The etic perspective is data gathering by outsiders that yield questions posed by outsiders. - Kanti, 74, travel agency owner, New Delhi. One of the hardest (or at least most expensive) things about being an outsider traveling in the United States is tipping. It's baffling. But its way of seeing is foreign, the perspective of the curious outsider for whom nothing is obvious and whose questions are big and nave and, in their navet, important. -- Teaching_man, I was not aware that you can buy guns in supermarkets in America. For example, Miner writes The daily body ritual performed by everyone includes a mouth-rite. "Long winter nights and the seclusion of the reservation. Now that you have you hot chocolate, it is time to relax. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. The collector's view of the artifacts as pieces of art is a product of his own cultural background and does not take into account the cultural relativity of the artifacts. While I dont think its exactly a secret that a stereotype of Americans portrays us as arrogant, ignorant, loud and so on. Bestlifeonline.com is part of the Meredith Health Group, Saying "how are you?" I don't understand why other cultures are all so primitive. I'll call the first one "A" (Americans, for instance). 20 American Habits That All Other Countries Think Are Crazy. These are the kind of zoomed-out, big-picture stories that result from asking the most basic questions and that in other newsrooms might be killed because they are too obvious, or have been done 1,000 times, or dont have a new angle. They are the kind of stories that result from sending reporters out to ask the biggest unresolved questions about their own society from making them think, in short, like a foreign correspondent freshly returned to a now-unfamiliar home. Shopping malls, meals, people, cars. Americans are gallant." I read on several different forum sites how things such as the pledge of allegiance and how our flag is plastered everywhere you go is quite strange to outsiders. var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest(); Upon graduating secondary school, many Americans choose colleges and universities outside of and often far from their hometowns. This is down to the US communication style which is influenced by the need to be direct, clear . Foreigners, on the other hand, aren't even familiar with the concept. They just don't get the idea of loyalty to the school. It's not that we're lazy, per se; it's just that we like to be comfyand despite the weird looks we get from European tourists, being cozy simply trumps looking put together sometimes. - Shitij, 26, sales and marketing worker, New Delhi, "A lot of (consumer) products. To simplify matters, let's assign letters (yup, engineer at work). But if you were to use this pronunciation in conversation with an English speaker from another country, they'd probably give you a puzzled look. Get the picture? Uhh, that's a huge country. Another oddity of American advertising are those spots you see for prescription medication during every commercial break. -- B_Underscore, A friend came from the UK and he said Wal-mart was the weirdest thing, you could buy 24 rolls of toilet paper and a 12 gauge shotgun in the same store. Al Jazeera America has brought this approach to Chicagos violence, actually arranging a sit-down interview with working gang leaders, openly discussing their drugs, guns and ways. Saysthingsfromabush, In Scotland our equivalents are ceilidhs and in school you just go and f***ing dance. As is tradition. Part 1: An etic view of African American race from an outsiders perspective is believed as religious and demonstrates a unique lifestyle. From our portions to our PTO, here's where we differ from the rest of the world. Cultural relativism is not the same as moral relativism, however. American culture is clearly more advanced than all other cultures. Adam Schubak Partnerships Editor Adam is a writer based out of New . A society that has more things than our society." Ethnocentrism either restricts us to clear-cut, static, homogenous definitions of us-and-them, or . - Sam Wang, 20, university student, Beijing, "My image of America is a country that goes to war anywhere in the world," - Susumu Inoue, 82, retired agricultural lab technician, Tokyo, "I think of Major League Baseball," Ayumi Takeoka, 41, housewife, Tokyo. In addition, for some reason, the tree must be a rather large tree with lots of foliage. And so Al Jazeera Americas recent three-part series on Grand Theft Auto V, a much-heralded new video game, went further and harder than many rivals reports. Americans can come across as self-interested, aggressive and rude to some outsiders. Why go Tall when a Venti is just a dollar more? A journalist based in Brooklyn, New York. Uber-Friendliness. They are taken to a store where, when presented with a slip of paper, can be exchanged for currency. Supersizing Food. To be fair, most Americans don't either. but don't tell them (laughing)." Burgers, the American dream, choppers, Elvis, cowboys. The Outsiders was written by a teenager about teenagers. Ethnocentric people compare their culture to others on such elements as religion, behavior, language, customs, and norms. We're desensitizing the wrong thing. For foreigners, the excessively large cracks in the stall doors in public restrooms are just plain confounding. } I do not understand the importance of this, as usually the father of the family just eats the biscuits and drinks the milk anyway, and it is always late at night when he does this too. And he drank tap water oh no!" C. It is important for Asian Americans to learn American culture as quickly as possible so they don't feel like outsiders. 