English Stuff - My IEW-Essay; Schnitzel and other Prejudices

“Schnitzel” and other prejudices

My name is Jonathan Thurow and I am one of approximately 60 CB scholars in the US. My Program, the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX), is over 30 years old intended as a youth exchange program between Germany and the United States. Requirements for this scholarship are good grades, a broad basic knowledge, and interest in politics and history.

This interest in politics and history was one of the most important reasons for me to search for an opportunity to spend one year in the US.  Although I am active in a youth organization of a German party which fights against prejudices and discrimination, I sometimes catch myself having prejudices and stereotypes in my mind, and I know that I am not the only one. I doubt that there are people without any prejudices, the more important point is how to deal with it. The real problem starts when prejudices lead to discrimination.

According to the main ideas of an exchange year to a foreign country, and the International Education Week, I think that talking about cultural differences is a very important part of my year and my role as a representative of my home country.

On the one hand, the program gives me the wonderful opportunity to spend one year abroad and to experience a different culture with their own customs, values, and history.

On the other hand, it gives the people I deal with the chance to learn something about my culture.

From my point of view, this cultural exchange is not just a wonderful experience but even necessary for both “sides” to reduce prejudices and to found a base for a peaceful togetherness in a more and more globalized world. In other words and, according to the name of an event I would love to participate in, it is necessary for a better understanding for a better world.

This cultural exchange can be experienced in many different ways. It is not just learning about different school systems and talking about different laws (e.g. the legal drinking age, one of the most asked questions), it is about the communication with each other, where is it important to know, that even the communication, verbal and non-verbal, is characterized by cultural differences. This makes it sometimes difficult but pretty interesting to be aware of such characteristics, be it the gesture how to greet people or, one for me surprising and interesting experience, the way to count with one’s fingers.

Being aware of the fact that people in America start counting with their forefinger and Germans often with their thumb might not be the solution for every conflict based on cultural differences, but it is a good example that an exchange year is more than a “one-man show”. It can be an enrichment not only for the student, but for every person involved, from the host family to the people in high school to even the family and friends in one’s home country.

During my first three months I already experienced so many interesting and enriching moments that it would be impossible to list all of them, so that I conclude this essay with an idea I want to remember when I am confronted with a prejudice towards Germany: “Don’t complain about a lack of information, inform”….and by the way, Schnitzel is originally Austrian, not GermanJ.