My Gen Y Life

This is the view that I perceived of Americans when traveling in Europe recently, and I can't say it's completely false. I wish all Americans had the chance to go abroad and see how other people lived and take a minute to look at themselves.

 Americans are fat

We all know there is an obesity problem in the U.S. We see it on TV ("Biggest Loser" reality show), in the news about all the obese children, and all the fad diets that are perpetuating in the media. An outspoken German woman on the flight over to Europe spelled it out simply - all the processed food we eat. You see, in Europe (and many other areas of the world) you go to the store more than once a week so you always have fresh fruit, vegetables, and bread. You would be hard-pressed to find much "light" or "fat-free" Healthy-Choice-type food in their supermarkets, yet they're not gaining weight like Americans are. It's because they eat food in moderation, and likely, because the food is fresh and doesn't contain all the preservatives. They also sell most things in small packaging, meaning that you either will have to use less of it or come back frequently. Either way, you'll probably shed some calories.

Americans are fake

A European friend of mine once it explained it to me like this: Europeans are like Oranges - they may be rough on the outside, but are sweet on the inside. On the other hand, Americans are like Peaches - they seem nice and friendly on the outside, but are hard on the inside. I liked this because it's true - in capitalist America we try to be the most customer-friendly people but really we are just trying to up our profits. In our views and actions too - we say that we are eco-friendly if we own a recycling bin and buy energy-saving appliances.  But we forget that we also drive around gas-guzzling SUVs, don't sort our own recycling (in Europe they have four standard bins in public places), and continue to build huge homes and have huge appliances for all our huge Costco-size food.

Americans are uncultured

You probably know this already, too. Most Americans' only exposure to foreign cultures is high school Spanish class. Granted, we are not surrounded by very many other countries (I counted two), but we are also ignorant and expect when we go to other countries that they will speak English and cater to Americans. I was not surprised when I saw a sign at an Italian restaurant that said "No Tourist menu. Locals only" spelled in English of course. Listen to the news or watch a TV show and you will notice that we rarely ever mention anything that is not related to the U.S.