In several Personal and Social Education classes I have been a guest speaker. I usually refer to the topic of the classes as Ask An American. The students after writing down their questions are able to ask me questions about being an American and in a futile attempt I try to dispel their stereotypes and clear up misconceptions. The students then made presentation posters about American life. I was pretty proud of my class discussions about America. Here’s a bit of what the students learned, in their own words:
“Thursday the 23rd of November is a special day for those in America. This day is called THANKSGIVING! You can guess what they do on this day.”
“Thanksgiving started in the 1600s when two pilgrims set off in a boat called the Mayflower. They got to America in 165 days. Sadly the ship got wrecked and only 50 pilgrims survived. They caught site of the land and were welcomed. They had a huge meal and they thought about the good things that happened that day.”
“At Thanksgiving you let people in your houses even strangers for dinner.”
“People say that all Americans eat is junk, fatty foods, but that isn’t necessarily true. Because most Americans drink 2 litres of water a day so their body don’t dehydrate.”
“America is a very famous place for fast food. They super size all their food and that’s why most of America’s people are obese.
Thanksgiving is basically the American version of Christmas and is a big celebration to all across the USA. America is a very big place for celebrating.”
“American food sizes are different to ours, because we have small, medium, large but they have an extra large as well which is huge.”
Well, I think my job as an American Ambassador here is done! I have dispelled the media myths about my culture. I’m off to drink a coke.