Stereotypes all over Europe, by Meghan Nuti

I am about halfway done with my program here in Seville, and have learned more than I probably ever would have at home. Not only have I seen how cultures differ from the preconceived stereotypes I have of them, I have also noticed how different the US is from what people outside of it think of it as. It really is true when they say, you learn a lot more about the United States from being outside of it abroad.

After traveling to many places in Europe on weekend trips, there are two times when stereotypes of the United States have really stood out to me. About two weeks ago, I was in Amsterdam with two of my good friends from Santa Clara University. We decided to go on a canal cruise in order to see the city. When we first got onto the boat, we were asked to go around the boat and say where we were from. There were people from all over Europe, from London to Italy to Norway. Towards the end of the boat ride, a man from Norway turned to my friends and I, and said something along the lines of, “You girls are too quiet to be from California”. It shocked me because I had never known that being loud and crazy was a stereotype of California girls. Maybe he got this idea from the song by Katy Perry, but I couldn’t think of any other connection. It is amazing to see the different things that people think and/or say about countries that they know nothing about at all. It just shows that people make assumptions based on what they hear from other people who have experienced the culture.

Following that weekend, I was in Barcelona, again with a few of my friends. We were sitting at a rooftop bar and when the waiter came to our table, he naturally asked where we were from. He looked surprised when we said we were from California, and not just the United States. When we asked him why this was surprising he explained that most people who are from other states in the US, will reply by saying they are from the United States, and then go on to say which state they are from when asked. However, he said that whenever he asks someone who is from California where they are from, they naturally just say California. To quote him, he said, “There is no need for a Californian to say the United States”. This really caught me off guard because my whole life I have been used to saying I’m from California- and that’s it. I never realized that this would be different for people in other states. I am not sure how true this actually is, but from his observations, it's a recurring trend. It is really interesting to see that people have such different conceptions of the 50 states in the US. They may know what California is but get confused when we get into the midwest states, as explained by the waiter and other teachers of mine at UPO. The US is often defined as the west-coast, California, and the east coast, New York City, with nothing in between.

Both of these experiences have simply reminded me that it takes an actual experience to somewhat understand a culture. We can’t keep judging cultures based on our preconceived stereotypes. I am really thankful for both of these experiences, as they act as a reminder to keep an open mind when meeting people from all over the world in Europe.