I'm Afraid of Americans

I used to be a really big David Bowie fan, and although I don't listen to him very often anymore, every now and then I'm reminded of why he's so damn awesome. He wrote some good songs in his time. M'yes.

Am I afraid of Americans? I'm not sure what the right answer is.

A lot of people make the misconception of assuming that Canadians and Americans are very similar culturally and therefore are great friends, and love each other and are pretty much one and the same. But that's a huge lie. And I feel that, especially coming from Québec, my connection to America is very, well, weak.

I don't dislike Americans. I have some very good American friends. However, I cannot deal with close-mindedness, ignorance, or intense conversations about politics or money.

I don't expect my American friends to know too much about Canada, but at the same time, don't make ignorant assumptions about me or where I'm from. Don't insult my country, my province, or my city.

Today I had the unfortunate occasion of debating Canadian vs. American cultural differences with one of the new American students at my school. And I swear, this guy was pretty much pushing all of my buttons.

To make a long story short, allow me to sum up the contents of his half of the "conversation" in the next few lines:

America this. America that. Conservative this. Fiscal that. Money. Money. Money. Politics. Aderall. Lawsuits. Money. Liberals. Conservatives. Israel, Palestine, Muslims. Guns. Politics.

Mix all this some horrible misconceptions about Canada, Québec, and England, and a dab of hypocrisy, and bam, we have exactly what I had to deal with for about an hour or so of my time today. Clearly not what I signed up for when I decided to hang around in the student lounge this morning.

Needless to say, after he left to go to class, a couple of people had to ask me if I was okay. That's how irate my expression was upon his leaving. Man. He's almost exactly like this other annoying guy who just went back to the US. I thought I wouldn't have to deal with this shit again this semester. Ugh.