Curious about how other people see my country

[Shana]

Originally Posted by Dkong1026

Maybe in the center of it, but that's no where near where she works . She works in the hellholes of Africa. It's a govt. position and she told me that she has to have a marine with her if she wants to go off the premises not in a car.

I see. But anyways,

Originally Posted by Anachronism

Creo Mexico es un agradable y valioso país. Voy allí a veces cuando voy a vacaciones.

In English: "I believe Mexico is a pleasant and valuable country. I go there sometimes when I go on vacation.".

"Creo que Mexico es un agradable y valioso país. Voy allí a veces cuando voy de vacaciones."

In english: "I believe that Mexico is a pleasant and valuable country. I go there sometimes when I go for vacation.". But you did it very, very well for what I've seen in my life

[Anachronism]

Originally Posted by Shana

I see. But anyways,



"Creo que Mexico es un agradable y valioso país. Voy allí a veces cuando voy de vacaciones."

In english: "I believe that Mexico is a pleasant and valuable country. I go there sometimes when I go for vacation.". But you did it very, very well for what I've seen in my life

Gracias. Hace seis meses que yo estudio español. Es difícil pero útil.

[Terrestrial Dream]

Originally Posted by EphemeralDreams

From what I hear, in Europe. They have easier access to drugs and its more awesome than that of America. Booze also, ignorance is delightful.

Well maybe because Marijuana is legal in Netherlands?

[leona_senshi]

OK well just looking at the responses from my last thread:

http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=57118

I saw that it was pretty much 50 50 on how everybody has the picture of how Mexico is.

First off, let me tell you guys that in any moment and in no way did I felt offended by your comments and opinions, so don't worry about that part, i asked for your opinion and that's what I got

let me brake the sterotype at least for some parts of mexico including my city

first off, mexico is not all deserts, we actually have a great part of the terrain with forrest and more mayor citys than just dirt, there are some part where we do have deserts, actually 60 % of baja california is desert, actually it's the state with more deserts in the country, other than that, it's all lies.

Yes we have a bigggg ass issue with poberty, but that's because of the shit heads we have as senadors and every goverment person in high places...

yes, we do have corrups law enforcements officers... I hate them myself, a lot of kidnapings are done by ex-cops or just people related to them, fortunately the new president that we have is changind that, let's hope he speeds up LOL, the good thing is that I actually know some cops, some are friends and they are actually pretty down to earth people, a lot of them are really honest and try their best to change the belief that every cop is corrup.

apart from that, pretty much everything you've ever heard saw on tv is only the bad side of mexico, because we all know, bad news always sells good on tv.
but there are a lot of things for example that I like about TJ in my case, Movies are really cheap, it's like 4 bucks for a premier movie and you get discounts for being a student compared to almoust 10 bucks in the US for a flick

things are cheaper, at least candy is not expensive :P
booze, well... LOL yeah, it's cheap also depending on the kind you buy.
there are a lot of recreation parks and places to chill out
we have more holidays than the US LOL XD
a great variaty of night clubs, I'm not a night person but when I go out there are a lot of cool places to go.
so basicaly Mexico is just like any other country with a lot of big and small cities, but nothing like the images you see on TV
to have an idea, here's a pic of Tijuana




so it's your turn!
brake the stereotype of you country so that we can have a better mental image of where you live

[SeedFreedom]

wooo hoooo

CANADA

-we don't live in igloos. We live in normal houses/apartments just like the US.
-we don't all speak French. in fact i hardly know anyone who speaks French. also you can go just about anywhere and speak only English and get around fine
-we don't have snow all year round. we have summers, as hot as those in most US cities.
-we never say eh, or aboot

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by leona_senshi

we have more holidays than the US LOL XD

That is not saying much. US ranks the least amount of vacation time of any develope country. We are a bunch of wokaholics over here. European's will take 3 months off every year and in the US, we can't imagine taking 3 days off unless it includes the weekend.

As for the US.

A lot of people in other countires perceive the US as this monolithic country but forget that the US is one of the biggest in the world in terms of population and geography and it is very mix and just about everyone has their own idea and agenda. Since the 1960s i don't think 60% of American have ever agree on any major foreign or domestic policy. Things have only gotten worst recently and i doubt you will get much more then 50% of anything.

[kj1980]

My image of Mexico is based on my personal experience, so it will be definitely skewed.

The company that I work for has a plant in Mexico. When we first set up a plant there, I flew with several of my co-workers from Narita to Tijuana, and onward to Mexico City on Aeromexico. We decided to do a stop at Tijuana and ventured out into the city. We went to an area called Avenida Revolucion, a typical tourist trap, and sought out some goods. Much like Turkey and other countries where Asian = Japanese views are held, the store workers did their best to lure us in with absurd Japanese such as “konnichiwa,” “chotto matte,” etc. etc. All in all, we had a nice time at Tijuana as we were able to grab some nice tortas and aged extra anejo tequilas.

