Culture Shock (or lack thereof)

It's been 3 weeks and I've been surprised just how much of America I've seen in Europe, American culture that is. The music, the TV shows, the movies, just about everything seems mostly American.

It feels like America is Europe's celebrity. I'm not sure if it's a sort of idolization or simply a fascination. Every person I've talked to has told me that they're favorite television shows are American. I've met a few people who immediately go star struck the second I tell them I'm from New York because they assume I'm from the big apple (honestly, it's getting kind of annoying already that I have to explain that I don't live there). I've also met a lot of Europeans who have told me that really want to visit America or even live there, there are some who have even seen more of America than I have. Many of the people I've met speak English in a way that sounds more American than British to me, I've asked them about this and they claim it's because they watch so much American television. My generation's attachment to the US is undeniable.

Then again this might all just be because America is so darn BIG. With over half the population of the entirety of Europe and over one and a half times the area America is hard to ignore. My view may also be skewed by the fact that I've only spoken to people my age who can speak English. Even so, I've been told that there are many Dutch TV channels that carry American shows with Dutch subtitles and when I went to go see a movie at the movie theater (Flight, a movie made in America), it contained Dutch subtitles. So, the idea that even the non-English speakers are entertained by America may not be far fetched.

It doesn't seem that the entertainment has always been dominated by America though. When I went to the band/karaoke night for the ESN introduction week many of the songs I heard were not ones I recognized. Here's an example of one of the screens of the karaoke selection, personally I recognize none of the songs!

I took a look at the song book too and most of it was older American songs or European exclusives. To be fair this was an older karaoke CD, but it still shows how what was popular in America and Europe wasn't necessarily the same a few years ago. The non-rock cover band also played many songs which I didn't recognize but were very well received by the audience, including some not in English. The rock cover band on the other hand played mostly newer songs I recognized by American artists. I discovered another example of this European but not American culture when I came across the The Moomins apparently this was a very popular children's cartoon from Finland that all the Europeans I was with knew about, but I had never seen it before. All of these examples are from about 10-15 years ago, so I feel like they're more relics of a divided past than anything else. So far I haven't seen any modern music, movie, or tv shows that are popular in Europe but not the United States, or vice-versa, (except for some local songs held near and dear to the residents' hearts) but there's a lot I still have to see.

Not only has America influenced culture through entertainment but also through food. I have seen a fair amount of fast food restaurants here including Burger King, McDonalds, Subway, and Domino's Pizza. Not only have I seen American restaurants but I've seen "American" food in the grocery store as well, this includes hamburger rolls, "cool American" flavored chips, brownies and even french fry sauce, which is exceptionally baffling because Americans don't put any kind of sauce except ketchup on their fries! In fact, most Americans are disgusted at the prospect of putting mayonnaise on their fries, which, yes, they do here, and it is surprisingly good; I'm not sure why it hasn't caught on in America...

So, there you have it, my anecdotal evidence on how America is the culturally dominant country in Europe. This isn't meant to be taken as a fact but more of an opinion. I've only been here for a little bit and I'm sure I will be experiencing much, much more. I would be happy to hear any counter arguments that people may have, but so far what I've seen is that my generation has been raised with America as a main focus in the public eye. I'll post updates on this line of thought when I find more evidence in either direction. Maybe if I wanted a little more culture shock I should have gone to Asia :P

Anyway, I'm having a great time here! I'll keep updating as new things happen, classes start in 3 days for me, so I'll probably post about that next. Stay tuned for more exciting adventures!