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As soon as I open my mouth here, people immediately know I am not a local just because of my accent and the first question is always where are you from. I’m proud to say the USA, which certainly plays into one heterostereotype I’ve heard which is “Americans are overly patriotic.” But whenever I ask someone about their perception of America, the first thing out of their mouth is always, “Americans are fat and only eat fast food.” The thing is most of the people I’ve met have never even been to America, so this statement must solely be based on tv shows, movies, and media.

While there certainly are Americans who fulfill this stereotype, I would argue that most countries have overweight people. But perhaps it is the fact that our big fast-food chains have gone global, like McDonalds, that other cultures are under the perception it is all Americans eat. I really haven’t enjoyed reflecting on this heterostereotype because as an athlete I highly value living a healthy lifestyle and truly believe that there are many Americans who are health-conscious. I think with any stereotype it exists for a reason and if you go looking for it in a culture you will certainly find it, but that doesn’t mean it holds true for everyone.

It is hard to reflect on the past week or so because quite a bit has happened since I last wrote. In addition to getting to know my classmates, the family I am staying with, and the city of Grenoble a lot better, I have also had the opportunity to have a number of conversations with French hikers, climbers, and skiers on trails and in alpine huts. I thought I would reflect on one particularly memorable one, when I had the chance to talk with a couple about their perceptions of Americans. Some were more surprising than others.

I met the woman and man––both around age 30––while staying a night at the Refuge des 7 Laux, a beautiful mountain cabin in the Belledone Range (see picture below!). Practically no one at the hut spoke English, so the experience was both good practice and at times a little difficult. After eating soup and talking a little about our hometowns and our respective passion for mountain sports and landscapes, we decided to try to play a card game together. I took advantage of this opportunity to ask them some informal questions about their perspectives of Americans and they shared some brief remarks. There were a few themes that stuck out from their comments. Overall, both the woman and the man were very kind and mainly just answered my questions with questions. They were curious about what it was like to live in the U.S. and how the customs compared to those in France. Specifically, they seemed to assume that gender roles were a little more rigid in the states than they are in France. They also made occasional jokes about the “loudness” of American culture and individuals. Unless I misunderstood, neither of them had been to the states but had gathered their impressions predominately from popular media and news. Sadly, I couldn’t help but agree with some of their impressions, but I also think sometimes the loudest voices in a place do not necessarily represent the bulk of the people. I think they very much understood this, too. Most of all, after all, they were interested in hearing more about American mountains.

I still wonder to what extent the language barrier prevented me from understanding all it was this couple was trying to communicate. But maybe more interestingly, I wonder if sharing conversation at an alpine hut where we could easily connect over our shared love of the mountains made it easier for us to focus on our curiosities and commonalities rather than differences. 

One of the main reasons I wanted to study French in Grenoble was its proximity to the mountains (and the chance to familiarize myself with French alpine culture), and this experience was just one among many I have had that make me feel grateful I have done so. I look forward to sharing more about my experience soon!

Hey everyone,

After just a few weeks in Germany, I have experienced a lot of culture shocks in many facets of life. School is different, expectations are different, and even public transportation is different. All of these could be their own critical incident blog, but I believe that the age difference in both my school and the University near me was a big critical incident. I am in class with people aged 16-38. In America, I haven’t been in a class with someone double my age. However, according to my German roommate, it is common for people to study at the University at any age because there doesn’t exist a “educational track” like there is in America.

When I learned how old the people were studying with me at the language school, I was first very curious as to why there were here and then tried to think of reasons why they would be in this school at such a “late” age. However, I failed to realize that this school taught people coming from other countries to live here. These people need to be at a C1-C2 level in order to study at a German University or work in a certain job. They are people trying to advance their lives like myself, just with a different background, different choices, and different goals. After learning about them and being more acceptant and understanding of their situations, I became more comfortable around them and learned to learn with them as I would my peers at Notre Dame.

I think my implicit understanding of America’s educational system created what would be the shock about age and education here. Although I don’t think there’s anything wrong with someone outside their twenties getting a degree, it seems different to me because of where I grew up. If I had to use a metaphor for this situation, it would be like a camera lens looking at a society. I’m looking through an American lens, taking a picture of a German/European society. Obviously, the picture will turn out differently because they’re two different cultures. However, I think removing the camera lens and looking at it without the camera creates new understanding and the formation of a new lens. Overall, I believe this new camera lens will show growth and development as my trip goes on.