Onwards on our flight, we saw that Mexico has a wide disparity in income; with peoples European descent and mixed mestizos holding much of the power and wealth while the local Amerindian populace lives in poverty.

Our plant was located near Toluca, about 70 km west of Mexico City. When we went from Mexico City to Toluca, the cab fare was 80 USD, but on our return it was 20 USD. We couldn’t decipher how these fares were calculated by the driver, but we did notice how all the cabs did not have their speedometers or their fare maters turned on. On our way, we saw numerous police activity with several roadblocks on the highway to Toluca – a scene that reminded us when we visited Ankara, Turkey several years before.

Overall however, our view of Mexico wasn’t so on our first visit to Toluca. The food was great, we ate some tasty chorizos and we even bought some uncensored porno DVDs from the local mall.

But my image of Mexico would crumble several months later, when we received a call from the plant that the Japanese plant manager had been killed in a car accident on his way to work. We broke up into two teams; one team would bring and look after his family to Mexico, while the other (the team that I was on) would go to Mexico to straighten things out.

This time, we took Narita to Mexico City on Japan Airlines. When we got to the local police station, the police told us that the Japanese manager was waiting at a Jale (stop) sign, when a dump truck swerved over at unsafe speed instantly killing the manager. Then he said “these things happen, so in a way it is partly the Japones’ fault for actually stopping at the sign - he could’ve reacted and moved over.” The tip of the iceberg was when he had the nerve to tell us straight to our face, “if you pay us USD 3000 and we will start the investigation.” Keeping our cool, we politely said no and returned to the hotel.

On our way, we called the Japanese embassy in Mexico City about what had happened and they were outraged. I’m sure this call got the gears set in motion between the Japanese embassy and the Mexican government. By the time we went to the police station several days later to retrieve his body for a Buddhist funeral (finding a Buddhist monk in Mexico is not easy!), the police had a different attitude and tone. They found the drunk driver and he was being held for prosecution (though we learned several months later that he was released and was back at his job).

After this, what would you expect my image of Mexico to be?

[WanderingKnight]

@kj1980:

Yes, it's something, unfortunately, very likely to happen in South America. I don't like to divulge stereotypes, but it's true... actually it's even more possible when it's foreigners we're talking about. Many people (I think especially here in Argentina, though I might be mistaken) have the feeling that tourists from first world countries are more "gullible" than locals, so they will behave differently towards them... more cocky, I would call it. Especially if they're Japanese--somehow they will figure that behind the completely alien attitude, when compared to our people, that most Japanese tourists have hides an extremely innocent soul. That's the reason behind the absurd 80 USD fare you got in your first taxi ride. Similarly, around these parts, prices in most places will strangely rise instantly on the sight of a tourist.

Moral of the story: If you come here, don't let the locals rip you off. If you feel they're charging too much, smile courteously and walk away. It's something hard to do with taxi drivers, since they can take you to a whole tour through the city instead of leading you straight to your destination, thus charging you more than what they should, but for the rest of them, do as I said. If you find yourself bullied by the police, make a hole in the ambassador's ears. You won't imagine the rage that will boil through their veins when they see such a good opportunity missed out. And they're more likely to lower the price on the spot, as well.

[Vexx]

"Do the right thing" varies from culture to culture (the unspoken part is "for ____").

In Japan it is highly unlikely the taxi driver would rip you off and you're still quite likely to find your purse and all its contents where you left it on the bench (or politely turned into the local police box if not delivered right to your home).
In the US, your results are very mixed because of the extreme variation in personal ethics here ... and I'll let WanderingKnight speak on what might happen to the purse in Argentina.

[ChainLegacy]

I've never been to Mexico and I don't really have any negative views of it. I see it as a developing nation economically (industrialized, and I'm quite aware that there are nice cities down there), and I foresee continued development in the future. I've only met one Mexican in my life and he was a good guy, though judging a nation by individuals I meet is ridiculous, so it doesn't really sway my opinion either way.

I feel your pain with people making judgments of your country, though. As an American, I've grown quite sick of it...

[Marina]

Originally Posted by leona_senshi

so it's your turn!
brake the stereotype of you country so that we can have a better mental image of where you live

Yay! Well, although you said country, Alaska is so different from the rest of the US (what Alaskan's call the "lower 48"...no, it's not deragatory, it's just fact, the other states are physically lower than ours) that we almost view it as another country.

