3.24.2009

Tourism

So I'm kind of wondering if, in Greece, it'd be better for me to pretend to be from India or to admit being an American.  I mean, the former has the whole risk of me meeting someone who's actual a fluent Hindi speaker and them realizing that my accent is completely atrocious--the latter, on the other hand, is a setup for all sorts of stereotypes.  Out of shape, indolent, spendthrift, unable to speak the language (I totally bought a beginning Greek book last summer; and somehow I never got around to it, but of course there's no surprises there).  Granted, the fact that I fit most of these stereotypes (spendthrift? hello, raised by Indians) is sort of an indicator that it isn't completely inappropriate for people to assume these things about Americans...and have you seen how big portions are in the U.S.?

But anyway, the other thing I can't help but wonder is, in a relatively homogenous country like Greece, how much they expect a non-Caucasian to be an American.  I mean, they have some pretty strange ideas about how America works in India--and there's definitely a dominant culture that is white, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant--but what about in Europe, which has had many dealings with the United States over the past several centures?  Yeah, Greece is on the Mediterranean, and the U.S. hasn't tried to "smooth things out" in that exact place, although admittedly they've come pretty close, geographically speaking....

What are the preconceptions about America?  And how much is it possible to use those for my own benefit (okay, mostly this works when I secretly know the language, but then again I love taking photos and I can pretend to be a starry-eyed tourist, although of course not in the places I'll have to keep returning to...)?

I guess I'll find out.

For the next two and a half months, this will be GREECE BLOG.  Now is a good time to stop reading.  If you have no intention of doing so, look forward to the funny shit.  And the 'holy wow this place is the awesome' shit.  I've realized how stupid it is to keep a journal intended for personal perusal on the Internet, so this is definitely going to be public consumption material.  My friends should demand a first-hand account, obviously.






And about tonight's Heroes ("Cold Snap"/"Chapter Seven"), is it just me or did they tap Zack Snyder ("Watchmen"--which I still haven't seen--and "300") for half those scenes?  Even if they cancel it, I'm sort of hoping Hiro and Ando get their own show...still incredibly hilarious.

1 comment:

Aashirwad Viswanathan Anand said...

Now we can safely put your picture up on the Archery targets. Hooray!