An American abroad... I've honestly never enjoyed being called that.
Being called an American abroad comes with so much baggage that the normal person might not really think about. It means being loud, it means being obnoxious, it means drunken nights causing fights, and just plain being stupid. Maybe that was just the way I was raised, but I've always been told to never be an American abroad, you need to be yourself abroad.
So what does that mean? Does it really work? Yes, it does really work, and what I mean is just what I said, be yourself.
Fitting in is wonderful, integrating yourself into a new culture is fantastic, but in order to help dispel stereotypes you also just need to be yourself at times. So what if you like staying in some nights and reading a good book instead of going out to the bar? That's completely okay! You don't have to turn into someone you are not while you are abroad, just like you do not have to turn into someone you are not when you go to college.
I think my biggest strength is not that I've studied abroad before, it is that I already have a strength of character and a good hold on what I think I am already. I hope that my experiences will change me just a little, will open up my eyes to something I've never even thought of before, but I also know at the end of the day I'm still just me, Brieana Kepley.
I'll take some stereotypes with me of course, we all do, but I think I have some great tools to teach others about what it means to me to be American. Most importantly, to me, I take with me the knowledge that America is by no means the best country on earth. A lot of countries are amazing, America is amazing, but I would never say that one particular country is the best on earth, that's just silly. I also understand that some of the stuff we do is ridiculous, just like some of the stuff other things do is ridiculous. It's all about keeping a level head and being able to listen to what someone says and understand that they don't always mean it to be insulting.
Just go with the flow and you'll be just fine.
No comments:
Post a Comment