But in America, you are expected to add upwards of 20 percent to your bill just to avoid a dirty look from your server. But now its not Nigeria or China being looked at like this, but the great superpower by an upstart Arab network, no less. Fenrir89, I get made fun of all the time in Russia for having an attachment to my college. The reporter, Lori Jane Gliha, made deft use of practiced innocence. But there is an ideology that unites them all." xhr.open('POST', 'https://www.google-analytics.com/collect', true); The only normal part of the holiday seems to be the family gathering for dinner on Christmas day. Sometimes we are even better than them . NEW YORK Al Jazeera wants to make its name as American as pizzaburgers. American Culture: The Outsider's Perspective. Baby Showers. They have to lift it up and tie it to the top of their vehicle, and then drive very slowly so the tree will not fall off the car. Some even sell fresh fruit and prepackaged mealsbut if you're visiting the States from another country, we recommend getting your sushi elsewhere. - Shitij, 26, sales and marketing worker, New Delhi, "They believe in democracy, in freedom; they are willing to die, kill, et cetera, for that. In many instances, the name of a coin will tell you something about how much it's worth. "Culture encompasses religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it, our language, marriage, music, what we believe is . I thought you had to go to a dedicated gun store for that. However, often is not noticed or realized how extreme some people are willing to go to conform to the expected norm of American society, until one looks at the demands that society places upon us from the outsider's perspective of American culture. "Body Rituals Among the Nacirema, " by Horace Miner, is an essay written about the Nacirema, or American people, from an outsider's perspective. Now that you have you hot chocolate, it is time to relax. The collector's view of the artifacts as pieces of art is a product of his own cultural background and does not take into account the cultural relativity of the artifacts. . I hate to put even more pressure on . - Men Xuezhi, 54, doctor, Beijing, "I don't like American guys who always pursue their own personal interests. For inquiring minds, think of our food. The amount of older people I saw on my trip wearing college gear was insane. [email protected] +44 0330 027 0207 or +1 (818) 532-6908 . I don't understand why other cultures are all so primitive. In Japan, open-mouthed, teeth-exposed laughter is thought to "sound like horses," and is considered impolite, and in particular, unladylike, in the same manner Americans consider coughing . - Liu Xiaodan, 30, hotel manager, Beijing, "America is a country that produces a massive amount of cultural output such as Hollywood movies, music and many other (forms of) entertainment." We don't know what lemonade is: In many countries, lemonade is not the iconic sugary drink that American kids sell at stands in summer. The small and thin trees with exposed branches are often not given a second look and are left with the person selling the trees. Consider that it was written directly from the perspective of a teenager - experiencing life and writing about it. 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Collectivism stresses the importance of the community, while individualism is focused on the rights and concerns of each person. Flashnewb, many Chinese people do not understand how America can function so "well" since the people here are all so different. teach well, it matters. I think that anybody with good ideas, if they want to make a mark, it gives you an equal opportunity in that country. I encourage others to take a step outside, in any situation, to see the broader view of things because what you find may surprise you. Trick-or-Treating. Cheese is life people. -- Nionvox, and extreme violence/gore is considered normal, and shown regularly on TV. - Zhila Gudzueva, university lecturer, Moscow, "My definition of Americans is those who are cheerful, friendly and willing to communicate." Lawrence Wetsit misses the days when his people would gather by the hundreds and . In England, the so-called "chemist" is the place you go to for medicine and medical suppliesand that's it. In fact, most of these Americans I have observed highly treasure their material items from under the tree as they pay more attention to them than to fellow Americans. You get a vision of their culture and their way of life. While many love how so patriotic we are as a people, some, to be blunt, find it a bit creepy. Go to many other countries and the smallest differences in culture, language, and background will almost automatically cause some major issues. xhr.send(payload); It has been seen as the land of plenty, freedom and equality where Indian migrants could head behemoths like Google, Microsoft and Pepsi, and a South African could capture the imagination with an electric car. [], Your email address will not be published. Mehta, 34, health insurance agent, New Delhi, "Has a very liberal culture, great people and a country that drives