On Being an American Abroad - German Class

This post is the first of several yet to come. The main topic is my reflections on being an American abroad. In this post I'll discuss some occurrences that took place during my German class.

The first item has to do with a phrase I've heard all too often since my arrival in Australia. The lesson started with Herr Hamernik (Mr. Hamernik was my German professor) was going over the verb "sein" (translated: "to be"). One of the things he was relating the verb to was the equality in sentence structure. For example, the cat is orange - this sentence is equally weighted on both sides of the verb "to be" - which is "is" in the example.

So, in German, Herr Hamernik wrote the following on the board:

Die Frau ist ein Mann. Die Frau ist der Mann.
The woman is the man. The woman is a man.

He was basing this particular example off something he'd recently read or heard about the US. There was a woman who was a man. Well, the man was a woman - etc. He was poking fun at America, and that is to be expected - I wasn't bothered by any of this, for the record, I'm just making an observation.

After Herr Hamernik finished making his point about the sentence structure, my friend, Peter, leaned over and said "only in America."

And, for the most part, he was right.

The second item was when Herr Hamernik had sevearl papers laid out on the front desk and asked us to come up and grab one apiece. I was on the left side of the room, so, naturally, I picked up the papers from left to right. The rest of the class came from the right, therefore viewing my approach as the wrong way.

One student said, "count on the American to do things their own way."

It was embarrassing to be the only American in the class when a joke like this was made. These happenings were funny, but I remember having to force my laughter a bit. I was kind of shocked that the teacher would make such a joke - for all I know, I'm the only American he or anyone in the classroom knows, and there is certainly no confusion as to my gender, so who is he to roll me in with the Americans who are questionable? That's the line of thoughts I found myself thinking that evening as I mulled over it.

On one hand I was offended, embarrassed and ashamed to be American. On the other I knew that I had to accept the situation, after all - I came abroad to have an eye-opening experience; this qualified as just that, so why was I so upset? (I say ashamed in a temporary manner - I am very proud to be an American, so don't let these posts make you think otherwise. It is a challenge surviving as an American abroad, and it is frustrating at times, causing one to feel a bit ashamed of their background.)

I'll end this post with a piece of advice for those planning or just starting to think about an extended trip abroad: know that non-Americans do poke fun at us just like we poke fun "at the 'fraidy-cat French" and their "Freedom Fries." This fun-poking is unavoidable and it's okay; it's a part of the grand experience. The best thing you can do is accept it - pure and simple. Don't make a fuss when it happens right in front of you; just take it all in, think about it some, and see then see how it's stretched your mind for the better.

A bit more the wiser,

-Amanda