International House of Pancakes

Mmmmm...pancakes! Oops, sorry I got distracted there.

Continuing on my experiences with international graduate students at Ohio University, I was surprised by how we are viewed by people from different countries.

College was over 20-years ago now, so I'm sure images and perspectives have changed, possibly not for the better.

But 20-years ago the thing that surprised me the most was how these international students expected Americans to be like what they had seen on TV.

Back then, prime time soap operas like Dallas and Dynasty were the popular shows. Evidently these shows were distributed internationally. Every night that one of these shows were on in the common TV room of the dormitory, all the international students came together instinctfully to watch.

Over time, in discussions with many of them, one after another they told me how disappointed they were when they came to the United States because they had expected what they had seen on shows like Dallas and Dynasty. They expected that those shows were accurate depictions of everyday American life and American people.

Whew. Were they off.

I'll always remember a girl from Peru telling me how disappointed she was in Americans. They were so mean, she said, so cold, nothing like she had seen on TV.

Our country's influence reaches far and wide. It's not just military. It's not just money. Our cultural influences not only affect our own population, but that of everyone around the world.

It's becoming more and more of a small world, one world.

...mmmmm...pancakes...