By
Cory Spiller
We are a self-deprecating people, us Americans. If something goes wrong in a foreign country, we blame our lack of culture, class, or interesting accent. The first words we learn in any foreign language are pardon, excuse me, I'm sorry, and I'm very, very sorry. We apologize constantly, and for no reason at all. And sometimes - worst of all - we apologize for being American. Personally, I'm tired of it.
This weekend, my quirky little group of UA students went on an excursion to Normandy. We drove around in a big dumb bus. We stared out of the window with blank expressions wondering why no one waved back when we shook our palms to and fro. It took five hours to get to Normandy, and we passed the time by telling dumb jokes about our dumb friends, and we wandered around ancient abbeys and graveyards flogging ourselves for being so blaringly stupid.
At about seven in the evening, we arrived at our hotel in the tiny little town of Caen. Being dumb college kids, as we are, we decided the only way to have a good time in this quiet country town was to get drunk. My roommate and I hiked nearly three miles to find the town's only liquor store, and when we did, we bought two bottles of vodka and a stupefyingly large bottle of whiskey. We walked back in the direction of the hotel with our big dumb thumbs in the air trying to hitch a ride. And - based on the expression on the faces of those that decided not to pick us up - we could have been the dumbest thing that town had ever seen.
We threw a party - a moronically loud party. The girls drank screwdrivers. The guys drank whiskey cokes. We said dumb things to each other, we laughed like imbeciles, and we drank ourselves stupid. Culturally superior French folks in adjacent rooms knocked on our door. They muttered things unintelligible, but in retrospect I bet they just said, "I can't sleep, please be quiet." But we didn't know. We answered, "Oh, I think we have enough booze, but thanks a lot."
In the morning, we received a reprimand from our professors.
I think it is my responsibility to offer my opinion of university programs abroad. I strongly believe that if you want to study abroad, you should go alone. You do not need the Study Abroad office, and you most certainly do not need to be dragged around from tourist site to tourist site with fixed itineraries and educational agendas.
Apply to a foreign university and live with other foreign students. If that doesn't suit you, travel with a couple of friends. Traveling without a tour guide isn't scary at all - it's fun. So what if you don't know the language! When the pressure in your bladder becomes unbearable, believe me, you will figure out how to ask where the bathroom is in Swedish. We aren't in high school anymore. As college students, we are too old to be told when we have to get up in the morning, when we have to meet back at the bus, and when we must apologize to hotel managers for being American.
Our program leader explained that many hotels in the area do not accept American tour groups because of our lousy reputation, and that the previous night's activities were damaging to future groups' chances of staying in little towns like Caen. My question is, did it matter that we were speaking English in that room? Does it matter that we are Americans? Without a doubt we were too loud, but couldn't we have been Germans, Italians, or Latvians? Or do college kids in those countries not throw parties when they are on vacation? Why is it that we have to feel guilty for being Americans? Isn't it enough that we are dumb college students?
The next morning, I was sorry. As sorry as I have been to hall directors in university dorms. As sorry as I have been to police when they break up parties, and to my neighbors when they come over at three in the morning in their pajamas waving golf clubs above their heads threatening to press charges. But I will not say, "I hope our actions don't reflect badly on our nationality." I am unapologetically American. Someone give me a medal.
