Stereotypes

So one thing I have been thinking about a lot lately is stereotypes. Being from America, I knew for a fact that when I came abroad, I would be thought of as an American. That's obvious, right? But it is different, because while I am in no way ashamed of being an American, I knew that there would be certain stereotypes floating about in people's minds the moment they learned where I came from. 

(I want to add, I am not suggesting there are not stereotypes about other countries, or that I do not/did not have any false stereotypes of my own, there certainly are, and I have entertained some in my own mind as well, I just want to comment on the stereotypes of "typical Americans"--hopefully you all understand!)

Anyway, one of my goals that I set for myself before coming to Sweden was to do the best I could to both represent America well, and possibly terminate some stereotypes...at least in a few people's minds.

In a discussion with some international friends the other day, we were talking about what we first think of when we think of another country. For the US, there were a few that I found to be universal: fast food, importance of money, trying to be "cool", over-weight, emotionally and relationally "fake", self-centered, and huge portion sizes. 

This made me so distressed! I mean really, I felt like I had this huge weight on my shoulders, as if I were expected to be able to justify and explain each of these stereotypes. One thing that I often tell people is that America is so diverse in itself. I tell them that yes, there are people who eat at McDonalds every day, who are relationally "fake", and who only care about money, and for that, I am sad. But there are also people who are nothing like that; there are so many different kinds of people, and they cannot be all clumped together. 

After feeling distraught about the whole conversation for a couple hours, I decided that the only thing I could do was to be the best representation of what Americans can be like, and hope that the next time a stereotype pops into their head about Americans they might think, "Oh wait...there was that one girl from America...and she wasn't so bad."

A little encouragement came today on the bus when I was riding back to the University with a group of German students. Martin, a fellow international student and classmate from Germany told me that he thought I was a really nice American. He said, "I usually don't like Americans. They are so fake, and never 'real' with their emotions. Everything is always COOL! or AWESOME! never just normal. But I think you are really nice. And that is a major compliment coming from me....plus you are good at futboll."

So if that's the best I can do, then its better than nothing! :o)