This I believe.

People everywhere carry preconceptions about most everyone. I have

had the privilege of adventuring Western Europe every summer for over a
decade now, so Ive learned not just about the generalizations we hold for
other peoples, but what other peoples think it means to be an American. I
believe that what just one person does can shape how his whole country is
perceived.
The first time I went to the Czech Republic, I was in second
grade. I noticed over time that we were not seen as the native people were. I
was a walking sack of cash in the eyes of the Czechs, whose streets are
loaded by day with sneaker- wearing tourists with their baseball caps and
wide brimmed hats, carrying their bulging fanny packs stuffed with wads of
Czech Korunas. My family and I had to spend a few months in Prague before
we found the more local-based restaurants who didnt give us the tourist
prices. Im not really sure what gave away the fact that I am an American.
Maybe it was that all that I could say was dej mi prosm zmrzlina which
translates as Give me please ice cream. I was, of course, overjoyed by
everything that one sentence could provide me with. Either way, the fact
that we dressed like normal people instead of tourists, tried to speak in
Czech, and acted politely, heavily improved how we were treated in the
restaurants.
On my brisk morning runs through the quiet streets Prague, I would
notice among the singing jays in the chestnut trees, and the sprawling
cobblestone walkways clad in patterns of blue and white, that nearly every
person I ran past gawking or glaring at me as though I was going to give
someone an atomic wedgie. Later, one of my Czech friends explained in his
heavy accent, that We do not do this. We will never see anyone run unless
theyve just been pickpocketed, or will be maybe missing a tram. It was only
a few years ago that I began to see more and more weirdo Americans, and
now, I suppose, weirdo Czechs, jogging about other than just me and my
dad. I guess our running caught on.
When I got older, I started to go to Germany more and more. Ive
noticed that the German view of Americans depends on who you ask, their
generation, and by region, sort of like how views of certain peoples here in
America do. We were nearly forbidden to stay at one hotel simply on the
grounds that we were Americans. Apparently, Americans are jerks. On the
phone, when the owner found out we were Americans, he said Americans?
Oh I dont like Americans. We questioned him on his comments after
getting getting to know him. He replied, that the Americans who had stayed
at his place in the past had broken his table in a fit of rage over a lost brawl
of Ping-Pong, and that another had kept his bikes inside like they were
people and left bike grease on his towels. He even had to hang a neon yellow
sign up at his dock saying No child may be present without supervision so

that overly litigious Americans would not sue him. We did our best to prove
to him that we were not jerks. Eventually, we earned Wigberts trust, though
he gave it reluctantly. He eventually let my family use his boats, and even
bestowed upon me the honor of wielding one his shiny new Ping-Pong
paddles.
Most recently, I visited Austria. The Austrians have been very
hospitable towards friendly Americans like me, who take up the challenge of
hiking their lovely Alps. Unfortunately, they share the view of Americans that
is stereotypical of most nations; that we are all rich, spoiled, and chubby
cowboys. I did not see a clearer example of this than when I visited Viennas
famous, and my favorite, Prater Amusement park. It was there that I saw it.
The sign on this closed out-door restaurant stood seven feet tall, a towering
effigy. He looked like a starfish, clinging to the buildings faade like it was
his own little patch of the seabed. His arms and legs where swollen, and his
obese form was clothed only by bursting at the seams denim overalls,
cowboy boots and a ten gallon hat. Above this fat hick with the three chins,
was plastered the words Eat Like An American. An American restaurant! A
shame it was closed; I was hankering for a juicy, tender cheeseburger. I
could almost hear the dripping fat sizzling on the grill. But I settled for a
traditional Austrian dinner of pork sausage and potatoes instead. I was, after
all, in a country with an amazing variety of meats to choose from other than
just hamburger.
In the end, I have found that albeit quite difficult to change
preconceptions, let alone contradict them entirely, it is entirely possible for
one persons actions or words to change some elses mind. Many people can
be judgmental about what we are simply because where we were born and
what has been said about us, those determinations do not have to be
permanent. I believe that I, just as one person, have the power to reverse
peoples preconceptions of Americans.