Wednesday, March 05, 2008

When in Rome, say “Non sono americana”

The ANNOTICO Report

 

Geo. Bush's policy of Colonialism and Imperialism has degraded the reputation of America and Americans world wide.

I have heard so often that Americans traveling in Europe claim to be Canadians rather than Americans.

 

This Yale student talks about her "required" pattern of strategic lying because most young Europeans feel America and its inhabitants are like its foreign policy -  ignorant, pigheaded and rude, with nothing but misplaced priorities.

 

She admits that: The worst part is that the reputation isn’t entirely undeserved.

 

When in Rome, say “Non Sono Americana”

 

Yale Daily News

By Summer Banks
Senior Reporter

Friday, February 29, 2008

... Whenever I travel I tend to fall into a pattern of strategic lying.

My falsified past usually centers around my country of origin: Once I leave America, I have no ties to it. My command of Western European languages is just enough to pass for non-American - I claim to be German in Italy and Italian in Germany. Failing all else, I emphasize being from California, because strangely enough, its better to be from California than America.

One of the benefits of interacting constantly with strangers while traveling is that no one knows who you are, and its not your responsibility to inform them. The reality is that I havent lived in California for years, and I have absolutely no claim to Western European citizenship.

But thats not important. For all they know I could be anyone and anything.

Why then do I take such pains to keep from being American? This country has done nothing wrong by me - with the possible exception of my public school education - and American citizenship is one of the most coveted in the world. But theres still some part of me that would rather be German, English, Brazilian, Vietnamese or Palauan - anything before the dreaded "Ah-murh-i-cun"

Drinking wine in Rome Tuesday night thanks to my senior essay research, I met a woman from Amsterdam named Mareille who had deliberately never been to America. While traveling around the world seven years ago, she had deliberately rerouted her flight so that it wouldnt go through America.

When I asked her why shed taken such pains to avoid us, she explained that she thought most young Europeans felt the way she did: America and its inhabitants are like its foreign policy -  ignorant, pigheaded and rude, with nothing but misplaced priorities.

No wonder Id never wanted to be associated with America. Who wants to be burdened with that kind of reputation?

The worst part is that the reputation isnt entirely undeserved. Even I " aspiring to a somewhat more worldly perspective" had no idea that Italy happens to be in the middle of a critical shift in government. America is gearing up for its regularly scheduled election charade, and therefore nothing else matters. Stereotypes hurt more when they happen to be based in truth.

So what exactly is a Californian-American with fading language skills to do? Eventually Im going to have to own up to being an American when Im in Europe, and maybe it wont be as bad as Ive made it out to be. Even Mareille confessed that meeting actual, live Americans helped replace her disgust with a more general mistrust.

Hopefully itll be strategic for me to stop lying about my country of origin someday. Until then, dont believe me when I start telling you Im German.

http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/23806

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