Now that I’m usually the only American in the room, it forced me to consider my own identity and what being an American represents. I’ve received many different reactions from people I meet here when I explain where I’m from and I realized that many people in Europe who haven’t been to the U.S. base their expectations of American life on movies, TV shows and content they’ve seen online. It’s been interesting to listen to their questions about my home, and it made me realize that I’m probably also making assumptions about their home countries as well.
I really appreciated all of the questions you have been submitting, as it helped me understand what topics are important to you. I figured for the last journal, we would reverse it and I would ask my friends and classmates in Berlin what questions they have for American high school students. Feel free to answer one or multiple of the following questions and I will let them know!
Do you really get to school in yellow school buses? I thought those only existed in movies!
Is it true that you stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning in class?
Is high school in America really like in the shows and movies, with lockers, homecoming and sports teams?
I saw a video on YouTube in which a guy puts a glass of water into the microwave to heat it up for tea. Do you guys actually do that?
I heard Americans measure distances by hours of driving. How many hours of driving is considered ‘far’ for you?
Are there any European movies or shows that you really enjoy?
