Vegetables grow in the U.S. too

In the last year I have learned more about cultural differences than I could ever fit in a blog (did you know in Germany we press our thumbs for good luck instead of crossing our fingers??), but I’ve learned even more about my own culture and how the U.S. is perceived by the rest of the world. U.S. Americans are (mostly) aware of our stereotypes (we are a loud bunch who eat a lot of fast food and would prefer to scream about how hard we work while wearing American flag apparel than ever take a sick day). But living abroad has exposed me not only to the perceptions that others have of the U.S., but have also shifted my own views of my home country. I wanted to share a few examples where I learned about how people perceive the U.S., but also some examples of how my own perception of the U.S. has changed.

Vegetables grow in the United States too

"Do you feel like the food here is so much fresher than back home?", "Wow, your meal looks so healthy -- we think Americans just eat hamburgers and pizza" 

I wish I could say that I was shocked by these kinds of questions and statements, but I am not. This can be summarized by the time when I joined one of my classmates for an excursion she helped to organize with a group of students visiting from Texas: while at the train station I saw one of the Texans drinking a Fritz-Kola (a Hamburg produced cola) and said "ahhh -- everything is just so much fresher here". It took all of my energy not to facepalm in that moment. How can a cola possibly be fresher?! Sure, there are more frozen, processed, and fast foods options in the United States, this doesn’t mean fresh and healthy options aren’t available. In fact, in Germany I have been shocked by how often I’ve found sugar in things like mustard or pickles that I never expected to be sweet. There are of course some serious problems related to 'food deserts' in the United States, in which individuals live in locations where grocery stores with healthy options are out of reach, however for the vast majority of the U.S. healthy options are available.  

Smart people live in the U.S. too

"We were all at the meeting, we know what happened"  

Earlier this year I was on a date and the guy suddenly stopped and said "you're a lot smarter than I would have expected, we typically think Americans are stupid." I have to say, that compliment(?) was not received nearly as heartwarmingly as he intended. Later I jokingly told one of my colleagues how absurd it was, but they actually confirmed – U.S. Americans aren’t always perceived as being the sharpest. It's thought that the self obsession with the U.S. makes us less worldly, very few U.S. Americans know additional languages, and following up with notes and to-do items at work is really overkill (we were all at the meeting, we know what we discussed, duh). The current political climate and loud U.S. media don’t help either, reinforcing the false narrative that the U.S. produces people who are rather unsophisticated. The "suing culture" is also something that is found to be quite hilarious that is driven by idiocracy (which I will say is a big difference here, there are not nearly as many warnings telling you not to be an idiot, instead, if you are, you'll just suffer the consequences.)

U.S. Americans are not allowed to get sick

"You look really awful"

My goal was originally to be so healthy that I did not have to learn how to use my German health insurance while in school. I'll tell you now, from experience, that that was a really stupid goal. Earlier this summer I got pretty sick out of nowhere. While I kept telling myself (and others) I would be better the next day, no amount of manifestation could beat out modern medicine and rest. A direct quote I said at one point was "4 days is a really long time to heal" as I looked forward to my weekend plans. Little did I know I would be out for a whole month. It was the sickest I have ever been. Yet to say I felt like I was being dramatic is an understatement -- I refused to admit that I felt less than 100%. "No really I'm fine", "I'm already feeling better", "Any minute now I'll be back to my full self" were the only acceptable responses in my mind. I actually even tried these lines on my doctor, to which she stated that I was either lying or just getting used to feeling horrible because my test results showed the opposite and that I was lucky she wasn't sending me to the hospital right then. It was then that it finally clicked for me: in the U.S. we’re not allowed to get sick. We’re trained to ignore our bodies. Admitting you’re sick feels like admitting defeat, and we’ve learned to work through it even when we shouldn’t. So many of my friends and colleagues kept telling me I was being ridiculous and should rest, reassuring me that it was a perfectly acceptable reason to take time off, and that the systems in place here support full healing processes. In Germany, taking time to rest when you're sick is common sense – no one expects you to work. But back home, where sick time and vacation time are often lumped together, you feel guilty for taking either. No other example encapsulates this more than that of my best friend's mom taking her work laptop to chemotherapy treatments. The need to constantly feel productive and useful is so rooted in the culture that we often still work through our official time off. I still feel a bit embarrassed about being so sick and can’t shake the feeling that I was being dramatic, but am grateful that I was given the time to rest and heal – making up for all the sick days I had never taken before.  

I am not actually sure if the U.S. is a safe place

"It would be cool to live in the U.S. for a bit, but you couldn't raise a family there." 

The first time I was asked if I felt like the United States was safe, I kind of scoffed. Of course the U.S. is safe -- I mean obviously we have places that are safer than others, but where I grew up (shout out Gilbert, AZ) was allegedly the second safest town in the U.S. While my friends in D.C. thought I was a little crazy for feeling like having my mom on the phone was the only protection I needed while I walked down the streets alone at any hour of the night -- the truth is I very rarely felt unsafe. Then a couple weeks later, I was playing football with one of my classmates, when he tenderly asked me, "did you actually feel safe growing up in the U.S.?" I realized he wasn’t joking, but was genuinely curious. The United States is perceived as unsafe – a place with rampant gun violence, outrageous police brutality, glorified serial killers, and rapists in positions of political power. And that's just the physical violence. There is also outrageous drug addiction, not spurred by illegal drugs, but by big pharma and shady insurance schemes -- leaving the residents of the U.S. unsure if they can even trust their doctors. The education and medical systems push Americans further into debt, sending the sense of financial security out of reach for so many. Not to mention the rise of domestic terrorism and encouragement of these actors from politicians that is broadcast across the news. These were my realities. While I personally had the privilege of safety, I see how deeply these systemic issues affect the way people view the U.S, and how the broader reality tells a darker story. 

The U.S. is a place of contradictions, and I have come to understand that it is seen through many different lenses – some flattering, some not so much. It’s a complex place with both flaws and strengths. I still roll my eyes at some of the stereotypes of U.S. Americans, but also accept that we have earned a few of them. While I have learned a lot about the U.S. in the last year, one key lesson is that I will likely remain in this awkward space between defending it and cringing at it.