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TEEN SCENE |
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by Jackie Klapak
CULTURE APPRECIATION
Hi! I hope everyone has had a fun and safe summer so far. I can’t believe that summer is already halfway over—I have to go back down to school on August 8! At least it will be my senior year, though. From what I’ve heard, senior year seems to fly by...at least I hope it does. As regular readers of this column know, I spent two weeks at the beginning of my summer in Europe, and I would like to share my observations about some of my experiences in this month’s column. The trip to Europe was a school event, and fourteen of us from the Indiana Academy went to both Italy and Greece. We went to Italy first, and we stayed in Rome. (The Pope blessed us!) Then, we headed to Greece and stayed in Tolo and Athens. Anyway, it was a wonderful time, and I cherished every minute of the whole trip. I have virtually no complaints except for one. Let me first explain that I was so excited to be imbibed in the Italian culture—that I even learned un poco (a little) bit of Italian. My complaint is that, as soon as I stepped onto the streets of Rome, I realized that nearly everyone was speaking English. Even the beggars on the streets and the gypsies spoke it. It was, to me, appalling. Most of our group was happy to see that nearly everyone spoke English, but I felt ridiculous. Americans stuck out like sore thumbs, walking down the street eating McDonald’s in their tennis shoes, jeans, and wearing fanny packs. (As opposed to the Europeans, who wore skirts and suits all the time.) We looked so uncultured, and I felt as if there were too many accommodations made for we Americans. I never expected people of a foreign country to learn our language. When all of the Italians spoke English to us, I felt almost guilty. The Italians had to forfeit their culture for our lazy people from America. Having some McDonald’s restaurants in Europe was bad enough, but hearing more English than Italian made me feel awful. It seemed as if we, the Americans, were intruding. Here was this gorgeous country with ancient traditions and customs, and these traditions and customs were compromised because of our tourism. What is that old saying –– “When in Rome, do as the Romans...”? Well, that certainly was not the case during my visit. The Romans were doing as the Americans. When we headed to Greece, virtually no one spoke English. (It was all Greek to me!) At museums, restaurants, and shops, some Americans would actually become angered and very frustrated at the fact that the Greek people didn’t speak much English. I learned so much from these experiences. I never quite knew just how ethnocentric America tends to be. Most of us don’t know a second language, and in Italy, the unemployed were able to speak at least two languages. What does that say about the American people? It makes us look unintelligent. Even if this is not the case, it certainly shows how lazy we have been, or at least how much luxury we’ve had in our lives—we’ve never had to learn different languages out of necessity and we’ve never had to compromise aspects of our American culture. It’s almost sad, really. This also made me realize how much more culturally sensitive we ought to be. We complain when people are a different race than we are—we have all kinds of stereotypes. I think that America, as a whole, should be more accepting of other ideas, cultures, traditions, and people. We need to nix false paradigms and realize that the world does indeed extend past the boundaries of our country. By no means am I saying that each and every one of us should all of a sudden go learn a foreign language (though it would be nice)—I just think that everyone should be more sensitive and open-minded. The next time you see some people in public who don’t speak English very well, don’t scowl. Give them credit—being in a new country is tough. It’s sometimes difficult to understand the fact that just because someone doesn’t speak our language, it does not mean that he or she is stupid, nor does it mean that he or she is any less of a person. America is, after all, a melting pot, an assimilation, of all cultures. For once, we should treat it that way. Speaking of different cultures, I know that I will be going to Whiting, Indiana’s Pierogi Fest during the last weekend in July, to celebrate the Polish side of my family as well as the Slovak. If you’re not doing anything that weekend, you ought to head on over. If you go, you can check out the awesome bands of this area, like Saucy Jack (which consists of Ben Likens, Eric Kurutz, Jay Broutman, and Adam Kazragys), who will be performing on July 30th at the fest). I know I’ll be there, rockin’, rollin’, and chowing down on pierogies. THIS TEEN TURNS ON... And speaking of good music, I listened to Cat Steven’s Greatest Hits for this month. After listening to it, I really am stumped over why Cat was denied access to this country—he only wanted peace. Anyway, I loved this CD, from its high-energy songs like “Another Saturday Night” to it’s more mellow songs like “Moonshadow” or “Hard-Headed Woman.” This CD is wonderful, whether you were around when the songs came out in the mid-’70s, or whether you just want to take a few moments to take a break from whatever keeps you busy. It’s definitely cool music to drive to when you’re on the way home from somewhere and there’s no one else in your car. Definitely check it out! (I know you can pick it up at S&J Stereo on Highway Avenue in my hometown of Highland. That’s where I bought my copy. (Thanks, Jim!) Well, that’s all for this month. Now I am off to listen to Rilo Kile’s CD More Adventurous. Have a great July, and see you here in these pages next month. Drop a line if you are so inclined: jackie@midwestbeat.com Well, that’s all. If you have anything to say, drop me an e-mail at: Jackie@midwestbeat.com Check back next month and have a safe end of the summer! |
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