Silly Ahmeddicans

Okay, so I've already covered the common stereotypes that (most) Americans have about Japanese people. But do you reeeally think that they don't have some stereotypes about us? Well, if not then you're sadly mistaken and you might want to prepare yourself, because I plan to name a few of them right now. To a degree, I feel like this post is a little premature because there are some students that I have yet to ask about American stereotypes and they are a colorful group so their input would be greatly appreciated. But I'll list what I have so far and if there are any additions, I'll give you an update. Let's get started, shall we?

#1 - Americans LOVE to party

We party every single night, my student told me. We just love to get our "fun" on. But what's a party without beer and about 50 or 60 of our closest friends. This leads to the next 2 stereotypes.

#2 - Americans LOVE liquor and drink a lot

"Americans can drink lots and lots of liquor," my student said.

"Really?" I asked her.

She nodded.

"Well, I can't."

She tilted her head and looked confused. "You can't?"

"No," I told her. "One drink is enough for me."

Her - "WOW!"

And at that moment, an angel got their wings.

#3 - Americans LOVE large bars

The bars that we go to have the ability to hold hundreds of people and we fill those suckers up. People everywhere, with lots of yelling, drunken dancing, and spilled drinks. Now I've gone to a couple of those in my college days, so I had nothing but a smile and a guilty expression when she mentioned this stereotype. Also, it's important for me to note that a lot of the "watering holes" (at least the ones that I've gone to in my little town of Kurashiki, Japan) are very small and quiet. They can hold a capacity of maybe 20 people.

#4 - Americans Will Drive a Car Until the Wheels Fall Off

In Japan, people change their cars every 5 years because it's cheaper that way. Otherwise, they have to pay really high fees to get their yearly checkup. When she explained that it costs the equivalent of 1,000 American dollars a year JUST for the checkup, not counting of course the oil changes (which get more expensive, the older the car is) as well as the taxes, I understood why one would just shell out the bucks yen to buy a new car. She said that Americans drive cars until they die. After living in a country where every car is shiny and new, I can totally understand why she feels that way.

#5 - Americans Eat Hamburgers Every Day

That's prettymuch it. We eat them every day, kind of like the equivalent of English people drinking tea at a certain time every day . . . except our tea would be hamburgers. Big, greasy, hamburgers.

#6 - American Children Are Fed Ice Cream Every Night

And not just a regular bowl of ice cream . . . a huge bowl with scoop upon scoop of ice cream, towering as high as the child's head. I only say this because when I repeated my student and asked, "Children eat ice cream every day?" she shook her head vehemently and said, "No, no, no . . . BIG . . . big bowls of ice cream." and began to make what looked like a hand signal for humongous mountain or something and began shoveling it into her mouth. "Got, it!" I said.

#7 - Americans Are Very Nice

Maybe she just said this because she'd unloaded a few gut punches on me - with the "Americans eat hamburgers every day" (and drink, and spoil our children and pretty much have no class, LOL). But I don't think so, I actually think she meant this. She made a reference to a famous Japanese comedian who has a funny skit where he goes to America and jumps out of odd places, attempting to scare (and anger, I guess) the Americans. She says that everyone just laughed or smiled but no one got angry. She said if he'd have tried that mess in Japan, he would have gotten punched in his face. I laughed. I suspect that if some small, asian man jumped out of an odd place, attempting to scare me, my laughing, getting angry (or crying) might depend on the situation. Either way, it was hard for me not to think about the guy from "The Hangover," when she mentioned this.

#8 - America Is At the Top of the Technology Food Chain

According to my student, America has the latest gizmos, gadgets, whatchama-doozits and computers. I was shocked to hear this particular American stereotype because I assumed that Japan was the technology capital of the world, but when she said it . . . I couldn't help but to nod my head and grin. Yeah! One point for us!!! :-)

#9 - Americans Put Our Children to Bed Early

I then asked her, "What's early?"

And she says, "Nine pm."

So then of course I had to ask her what time Japanese people generally put their children to bed. She said maybe around 12am. Now, of course this is a subjective question. Maybe there are some Japanese parents who put their children to bed before 12, but generally all of my students have told me that they go to bed pretty late. Either way, my bedtime (and all of the bedtimes of the children that I grew up with - who had decent families - went to bed at around 9pm.) I thought it was really strange that she thought this was early. But if this is a stereotype about Americans . . . I feel comfortable enough to generalize and say that it's true.

#10 - Americans Have Happy Children

Because they all eat so much ice cream and go to bed early, of course.

#11 - Americans Travel All Over the World

I told her that only the Americans with lots of money and lots of time to do this. When she mentioned this stereotype, however, it helped me to understand why so many people looked at me cross eyed when I told them that this was my first time out of the country. A lot of times when the Japanese mention to me all of the places that they've been, they'll ask me if I've been there too. "No," I say. And then comes, the look followed by, "Why not?" Either way, my student told me that it's a common belief that Americans are very worldly and it's nothing for them to hop on an airplane and go to a foreign country. I guess my very presence in Japan does nothing to discourage that stereotype.

#12 - All Americans Have Big Houses and Big Yards

Well, not all of us, I told her. But yes, there are a number of big houses and spacious yards in America. Especially where I used to live in New Jersey. In Japan, I've seen a few nice, large homes . . . but I have yet to see a large yard.

So that's all I got for now. Personally, I thought about a lot of these stereotypes and I can totally understand why some of these views about American culture exists. You can really see the differences between the Japanese and American culture by examining some of them. Either way, I refuse to substantiate or oppose any of these stereotypes . . . I'll leave that to you. What do you think?