American Ways – A Guide for Foreigners in the

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INTRODUCTION xxxi Foreign visitors often find that Americans in general are condescending to them, treating them a bit (or very much) like children who have limited experience and perhaps limited intelligence. Foreign visitors are well advised to remember that it is not malice or intentional ignorance that leads so many Americans to treat them like inferior beings. The Americans are, once again, acting the way they have been taught to act. They have been taught that they are superior, and they have learned the lesson well. There are obviously many exceptions to the preceding generalizations. The main exceptions are those Americans who have lived or at least traveled extensively in other countries and those who have in some other way had extensive experience with people from abroad. Many Americans will also make an exception for a foreigner who has demonstrated some skill, personality trait, or intellectual capability that commands respect. British writers, German scientists, Korean martial arts specialists, and Kenyan runners, among others, readily have many Americans’ respect. On Describing Americans If you ask a Turk (for example) who is visiting the United States whether the Americans she has met think and act the way Turks normally do, she’ll probably say, without any hesitation, “No!” If you then ask her to explain how the Americans differ from the Turks, she will probably hesitate and then offer something along the lines of “Well, that’s hard to say.” It is indeed difficult to explain how one cultural group differs from another. Anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists, journalists, communication experts, and oth-
xxxii AMERICAN WAYS ers have tried various approaches to explaining the distinctive features of different cultures. There is no single best way to proceed. Our approach to helping foreign visitors understand Americans is divided into three parts. Part I presents some general ideas (theory) about cultural differences and American culture as it compares with others. Part II gives information about specific aspects of American life, including friendships, social relationships, politics, religion, the media, and others. Part III brings the book to its conclusion by offering guidelines for responding constructively to cultural differences.
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Page 7 and 8: vi AMERICAN WAYS Informality.......
Page 9 and 10: viii AMERICAN WAYS Sports .........
Page 12 and 13: ✰ ✰ ✰ Preface to the Second E
Page 14 and 15: PREFACE xiii come to be called “p
Page 16: PREFACE xv all these live on. The n
Page 19 and 20: xviii AMERICAN WAYS In the backgrou
Page 21 and 22: xx AMERICAN WAYS On Understanding T
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Page 25 and 26: xxiv AMERICAN WAYS On the other han
Page 27 and 28: xxvi AMERICAN WAYS Generalizations
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Page 36 and 37: ✰ ✰ ✰ Chapter 1 American Valu
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Page 75 and 76: 42 AMERICAN WAYS tion of immediate
Page 77 and 78: 44 AMERICAN WAYS more highly regard
Page 79 and 80: 46 AMERICAN WAYS jewelry, all of wh
Page 81 and 82: 48 AMERICAN WAYS The meaning of han
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50 AMERICAN WAYS Space and Touching
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52 AMERICAN WAYS Suggestions for Fo
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54 AMERICAN WAYS culture where conv
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56 AMERICAN WAYS questions she thou
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58 AMERICAN WAYS arose when I was s
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60 AMERICAN WAYS fully, in Chinese
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62 AMERICAN WAYS dently of the indi
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64 AMERICAN WAYS Too emotional. I m
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66 AMERICAN WAYS assume that a care
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68 AMERICAN WAYS In the end the per
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70 AMERICAN WAYS tices but those co
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72 AMERICAN WAYS • Thanksgiving (
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74 AMERICAN WAYS men—except when
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78 AMERICAN WAYS Juan Pablo would b
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80 AMERICAN WAYS in chapter 2, poli
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82 AMERICAN WAYS Others may not sha
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84 AMERICAN WAYS ganizations. There
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86 AMERICAN WAYS supplement these g
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88 AMERICAN WAYS The Changing Famil
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90 AMERICAN WAYS society generally
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92 AMERICAN WAYS Orange Julius stor
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94 AMERICAN WAYS and, in some measu
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96 AMERICAN WAYS are really angry a
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98 AMERICAN WAYS children leave, en
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✰ ✰ ✰ Education Chapter 7 “
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EDUCATION 103 much education as pos
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Equal Opportunity EDUCATION 105 A t
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Parental Involvement EDUCATION 107
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EDUCATION 109 however, this behavio
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EDUCATION 111 teen professions, bel
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EDUCATION 113 gage in attention-get
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EDUCATION 115 • Should female sec
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EDUCATION 117 system. Whatever its
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✰ ✰ ✰ Religion Chapter 8 “I
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RELIGION 121 • Is prayer a proper
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RELIGION 123 tian right engaged in
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RELIGION 125 the Syrian physician s
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RELIGION 127 as part of an effort t
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130 AMERICAN WAYS parts of the worl
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132 AMERICAN WAYS the press often c
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134 AMERICAN WAYS This is not to sa
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136 AMERICAN WAYS ally these magazi
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138 AMERICAN WAYS • Violent crime
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Chapter 10 ✰ ✰ ✰ Social Relat
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SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS 143 Americans.
