I was having a conversation today over email (I know archaic isn't it?) with my friend in Australia and we were talking about her trip to the US next month. I have the honor and privilege of having her and her fiance here in Indianapolis for about a week. I sent her links to visitor sites for Indianapolis, Louisville and Cincinnati to see if anything looked fun to her. She made a comment that completely caught me off guard: "I want to experience everything American while I'm there".
Why this caught me off guard I'm not really sure. As I thought about that statement today I couldn't help but think about what is really American. I know what there is to do here and what being an American is; but what is it to experience American? Should I let them pay my bills or clean my house? No they probably already do those things. Drive my car? Now there's a thought but I don't think my insurance company would like that. Do I take them to the Amish Country? Now there's something you have to see to believe (I still don't believe it and we have Amish within 15 minutes of us).
So my question really is how do you experience another culture that's similar to yours? I was in Japan a couple of years ago and it was easy to experience the culture because it's so different. But I don't think that American and Australian cultures are as different as we might think they are. I'm looking forward to their visit and showing them the Midwest and I know they'll love it because Indianapolis is a great city. But if they have the same types of foods and entertainment, how do I help them experience culture?
5 comments:
woo hoo this blog is about me LOL
You raise a very good point Tam!! By 'experiencing everything American' i think i was referring to: driving on the 'wrong' side of the road HAHA, the American history, being part of the HUGE sporting culture that IS America..I guess experiencing everything that is NOT Australian.So, what IS Australian? To me, Australian is: hot, dry sandy summers, mild winters, kangaroos, koalas, BBQ's, relaxing at the beach, Crocodile Dundee, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Aboriginals, celebrating the great diversity in the landscape, nature and the people (my favourite quote that represents this is: Being Australian is about driving in a German car to an Irish pub for a Belgian beer, then travelling home, grabbing an Indian curry or a Turkish kebab on the way, to sit on Swedish furniture and watch American shows on a Japanese TV.),friendliness and willingness to lend a hand.
To me, that's what Australia is! How this differs to the way of life in America, im not sure, but in 40 days time i will let you know!! :)
oh and by the way... you cant keep your bills and housework - got enough of that here in Australia ROFL
And Amish Country is def something i would like to 'expereience'... i cant grasp the concept of this way of living.
haha.. i meant you CAN keep your bills...
So how did their visit go? What parts of American did you show them? In the South a part of Americana is having mac and cheese on the vegetable list. It is my favorite vegetable!
Hi Jules, the visit went great. We had a lovelt time. I live in Indianapolis so we went down to Louisville for a day, went to the zoo, Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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