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Lena is a friend of mine who happens to be German, and was a student at Humboldt Universität in Berlin. However, national boundaries have never really been an issue for her: alongside traveling all across Europe, she’s also had extended stays in South Korea and the United States. I figured she’d be an ideal candidate for a conversation about the cultural stereotypes surrounding American students.

The main thing that stood out to her was school spirit. When she thought of American college kids, they were always wearing university-branded merchandise, attending pep rallies or football games, and going to a ton of extracurricular activities. I suppose this is understandable, given all the movies taking place on college campuses; Lena cited Legally Blonde (2001) and House Bunny (2008) as her main inspirations. I can’t say that I’m familiar with either movie, so I can only hope that they’re faithful ambassadors of American culture.

Lena thought that American school spirit had both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it seemed to be a great way to bond with others, given the preexisting community which greets you when you set foot on the quad. On the other hand, she worried about the kind of peer pressure and conformity that would come from such a powerful campus culture. Indeed, the extent of the relationship between European students and their universities is their commute to campus and then their time in the classroom. For them, the university is primarily an institution dedicated to learning, and only secondly a cultural hub. I think that this would lend European uni students a higher sense of independence, as they are able to more freely choose the activities and friends they want to engage with.

This paints a fairly accurate picture of Notre Dame. I always thought of ND as a very traditional college , with a very strong sense of school spirit. Most of my peers certainly embody this stereotype, and I’ve personally seen both the advantages and disadvantages of school spirit play out in my four years here. However, it was certainly interesting hearing this same perspective from across the Atlantic.

I met a young couple who ask people for money along my daily route to school. In the descriptive sense, that was all that I saw them as initially. What sticks in my head the most from the D.I.V.E. process is my initial assumption, or the interpretation that I jumped to. I’m more accustomed to giving people food instead of money, and that’s how a lot of people tend to think back home. The hesitance comes from my assumptions about homeless people where I’m from, that whatever they do with my money might not be conducive to their health. Those were my initial hesitancies and interpretations without really knowing much about them.

The second time I saw them was when I decided I would talk to them and give them some of the change I had from train fares. I found out that they’re names are José and Decida and that they are together. This verified a bit further for me who they are and their necessity for money and food. Now I greet them every morning and ask how things are going. I’ve formed a positive evaluation of José and Decida because I am familiar with them and they are kind to me even though I don’t usually have cash for them. This makes up the evaluation portion, because I was comparing my experiences in the past to my present encounter and also reconsidering how these two people are unique individuals. Evaluating further I realized I wanted to build a connection with them because in the past I have realized that often times people simply want the dignity of respectful conversations.

In my French class last week, we had a conversation about stereotypes. This was especially interesting, since there were students in my class from different parts of the US, Japan, Switzerland, and Russia, in addition to my French professor. She first asked us what stereotypes we had about the French, before we moved on to stereotypes we had about each others’ countries. She also asked us about what we expected the stereotypes to be for our countries. Many of the stereotypes that I expected others to have about Americans were stereotypes that they did have. For example, there were the stereotypes that Americans are loud, in the way, overweight, unhealthy, and think we are the best (for the other students, many of these came from television, movies, and the news). However, they also had more positive stereotypes about Americans as well, which surprised me. My professor said that, in her experience from seeing American tourists, Americans always smile and get excited about little things. She used the example of seeing an interesting flower—an American would point it out, get excited, and take a photo, while a French person would look at it, shrug, and move on. Another of her stereotypes was that American students always love “pain au chocolat,” which definitely holds true, as all the Americans in the class agreed.

The Americans in the class brought up the stereotypes that Americans do not try to learn other languages. My professor didn’t fully agree with this stereotype; she seemed to think that most Americans make some effort to speak a little French when they visit. A Swiss girl in my class made a comment that I found very interesting. She said that a stereotype the Swiss have about the French is that the French do not try to learn other languages. In the discussion that followed, I learned that other Europeans view the French as people who do not make an effort to learn languages other than French. Most Americans, myself included, view Europeans as being very multilingual in comparison with Americans, so seeing another perspective of a stereotype Americans usually reserve for Americans being projected towards another group was interesting. The big difference here was being a European versus an American; we had varying stereotypes towards the French.

I also discussed American stereotypes with my host family. Their perspectives were interesting to compare. My host dad and host grandma lived in the US for a long time, though have primarily lived in France. They still have a lot of family in the US. My host mom, on the other hand, has never been to the US. My host dad, having lived in the US, disagreed with the stereotype that Americans are always unhealthy (though he did think Americans eat a lot of “McDo”). After living in the US, he talked about how Americans put a lot of emphasis into working out and eating vegetables, especially compared to the French. My host mom shared the assumption of my class, that Americans were unhealthy. I was surprised that my host dad’s opinion would differ , but it makes sense given he lived in the US for a time, and his opinions were not only formed through watching TV. For my host mom, she viewed the US in the same way that it has historically been viewed—as a land of opportunity. She felt that it is easier in the US to move up in social status and income group, and to lead a better life. My host mom has had a successful life in France, so I found it interesting that she held this view towards the US, especially since many Americans view Europe as better. But through what she had seen in both media, through her husband’s experiences, and with Americans she interacted with, she felt that the US offers more chances for one to better their life.

After learning about the stereotypes people have toward Americans, I found that they do generally align with what Americans expect them to be. The connotation is what differs the most. For example, Americans (myself included) expect Americans to be viewed as very loud and easily excitable. Americans usually view this as a solely negative thing. In my experience, Americans are louder than the French. And this is sometimes seen as annoying, but many French also view Americans as being very friendly. I was shopping with a friend in a small boutique, and the saleslady asked where we were from. When we said the US, her response was very positive, and she commented on how she likes to chat with Americans because Americans are always very friendly and talkative. While some of the negative stereotypes of Americans certainly are true, the French and those from other countries do not view Americans as negatively as most Americans would expect.