So, this will be a bit like talking about someone behind his back, but nothing I wouldn't say in person if I thought it would do any good. At the Katowice branch of Profi, where I teach every other Saturday, is another American, J. Former Air Force Intelligence, if you believe him, but there's something off about the way he says it, can't pin it down. He is just everything I find embarrassing about the American character. Brash, loud, blithely arrogant and insensitive. He likes to tell just the worst racist and sexist jokes, not because he's racist (though a tad sexist), but just because that's the level of his humor. He actually plays American football (quarterback, of course) in Poland. One of those people who joins a conversation by introducing complete non sequiturs, usually about himself, usually about football, drinking and/or sex. For me, he is the living embodiment of rubbing a balloon, or nails on a chalkboard.
But what really got me last Saturday was his attitude toward his classes. It's end of the year, finals time, and the tests will cover all the material in the books. Polish students take exams very seriously, and even the ones who are learning English for personal benefit want to do well on them. Now, I'm not a big fan of tests myself; I tend to believe they mostly measure how well you take tests, rather than actual knowledge, but I don't expect everyone to share this view. But J. exhibited such a lack of concern, even pride, in being four full units behind, I didn't even know what to say. He seems to suffer from the delusion that just talking with him is enough, and while that may develop fluency, it is actually important to go over conditionals and passive verbs and reported speech, especially for those in test-prep classes (e.g., First Certificate in English, Advanced English, or Proficiency. These groups will take an exam for an internationally recognized certificate that will open up job opportunities and/or get them higher pay at current jobs. It's really important. And native speakers mostly teach these higher levels, so the majority of his students have these exams as their ultimate goals.). In his words, "Fuck the tests, man." This, on the same day that he expressed disappointment in discovering that Polish girls aren't as easy as he'd thought, ("I'm not taking [them] out for [their] personality and broken English.") and offered with pride the details of his current hangover and inability to teach in such a state.
Sigh.
There's so much that's good about the U.S. So much that I love. Literature, press freedom (even when they don't use it, at least it's there), road trips, spicy chicken at Popeye's, coffee refills, hashbrowns, purple mountains' majesty, etc. Why is it that we only export the worst? McDonald's, Burger King, strip malls, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, Hollywood schlock, military invasions and useless missile defense systems, ludicrous justifications for civil rights abuses, and guys like this. It pains me to think that he is our representative here, even if it's just to a relatively few people. Because he reinforces (to my mind) so many of the negative stereotypes of Americans. And, as at home, I just feel no kinship with him. No fellow feeling, no sense of community. The only Polish word I've ever heard him say is "gowno," which means "shit," except Polish people don't use it the same way we do, so it's always wrong. Ah, well. He'll leave soon, and I can hope his replacement is better.
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4 comments:
In my opinion such people are probably everywhere. In Poland there are some people that show exactly this type of behaviour. And one of sad things about it is, that such poeple are easy to hear everywhere: on the street, in buses, in pubs. Sometimes when you're abroad, you're ashamed to be there with Poles. I hope that these people are exceptions, though it's rather naive. I don't know whether to be loud, arrogant or insensitive is a part of American character but I know three American English teachers and they seem to be the opposite of it. So maybe it's not so bad.
Just in addition to my previous comment from before ten minutes because I forgot about it. The name of this famous son of Sosnowiec, which photo you have in your blog, is Jan Kiepura with 'a'. Kiepury is in declension the second case. Polish grammar is quite complicated.
Dziekuje, Monika. I always get my endings wrong. When I refer to the American character, I don't really mean individuals, but rather our collective personality. Of course there are always assholes and good people in every society, and many people who exhibit these qualities at different times. But if you look at American history and culture, you get a sense of our overall national values. From Manifest Destiny (the belief that it was our right/duty/holy obligation to expand westward to the Pacific) to the illegal invasion of Iraq, America has acted, and continues to act, with arrogance, convinced of our own righteousness. Loud, in the sense that when we speak, we expect to be heard. Look at the heroes in our films: macho, smart-mouthed, misunderstood but ultimately justified, often underdogs who prevail in the end. Bold actions are celebrated whether the consequences turn out well or not. We insert ourselves into international conversations that don't concern us and ignore the ones we don't want to hear. We consume a disproportionate amount of the world's resources and insist that developing nations make do on their own. We show a truly astonishing disregard for other cultures' sensitivities while claiming to embrace diversity. Not all of us, no, perhaps not even most. And that's not the entirety of our culture and character, but just like individual people, we have good and bad traits, that we show at different moments. Some people also embrace different aspects of the national character more than others, and J. seems to have done that with the ones I find distasteful. And since I know that it's a common human trait to generalize (everybody does it), I worry that my lovely, complex, disturbing, inspiring, aggravating-but-the-only-place-I-call-home country is being judged on the basis of this guy.
You're right that national values have their beginning in history. In Poland, for instance, people always had to fight for their country, their nationality. Our history is full of blood, suffering and sacrifice. Most of our literature was patriotic and stressed that we are in some way a chosen nation, which should fight for freedom and faith. It is said that Poles are full of ideals like romanticists. They also can unite in extremely difficult situations. But actually only in these situations. And the last 60 years of communism had a very bad influence on our society. Citizens couldn't say what they were really thinking. Lecturer at the university, artists, Catholic chur ch, journalists-everybody had been investigated. Even after all these years Poles are divided because of decommunization (I don't know if there is such a word in English). It is not fully revealed who was an informer and who a victim. I was a child in the 80's so I don't remember this time (only long queues to shops) but the first ten, twenty years after war were the most horrible. And now we are learning again how to say our opinion, what is press freedom and generally freedom. And America has freedom and democracy such a long time. It's an obligation. And a country, which is so powerful and has so big influence on others, should use it best. It's up to politicians, government what they do. When Americans had come to Europe to fight with Nazis they were welcoming with blessings. Somebody say, they could come earlier but what if they hadn't come at all? America had had their reasons to start war with Japan and German Reich but it was a blessing for many people, especially Poles and many prisoners in concentrations camps, like my uncle, who was in Buchenwald. America has many possibilities, which smaller countries don't have and with wise politicians can use them fully.
Take care:)
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