certain areas for hundreds-even thousands-of years. In the United States, by contrast, almost the entire population has immigrated in the last couple centuries and mixed up the dialects and traditions. Unfortunately, I have not seen enough of Germany (other than bigger cities) to say I have a firm grasp of regional differences. In my upcoming report from my trip to Bavaria, I'll take a crack it.
-Kevin
*crack at it, rather. I can't speak my own language anymore...
That cover is hilarious, though the governor's actions as of late have been really unpopular. I've been in Silicon Valley all my life, and we're definitely much more similar to the Europeans politically. However, I'd say that California as a state is almost as diverse as the entire east coast (or at least the few states together). That's why a lot of NorCal people end up going to college in SoCal to get a change in scenery, and vice versa. So there isn't even a way to generalize California.
It's really cool that you got to help teach a class! You seem to be having a totally amazing year Kevin, but I don't see as much about your host family/friends/school as I'd like to. ^-^ I hope I do as well next year as you seem to be doing now.
Of course you can't generalize California, either. Heck, you can't even generalize Virginia, which is tiny compared to California. Although I live south of the Maxon-Dixon line, I would never consider myself a "Southerner"--where I live has definitely become more "Yankee" since then.
I guess I tend not to put too much stuff about other people because I don't know if they'd like to be in the internet. I've got a few things planned, though.
-Kevin
Kevin. I'm tagging you for the Meme: Passion Quilt. Check out my post about it.It would be cool to have a "young" teacher abroad respond.
http://blinkandbridge.blogspot.com/2008/03/meme-passion-quilt-slice-of-life-day-23.html
C O'Brien
Interesting that you don't consider yourself as a Southerner. Most people I interact with consider themselves as Southerners and are proud of that as well (not counting all the northerner implants;)- and I am just a little bit further south of Fairfax.
No, I don't consider myself a Southerner, and most of the people I know don't consider themselves Southerners either. I live a little bit closer to D.C. and there are lots of Northern "implants" here, such as my parents, who are from Wisconsin.
But nope, where I live is just suburbs of a cosmopolitan city.
-Kevin
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