In performing these interviews, I was introduced to so many different perspectives about America and the surprising experiences they have had with American citizens. The first interview I had was with a girl I met from Saudi Arabia in my program. She goes to college in Arizona, so she has a lot of experience in living in both America and Saudi Arabia, and she told me about how restricting it is to live in Saudi Arabia regarding its laws. For example, it is illegal to drink alcohol no matter the age. Also, socially, it is also very hard to be different, which is why that is one of the reasons why she likes America. She said she is very free in the US, however, she did tell me her encounters with some Americas were very “narrow minded”. She was talking with this American student in our program, and he was asking things like “How is it living in Saudi Arabia?” “Is it hard?” and using a tone that very much implied that Saudi Arabia is a dangerous and scary and horrible place to live in. My friend told me that this is a very narrow mindset to have, and that it is true Saudi Arabia is involved in conflict, but there is so much more that makes the country beautiful. For me, I understand why this boy had this mindset, as I hear people around me, like my family members, that also have a certain image of countries like Saudi Arabia, which is another reason why I am so grateful for this trip. People have to realize that there is so much more out there that we have not learn and explore yet, which I think a lot of Americans don’t see. A lot of Americans are okay with staying and settling where they are comfortable. Even in this program, I noticed that a lot of the Americans would only talk to other Americans, which defeats the whole purpose of going to an international school. I will cherish this experience, as I have met and learned from so many people from all around the world, including from Australia, Great Britain, Saudi Arabia, France, China, Korea, Singapore, and so much more. And because of this and our conversations, I learned about different religions, political situations, traditions, cultures, history, and the list goes on. Going to this international summer school opened my eyes to how much bigger the world is than I originally thought.
The second interview I had was with a really close friend I met in this program who is from Great Britain and is probably one of the most knowledgable person I have ever met. She is 24 and she has had a lot of experience around the world and knows about many different cultures that isn’t her own. As we got to know each other, I realized that I knew absolutely nothing about the rest of the world, which proves my point in the paragraph above. She and a bunch of other girls would talk about her religion, Islam, but also knew so much about Christianity and she would talk about her Somali culture and traditions and history even though she grew up in Great Britain. And she would talk about Great Britain and American politics that I didn’t even know about. I don’t know if she just knows more than the average person or I know less, but she saw I didn’t know anything, and she pointed out it was very “American” of me, which I totally agree with.
I am continuing on what I was saying above because I think this is an important pattern that needs to be addressed. I can’t speak for other people, but before I learned all of this, I didn’t even realize how much I didn’t know, so I didn’t really have the desire to learn more and go out of my comfort zone, which I think a lot of Americans also experience as well. Also, I also thought I knew more than I thought because America is composed of people of all different ethnicities and race, but what I forgot is that we are all still American. We all may have different backgrounds, but the lack of distance we have with each other influences a lot of similarity as well. It is only when we travel thousands of miles away until truly see what the world has to offer to us. My friend makes a very valid point about Americans’ desire to learn more. Also, I am not generalizing and saying ALL Americans have this mindset, but I have been seeing a pattern of Americas as well as what non-Americans have been telling me.
The last interview I had was with one of my friends who is a Korean citizen that I met up with a couple of times during my trip. She also said that compared to living in Korea, she is more free in America, especially in the education and job aspect. In Korea, she said the mindset is in order to be successful, you need to go to get a good education and that this is the normal route every Korean young adult takes or strives to take. However, the job rate is VERY low here. In America, there is much more flexibility on what one is socially accepted to do with their life. I say socially accepted because in theory, anyone can do anything with their lives, but socially, it is normal to go to college in Korea, and in America, socially, it is more acceptable to have creative and independent jobs other than going to college. I also like this about America because as I have lived in Korea and observed the people, I noticed that, specifically in Seoul, everyone kind of tries to be the same. Clothing stores sell the same products, so every girl dresses the same and every guy dresses the same. Also, everyone is so pressured to get a good job and they all work their butts off to achieve this. Everyone seems to be leading the same life, which is so interesting to me. In America, a lot of people want to be different and are more open to being different. This prompt especially gave me a lot more insight of how America and Americans are perceived and I am very glad I chose to write about this.