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Monday, February 11, 2013

America- Land of Butterfinger, Slurpees, and Pop Tarts

For the past few months, I've been doing some on-call relief teacher work here.  I really enjoy working with the kiddos and being back in the classroom a few times a week.  Usually when I show up, the kids are interested to know where I'm from, and they usually ask me a few questions about my accent (it still feels strange to hear people say I have an accent) or want to know about typical American things and then that's the end of it.  But most recently, one of the kids (I think he was about 13) practically put me through a full-length interview about being from America and things that he has heard about or associated with America.  His questions were pretty rapid fire- hardly leaving me time to answer most of the time.  It was pretty hilarious. 

Student: You're American, aren't you?

Me: Yep!

Student: Where are you from?

Me: Well, I've lived in lots of places- Arizona, California, ....

Student (immediately latching on to California): Have you ever seen any celebrities? 

Me: Actually, no not really.  Well not really any major celebrities.  (This was pretty disappointing to him)

Student: Do you like to eat Butterfingers?  I had Butterfinger BB's once. 

Me: Yes, sometimes. 

Student: What about PopTarts?  Do you drink slurpees a lot?  Do you eat Cap'n Crunch for breakfast?  We have Oreos here, but not those double-stuffed ones.  Do you like the double-stuffed Oreos?

Student: Do you listen to Ryan Seacrest on the radio?  Do you watch American Idol?  You know Keith Urban is a judge on that show, and he's from Australia.

Me: Yes, I did know that.  And yes, I love watching American Idol!

Student:  What's the last letter in the alphabet?

Me: Z (Zee). 

Student (laughs and calls out to his classmates): She says the last letter of the alphabet is "zee"
(Australians say "zed"- so weird to me)

Student:  Say banana.

Me: Banana (pronounced "buh-nan-uh")

Student (laughing again): Americans say it so funny.  You're supposed to say buh-nah-nah.

It was so funny to hear all the things he associated with Americans.  Who knew we were known for Butterfingers and double-stuffed Oreos?!  He also asked me if I had ever taught in a school where there had been a shooting.  That was definitely sobering... I guess they hear about them so much, that to him he probably thought it was pretty likely that I had experienced that.  Sad.  But that's a story for another day...

7 comments:

  1. i love hearing what people think of America =P i'm a sucker for American goodies now that I'm here. there's a few shops in Aberdeen that stock up on American goodies, but definitely for a price. we even have an online company that sells nothing but American goodies, at a cheaper price, but then you have to pay for shipping. blah! my favorites to buy or bring back: rotel, any type of salsa, progresso breadcrumbs, nestle tollhouse chocolates, and bisquick!

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    1. It's amazing how much you'll pay for "American things" once you live abroad, isn't it?! Wish we had a shop here! There IS a website that sells American products that I've ordered from a few times already- it's expensive but worth it!

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  2. I love this whole post except the end. We Americans do love our Slurpees, but the Butterfinger thing is kind of baffling. There are like 10 candy bars I would put ahead of Butterfinger- #1 being Snickers, of course.

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    1. I was surprised by Butterfinger, too! I don't usually like Butterfingers all that much, but he kind of made me want one after talking about it so much. :-)

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  3. I wonder if the butterfinger thing is related to the simpsons at all...you know, since bart simpson loves butterfingers?

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    1. I bet you're right. They do play the Simpsons on TV here a lot. You know what else they show on TV which I love? Pimp My Ride!

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