Americans through Outsider's Lense

Being an American abroad has indeed been an interesting experience for me. One of the most distinct things that I have noticed is that being removed from my own culture has made me aware of the many cultural elements that I take for granted. While it is a popular joke that Americans ‘have no culture,’ being in France has made me realize that we do. It is in the differences between French and American life that I have begun to identify elements of my home culture. For example, while Americans often smile while passing one another on the street, the French never do. In restaurants, American servers work for tips, while French servers do not. Therefore, American servers will tend to check on their tables often and make an effort to get to know their clients, while French servers care more about the general task of taking orders and delivering food. While the French express politeness verbally by saying ‘bonjour,’ ‘merci,’ etc, American politeness is often expressed more non-verbally, perhaps through a smile or nod of the head. 
     I also found that being an American, if not a foreigner in general, in France came with its own set of challenges. The French, Parisians in particular, have a very distinct language and culture that they hold in high esteem, and I have had some experiences in which they have little patience for foreigners who are not completely familiar with their way of life. Whenever I would go out to dinner with the other American interns, we would speak English between ourselves, but order in French. On multiple occasions, our servers would roll their eyes and refuse to speak in French with us, only English. I worked at an internship in a hotel, and some guests would fail to say ‘bonjour’ when they walked into the lobby. This is an essential part of French politeness, but since that is not the case with many other cultures, many foreigners are not aware of this. A few of my French coworkers have admitted to me that they find this rude, even after I explained that in cultures like America, it is simply different. 
     At my internship, I experienced a bit of culture shock, not only due to the French workplace culture, but also due to generational differences. My supervisor came from the same generation as my grandparents, and as such, she ran the workplace in a more conservative fashion than many of my other jobs, where my supervisors were a bit younger. I was working in a more hierarchical setting, and in addition, true to French culture, my coworkers and supervisor never hesitated to offer constructive criticism to me. At first, I took this personally, as it felt aggressive without the usual niceties that I am used to in the US. However, I soon realized how helpful and efficient it was to be straightforward in pointing out ways to improve in the workplace. 
     Being removed from the familiarity of American culture, while it was initially very uncomfortable, has helped me truly realize that other cultures are not better or worse than our own, but simply different. It is easy to cope with uncomfortable situations by labeling another way of life as ‘weird’ or ‘wrong,’ but the only way to truly learn is to open one’s mind and try to see the logic and sense behind other cultures and outlooks.