外國人都是... Foreigners Are Like That...
We always seem to admire the courageous westerners we see on TV, who roam the Great Plains, travel the seven seas, cross the exotic deserts, and always seem to be daringly independent, self-believing and self-respectable. This summer, my family and I decided to try on this courageous figure, so we went backpacking around Europe with a group of westerners.
To us, the whole experience was a complete cultural clash, for although we traveled as a group, the members were all extremely independent. While we arrived as a family, dragging tiny suitcases, the others were all individuals traveling alone, carrying enormous backpacks that were bigger than themselves. They were mostly Americans and Australians, ages ranging from 17 to 60. There were high school graduates who earned their travel expenses by working from one country to another; and there were also senior citizens who sold all their property and left their family behind just to see the world and plan on doing so till their last breath.
We traveled through 8 countries and over 15 cities. Along the way, our group members would alter from one place to another, for some of them would choose to stay on at the places they favored, find temporary jobs or book into cheap hostels; and new people would join in. Not only were the others exceedingly self-reliant, we were also requested to be so: once we reached a new country, the tour guide would merely hand us English versions of the city and metro maps, and the rest was all up to ourselves.
Although their boldly self-sufficient values are worthy of our admiration, such extreme confidence may also lead to egotistic arrogance. Some Americans would ask the New Zealanders if they came from England, and other Australians thought of Taiwan either as Thailand or a district of China. Apart from the lack of geographical sense, many foreigners lacked the decency of respecting other cultures. Most of the tourist sites were swamped with beer cans, covered with coatings of spray paint, and stunk with the smell of urine. Everywhere, you could find pub houses displaying American or Australian flags, with local bands playing American pop music, and TV’s broadcasting Australian football. In the morning, you could even find many passed out drunkards sleeping on the streets or roving around trying to find out where they are.
While traveling should be a chance to broaden one’s cultural experience, many people disdainfully invade other culture’s historical sites, turning them into exotic party zones for their own cultural ego. Despite their highly praised belief in self-respect, they seem to lack a sense of respect for others, thus turning the act of exploration into a disguised act of Imperialism.
We always seem to admire the courageous westerners we see on TV, who roam the Great Plains, travel the seven seas, cross the exotic deserts, and always seem to be daringly independent, self-believing and self-respectable. This summer, my family and I decided to try on this courageous figure, so we went backpacking around Europe with a group of westerners.
To us, the whole experience was a complete cultural clash, for although we traveled as a group, the members were all extremely independent. While we arrived as a family, dragging tiny suitcases, the others were all individuals traveling alone, carrying enormous backpacks that were bigger than themselves. They were mostly Americans and Australians, ages ranging from 17 to 60. There were high school graduates who earned their travel expenses by working from one country to another; and there were also senior citizens who sold all their property and left their family behind just to see the world and plan on doing so till their last breath.
We traveled through 8 countries and over 15 cities. Along the way, our group members would alter from one place to another, for some of them would choose to stay on at the places they favored, find temporary jobs or book into cheap hostels; and new people would join in. Not only were the others exceedingly self-reliant, we were also requested to be so: once we reached a new country, the tour guide would merely hand us English versions of the city and metro maps, and the rest was all up to ourselves.
Although their boldly self-sufficient values are worthy of our admiration, such extreme confidence may also lead to egotistic arrogance. Some Americans would ask the New Zealanders if they came from England, and other Australians thought of Taiwan either as Thailand or a district of China. Apart from the lack of geographical sense, many foreigners lacked the decency of respecting other cultures. Most of the tourist sites were swamped with beer cans, covered with coatings of spray paint, and stunk with the smell of urine. Everywhere, you could find pub houses displaying American or Australian flags, with local bands playing American pop music, and TV’s broadcasting Australian football. In the morning, you could even find many passed out drunkards sleeping on the streets or roving around trying to find out where they are.
While traveling should be a chance to broaden one’s cultural experience, many people disdainfully invade other culture’s historical sites, turning them into exotic party zones for their own cultural ego. Despite their highly praised belief in self-respect, they seem to lack a sense of respect for others, thus turning the act of exploration into a disguised act of Imperialism.