2008 Woodie Awards
To Students Studying Abroad: Experience Lots Of Culture
Mark Fuller
Issue date: 2/4/05 Section: Commentary
One of the most encouraging phenomenons in American higher-education in past years has been the number of college students studying abroad. Over the past 15 years the figures have risen tremendously. Between 1992 and 2002, the number of students going abroad increased by 145 percent from 71,154 to 174,629 students. Today, almost 200,000 Americans every year pass over seas and across borders to enrich their educational experience. Every fall, summer, and spring, a host of young minds arrives in India, Italy, Greece, Australia and beyond, ready for culture and good times.
This past fall, while spending five months abroad in Venice, I had an opportunity to witness this spectacle firsthand. I found myself part of a loosely interconnected system of U.S. undergrads that stretched across every corner of Europe. The sheer mass of this transplanted population staggered me. As time went by, it seemed as if I had a friend or two or three in almost every European Union city.
This was further evidenced by what felt like the revolving door of Colgate students who passed through Venice to visit us. In my travels in Rome, Florence, and Madrid, it seemed like I couldn't spit without hitting some group of interim natives from California, Pennsylvania, or New York. This student invasion made me smile; it was heartening to know an entire generation of Americans would return home that much more open-minded, educated and experienced in the ways of the world than their parents. But on closer observation, there are certain aspects of this fairy tale that are less than cheering.
The image of the obnoxious American abroad is, of course, a stereotype. The loud, arrogant, and rude tourist is one of the U.S.'s largest exports, or so the story goes. I always believed this on some level, without giving it much thought. It was not until I saw it (and lived it) on a regular basis that it began to really weigh on my mind. Stupid tourists, traveling in messy throngs, were constantly an irritation as I tried to navigate the narrow streets of Venice. These impatient, ignorant travelers who would turn red when someone did not speak English made me ashamed of my nationality and tremendously annoyed. Ultimately though, that's all these people are; annoyances and irritations not worth the time it takes to criticize. But there was a different (and more deplorable) manifestation of this ugly Americanism to be found over there, lurking under the guise of academic study
This past fall, while spending five months abroad in Venice, I had an opportunity to witness this spectacle firsthand. I found myself part of a loosely interconnected system of U.S. undergrads that stretched across every corner of Europe. The sheer mass of this transplanted population staggered me. As time went by, it seemed as if I had a friend or two or three in almost every European Union city.
This was further evidenced by what felt like the revolving door of Colgate students who passed through Venice to visit us. In my travels in Rome, Florence, and Madrid, it seemed like I couldn't spit without hitting some group of interim natives from California, Pennsylvania, or New York. This student invasion made me smile; it was heartening to know an entire generation of Americans would return home that much more open-minded, educated and experienced in the ways of the world than their parents. But on closer observation, there are certain aspects of this fairy tale that are less than cheering.
The image of the obnoxious American abroad is, of course, a stereotype. The loud, arrogant, and rude tourist is one of the U.S.'s largest exports, or so the story goes. I always believed this on some level, without giving it much thought. It was not until I saw it (and lived it) on a regular basis that it began to really weigh on my mind. Stupid tourists, traveling in messy throngs, were constantly an irritation as I tried to navigate the narrow streets of Venice. These impatient, ignorant travelers who would turn red when someone did not speak English made me ashamed of my nationality and tremendously annoyed. Ultimately though, that's all these people are; annoyances and irritations not worth the time it takes to criticize. But there was a different (and more deplorable) manifestation of this ugly Americanism to be found over there, lurking under the guise of academic study