American Culture 101

April 15 2012

Last night my host brother Diego invited me to hang out with him and his friends in the basement. My host mom Lourdes insisted that I go hang out with them I should change my clothes, brush my teeth, and then she would take me downstairs and introduce me. She even warned me that they were a little shy but gave me suggestions of topics to talk about. I felt like she was setting up another play date for me. Diego had 5 friends in the basement who were playing cards, playing video games, and watching football. Basically it was “bro time” until I got there.

When I arrived, it turned into American Culture 101. One of the guys was extremely interested in hearing about the movies, music, politics, sports, food, and celebrities in the US. He drilled me with a million questions and was genuinely interested in what I had to say. It made me feel like a mini celebrity. He kept on asking me about my opinions about Obama and different decisions he made during his presidency. I’m not politically savvy, and in the moment I wished I was because he knew way more about my culture than I did.

At one point I had a conversation with one of the guys about business because he’s studying business administration. He would speak quickly to the other guys explaining the stocks he invested in and break down the difficult words for me. I don’t speak the language of business in English, but somehow I understood business jargon in Spanish. 

Another thing they couldn’t stop asking questions about California because they see it portrayed in movies. I would explain that I live in Oregon which is “norte de California” so I don’t have experience living in that culture. They didn’t ask about Oregon, either because they couldn’t pronounce it, or there aren’t enough movies that take place in Oregon.

The best part of the night was when I turned the tables and challenged them to speak to me in English. Diego had already been showing off his skills but the others were too shy because they’ve only studied it for a few years. I always roll my eyes at people when that’s their excuse because I have the language abilities of a 3 year old and I can still have basic conversations. They disregarded my comment and complemented me on my Spanish and said I have good pronunciation.

When the first guy finally built up the courage to speak in English, he said slowly with a Spanish accent “you are a beautiful person.” The second guy said “your hair is pretty” and the third said “I like your blue eyes.” I responded with “¡Dime más!” I like what the English teachers in Spain are teaching their students. Forget dumb phrases like “what’s your name” or “nice weather we’re having today,” they’re learning pickup lines!

The night ended at 2 a.m. and the guys enthusiastically asked if I would hang out with them again. They said that next time my American girlfriends are invited, so they can learn more about American culture of course!