[Elli]

I have met many wonderful Americans in my travels and I can say that they make wonderful, loyal friends. I have noticed that many people do have some issues with the American culture which I do not always agree with but will discuss here for your interest on some outsiders perspectives. Here’s one example…As you probably know, in Japan there is a strong culture that guides customs and relations between people. Things like speaking in a quiet voice on trains and at least trying whatever food is served to you. It seemed that the voices you could always hear beaming from the next carriage of a crowded train usually displayed an American accent and dinner time was usually made uncomfortable by our American collegues announcing ‘I can’t eat that, Im a vegetarian’ or some excuse of the sort. Of course, this is fine, but as ‘losing face’ is so important to these people, it would have been more respectful to tell the host before the dinner or grin and bear it. Despite this, the Japanese idolise the Americans as a whole, respecting these things as a ‘cultural difference’. It’s the other expats that are irritated by the lack of education or the lack of respect for the culture within which they have chosen to work/holiday. If I had to sum it up, Americans as a whole just seem a little bit ignorant of the world around them, considering their way of life to be the best. These is all just a product of individualist, capitalistic (selfish?) societies of which America is at the head of the field but there are many other cultures who are not too far behind, either..including my own.

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Name : Elli, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 27, City : Perth, State : NA, Country : Australia, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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