hecovalot
New member
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2005
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Barcelona, Spain
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Very Liberal
I have lived outside of the US for 3 years, and the last time I went back for a visit it took me a while to convince some of my friends that burritos and jalapeño peppers are NOT in the typical Spanish diet! It also shocked them that Spain has three recognized official languages apart from Spanish!
That said, I don't think most Americans have a clue what another culture is. Yes, there are ethnic restaurants and Chinatowns in every major city around the country, but they don't reflect the TRUE culture of those countries; they are, instead, a homogenized form adopted in the US. The only way an American could know about different cultures would be to have interest and to travel around to experience the differences. Still, only about 18% of the population has a valid passport, and even less people have used it more than once.
On the other side of the coin, if you asked the average Spaniard- or, in my case, Catalan- how many states there are in the US, they couldn't answer the question accurately. Heck! They still think that the president is the head of the US government! (Oh! Wait! Even average Americans think that, dont they!)
That said, I don't think most Americans have a clue what another culture is. Yes, there are ethnic restaurants and Chinatowns in every major city around the country, but they don't reflect the TRUE culture of those countries; they are, instead, a homogenized form adopted in the US. The only way an American could know about different cultures would be to have interest and to travel around to experience the differences. Still, only about 18% of the population has a valid passport, and even less people have used it more than once.
On the other side of the coin, if you asked the average Spaniard- or, in my case, Catalan- how many states there are in the US, they couldn't answer the question accurately. Heck! They still think that the president is the head of the US government! (Oh! Wait! Even average Americans think that, dont they!)