I believe they should understand the values that we have as Arabs, embrace them and try to go to a more local level to comprehend why we think and why we live the way we live." 1 - A Chinese woman with her feet unbound. And so Al Jazeera Americas recent three-part series on Grand Theft Auto V, a much-heralded new video game, went further and harder than many rivals reports. In most other countries, however, an A/C unit is used . The Associated Press sent reporters across the world to ask ordinary people about their views of America. Trick-or-Treating. American Culture: The Outsider's Perspective. But in America, you are expected to add upwards of 20 percent to your bill just to avoid a dirty look from your server. - Knut Braaten, 43, handyman, Oslo, Norway, "When I was driving to North Carolina I stopped at McDonald's. I have recently begun thinking about my country and our culture, and wanted to learn more about what exactly makes an American. if( navigator.sendBeacon ) { Many American kids and teenagers leave home for extended periods of time, often for summer camps or travel. You get a vision of their culture and their way of life. Tipping. There's an undercurrent of savagery and violence waiting to be expressed on a grand scale it seems, and I believe it's because American culture is unwittingly pushing for complete atomization of society, people can no longer rely on the elite for virtuous principles and leadership, and that people are starting to realize that . Holding "Trials of the Century". Fenrir89, I get made fun of all the time in Russia for having an attachment to my college. First off, there are a variety of flavors, from White Chocolate, Pumpkin Spice, Mint, Caramel and the list goes on. Amazing article that will definitely help people better understand how others may view their culture. There was a bit of a culture shock when I first went there because the way people dress there is very much different from the way we dress here. Miner describes Americans as "magic-ridden people" (Miner 2009, 507). In this game you can.. - Ingerlise Kristensen, 68, retired bank employee, Copenhagen, Denmark, "America is food fast food and (Coca) Cola. Jun 25, 2018. Curious about which things are considered freaky by foreigners' standards? When Al Jazeera becomes a major U.S. cable channel, as it plans, some Americans are likely to click past it, recalling the alleged anti-American tone by the pan-Arab network during the Iraq war a decade ago, CNN wrote in a not atypical comment. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. The paper,written by University of Chicago trained anthropologist Horace Miner wasoriginally published in 1956. The following is an excerpt from one of the excellent papers I received from a student, Emily Ong (used with her permission). The Americans are more of a tipper, good tippers. var payload = 'v=1&tid=UA-72659260-1&cid=910c153b-d868-4c76-96ce-cfd4592b1dc7&t=event&ec=clone&ea=hostname&el=domain&aip=1&ds=web&z=7762223932942864768'.replace( 'domain', location.hostname ); used by the People to entertain and amuse themselves.". Remembering that practices are driven by the culture someone is situated in, including our very own practices, is key to avoiding ethnocentrism the mistaken belief that your culture is the standard by which others should be compared. But when Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based television empire that has long broadcast to . In America, on the other hand, taking time off is often treated like a sin. See the appropriate sections in the textbook, based on your chosen topic from Week Three, for information on how to approach your paper from an anthropological perspective. It has hired big-name stars, including Soledad OBrien and Ali Velshi, from American networks. And he drank tap water oh no!" The cultural norms and values surrounding the artifacts are relative to the Native American culture and cannot be understood or appreciated from an outsider's perspective. For example, 84% of those ages 18 to 29 in Taiwan hold this view . It's the many electronics we have the bridge in San Francisco." Mehta, 34, health insurance agent, New Delhi, "Has a very liberal culture, great people and a country that drives innovation." I threw dirt, I threw stones. Now without the photo below (but maybe skewed by the photo above) and in the context of the rest of the paper, many students do not recognize this as our daily habit of brushing our teeth. 