November 7, 2007 10:00 PM
The frustrations of hostel-hopping
Over this past Half-Term Break from Oswestry School – where I’m spending my gap year after four at Mercersburg – I had the opportunity to travel to Spain and Portugal with fellow Mercersburg classmate and ESU scholar, Julia Thorne (’07). Accompanied by three other scholars, the two of us spent a week between Lisbon, Sevilla, and Granada, after which I went on to Málaga while Julia traveled to Madrid.
To save money and time we booked ourselves hostels in each of the cities that we were visiting. Looking back it was, to say the least, an eye-opening experience…
The first, and probably best, hostel we stayed in was Traveler’s House in Lisbon. Among our fellow guests were a group of Brits – in town to watch the Celtic match the next day – couples from the US, Argentina and Australia, a handful of young Europeans backpacking across the continent, and – most interestingly – a 60-year-old American man who claimed to be planning a great revolution in the States.
A member of the Black Panther Party, the man, who we overheard at breakfast, espoused much of the typical anti-Bush rhetoric we hear at home. What was interesting, though, was his reception amongst the young Europeans: they saw him as a purveyor of the absolute truth, even when he did claim that most Americans resent their government to the point of desiring revolution but are prevented from doing so only by the fact that they are illiterate.
This one incident may not support a broader commentary on the perception of America abroad, but it has made me think about several of my experiences abroad and the perceptions of America that I’ve encountered. As the only American at Oswestry School, I’ve become somewhat of a de facto ambassador for our culture, our politics, and our education system. Every day brings something new. Just yesterday I contradicted a classmate who claimed that “Bush totally planned 9/11.” More productive conversations have been about the Iraq War, global warming, Iran, China, and other current events topics. Whatever the issue, though, I have been struck by the pervasive anti-Americanism. I found the same true as we traveled on the mainland.
It’s not usually directed at me, but rather bounced off me as an idea, a hypothesis: “Would you say your government only cares about oil?” or “Do most Americans think that they’re better than everyone else?” They’re not directly insulting, but they do provoke a response from this conservative. The ensuing debates are always fascinating and usually leave my classmates with a better view of the States. Yet this all makes me worry about America’s perception abroad.
Of even greater worry is the indifference towards this that many Americans have. One, that we met on the train from Sevilla to Granada, was pretending to be Canadian for his month of hostel-hopping. Most that we met were quick to deride Bush and the Republicans in front of any Europeans that they met. Several said that Americans do think that they’re better than everyone else and don’t care about the environment. Such representatives can’t be helping our image.
I’m not at all sure how a dislike for our president has translated into these stereotypes of our country and our populace or even if it is actually the other way around, but it certainly does make this year much more valuable and interesting for me. The same was true of my trip to Taiwan with two Mercersburg classmates and history teacher Phil Kantaros back in 2006. We represented our school and our country to similar delegations from six other English-speaking nations as well as the Taiwanese school that hosted us. This is exactly why trips and programs abroad are so valuable in secondary education and beyond. These are the best years to get started on experiencing other cultures and societies. Mercersburg recognizes this; it has around 10 members of the Classes of 2007 and 2008 studying abroad this year alone and numerous international trips planned.
Gotta run now; I have a debate team meeting just across campus. We’re preparing for our first competition, the subject: the Iraq War. Should be fun.
Posted by at November 7, 2007 10:00 PM