US Culture

As you know, I talk a lot about other countries cultures in my blogs.  However, today I would like to talk about American culture.  You may see American films and think you know all about American culture, but television isn't reality.  I see a lot of comments online from Europeans who tend to say negative things about Americans when they've never even met one before.  To an American, this is the worst form of discrimination.  The problem is that most Americans can't define our own culture very well.  Each state has varied forms of food, weather, traditions and common practices.  I recently moved from Florida to Connecticut, and some of the words people used I still have yet to understand.  Do people from Connecticut really use "spooks" to talk about critters in the attic?

As part of a country that holds citizens from every nation on Earth, we are told since birth to not discriminate based on appearances.  Although some Americans may be misguided and have racist views, it is generally looked down upon.  Our ideal country would be considered a melting pot which combines all cultures to create one cohesive culture, but (for now) it's more along the lines of a salad.  Since Americans are all immigrants, many families take a while to become fully integrated into the American culture.  Most will surround themselves with people from their homeland country, which ends up creating subcultures.  The government has set up many laws in order to help speed up the mixing of cultures, but it is a slow process.  Most humans are afraid of unfamiliar things.  America, as a whole, may never completely forget our ancestors grudges.  In retrospect, that may be why the US government tends to stick their noses into other countries' business.  In other countries, they may see the US as foreigners, but we think of other countries as our family.  Since our citizens come from all over the world, we see all countries as our relatives, and sometimes we feel compelled to meddle with things that look unfair.  I'm not condoning my countries questionable actions, but I hope you'll understand the reasons why Americans may think that way.

Free speech is very important in my country.  In our society, we should be able to voice our opinions.  However, people who force their views on others are looked down upon.  Many times people will act as if being an American entitles you to scream your views at others.  However, doing so will most likely get you hit.  Respect of all opinions while still being able to have your own opinion is important in US culture.  "If you want respect, you must give respect."  Not all people are like that, but that's America for you.

Hard work is one of the key principles of our culture.  There is plenty of opportunity, but you have to put in the effort in order to take that opportunity.  Although the recession has dulled down the dirty looks, most people are looked down upon if they aren't financially independent after college.  If you don't go to college, you are expected to get a job and move out of the house.  If you do not pay your car insurance, rent, utilities and food yourself, but mooch off of your parents when you are fully capable of supporting yourself, it is considered selfish.  Parents raise you until you are able to fend for yourself, so we think that it is selfish to use their money if you are able to work.  If you go to college, most middle class families expect their children to work part time to help pay for their college education.  Many children as young as sixteen juggle part time work while going to highschool.  There are even on the job training programs in highschools where students can get highschool credit for working. 

Americans are generally very competitive if they want something.  The culture is all about working hard for what you want, and sometimes it can be a bit egocentric.  However, if an American doesn't want something, they won't bother.  Our country has free education to highschool, so most parents send them to a public school.  I went to about 9 different schools, so I have a broad knowledge of how Florida schools are.  They were all pretty bad.  The teachers don't like teaching, they are only in it for a steady job.  The food served contains such protein as cockroaches, hair and spoiled milk due to the cafeteria staffs' negligence.  Teachers do not challenge students, nor do they explain why the subjects are relevant to the students futures.  Since our culture is geared to working to what you want, most students don't pay too much attention in class as they think the subjects aren't relevant to what they want to do in the future.  Sometimes teachers will pass a student that deserves to fail a grade, which shows how horrible the school system is.  I never studied in school, and I passed in the honor roll.  However, you cannot say that Americans are stupid.  Even though the schools are that bad, many students do very well for themselves.  They may not be able to point out Washington D.C. on a map, but you probably couldn't either unless you wanted to visit their someday.

American culture is also about taking parts of many different cultures and finding what works for you.  You don't have to be a certain race to take part of the subcultures.  Personally, I am Native American, English, Irish, German, Dutch, Swiss, and possibly French.  However, for some odd reason, my cultural identity has always leaned towards the Japanese culture and way of thinking.  In our government, we test out different methods.  Sometimes what we use from different cultures fails, and sometimes it does really well.  However, we learn from the past and we try to right our ancestor's wrongs.  We are an imperfect government.  No American has ever said (that I've heard of) that we have a perfect system.  However, no government is perfect.  We just try new things and hope they work.

When I see people review "American" food on Youtube, it always makes me laugh.  Especially in the twinkie department.  People have somehow got it into their heads that a twinkie is the end all be all of American delicacy.  I'm still not understanding how anyone can think that.  A common joke in America is that, if there is a nuclear explosion, the only thing that will survive will be twinkies and cockroaches.  This is not because the twinkies are so good, but rather that they are so horrible for  you.  Secondly, don't buy a ton of food from one company and then base your opinion of American food on that one company.  Companies generally gear their products towards a certain type of consumer.  Most companies will use the same base ingredients and the same way of making certain items.  If you don't like one of their products, it's rare that you're going to like the others.  I saw one person review a whole box of hostess products, and then say how bad our food was.  What do you expect?  I mean, hostess is the epitome of fat.  To me, they are completely horrendous!  A burger is considered American food.  However, McDonalds is not considered a real burger.  Don't make the mistake of thinking McDonalds is some kind of standard of the American burger.

I've heard that we "murder" other countries foods.  Yes, Americans tend to "Americanize" food, but every country does it.  Companies alter their products to the average consumer's taste.  Have you ever seen Korean pizza variations?  It's very different then what most would consider Italian.  You can find authentic food from all over the world in the US if you know where to look.  As far as what I eat, my diet usually contains Italian food as it is my favorite.  Penne, spaghetti, pizza, and ziti are the most common for me.  Many Americans do not eat heavy breakfasts because they believe that (if you are not fully awake when you eat) you will end up eating more.  Most eat a small meal in the morning, a medium meal in the afternoon, and a full meal at dinner time.  Traditional breakfasts usually include eggs, toast, orange juice, and fruit.  Sometimes it includes bacon or sausages and grits (which is a type of hot cereal made from corn).  Grits are of Native American origin, so they are as American as you can get.  However, the average person usually eats some sort of cereal in the morning.  In the summer it is usually a dry cereal that milk is poured over.  In the winter, hot cereals such as oatmeal or grits are commonly eaten.  Lunches and dinners vary greatly depending on your families culture and your taste preferences.  In my family, we ate sandwiches for lunch.  For dinner we would eat some kind of meat (usually chicken), vegetables, and a bit of rice.  We never had mashed potatoes, turkey or stuffing except for on Thanksgiving.  However, once a week, we would usually have tacos, spaghetti, or steak and vegetables to spice things up.  Other than that, my family's table was pretty boring.  They didn't even bother putting any seasonings on the chicken.  I still find it funny that other countries think we live off of fast food.  I've only had fast food once this year.

In any case, what kind of culture and ideals does your country have?  Let me know in the comment section below!  I'd love to hear about your country's culture!