Class, Decorum, and Americans

Despite what anyone tells you, Americans are not the rudest nor the loudest of them all. This point was proven to me the other day over a bowl of congee. I’ll try to speak tastefully, but this may be my one post to be frank without letting it all go.

My friend from Scotland told me a couple months ago that she’s never met a mean Californian. Aww, that’s nice, was around the lines of what I replied. I mean, I know the Californians as I know them—and as with any group of people, the subset who study abroad aren’t exactly the average lot if you know what I’m saying. That’s not to say that I’m tooting my own horn, nor are all of the exchange students here like perfect little angels or at least sponges ready to learn about more than academics—because they’re not.

Despite what a lot of people think, Americans are much more reserved than the media would have us believe—scratch that Californians are much more reserved than the media would have us believe. Either way, there’s a bit of a caveat—we’re only reserved around people we know.

In the imagined nation that is the community of the United States of America, we don’t know each and every one of each other, of course—but what we do know, is a rough set of social norms that translate into etiquette and decorum at the personal level. In this sense, it’s easier to be more open off the get-go with people of your own roots and than with others.

I was in Global Lounge with two of my friends. One was studying for her Mandarin self-introduction presentation that afternoon, for which she felt she needed more practice on if I’m not mistaken. Her classmate sat down on the cushy chair near us and recognized my two friends. One she knew from Mandarin class, the other she know as a fellow Australian. She made a point about being able to let her tongue loose around other Australians. She said Americans got a little wide-eyed when she let out an F word or two around them. I said it was because you need to get to know people first to see if cursing offends them or not.

And on the bowl of congee, if you’ve ever seen congee, you’ll know what else it looks like. Congee also happens to be the popular breakfast food of Hong Kong. One of my friends over dinner decided that she was going to speak her mind about what she thought it looked like. I thought it was a rude comment. She thought nothing of it.