Customs vary with culture

Many American customs will surprise you; the same thing happens to us when we visit another country. People living in varied cultures handle many small daily things differently. What a dull world it would be if this were not true!

The constant restless motion of Americans may be starting at first. People in the flat Middle West think nothing of driving 75 to a 100 miles just to have dinner with a friend; they go to a far-off city for an evening of theater or music or even a movie. Countless young people select a college thousands miles away from their families 'just to see another part of the country'.

You may come upon Americans who lack knowledge about your country. If so, be patient with them. Unfortunately, we do not teach enough about other cul­tures, customs, or even geography in our schools; we have always been so insu­lated by oceans that we are not readily exposed to different cultures and other ways of doing things. If Americans crudely try to help you with something that has long been totally familiar to you, if they confuse your country with another thousands of miles away, be patient. This huge continent has been developed from virgin land into the modern dynamo that it is now in a remarkably short time - about 300 years. We have been absorbed with our own growth, with road building, city building, free education for millions of children, the assimilation of countless strangers; with the inventions, discoveries, and developments that our science and technology have contributed to the world. Our attention has been inward, not global, through most of these 300 years. A 'world' sense has come to the United States only since the end of World War II. Regrettably, most of us are still quite unfamiliar and uniformed in regard to other lands.

Because our people have come from so many nationalities, there is a far wider range of what is 'acceptable' than in some countries where the inhabitants have grown up with a common heritage. As a result, no one needs to feel uncom­fortable in following his or her own customs. Although Americans are noticeably informal, if you prefer somewhat greater formality, feel free to act in your own way. This will be acceptable to those around you. As the young say, each person can 'do his own thing' and be respected here to a very large extent.

Conversational questions may seem to you both too personal and too nu­merous - especially when you first arrive. 'Where do you work?', 'Are you mar­ried?', 'How many children do you have?', 'Have you taken your vacation yet?' are not persons' questions by American standards. They are a search for common ground on which to build a relationship or base a conversation. Understand such questions are meant to be friendly; the questioner is interested in you; he or she is not being impertinent.

(V.M. Ivanova, G.V. Nesterchuck. Read and Speak about

the USA and the Americans)

USA AND UK IN COMPARISON

CHARACTER AND CHARACTERISTICS: A HUMOROUS LOOK AT

STEREOTYPES

What the British Think of Americans…

British people have mixed opinions about the Americans, reflecting the close but sometimes troubled relationship between the two nations. When people get to know Americans as individuals they have a lot more respect and affection for them than the popular, rather negative, stereotype based on a casual meeting or on television programmes might suggest.

For many British people the US is associated with power in international politics Hollywood, money and violence. The British are a little jealous of Amer­ica's power. But although Americans believe they rule the world, few of them know much about anything outside the US. The British think that money matters more than anything else to Americans, and they do not really approve of this and do not like brash (= too public) displays of wealth. They also believe that One US is a dangerous place where you cannot walk in the street pr subways without fear of being attacked. Despite this, many want to go there for their holidays. Young peo­ple generally have a much more positive attitude and love everything that comes out of America-Many people see and hear American tourists in Britain and this influences their opinion of Americans in general. The average American man visiting Britain appears to be middle-aged or old, wealthy, and wearing a colourful shirt or check 'pants'. He is fat, because of the unhealthy foods that Americans eat, and friendly, but can easily become excited and rude. His wife has permed hair and wears little white socks, trainers and ‘pants', and has a Burberry in case it rains. She finds eve­rything British 'cute' or 'quaint' especially anything to do with the royal family. They both talk loudly with strong accents. British people make fun of American­isms like 'Gee, honey!¹ and 'Have a nice day’. They think names ending with numbers, like William D Hancock Ш, are rather silly and pretentious (= suggesting importance without good reason).

British people believe that Americans have no culture, and that except for a few intellectuals Americans are not very interested in culture. Americans spend their free time watching baseball and football, often on television. If they want culture they get television programmes from the BBC.

Seriously, however, there are, many more positive aspects of the American character. British people who visit Americans in their own country find them friendly and welcoming to visitors. They have no worries about class, they work hard, they enjoy the best living standards and the most advanced technology in the world, and they have an open attitude to life that is refreshing. The popular stereo- , type of white Americans is created by white Britona, but these people know that the US, like Britain, is a multiracial, multicultural society and are aware of the great variety of attitudes and lifestyles, as well as the problems, which that brings.