What is American and British culture all about?

I posed this question to my new class of English majors, juniors enrolled in a course I've broadly titled "Contemporary American and British Culture." My goal was to see what they know or what they think they know now, and have them record it for the end of the semester, so we can see if they've learned anything new. I collected their papers and have sat down to read their thoughts, taking notes as I go. It really is a good barometer of where I need to start. Near the top of the list is to try to expel the notion that the average American diet consists of beef, bread and milk. Yes, for many people, this is central to their diet, but I have the impression that they think this is all we eat, every day. Also, for some reason, a large percentage of my 54 students wrote that the British are very gentle. It seems like an odd descriptor to me, I don't know what you all think. To give you an idea of how they see us, read on for excerpts. I've entered them verbatim, any edits I've made are in brackets.

American and British culture is quite different from Chinese culture. Firstly, the people in America and Britain like eating bread, milk and sugar. So they mostly are fat. Secondly, they are open to their clothes. Maybe because they are more brave, or maybe they persue characters, they always wear odd clothes. Thirdly, they like to live in villas. And the surround around their house is always quiet and beautiful. At last, they almost [all] have their own cars, wherever they go, they will go there by car. --Jessica

American people now enjoy a high level of civilization. Americans are open-minded, rich and joyous. Their education style is very scientific for schools have to be respect students' psychological health. The young are financially independent at 18 [don't you wish this was the case, Mom & Dad? :-)]. Everybody has freedom to express, choose what they like when they are not against the law...They are busy everyday and they prefer Christian. Some believe in God. --Wings

I found this last one particularly interesting because it highlights alot about Chinese culture, which is of course unsaid in Wings' response. For one, nearly all Chinese refer to Americans as "open-minded." I suppose this is a relative term, in contrast to predominantly conservative Chinese. Also, she references schools paying attention to their students' psychological health. As far as I've been able to ascertain, psychology is widely studied and mental health providers are largely absent from the culture. Of course, I expect this to change as the country develops further, but for the present, psychological needs are not addressed in any clinical way.

My students have also been particularly interested in the prevalance of religion on the US and the West in general. During the Cultural Revolution, religion was severely censured by the government and branded as superstition. The Party's campaign to stamp out religion has been very successful, but it has left Chinese youth with what I'd label a curiousity and a longing about beliefs. Several have told me that they believe in nothing. Now that capitalism has mostly replaced what used to be the national religion (Communism), young people feel a painful ache for something, though they aren't sure quite what. I don't think they are nihilists, exactly, but rather that they are experiencing a typical youthful longing for meaning, compounded by a bewildering cultural identity.

Another frequently commented upon aspect:
The Americans and Britains are democratic. They like peace. They can struggle for their right. In spite of the advance technology, they have paid attention to some traditions, especially emotion...Generally speaking, they are leading the world. --Esther

Most of Black American can hip-hop. English [are] island people, so they are brave. Once it [was] the most powerful country. --Toffee

As a Chinese, I don't now American and British culture very much, because I never go to visit the two countries. But in my eye, I think there are many things around me belongs to American and British culture. For example, I often go to see American movies, I like reading the book Harry Potter, I usually eat KFC, and I find many American cars driving on the road. And I often play American games, watch NBA and use Windows system and so on. So I feel all of the things are all American and British culture, and we know them very much. --Cloud

Cloud is clearly experiencing the affects of globalization.

I am really looking forward to hearing more their thoughts as we go through the term. Alot of my lectures will involve research beforehand, so I'll be learning myself what I end up teaching them. I wonder if any of them will have different impressions of Americans, Brits or Westerners in general after we are through. We'll see.

Until next time, everyone.