Guns, Ice, and Front Porches

While my last blog entry was all about classes, teachers and my experiences as a student here at Ohio University, I promised you for today some of my cultural impressions. I’ll use the good old American “sandwich method”: compliment, criticize, compliment.

Midwestern Friendliness

One of the first things I noticed that’s fundamentally different from Germany is customer service. When paying for my groceries, I sometimes feel like the cashier wants to become my best friend. “Hi, how are you doing today? What can I do for you, miss? Did you find everything all right? Do you have a … card? Plastic or paper, madam? Is there anything else I can do for you? Thank you. Stay warm and have a good night, hun.” This used to be overwhelming and most people probably found my responses rude. Now that I’ve been here for a while, however, I’ve noticed that it’s not only customer service people who are friendly. People passing by look you in the eye and give you a warm smile, students hold open doors for each other, the local banker remembers your name, the post office employee shares his passion for stamps with you, and secretaries and professors always respond to your emails. You might think that this is because Athens is a small town in the middle of nowhere, but believe me; I grew up in a small town in the middle of nowhere. The cashier of our tiny local supermarket would never bend over backwards to greet every customer that came in with a hearty: “Hello, welcome to CVS!”

Giant Piece of Naval Artillery

While people’s friendliness gives me the warm-and-fuzzies, American gun culture remains something that gives me the shivers. Getting invited to a shooting range from friends who want you to have the “authentic American experience” is one thing. However, when a seemingly random person enters the local bank with a pistol in his holster and nobody pays attention, I did become a little tense in my chair. Professor Garrett, in his guest lecture two weeks ago, attributed this to a historically grown German culture of non-violence as opposed to the notion of progressive realism towards firearms in the U.S. And I think he has a point. Only a few days afterward, I passed a house with a giant piece of naval artillery in the front yard (I’m not sure why it’s there!). Honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the gun culture here.

While I’m complaining (I know…, this is the last of it), I’ve got to mention the pedestrian-hostile environment here. I knew before I came that the U.S. is a country of scarce public transportation and large vehicles. I was, however, unprepared for sidewalks covered in thick layers of treacherous ice and snow and pedestrian light signals that only have buttons one side of the intersection (what to do when you’re on the other side? Jaywalk?). My recommendation for future BA Plus fellows: Either get a pair of cleats or start saving money for a car.

I guess I needed to get that out of my system, and I promised I would end this blog entry with something more cheerful: after two weeks of an average of -15° C, we have climbed passed 0° C again and I think I can smell spring already. I can’t wait to spend the first warm evenings of the year on our front porch (by the way, I advocate importing U.S. front porch culture to Germany!). After all, it is spring break and next time, I will tell you about my trip to New York City.