Sooo, I grew up in Alaska and currently go to college in Alaska:

1) NO, same as Canadians, we do NOT live in igloos
2) We do not use dog sleds to get to school
3) It is not forever winter! Just...about 8 or so months
4) We are not part of Russia
5) We are not part of Canada
6) We are not all Native Alaskans wearing parkas

Truth?
1) We DO get paid to live here the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend
2) Our summers can be as extreme as the winters, for example in my city, it can get to 90ish degrees Farenheit
3) It has the largest area
4) The highest mountain and greatest difference in elevation
5) The most extensive wilderness
6) The most lakes, shoreline, and wetlands of any state
7) Also has the lowest population density of any state (and we'd like to keep it that way...as much as tourism helps out our state, we really aren't a big fan of the idea of our wilderness getting massively populated)
8) Our mosquitoes are pretty much our state bird If you visit in the summer, bring bug repellent!

Here's a picture of my backyard...not exactly what a lot of people picture when they think of the typical Alaskan home:


On another note:
Sortof silly, when I went to Europe with my school choir, Americans were so hated that we would either say we were from Alaska (which most ppl had no idea where it was) or Canada. Since I am of Asian descent, I am very aware of the many stereotypes others have of Americans.... lazy, wasteful, gluttonous (seriously....I've never seen a country so accustomed to obesity and junk food), if not lazy then ambitious to the point of insanity and callousness.

[Takeru]

I guess if I had my 2 cents (or maybe pesos in this sense) I would have to say that my only exposure to mexico was 1) when I lived in Vegas, and 2) what comes across on Univision and Telemundo. Meaning all I see is lots of mexican (langugage) and extremely passionate soap operas and football fans (yes, I mean soccer you other peoples).

And don't worry, when I lived in Las Vegas, people actual (honest to god) asked me "people actually live there?".

And just to add my money against my own culture, the self-centered, single-mindedness of it all frankly makes me feel ill. I know that I will never be fully accepted by another culture, but hey, it's a start, right?

Originally Posted by Anachronism

I don't know why in the U.S. we focus so much on learning about Europe and keeping strong ties to the country we fought to separate ourselves from yet so many of us know so little about our neighbors to the south. Too many people think Mexico is a couple of spring break hot spots and a wasteland between them. I think xenophobia is the cause of most of it.

It's not xenophobia, it's ignorance. I commute between Colorado and Mississippi all the time and there's a massive change in the way they both view the world.
For example, a large population of my high school is asian. Both native (I guess that's what you'd call it) and foreign exchange and we openly accept it here, but go to Mississippi and the entire view changes. I've actually had my grandfather say "why do you care about those slanty-eyed people" and it even offended me. So don't take your opinions from one place. If you truly want to understand another country/culture, you have to go there. That's why I want to travel the world, to dispel my own ideas of others.

[Prongs]

And what About my country Indonesia. What do you think of my country
some of our men hate their country. and from them some of bad words was
spread. but in fact I live on the most beautiful country on this planet.

and about Mexico. did they have any sexy senorita? whew I saw Meksiko on
some soap Opera that played on my country. My tought is that country doesn't
different from my country. it feels same, oh by the way I remember that there was
a beach on Mexico and it have famous sexy girls there. but I forgot the name.
can you name it??

[beamknight87]

ok... I'm Mexican, specifically I live in the capital, Mexico City and I have seen this kind of discussion in some other forums.

The conclusion I have for the great deal of ignorance/discrimination to which Mexico has been marked goes back to the time of the Spanish Conquest. Why? Because after 300 years of Spaniard domination, almost another century of inner wars and conflicts arose, mostly thanks to the very same Spaniard influence. Backstabbings, assasinattions and the corruption have been constants in the history since then untill... well, they still continue >_< and I'm not even going to begin with how the Church has exercised as a tool for ideological control in the low social class people since those times to nowdays.

Considering that during the XXth Century this country feed on a pathetic nationalism that did more evil than good (the economic crisis since 1970 to 1990's that even reformed the financial support for third world countries o_O) and STILL has not been abandoned, I guess it is only natural for the international arena to see this country as a underdeveloped one... which is true. Half of the population of Mexico (around 50 millions) are poor. The wealth distribution in this country is one of the worst of the planet, otherwise, how does one justifies a Carlos Slim, a Mexican that is the 1st or 2nd richest dude of the planet? It doesn't make sense...

I'm a student of International Relations, and what I can say is that before trying to categorize any country or mark it with any kind of stereotype, one first must understand its history and then, its current social and political situation. Of course, a couple of visits to it does help, but it really saddens me when the typical image that Mexico gives is that one of a town in the middle of a freaking desert, with a couple of cactus over here and there, everyone dressed in a pair of white pants and shirt, wearing a bigass hat ¬_¬, I mean, that's the typical image of Mexico... in 1910 - 1920.