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SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS 145 whom they
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SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS 147 socialize,
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SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS 149 ant, neigh
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SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS 151 with peers
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SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS 153 Americans
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Chapter 11 ✰ ✰ ✰ Racial and E
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RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY 157 cus
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RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY 159 Joo
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RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY 161 Had
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RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY 163 sta
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RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY 165 the
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RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY 167 try
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RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY 169 stu
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RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY 171 rac
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174 AMERICAN WAYS spirit of adventu
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176 AMERICAN WAYS Before the women
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178 AMERICAN WAYS areas of child ca
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180 AMERICAN WAYS Granted, the men
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182 AMERICAN WAYS ing and superviso
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184 AMERICAN WAYS for their son. Th
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186 AMERICAN WAYS This chapter has
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188 AMERICAN WAYS Sports Americans
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190 AMERICAN WAYS disadvantage to f
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192 AMERICAN WAYS may cause because
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Chapter 14 ✰ ✰ ✰ Driving “Y
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DRIVING 197 judgment and reflexes.
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DRIVING 199 Attitudes toward Other
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Attitudes toward Pedestrians DRIVIN
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Chapter 15 ✰ ✰ ✰ Shopping “
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SHOPPING 205 and printed messages t
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SHOPPING 207 mality with which some
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SHOPPING 209 Such tactics, of cours
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SHOPPING 211 Americans use is “Yo
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Chapter 16 ✰ ✰ ✰ Personal Hyg
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PERSONAL HYGIENE 215 not. From comm
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PERSONAL HYGIENE 217 the unclothed
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PERSONAL HYGIENE 219 hygiene habits
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222 AMERICAN WAYS sible positions i
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224 AMERICAN WAYS One must take the
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226 AMERICAN WAYS university becaus
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228 AMERICAN WAYS a last resort, if
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230 AMERICAN WAYS going in two oppo
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232 AMERICAN WAYS guish their cigar
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234 AMERICAN WAYS Foreign visitors
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236 AMERICAN WAYS Assumptions Under
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238 AMERICAN WAYS sitting next to t
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240 AMERICAN WAYS to more formal re
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242 AMERICAN WAYS Individual roomma
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244 AMERICAN WAYS Plagiarism To pla
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246 AMERICAN WAYS their progress in
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248 AMERICAN WAYS American values a
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250 AMERICAN WAYS Another manifesta
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252 AMERICAN WAYS bad management. I
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254 AMERICAN WAYS might attend semi
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256 AMERICAN WAYS It is not just em
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258 AMERICAN WAYS Suggestions for F
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260 AMERICAN WAYS gests some activi
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262 AMERICAN WAYS you as a visitor
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264 AMERICAN WAYS Traits and Situat
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266 AMERICAN WAYS cans. Now, at las
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268 AMERICAN WAYS “These American
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270 AMERICAN WAYS ions. The Brazili
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272 AMERICAN WAYS The first two ite
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274 AMERICAN WAYS • Watch televis
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276 AMERICAN WAYS talking, so you c
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278 AMERICAN WAYS enough so you can
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280 AMERICAN WAYS see if buyers bar
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282 AMERICAN WAYS Each state has tw
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284 AMERICAN WAYS • What could I
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286 AMERICAN WAYS can life that the
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✰ ✰ ✰ Bibliography People who
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Intercultural Relations BIBLIOGRAPH
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 293 Triandis, Harry C.
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About the Author Gary Althen has mo
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American Ways – A Guide for Foreigners in the

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