'Get away!' I screamed." (234) Claudette resists the urge to use wolf like communication to talk to Mirabella to stop chasing her, and instead uses human communication . Figure 1.6. In other parts of the world, however, ice isn't something you'll see nearly as frequently. But seriously, don't do it. Sociology in Everyday Life. The following is an excerpt from one of the excellent papers I received from a student, Emily Ong (used with her permission). Sign up for notifications from Insider! It's not uncommon to chat up a stranger while waiting on line or traveling on public transportation. I found this quite interesting and maybe a bit eye opening, because as Americans, these things are completely normal to us. This writing helped me understand others' perceptive of the things that I find normal. It is told in a first-person narration style, with the narrator being a 14-year-old boy. Y'all get snow up there.'" They are also unified in the sense that the dream isn't really a real thing anymore. The channels subjects and reporting are unassailably American. Concept of building up the courage to ask someone to a ceilidh is simply ridiculous. Why did they not just give them to the people in the first place? Yet, America's admirers have felt betrayed by other shades of the American character: the military interventions in Vietnam, Iraq and elsewhere; the gun violence; the right (inexplicable to many) to carry weapons; the deep and angry racial divisions; and, lately, a presidential nominee calling for harsh restrictions on Muslims and Mexicans. I also like a challenge. We in Europe have smaller things What I liked when I was over there was the service level, it was very high. - Knut Braaten, 43, handyman, Oslo, Norway, "I think there obviously is the American dream, the idea that unifies them all. Enter Al Jazeera, which recently sent a correspondent to Cleveland, a city it called Americas infant mortality capital. The question it pursued fused the local and the global: why rates of premature birth and infant death in many neighborhoods exceed those of developing nations.. From the exotic to the ancient, and to the high end cities of the world, we are obsessed. - Ayumi Takeoka, 41, housewife, Tokyo, First published on August 4, 2016 / 5:32 PM. I dont wear any shoes that I cant run in, she said. But in America, you are expected to add upwards of 20 percent to your bill just to avoid a dirty look from your server. People are nice but superficial. The only normal part of the holiday seems to be the family gathering for dinner on Christmas day. Through this process, Asian American parents can be transformed themselves, and maybe shift their own conceptions of education towards the one I hold and do their part in encouraging a cultural shift that will benefit future generations, as this new conception of education becomes the one that is passed down. The greasers live on the east side and are known as "hoods". In most other countries, however, an A/C unit is used sparingly, if at all. She does a great job of describing the US rituals of the Christian holiday, Christmas. I hope that, without sounding whiny, sharing this might help others who also feel like outsiders see that, strangely, they are part of a community. All Rights Reserved. The process often began between four and seven years old. Please enter valid email address to continue. So what does this foreign gaze, as presented on Al Jazeera America, reveal? Not sure whether I actually am ready to move there because it must be a tough country to live in. Throwing Tailgate Parties. Then they leave hard biscuits shaped like men and a cup of milk out next to the tree. There is, of course, diverse reporting on health care and the stock market and climate change on Al Jazeera America, but there is unmistakably in its coverage a hint of this thesis Americas bountiful callousness. when we mean "hello", Carding people who are obviously not under 21, Shopping at pharmacies that are mini shopping malls, And prescription drug makers that advertise, Pronouncing the last letter of the alphabet as "zee". In most other countries, you take the time to at least park the car and walk through the front doors of the place you're patronizingnot in America, though! Interpersonal relations among Americans are much more practical, in contrast to the complicated way that we Chinese people treat each other." I explained it was a joke, I was from Canada. 1) Outside Marketing Firms Bring Fresh Thinking. We don't know what lemonade is: In many countries, lemonade is not the iconic sugary drink that American kids sell at stands in summer. -- Nionvox, and extreme violence/gore is considered normal, and shown regularly on TV. To find out, I thought that I should get a view from the outside of the proverbial white picket fenced, good ol Murican home.