innovation." Adam Schubak Partnerships Editor Adam is a writer based out of New . All the pomp and circumstance surrounding prom, I have cousins who live in the US and just hearing about the number of hoops they had to jump through to ask someone to a dance is hilarious. Families also make sure they get a hold of a rather sizable green tree, butthey go outside of their property to find such a tree. It is a great country and would love to live there. The idea of being self-sufficient is valued highly in the U.S. I found this quite interesting and maybe a bit eye opening, because as Americans, these things are completely normal to us. Foreigners are constantly baffled by the volume of stuff Americans seem to think they need, and superstores are a perfect encapsulation of this strange sentiment. Stay up to date with what you want to know. There's an undercurrent of savagery and violence waiting to be expressed on a grand scale it seems, and I believe it's because American culture is unwittingly pushing for complete atomization of society, people can no longer rely on the elite for virtuous principles and leadership, and that people are starting to realize that . In most European countries, service fees are included in the price of a meal, and tips don't usually go above 8 to 12 percent. I had a friend who drove for 16 hours to visit family for the weekend . But in the U.S., people are happy to just toss their card in a folder with the bill and let the server take it away for swiping. Part 1: An etic view of African American race from an outsiders perspective is believed as religious and demonstrates a unique lifestyle. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.". Sure, fried chicken is hardly a foreign conceptbut try explaining chicken-fried steak or deep-fried Oreos to a non-American. Works Cited. They're calm and kind and friendly and they like to smile." "A black-and-white look at the world. - Gennelyn Escopete, 33, DVD street vendor, Manila, Philippines, "Probably capitalism, but I see it more as freedom that every person can do what he wants, when he wants - true freedom, but it costs a lot I think, and sometimes it brings you lower than takes you higher." Jeroen Seynhaeve / View all { 18 } / Vertaal naar Nederlands Traditional ways of evaluating cultures, and managing value clashes between these cultures, fail to generate desired results. - Marren Cahilig, 21, bartender, Manila, Philippines, "A friend had an American friend over and he was surprised to see how laid back we are. The point is that we have many amazing things in this country, but how much of it is concretely ours? Do they think of our wide range of geography and national wonders? But its way of seeing is foreign, the perspective of the curious outsider for whom nothing is obvious and whose questions are big and nave and, in their navet, important. Guide to US and American culture, society, language, etiquette, customs, manners and protocol. There are few countries in which you'll encounter a billboard or bus ad for a divorce attorney or see several personal injury spots while watching half an hour of daytime TV. It was reported to me that the ritual consists of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders, and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures.. This one might seem obvious, but what if I told you that having a cup of hot cocoa is more than chocolate powder in warm milk? No, this isn't the standard bottle of wine in the States, but it's a common sight at any American supermarket or wine store and something you'd rarely encounter in the wine countries of the world like Italy or France. Once the tree is inside, for some reason they put it in the center of the room, and proceed to decorate it with various gaudy balls and gems on strings. It's pretty infuriating to live somewhere where something as natural and beautiful as the human body is viewed as taboo and "corrupts" our youth, but a guy getting his head cut off or getting beaten to death is perfectly okay for kids to watch. [] detailed search help you gain a new perspective on the Nacirema people. But while these American traditions might seem normal stateside, they are certainly not universal. But its one thing for big media companies from the prosperous West to make these domestic inroads overseas, and another thing for a network based in Qatar to reverse the flow and give Americans their version of the foreign gaze. The difference is one of cultural ownership and general acknowledgement, of giving credit where it's dueespecially when credit is long overdue to a historically oppressed people. It was reported to me that the ritual consists of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders, and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures., Now without the photo below (but maybe skewed by the photo above) and in the context of the rest of the paper, many students do not recognize this as our daily habit of brushing our teeth. Like, for example, in real life, you cant kill people. as well as other partner offers and accept our. Once they do, everyone admires the tree even more. 1. But to watch Al Jazeera Americas reports is to discover that the truth lies somewhere in between these visions the network as fundamentally foreign versus the network as all-American. I did not find any discrimination. - Liu Xiaodan, 30, hotel manager, Beijing, "My impression of Americans is that they uncomplicated. Basically, I am wondering what non-Americans think of our culture, and of us in general. