Americans are stereotypically loud. It's not that we're all obnoxious,
though many are. No, we just speak louder and more often than foreigners.
When
you go shopping in another country, notice how the employees just swipe your
items, you pay, and you're out the door. The cashier doesn't feel obligated to
give you a fake smile with disingenuous small-talk. No “Welcome to our store!! How’s your day going? You find everything okay? Do you have a membership card? Can I have your contact information to sign you up for it? Thank you for shopping!”
You’re in and you’re out.
It wouldn’t be a stereotype if it were that simple,
though.
I studied abroad in South Korea for a semester and it was an embarrassment to be around my classmates. I was thrown off by how quiet the society was, but I quickly realized, "Oh, this is just how it is here." My classmates weren't so quick to catch on.
On a train, they were all chatting away, giggling and shouting, when some of the citizens started glaring at us. They clearly saw they were being a nuisance, but instead of being respectful, they just joked about it when we were back at the hotel. "That guy reading the newspaper looked SO MAD, GUYS!"
Later, I was explaining to one of the men that South Korea’s culture is quieter and more respectful than ours. Before I could finish, some round (to use polite terms), middle-aged woman interrupted, "That's just a stereotype and this country gets enough of that!"
She didn’t know what she was talking about. She admitted as much when she said she was only there because she liked Korean pop boy bands and Korean drama shows. As someone that has extensively studied the country formally and privately for years, and I have many relations with South Koreans; I tried to calmly reason with her. She burst into tears and the group gathered to comfort her. They actually had to fly in an "Emergency Conflict Resolution Specialist" or some shit to lecture at me.
Just to reiterate what happened: American college students
were literally brought to tears by the suggestion that they should be sensitive
to other cultures.
I wasn't very popular in the group. It didn't matter, though. I wanted to immerse in the country on my own. In case you were wondering, yes, all the college students were there because they liked K-pop. That was something they each admitted the first night at the hotel. They spent most of their time stay-cationing in said hotel. When they felt adventurous, every night - and I'm not exaggerating here - EVERY NIGHT they would eat at Taco Bell.
On our last day, one mourned "I'll miss the food!"
