Delusions of Grandeur?

My cousin Frances stayed over Friday, and brought her Swedish friend, Armi. (long story short, Frances went to France to study French, where she met Armi, who attended the same classes)

I was vaguely surprised when I saw that Armi had short black hair and dark eyes, instead of the long, blonde hair I had imagined. (Actually, I found out that her original hair color was blonde, but that is beside the point)

I wondered if Americans were not what she had pictured, and asked her later if in Sweden they have an image of a ‘stereotypical American’ She said yes, then proceeded to tell me about the stereotypical American, an explanation which I found fascinating enough to ponder and post. (well this is more of an approximation of what she said—not quite word-for-word, but hopefully you will get the general idea)

“Well…We think of America, and we think of what we see on TV. McDonalds, Dunkin’ Donuts… We see the celebrities, and we imagine everyone looks like Brad Pitt, or Nicole Kidman, you know? [here I thought sarcastic thoughts, then decided to pay attention] ...we watch American TV shows, we expect to see movie stars walking in the park in America. When I told my friends that I was going to America to visit my American friend, they were impressed, like, wow, that's so cool! [this is a paraphrase, since 'cool' is American slang, and I don't remember her exact words here] The American Dream is big. We think, “Americans live the perfect life. They have big families; they can afford at least two cars.” Did you know the gas costs four times as much in Europe? It is…about 2 dollars a gallon here? [I nod] In Sweden, it is at least 8. There are no jeeps, no big cars in Sweden. If there were, we would have to sell our houses and live in the car! It is more spread out here. In Stockholm, it costs so much for a tiny apartment, because everything is so packed together...

etc.

I thought about this. HEY! We have it pretty good! As Americans, we get what we want,[well, most of the time...] and life is easy and laid back. If people in Sweden think Americans can afford two cars, they ought to see the people who have four cars, a boat, a motorcycle, a big screen TV, and oh, an extra house—don’t come complaining to me. It is an honor and a privilege to be an American, and I’m PROUD to be one! And so what if we don’t all look like movie-stars?

It was interesting to get a foreigner's perspective on America, and to hear what life is actually like in Sweden. We were all educated on the EU, the Euro, etc., (disturbing stuff, people are making lots of money, but it's all no good, because everything is SO expensive in Europe)

etc.

I think I will go now, because I am probably boring you all to death with endless talk about stereotypes, patriotism, and economics, so I will go now, before you fall asleep.

~mirta