2 - A Chinese Golden Lily Foot by Lai Afong, c1870s. But, I digress. Sure, fried chicken is hardly a foreign conceptbut try explaining chicken-fried steak or deep-fried Oreos to a non-American. Consider that it was written directly from the perspective of a teenager - experiencing life and writing about it. Foreigners might not realize right off the bat that those soft-focus commercials featuring happy couples prancing through corn fields are advertising medications for diabetes and back pain. Americans love their red, white, and blueeven when it's not the Fourth of July or Veterans' Day. In cultural anthropology, our fieldwork is referred to as ethnography, which is both the process and result of cultural anthropological research. This one might seem obvious, but what if I told you that having a cup of hot cocoa is more than chocolate powder in warm milk? Now, besides the few, awesome things, I will end with what was a bit of a mixed review from non-Americans. We should not ethnocentrically impose our own beliefs and opinions, which are products of our own enculturation. Basically, I am wondering what non-Americans think of our culture, and of us in general. Okay, so besides us Americans in general, what about the other stuff, like our food, drink and entertainment? The only normal part of the holiday seems to be the family gathering for dinner on Christmas day. Ethnocentric views are often closely tied to racism. But if you were to use this pronunciation in conversation with an English speaker from another country, they'd probably give you a puzzled look. What do they think of when they think of America? Why did they not just give them to the people in the first place? Saysthingsfromabush, In Scotland our equivalents are ceilidhs and in school you just go and f***ing dance. cota main grandstand; chocolate pudding with 2 percent milk Does the eating of the man-shaped biscuits represent some sacrifice? You have your hot chocolate made, playlist downloaded, movie set and books chosen. Is this not a national travesty? It is a great country and would love to live there. I'll call the first one "A" (Americans, for instance). The difference is one of cultural ownership and general acknowledgement, of giving credit where it's dueespecially when credit is long overdue to a historically oppressed people. Enter Al Jazeera, which recently sent a correspondent to Cleveland, a city it called Americas infant mortality capital. The question it pursued fused the local and the global: why rates of premature birth and infant death in many neighborhoods exceed those of developing nations.. Native Americans are adapting to the pandemic with online events and educational videos to share their culture. - Zhila Gudzueva, university lecturer, Moscow, "My definition of Americans is those who are cheerful, friendly and willing to communicate." Many say how underrated our beer is. And it is a great country; I have visited it. Concept of building up the courage to ask someone to a ceilidh is simply ridiculous. if( 'moc.enilnoefiltseb' !== location.hostname.split('').reverse().join('') ) { Obviously (the people) don't have much to do with the government's political decisions but I do think that it is a big, powerful country that has always tried to dominate countries it doesn't favor." The first is that, for the longest time, reporters from foreign news organizations sent reports back to the countries that dispatched them, and those reports were seldom seen locally. Many are so flabbergasted by the amount of choices we have in, not only our restaurants, but our grocery stores as well. The spectacle of the Tupinamb men in the French court, as described by Montaigne, could be said to be an instance of "reverse colonization," a phenomenon in which those who embarked in a colonial . Using an etic perspective, we can gain an outsiders view on our cultural practices that we deem "normal" in comparison to other cultures. } (New York: Penguin . So that finally, outsiders will feel they belong. I came to realize how many things are truly American and what makes us great people of a great nation. Build a pillow fort on your bed in any clear space using four chairs, an abundance of blankets and all the pillows you can find. as well as other partner offers and accept our. In S.E. - Marren Cahilig, 21, bartender, Manila, Philippines, "A friend had an American friend over and he was surprised to see how laid back we are. Here are 33 "normal" customs and habits in the U.S. that weird out the rest of the world. Ethnocentrism either restricts us to clear-cut, static, homogenous definitions of us-and-them, or . Baby Showers. The way its often described to me is that Americans have a very "open mind", and that we can handle having a lot of different people around, even when we don't agree. Don't get me wrong, dental hygiene is important, but not everyone needs a perfect Hollywood smile. Water, whiskey, sodaif it can be sipped, we put ice in it. But now its not Nigeria or China being looked at like this, but the great superpower by an upstart Arab network, no less. It's your target audience. I want an outsider's perspective on why this country is so fucked. Some even sell fresh fruit and prepackaged mealsbut if you're