The American experience...

Before I left, I gathered a lot of different opinions about a lot of different things. One of those things was the worldwide perception of Americans. I've heard a lot of different stories, mostly negative, about how everybody hates Americans and wants to take advantage of them. My parents say, "Watch out! They'll mug you!" and my professors say, "You can easily spot an American outside of America because they are loud and obnoxious and think they are in America."

I didn't want to believe the negativity from either side. I came to England and everything was great. From when I boarded the plane until when I got to Newcastle, I wasn't hassled by any American hating Brits, and I definitely wasn't mugged. Everybody was really nice. After I made some friends, we poked fun at each other like friends do, me being the token American of the group, but it was all in good taste.

Then I went on my field trip...

The museum was absolutely magnificent. The displays were wonderful, I really enjoyed the architecture of the museum itself and all of the art encased inside. However, a problem arose. It started while I was waiting for the bus outside of the Lipman building, and increased considerably as the day moved on. The problem came from the company that I was keeping, specifically 8 American students studying abroad just like me...

At this point, I had been in England for 10 days. In that span of time, I had traveled from London to Newcastle, eaten a variety of local foods, made friends with a variety of local and foreign people, learned some local slang, and even figured out how to order food and buy things in the distinctly English style. As I began to converse with the other Americans, however, I soon learned that my peers had not done the same. Our entire conversation on the way to the museum was on the subject of Americans banding together to go out and "show these Brits how to drink for real". There were random chants of "BALLIN'!!" whenever someone told a story about how drunk they got at a club while screaming obnoxiously about how superior America was, and lots of laughing at the "weird accents"...

I don't know. Maybe this is what I was supposed to be doing while spending four months abroad, but I can't imagine how one appreciates local culture and blends in by sticking with fellow Americans and remaining completely American while in a foreign setting. Why come all the way to England just to be completely American with other Americans? This Sunday, they are going to a Super Bowl party to "show these Brits what real football is all about". Again, really? I'm just..confused by this behavior...

After the trip, we were all really hungry, so we decided to go to a pub for some food. At this point, there were 6 of us, but the pub only had seating for four. Instead of taking two tables next to each other, the group collectively decided to rearrange the tables so that they blocked the only path from the bar to the downstairs area. Then, without asking the management if it was okay, they grabbed menus from 4 other tables (each table only had one menu) so that they could all read it at once instead of taking turns. I know that everybody gets a menu in America, but is it really so hard to just take turns reading? The act really made us stick out, and we got a lot of funny looks. After I had read a menu and decided what I wanted, I approached the bar and asked if they were still serving food. The bartender said yes, so I ordered a bowl of leek and potato soup and sat back down. The rest of the group was still sitting at the table(s) with their five menus waiting for a waitress to come serve them. I told them that they had to go to the bar, and they gave me a "really???" look, as if they were too good to stand and walk the twenty feet to the bar.

When they came back, I asked them what they had ordered. Three of them had ordered a burger, but instead of just ordering what was on the menu, they substituted some toppings and asked to rearrange the sides to their liking. I looked over at the bartender/waitress, and I could tell that she was visibly annoyed by all of the complications and the blatant disregard for the restaurant that we were eating in. Our food came out, and we ate. I ate all of my soup, but the girls of the group ate about a quarter of their burger and left the sides, while the guys ate just the burger and left the sides, saying that they were "too weird looking to try". When I had finished, I brought my bowl and glass up to the bar, told the bartender thanks for the meal, then sat back down. The rest of the group sat around and waited for the bartender to stop what he was doing and come collect the plates, even after I told them that you are supposed to bring your dishes up. While the bartender was still in earshot, the guys in the group complained loudly that they "couldn't understand these people's funny accents". We stayed in the pub for another fifteen minutes or so, watching sports reviews on the TV. The whole time, the guys loudly expressed their distaste for football and how weird British music was...

When I got back to my room and saw my friends, I told them how upset I was about how the Americans acted and asked if I was like that. They told me no, but most of the Americans they have met are the same way...

This experience made me realize why I'm here. Even though I'm an American, I recognize that I'm not in America, so, instead of comparing English things to their American counterparts, I will recognize and accept the way things are here and appreciate them to their full extent. I have the rest of my life to experience American things and act like an American, but while I'm here, I'll do my best to forget about how things are in America and just enjoy things that are profoundly British...

-Matt