Summer Language Abroad 2023

The purpose of this post is to explore the stereotypes that people from our host country have about Americans and American culture. Being in Jordan, this provides a very unique and different perspective than other nationalities and cultures that experience much more contact with Americans. As an American here in Amman, Jordan, I have found that at times our cultures can be quite different from each other and several differences are extremely noticeable in our daily lives. But none of these differences are truly surprising.

In exploring this purpose, I asked one of my teachers her opinions on American culture and the American people at large. Her response was generally focused on the family dynamic that occurs in America and the differences that occur out of this. From my own observations, I have seen that Jordanian families are incredibly close and do everything together. She has also made this observation and believes that American culture breeds families that are not close nor have the interests of the family unit as their number one priority. She continued to explain her belief that American families are not close because, more often than not, we do not live in multigenerational homes. She found it odd that parents insist on sending their children out of the house once they reach adulthood and explains that Jordanians do not share this in common with Americans. She thinks that this action signals that American individuals do not care about the members within their family and instead are selfish, only caring about themselves.

Although I understand completely where my teacher is coming from and understand that this behavior is not common in most cultures, I also understand the American perspective of seeking out to be on your own once you reach adulthood. I believe that many of the underlying reasons for this behavior are ingrained in American society as we wish to create our own success.From a non-American perspective, I can see that from the outside this can appear selfish towards your family members, but I also know that families wish for their children and their family members to be successful. I have seen that the approach to higher education at times is very different here where children wish to stay with family during the educational process, whereas Americans tend to seek opportunities that can be far away from their families. But again, this is only because families wish for their children to seek out the best opportunities that are available.

I enjoyed hearing my teacher’s perspective on this matter because she is a very educated woman who cares deeply about her family and about family values. From this conversation I have learned that, for most Jordanian families, the concept of a strong family is  important and central to a ‘good’ family.

My time in Gleann Fhinne thus far has been a whirlwind of new experiences, places, and people. Though I’ve only been here for four days, I feel I’ve already gathered a month’s worth of stories and lessons.

The Gleann itself is a truly beautiful place. I’m greeted each morning by a tapestry of rolling, green hills, hugged tightly by a blanket of grey mist that drips into the valley and shrouds the surrounding Bluestack mountains in mystery. Flocks of sheep and cattle are sprinkled throughout the terrain, and the occasional moo is the only sound to interrupt the muffled breeze that glides through the trees. It is, in my opinion, the definition of peace.

The town of Gleann Fhinne – if you can call it a town – consists only of one pub, one school, and a few farms. My residence for the next two weeks is at one of these farm houses, with a lovely ‘bean an tí’ and several other students who, like me, have traveled to Donegal to improve their Irish. While I am taking language classes at the school, I believe I am learning the most at the house. It’s one thing to go to class and learn a language; it’s another to live in a home where the language is used and thriving.

After living in Dublin for some time, I’ve become relatively familiar with the subtleties of Irish culture. When I first came to this country, however, there were a few small “critical moments” that caught me off guard. For example, the use of the phrase “are you okay?” (“an bhfuil tú ceart go leor?” as Gaeilge). In America, I’ve only heard that question asked when there is a preceding assumption that the subject is not, in fact, okay. So, when shopkeepers and barkeeps repeatedly asked me, “are you okay?”, I felt the need to get to a mirror and examine myself. Did I look sick? Upset? Nope. I soon realized that, in Ireland, the question is used more casually. It is simply an equivalent to, “can I help you?”, as a retailer might ask a patron who wanders into their store. Even here, in the Gaeltacht, the phrase “ceart go leor” has been used quite constantly as a question and as a response.

Small differences like that pop up on occasion. Overall, though, the transition to the Irish lifestyle is going quite smoothly. I am excited to see what adventures these next few days bring.

Even though Japan as a country with more similar cultural stuffs for Chinese. There are still many new perspectives that discovered after living with my host family together.

• Voice: Japan is a country that really has no noises existed from my perspectives and people cares a lot for the amount of voices that they produced during night or at public places. But to be honest, even after going to U.S I never thought that my voices of taking phone call with my family members or my gaming voices is “loud” as my roommates are usually louder than me. Therefore, when my host family kindly reminded me that my voices of talking with my family member is little bit too loud for them even though I close all my bedroom’s doors and windows, I suddenly discovered that I cannot take my experience from going to U.S (used to be a new country for my ) in my experience now. As time pass, I really found that with a cultural differences, sometimes I couldn’t realize that some of the actions may not “fit in” there cultural customs but I knew that I could always ask for what they though about some things. A good way of switching from my perspective to others perspective.