Europe and the USA
Posted: 20 Jul 2013, 02:42
To me, an American, it's pretty impressive for a German webcomic to be written in perfectly natural English. I know, in Europe, that might not be considered impressive, as the rate of multilingualism is so high over there. But to me, it's something interesting. That gets me thinking about other cultural differences, and this might be a good place to discuss them.
For one thing, I hear that American popular music, TV, and movies are very popular in Europe, but that is a surprise to me, and to some other Americans, because those are some of the aspects of our culture we complain about the most! A lot of the time, you'll find Americans whose attitude is that "obviously" all American TV and movies are "crap" and "rot your brain", and that intelligent people watch foreign films and TV or don't even have a TV at all. Even I am a little bit this way. I watch very little American TV. Most of the shows I like are Korean or Japanese. Popular music also has a bad reputation among much of the population. People seek out foreign or underground music. As for me, virtually every band I like is either European or Israeli.
On the other hand, American food has a bad reputation in Europe, while I don't see anything terribly wrong with it. Maybe Europeans think McDonald's is American food? Most Americans I know wouldn't call that "food" at all. That is not what a hamburger looks like. Real American cuisine (at least here in Texas) revolves around the following equation:
meat + fire = food
Outdoor grilling on a summer day is a big thing down here. People gather at someone's home, and somebody grills and passes out meat to everyone's paper plates. Well, it's a little more than just that, but my point is that it isn't anything awful enough to warrant the terrible image that our food seems to have. Some people think Texan barbecue is "burnt", but it's actually not a mistake. We think a little gentle blackening at the edges adds a nice zip to the flavor of the meat, and maybe makes it less greasy.
Of course, I like foreign food too, so maybe it's just a matter of my having a biased perspective, and maybe foreign food really *is* better.
I'm interested to hear anyone else's thoughts. Just hoping to start a conversation to liven up this forum a little.
For one thing, I hear that American popular music, TV, and movies are very popular in Europe, but that is a surprise to me, and to some other Americans, because those are some of the aspects of our culture we complain about the most! A lot of the time, you'll find Americans whose attitude is that "obviously" all American TV and movies are "crap" and "rot your brain", and that intelligent people watch foreign films and TV or don't even have a TV at all. Even I am a little bit this way. I watch very little American TV. Most of the shows I like are Korean or Japanese. Popular music also has a bad reputation among much of the population. People seek out foreign or underground music. As for me, virtually every band I like is either European or Israeli.
On the other hand, American food has a bad reputation in Europe, while I don't see anything terribly wrong with it. Maybe Europeans think McDonald's is American food? Most Americans I know wouldn't call that "food" at all. That is not what a hamburger looks like. Real American cuisine (at least here in Texas) revolves around the following equation:
meat + fire = food
Outdoor grilling on a summer day is a big thing down here. People gather at someone's home, and somebody grills and passes out meat to everyone's paper plates. Well, it's a little more than just that, but my point is that it isn't anything awful enough to warrant the terrible image that our food seems to have. Some people think Texan barbecue is "burnt", but it's actually not a mistake. We think a little gentle blackening at the edges adds a nice zip to the flavor of the meat, and maybe makes it less greasy.
Of course, I like foreign food too, so maybe it's just a matter of my having a biased perspective, and maybe foreign food really *is* better.
I'm interested to hear anyone else's thoughts. Just hoping to start a conversation to liven up this forum a little.