Language Fellows discuss how America differs from home

Photo by Sebastiano Piazzi on Unsplash Q:What is something about the United States that you think your country does better? A: Elisa Perez (France) Although I cannot pretend to know everything about...

Photo by Sebastiano Piazzi on Unsplash

Q:What is something about the United States that you think your country does better?

A: Elisa Perez (France)

Although I cannot pretend to know everything about American culture or habits, I feel like quality time has a different value in France. From my perspective, I see a lot of people carrying coffee mugs around, and it baffles me. It seems like the idea of sitting down for a coffee and taking the time to just be, just give your time to a friend or family member, is quite different. It’s always ‘on the go’ coffee, let’s catch up soon, and I’ll see you later. In my home country of France, taking the time matters.

Emiliana Russo (Italy)

I come from Southern Italy. Over there, people tend to take their own time to socialize and relax, while to me the US tend to be a hectic, fast-paced country where everyone (and everything) has a daily schedule. For that reason, I would say that Italians, particularly Southern Italians, are better at being laid-back and leading a slow-paced life. Is this always positive? Only time will tell…

Britta Zimniok (Germany)

In my opinion, Germany is much better when it comes to public transportation.  Especially in university cities you have many options because people also travel sometime from other cities to campus everyday. (You don’t have to live close to campus)

But even in smaller villages it is usual to have at least a bus that can bring you to a bigger town/city once an hour. Although there are still improvements that can be made in this aspect, it is nice to know that you don’t have to have your own car to get to different places.

Categories
Opinion
No Comment