What I think of America?

These past two decades have been trying times to the people of America. Asians generally see America and its people through movies. It's not fair and it's wrong but that's the way it is for a large number of people in Asia.

I may be generalising a bit here but there are some nuggets of truth. For those who have access to many sources of information, including periodic sojourns in USA, their perception of America and its people may be quite different.

For some of us, people like me, who have American friends and have friends or relatives who have stayed in America or are still staying in America, again our views are different.

Now what are the stereotyped views of Americans? For one thing, some people think Americans are "loud". Actually, I don't really know what they mean by that. I have heard it said before.
My understanding of the description is probably some Americans are very forward in expressing their opinions and they speak a bit louder than others. There are some of us who may perceive that as an overbearing level of confidence.

Others who may not think too kindly of Americans say it's just plain arrogance. My British friend told me once: "You know that's an American behind you when you hear 'Wilma, pass me that ketchup!"
I think she's was joking or pulling my leg but probably not by much.
Asia is a very big part of the world. Some countries that have unpleasant experiences of Americans really do not think too highly of the people from the Land of the Golden Eagle.
One of the reasons is because Americans (they actually mean GIs) are forever walking and talking as if they own the land. They know they are not going to stay permanently so they make sure they have a heck of a time before they leave.

When Asians think of America, they visualise big plans, great movies, hydrogen bombs, cruise missiles, and to a lesser extent Barack Obama. Not forgetting CNN. Now the US media has been at the forefront of almost every nation in Asia that has satellite TV.

How can anyone avoid America? Some of the most exciting and most watchable films in the world come from America. Many of us think American girls all look either like Charlize Theron (she's actually South African) or Angelina Jolie.

How silly we all are? But that's being human for you. But my own personal experience with America were those Peace Corps people who came over to parts of Asia in the 1960s.
We had many pleasant encounters with those volunteers. I think those Peace Corps people were the best representation of the big US of A. They are caring, humble, willing to teach as well as willing to learn.

Then there are the American navy personnel who make irregular visits to Asia throughout the year. Once when I was driving near a port, I spotted some plain clothes US navymen. I knew they were sailors because the USS Enterprise was in town.

You could tell that they were troopers because I overheard one of them said: "Port Klang is about three kliks away the other way." Nobody talks like that except the US soldiers who are social visits.
I also thought that they were rather short for US soldiers until a friend of mine who was more familiar with the US army enlightened me by saying: "US navymen don't have to be tall, only the Marines are tall. The Marines need to be of a certain height."

It is another misconception. Asians think all American men are 6ft and above. So when we come across one US soldier standing at Asian height, we think he's a short American!

We also believe Americans are some of the most generous people in the world. We got this impression from the various Aid shows held in America and all the fundraising events we see and read about on TV and in the foreign sections of the newspapers.
Oprah Winfrey gives us the impression that Americans are willing to drop everything and rush to the rescue of their troubled neighbours whenever the situation demands it.
I guess that's a good impression by any standards. It is only in recent years that some of us are beginning to know that in a nation of about 300 million people, American has probably one of the largest melting pot of races in the world.
There are the Italians, Irish, Greek, Jews, Cubans, Vietnamese, Scandanavians, etc who make up the demographic strata of the American society.

We also get the impression that Americans in general are not very good at picking leaders. For a better part of 30 years, one US president after another got a terrific bashing from his own people about one year into his presidency.
The US media would go on and on about his bad judgments, his less-than-holy private life and all the verbal foul-ups he committed.
Some of us wondered aloud: "How strange? First, they elect him then they proceed to persecute the poor guy. Didn't the majority pick up of their own free will?"

These are some of the reactions among Asians. Some of us just said: "Nobody is perfect, especially a President. He's just a plain old human." But then, American politics are very much beyond our Asian understanding. Heck, we have trouble understanding our own leaders.

In a way, I suppose as far as politics are concerned, it is about the same all over the world. There are leaders and then there are leaders.

But one thing's for sure, America and her people are never boring. They can be as loud as they want, so long as they make good movies and rush over their big naval vessels over to our shores whenever a major disaster strikes, they are OK by us on any God-given day.

However, some Americans may be beginning to get a little fed up being bashed up either in foreign newspapers or in foreign TV. There are a lot of things that have been misunderstood.
America may be a great nation but it is as human as the rest of us around the world. The only thing that separates America and the rest of the globe is that they have Disneyland and Hollywood, and we have our tropical jungles and exotic settings.

Heck, you can't have it all, you know.
Because of regional conflicts around the globe and the evergrowing presence of US naval vessels, Asians in general think that US is one big bully. At the same time, some of us wish you are not that far away.
You never know when you need a helping hand. People are greedy and are seldom satisfied with their needs, demands and requests. It's just that America is an easy target.
If you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, you may be inclined to say "it's America's fault!" for absolutely no good reason at all. It is just convenient.
That's the price you pay for being a big, rich nation that drowns everybody and every culture out with those bright neon lights and humungous looking burgers.
By the way, a friend of mine who make regular visits to US, love to tell me the size of burgers and plates of food in US. "Three people can share one plate!" she would say.
And no wonder Americans in general are so big. Actually, fat is the word but most Asians are just too polite. What a lucky bunch of people. Eat till you drop. Now, that's not a very pretty picture but some of the skinny ones among us would love to have such a "problem".
That's my five-cents worth of comment on America today. Hope you like it and say a prayer for world peace and unity among the various races fighting among themselves in all parts of this silly world.