Being American

In most of my classes I am one of the many Americans because I happen to be taking International Business Classes. However, amongst my closest friends, I am the only American.

Since I happen to be the token American girl in my circle of friends, my European friends love to make jabs at Americans. They are just joking with me but ever since the first 8hours of my arrival into Alicante I have heard all kinds of horrible impressions and bad stereotypes of Americans. Even though I don't think I fulfill most of them, here are a few:

1) AMERICANS ARE LAZY
We have elevators and escalators everywhere. We drive our cars 10minutes down the block to pick up groceries. But honestly I can understand what they mean because in Spain it is normal for a 5 or 6 floor building to not have an elevator and it becomes an exercise in and of itself to climb to the top.
2) AMERICANS ARE WASTEFUL
We drive big, obnoxious cars such as Hummers and waste gas. We pollute the environment and we use up a lot of water and electricity on useless things. However, after coming here I have noticed that rarely ever will lights or TVs be left on. Usually Europeans turn off whatever they are using when they are done which of course is not the "American" way.
3) AMERICANS ARE DUMB
This one is hilarious because if you ask a European why Americans are dumb they usually tell you a story about the first American that they met and some stupid thing that they did. Unfortunately us Americans really do create a bad name for ourselves with our ridiculous antics as tourists.
4) AMERICANS ARE FAT
Well, America is the land of McDonalds, Burger King, KFC and fast food chains. We eat frozen food as well which doesn't help the size of our waists. Moreover, since we don't walk around with our groceries (as Europeans do) or climb up 5 stories using stairs the weight we could've lost is exacerbated.
5) AMERICANS DON'T HAVE HISTORY
In comparison to Europe, that is true, however to someone who is born and brought up in America it is shocking to hear that we have no history. For an European, learning the history of Europe encompasses thousands of years where as in America our history goes back no more than 200 years.
6) AMERICANS SAY THE WORD "LIKE" TOO MUCH
Well, this may be true for those of us who are younger than 30. "Like" is a necessity and gets overused in ways that do not even make sense. Unfortunately, it is something that does get quite annoying fast and I understand why Europeans don't like it. However, not all of us use it that often.

But by far my favorite has been my Cross-Cultural Relations teacher who claimed that all Americans have white teeth! Interestingly enough, I think thats the only one I can really say that I have.

I'm not saying these are true because in all honesty they aren't. But it is funny to see the impression Americans have on others. Don't get me wrong, none of the Europeans I have met hate or are disgusted by Americans. Nor do they think that all Americans fit this profile but it is an impression that we Americans, somehow, give off.