{"id":284,"date":"2023-06-26T06:33:10","date_gmt":"2023-06-26T10:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/2023flinternship\/?p=284"},"modified":"2023-06-26T06:33:11","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T10:33:11","slug":"blog-3-stereotypes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/2023flinternship\/2023\/06\/26\/blog-3-stereotypes\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog #3: Stereotypes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Throughout this summer, the unique experience of living abroad has definitely allowed me to feel more united in a global community, interacting daily with people I would have never met without traveling across the ocean. With this extreme privilege also comes the ability to notice the small things about my daily interactions that both help me understand my role as a \u201cglobal citizen\u201d and also connect with those outside of my nationality. Europe in general has its preconceived notions of America\u2014often labeled as the \u201cnoisy tourists\u201d that arrive for the stretch of the year between May and September. For many of the people I interact with on a daily basis, I\u2019m the first American they\u2019ve truly met. While this at times feels daunting, as I\u2019m creating a perception of an entire country to them, at the same time it\u2019s a very valuable experience to show them the pieces of my life in the states that have shaped who I am. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first few weeks in Milan came with a lot of questions about the USA: graduate students were shocked to find out that I lived six hours<\/em> by car away from my home to attend college, that a US large soda is \u201ctruly absurd\u201d by comparison to the European equivalent, and many conversations about what Americans do for fun were exchanged. Sometimes it felt that there was an assumption that America was exactly as those cliche teen movies characterized it\u2014and there is some truth behind the stereotypes of Friday Night Lights and the Fourth of July. But overall I didn\u2019t really experience harmful stereotyping by my peers, more of a genuine curiosity about the other side of the planet. I recall one of my graduate student mentors perplexed at just exactly why<\/em> I decided to study in Italy this summer\u2014America is so far away<\/em> and has everything one could possibly need. The glamorization of American life is definitely palpable, but it more creates a sense of shock or curiosity in those I interact with as opposed to confusion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the most part, I think the Italian perception of the USA is shockingly accurate. Italian young people are almost midwestern in their politeness\u2014everyone is friendly and eager to socialize, but one large difference between Italian young people and American young people is within the university experience. While students still attend university and can sometimes live in dormitory-style housing, the party-sport-study-repeat structure of American university life is not at all replicated. All these aspects of life are distinctly separate. Sports being a fixture in American university culture was so shocking for many of the people I interact with daily\u2014school is a place for studying<\/em>. The concept of so many students continuing sports alongside their education was something that definitely contributed to the heterostereotypes that I sometimes saw in my daily life. The differences in university life between Italy and America definitely contribute to the heterostereotype of the USA being a hub for partying, drinking, and generally just \u201cbeing American\u201d in the most stereotypical sense. When I view America from their point of view, it does make a lot of sense that many of the aspects of our culture that others are aware of is in the form of socialization\u2014movies depict it, songs are about it, it\u2019s the most accessible view of the US from an abroad angle. I think seeing how America is perceived also helps me understand better the similarities and differences in Italian culture, and taking these small observations with me has helped immensely in my cultural integration.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Seeing more “tourist” areas around Italy, while amazing, definitely demonstrates the difference between Italian life and Italian tourism.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Stereotypical gondola ride in Venice was fun, but definitely catered only to those visiting the city.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I got to attend an American football match this past weekend for the European League of Football (ELF). Both the players and fanbase were impressive!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Throughout this summer, the unique experience of living abroad has definitely allowed me to feel more united in a global community, interacting daily with people I would have never met without traveling across the ocean. With this extreme privilege also comes the ability to notice the small things about my daily interactions that both help … <\/p>\n

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