xenophobe

 

                                                                                            

                                                            

    The definition of xenophobe:

       1) a person who fears or hates foreigners, people from different cultures, or strangers. 

       2) a person who fears or dislikes the customs, dress, etc., of people who are culturally different

    I am stumped on letter x, so I thought I would educate myself on words that begin with letter "x."

    After doing a little reading, I was struck with the notion of what foreigners think of us Americans coming into their country. Consensus says foreigners see quite a few cultural quirks in Americans. I'll detail a few of those quirks:

    Foreigners can agree that Americans are generally friendly and easy to approach, but that they can also be a little too outgoing - offering too much personal information (especially after they've been drinking).  Isn't that true for everybody though, or maybe not?  I found that to be interesting...I guess we Americans are more of a free spirit.

    Foreigners also associate American with unhealthy food and oversized portions. They link America's fast food culture to poor health and and lack of small family farms.

    Americans say "awesome" all the time, while the British say. "Brilliant!" A man from England says that everything can't be that awe-inspiring all the time to call it awesome, as Americans do. 

    One foreigner claimed that Americans smile too much; claiming that smiles come to mean nothing because they are over used. How can a smile be over used? In my opinion, there aren't enough of them. A person from Finland says he assumes a stranger is drunk, off his rocker or from the United States when he or she smiles. This seems like a stretch, but nevertheless, that's what he said. A scientific explanation was offered: that emotional expressiveness is connected to diversity and America is among the most diverse countries in the world.

    Another observation from a foreigner: that one of the worst habits Americans have is emailing after work hours, according to some Europeans who think Americans don't stop working. The European states that, In Europe, people work from 9 to 5, and relax after that and don't like dealing with anything job related after 5 or on weekends. This observation could go in a few different directions.

    And last but not least, many people in Southern Europe, Greece, France and Italy, think Americans are arrogant and look down on people (according to Norwegian journalist Rene Zografos, author of "Attractive Unattractive Americans: How the World Sees America.") I haven't been to France, but know of a few people who have been,  and both felt unwelcomed in France and looked down upon. Just thought I would throw that in.

    This feels like more of a mini-research paper, but I enjoyed doing it. I think no matter what state or country we're in, we become a bit territorial and very curiously-leery about foreigners. It's human nature to  be wary of someone new; especially in our world today.

works cited:

dictionary.com

USA Today Travel