DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

The Polish perception of America

 

Walking around the streets of Poland I have found many friendly faces that are willing to help when I have questions, as well as those who would prefer to pretend I don’t exist so they can go about their own daily lives. At home I generally tend to say hello or wave to strangers I pass on the streets that I make eye contact with. In Poland, I feel that this is not as common as in America. My goal is always to get some kind or response through a laugh, smile, wave, or reciprocal greeting. Majority of the time they giggle at my mediocre attempts at speaking in Polish. Honestly, if I even speak in Polish it’s an accomplishment. I realized several days in to the trip that I kept saying hello in Czech to everyone instead of Polish… No wonder I got so many laughs.

 

On the bus one day, Paige and I literally cornered one women and awkwardly asked her if we could ask her a few questions about how she perceived America. I could tell she was slightly uncomfortable and this was very uncustomary for strangers to converse on the bus. The very first thing she said about Americans is that they are “fat." She did not think twice about what she said and almost laughed as she said it. She was not being rude, but rather honest. She said that she has never been to America, but that she may like to go someday to New York City or Miami.

 

After we got off the bus we decided to ask another person their opinion to see what they thought of Americans. We walked into H&M and tried to pick out a victim to ask if they spoke English. After a bit of searching we pretended to grab a pair of shorts and walked to the dressing room line and ask the couple in front of us. The man spoke a little bit of English and also agreed that he would love to visit America someday, and enjoyed how happy Americans were. He had an overall positive attitude towards America opposed to the slightly negative view from the first women.

 

One thing that surprised me was that we asked both people how they thought Americans differed from Polish people. They both had the same exact response that Americans are optimistic and have a positive outlook in life even if everything is not okay. However, they had completely different interpretations on this point. The first women said she did not like this because it was fake, and as if Americans were lying about how they were. She shared a story about how one of her Polish friends was in America and a man on the street asked her how she was doing. The polish women began to explain many aspects of her day and the American looked shocked and did not actually want to have a conversation. She disliked the amount of small talk and fake smiles. On the other hand, the man loved how optimistic Americans are. He wished that Polish people could have a brighter outlook sometimes.

 

I thought it was interesting that two different people could say the exact same thing and have such opposing views on how they perceived Americans. I can honestly say I wouldn’t expect people to say Americans are optimistic. From Poland’s perspective, I can now see how they see optimism because when Americans have a bad day they will still answer that they are good or doing fine when a stranger asks how they are doing. In Poland, small talk is not as prevalent, and conversations are more meaningful. At first I wondered if this was due to the fact that we were in the Capitol, a large city, but then decided it was probably more influenced by the amount of hardships Poland has faced as a country. After learning about the history for the past week, luck has not been on Poland’s side. I hadn’t realized how significantly American culture has influenced the way I act even while abroad. I am excited to learn even more about Polish culture and history as we navigate New Town and Old Town of Krakow tomorrow.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.