Americans...

I really hate the reputation that Americans have abroad. In a lot of foreign countries we are seen as being uncultured, having bad habits, and thinking that the American way is the best. Unfortunately, I feel like it is only perpetuated by the people that go abroad and give others this impression. I was sitting in the dining room eating my breakfast and overheard a table of Americans. One girl was so excited and was talking about how she saw a cello player plucking his instrument instead of playing it with a bow and thought that it was "so awesome". Honestly, that isn't exactly the most original thing you can do with a stringed instrument. Naturally one would think that you could pluck any instrument with strings. I almost wanted to burst out laughing, clearly she has not heard a lot of music played on a cello or violin. Playing a pizzicato is probably one of the most basic skills you learn on the cello and is commonly used on the bass, especially in jazz. I guess it would be too much to ask if she had actually ever heard any classical or jazz music in her life.

I also saw some Americans playing beer pong on the lawn of one of the dorms. Can you not survive without playing beer pong for three months? There are plenty of bars, pubs, and clubs a person can go to a drink socially and be normal. Why beer pong? The "table" they made was also really short and made from a plank resting on the backs of two chairs. When I commented on how short the table was, the explanation that I got was that it got too expensive at the home dept type place that was charging per foot. Basically they just blew a ton of money on a plank for beer pong and no other purpose. I sure that they also cannot bring it back to the states either so they pretty much just flushed the money down the toilet. Maybe one of you guys that love playing beer pong so much can explain to me why you would waste your money on something like this when there are perfectly reasonable tables in the pantries.