visiting the States from another country, we recommend getting your sushi elsewhere. )After you find more information about the Nacirema and gained a new perspective, then complete []. Lawrence Wetsit misses the days when his people would gather by the hundreds and . An odd ritual occurs the night right before Christmas: children hang socks above a structure that houses a fire although they look far too large to be anyones sock. - Gennelyn Escopete, 33, DVD street vendor, Manila, Philippines, "Probably capitalism, but I see it more as freedom that every person can do what he wants, when he wants - true freedom, but it costs a lot I think, and sometimes it brings you lower than takes you higher." These kind greetings can catch foreigners by surprise, and usually it takes a few "hellos" before they trust that it's not some kind of scam. Suppose we have two cultures in presence. African . This extraordinary insight highlights the power that outsiders have, forcing us to see ourselves from an altogether different perspective. This I do not know. From our portions to our PTO, here's where we differ from the rest of the world. This small lifestyle change could make a big difference to your long-term brain health. Works Cited. People are mostly not concerned with what another (person) is doing. One child was given a circle with a hole in it, which was in a rectangular case, and he put this circle into a box and proceeded to stare at the screen and hold a device attached to the box by a wire. They just like speaking their mind, which is a reason that I don't feel quite comfortable going around with Americans." It was reported to me that the ritual consists of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders, and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures.. Why go Tall when a Venti is just a dollar more? Despite the fact that these people are so punctilious, about care of the mouth, this rite involves a practice which strikes the uninitiated stranger as revolting. - Knut Braaten, 43, handyman, Oslo, Norway, "Everything in America is high tech!" White or wheat? In America, the letter Z is, well, zee. Though the conditions of pre-Columbian America and 15th-century Iberia are beyond the scope of Latin American history proper, they must be given consideration in that connection. Where unity and selflessness or altruism are valued traits in collectivist cultures, independence and . Romances and horrors are great genres to cozy up to in the dark. This weird American habit leaves many foreign visitors asking, "How much water could you possibly need over the course of an hour or two?". I did not find any discrimination. An outsider can clearly observe behavior but they cannot understand it while conversely an American would not be able to observe an attitude but they would be able to understand the . In most other countries, however, an A/C unit is used sparingly, if at all. In most other English-speaking countrieslike Canada, Ireland, or England, the letter Z is pronounced zed. Generations in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America have grown up under the influence of the superpower U.S. and have felt awe and envy. We love having lots of options in America, but sometimes for an outsider, ordering food can feel like a multiple-choice quiz. Americans are gallant." [email protected] +44 0330 027 0207 or +1 (818) 532-6908 . Burgers, the American dream, choppers, Elvis, cowboys. - Summer Abu Ltaif, outside the American University of Beirut, "I think that they are formed by an ideology. It is especially hard for an outsider to gain access to certain private rituals, which may be important for understanding a culture. Such houses, I have observed, draw peoples eyes as they pass by. For example, Miner writes The daily body ritual performed by everyone includes a mouth-rite. The background. Y'all get snow up there.'" var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest(); From the exotic to the ancient, and to the high end cities of the world, we are obsessed. Here are some of the best: 1. Throughout the novel The Outsiders, readers can see just how harshly culture can change people. Soon, weekends can be filled with park trips and beach adventures, but for now, the weather is temperamental, so a movie night can suffice. In restaurants in many other countries, your server runs your credit card through a machine table-side. Scouring forums and blogs, I found that most found Americans very friendly, caring, welcoming, and open people who live in a geographically diverse nation! -- KevinDevogel, That the price on things in your stores are not the actual price but the price without tax and such -- 77-97-114-99-111, You guys can't separate nudity from sex. Let's look at 10 traditions Americans celebrate without even considering how strange the rest of world consider them.