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This writing helped me understand others' perceptive of the things that I find normal. To non-Americans the fact that we have a choice of, what kind of bread we want our sandwich on, and what kind of cheese we want on said sandwich, along with what kind of dressing, is just mind blowing. If you have Netflix or Hulu, the possibilities of movies are endless. At one moment, she is playing the game while addressing viewers, and, standing before us, begins to beat an innocent man with a golf club: fresh, jarring, thought-provoking television. 1) Outside Marketing Firms Bring Fresh Thinking. In some of my classes, as part of a paper exploring the concepts and influenceof culture, I ask students to explore a ritual within their own culture but from an outsiders view as if they were witnessing the practice for the first time and trying to understand it. Views differ considerably, however, among the country's religious communities - 72% of Lebanese Christians say the spread of these ideas is a good thing; only 23% of Sunni and 13% of Shia . They just like speaking their mind, which is a reason that I don't feel quite comfortable going around with Americans." The paper,written by University of Chicago trained anthropologist Horace Miner wasoriginally published in 1956. Boy was I wrong. Independence. BANGKOK -- The rest of the world may think Americans eat a lot of burgers, have huge shopping malls and are ruled by an arrogant government.And yet the "Ugly American," it would seem, isn't all . - Sam Wang, 20, university student, Beijing, "My image of America is a country that goes to war anywhere in the world," - Susumu Inoue, 82, retired agricultural lab technician, Tokyo, "I think of Major League Baseball," Ayumi Takeoka, 41, housewife, Tokyo. Many say how underrated our beer is. Soon, weekends can be filled with park trips and beach adventures, but for now, the weather is temperamental, so a movie night can suffice. But when Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based television empire that has long broadcast to viewers around the world in Arabic and English, announced plans to start a U.S. news channel, it ignited a wildfire of controversy. Hash browns or home fries? One habit was found to help keep the brain healthy over time. - Christopher Darroch, 39, actor, Toronto, "I was stunned to see how big everything is over there. By the time you've been inside an American establishment in the summertime for just 10 minutes, you'll be freezing cold and eager to get back out into the sweltering sun. Everything else, I do not understand.. In addition, for some reason, the tree must be a rather large tree with lots of foliage. Romances and horrors are great genres to cozy up to in the dark. [] https://thesocietypages.org/toolbox/nacirema/ (Links to an external site.) document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Todd Beer, PhD, is a faculty member in the department of Sociology and Anthropology at Lake Forest College, a wonderful liberal arts college north of Chicago. Whether you're heading into a bar or buying a six-pack at the grocery store, there's a good chance you'll be asked for your ID in the United Stateseven if you're well into your 50s. The fish fry, a long-established Friday staple during Lent, is roaring back from COVID with an assist from something decidedly newfangled: an interactive map built by local volunteer coders that points the way to scores of churches, fire halls and other places that offer battered and breaded seafood for the taking. Americans are unusually casual about handing over their credit cards in a way that tends to freak foreigners out. What is Ethnocentrism? America permeated their lives - through comics and Coke, through Hollywood and Neil Armstrong, and via the internet, iPhone and Facebook. It's your target audience. The foreign gaze makes Al Jazeera America treat nothing as obvious. Though this can vary a bit by regionwe're looking at you, New Yorkersin general, Americans are much quicker than the average foreigner to smile at a stranger and offer a warm hello, even if they're just passing each other on the sidewalk. Supersizing Food. And yet the "Ugly American," it would seem, isn't all bad. One could almost call them obsessed, as some houses have giant men, white bears, and black and white birds puffed full of air in front of their houses. Driven by sustained immigration and refugee resettlement during the 1970s and 1980s, Asian Americans have emerged as the nation's fastest growing racial group. So that finally, outsiders will feel they belong. They look super fake. Now, I am not saying that America doesnt have its own cultural cues and certain ways that we act that makes us