Oh, and yeah, this country produces a crapload of soap operas that quite frankly, are the dumbest thing ever. I can't even begin to imagine what kind of person watches such extreme idiocy... On the other hand, yes, the soccer fans are abundant over here, but also, the league is completely mediocre, the national team has a hard time in a match against Guadalupe (yes, that island in the Caribbean -_-) or Guatemala.

Well, at least I will follow the advice of a good old friend of mine: "Travel, travel a lot around the world if you can and open your eyes and ears. You'll learn more by doing it so rather than hearing and seeing what others want YOU to hear and see".

[Ymor]

Brazil

-we don't live with monkeys lol
-we don't speak spanish
-The Brazil capital is Brasilia and not Buenos Aires lol
-Carnaval is only in February lol
-We don't live in the florests



How you see Brazil ?

[Tommy]

Originally Posted by leona_senshi

Just wondering, I'm at work right now and since I work in call center in Tijuana Mexico and I dial US numers, if we get asked where we are located we normally say San Diego, but I actually I got one of those anoying calls where I had to say that I was in Tijuana and the guy just said "ohhh so are there really a lot of people that still ride donkeys??" WTF??!!
I have come across this in some cartoons even in the simpsons in the camp krusty episode where the put Tijuana as a freaken dirt town...

I really want to know how Mexico is seen thrue your eyes.
Can you tell me what's your opinion or imagine my country, I'll post another tread depending on the response.

So instead of negative stereotypes what are some positive things about Tijuana? How about posting some pics of nice places to go and see?

I'll admit after some of the stories I've heard I have stayed away from Mexico because I don't feel safe going.

But to make you feel better watch this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

I remember when I first moved to AZ from Alaska that their were a lot of people that thought Texas was bigger then Alaska.

[marcraft]

heres my stereotypes , though i dont believe most of them

West Coast USA : drugs , california , 'punk' gangs

east coast usa : cities, big cities. mugging and mafia

North usa : like an angry violent toronto

South usa : lotsa rednecks (who i love by the way) horses, cows, and rodeos

west europe : very refined urban atmosphere

east europe : poor , very poor. dirty and ugly

South america : Real Gangs , Drugs , jungles , super rich and the people who work for them

Africa : brutal wars over uranium , diamonds , gold , ivory . chopping of arms , rebels driving around in old jeeps with AK-47's shooting anything that moves.

Middle east : quiet people who just want to be left alone , sorta like africa but no shooting of random people.

Russia : drink and smoke so it doesnt feel as cold , vodka wars , poor people en masse, weak government with great potential

india : lotsa people , not necessarily poor but a bloody lot of people, they make fabric for us

Orient : lotsa people , smart but kinda crazy, engineering geniuses , they eat too much rice and not enough meat so there tiny

Australia : like what europe and usa wana be combined

Mexico : lotsa poor and lotsa rich ppl , crappy roads unless tourism is near, false marketing is legal there

im Canadian by the way , mostly north BC , AB , SK , and MB . but have lived in the south a couple times

[leona_senshi]

Originally Posted by Tommy

So instead of negative stereotypes what are some positive things about Tijuana? How about posting some pics of nice places to go and see?

I'll admit after some of the stories I've heard I have stayed away from Mexico because I don't feel safe going.

But to make you feel better watch this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

I remember when I first moved to AZ from Alaska that their were a lot of people that thought Texas was bigger then Alaska.

well if you want really nice places to visit here in TJ (witch are very few by the way) LOL here's the very famous Museum of Culture and Arts CECUT


if you want to go shopping there's always Plaza Rio Tijuana, you can follow this link and you will see a lot a lot of pics from plaza rio Plaza Rio Tijuana

those are nice places to go and walk, do some shopping, and in at the museum there's also an IMAX theather, it's actually the circle building on the pic, you can see lot's a of movies when it's the holiday season cool thing of it at is that they are just 1 block apart

[aohige]

Originally Posted by Ymor

How you see Brazil ?

They can kick even the Shaolin monks' collective asses in soccer, and left us with the great quote "ball is your friend".

And they have a half-beast man who can electrocute people by smashing buttons repeatedly.

[Ymor]

Originally Posted by aohige

They can kick even the Shaolin monks' collective asses in soccer, and left us with the great quote "ball is your friend".

And they have a half-beast man who can electrocute people by smashing buttons repeatedly.

hahahhahaha

The Brazilians characters in games(or movies) are ever bizzarres.