unique. The greasers live on the east side and are known as "hoods". Once they get home, they have to lift it once again off the car and into their house. While many Americans feel their nation is divided as never before, a sampling of the rest of the world reflects a more charitable view. Anyhow, in the morning, more boxes appear, and children act very wild, almost savage-like. This I do not know. Finding creative ways to fry things that probably shouldn't be fried is an American specialty and something that definitely confuses tourists. In America, the letter Z is, well, zee. Uhh, that's a huge country. I read on several different forum sites how things such as the pledge of allegiance and how our flag is plastered everywhere you go is quite strange to outsiders. I believe they should understand the values that we have as Arabs, embrace them and try to go to a more local level to comprehend why we think and why we live the way we live." And what do you think of when you think of a typical American? These wires are attached to a side of the house and only come on at night. -- Teaching_man, I was not aware that you can buy guns in supermarkets in America. Bacon or sausage? These Americans, thus, are all quite concerned with the overall presentation of their houses: they make sure other people see and admire them. While New York City famouslynever sleeps, it's not the only city with 24-hour businesses. . the culture being studied such that he/she can blend his/her etic (outsider) perspective with the emic (insider) perspective of the society being studied. } else { Eggs are a universal delicacy, but outside of the U.S., they are seldom stored in the fridge. Here is a link to start:https://thesocietypages.org/toolbox/nacirema/(Links to an external site. navigator.sendBeacon('https://www.google-analytics.com/collect', payload); In S.E. Contents. After doing a little adventuring on the web and seeing all different kinds of opinions and views from people all over the world, I came to love my country even more. Let's look at 10 traditions Americans celebrate without even considering how strange the rest of world consider them. America gave birth to these two soulful genres and in my personal opinion from my search that is that the world is very glad, as these genres gave birth to rock, pop, rap, and hip-hop. It's the many electronics we have the bridge in San Francisco." It's not good." Red Solo Cups are the symbol of college keggers and backyard barbecues alikeand yet, they're rarely seen outside of the U.S. At Slate, Seth Stevenson gave a good explanation of the appeal of the plastic cup: Its opaque color makes it impossible for authorities to casually tell what's in the cup; its sturdy design makes it virtually spill-proof; and its newly created square bottom makes it easy to hold. The way its often described to me is that Americans have a very "open mind", and that we can handle having a lot of different people around, even when we don't agree. What I've concluded from my time here so far is that most of the people in Europe consider Americans good-hearted, but completely insane people. In restaurants in many other countries, your server runs your credit card through a machine table-side. The reality doesn't match the ideal. One of the reasons why we see so much of servers in the States is because they are constantly refilling customers' water glasses. Al Jazeera America, since going on air on Aug. 20, has worked hard to fight off suggestions of foreignness. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/05/business/media/an-outsider-looks-at-life-in-america.html. document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', function() { } cultural frames of reference" and "learn to step outside of their own thinking in order to examine it and also to acknowledge others' thinking" (pp. Collectivist cultures are usually contrasted with individualistic cultures. Body Rituals Among the Nacirema Essay. - Ingerlise Kristensen, 68, retired bank employee, Copenhagen, Denmark, "I had a roommate a Californian, when I was in Korea as a college exchange student. Because there is no such ethnicity. Sign in to comment to your favorite stories, participate in your community and interact with your friends. They cannot generate these results, because they are based on, and restricted by, the ethnocentric perspective. Most European travelers expect to place their order and then be done interacting with their server for the remainder of their meal. Anyone can read what you share. Even though winter is ending soon, it does not mean the cold is. Why have an 8-ounce steak when you can have a 20-ounce one? But, I digress. Search CNNs Web site on the subject, and the links almost invariably carry you to content about beleaguered places like Madagascar. but don't tell them (laughing)." 5. Then they leave hard biscuits shaped like men and a cup of milk out next to the tree. I want an outsider's perspective on why this country is so fucked. Holidays are integral parts of different cultures and by looking at them through the eyes of an outsider, we can see how culture influences perspective.