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The best place to learn about American culture is in a WalMart store store.
As for your specific question, it is up to the individual tourist to open up and pay attention, and learn as much or as little as the person is inclined to learn.
Everybody in the world already has a strong overlay of American Culture, from watching Americans on TV. The experience on the ground will just be used as a comparison or contrast with what is expected. Real Americans are not at all like the ones portrayed on TV, so your visitor will need to be prepared to notice and recognize those differences, and not just try to find ways to reinforce them.
Offhand, I'd say that big cities are the worst place to learn about American culture, because people in big cities spend a lot of time trying to insulate themselves from their culture. One is constantly among strangers, and suspicious of them. A visitor in a big city is moving about in a tiny bubble, seeing only people who are in their own tiny bubble.
OK, I will answer your question. Twenty-two bits of information. OK? Regardless of the tourist, the amount of information will be 22 discrete bits. Maybe 23, if they get mugged, that's a variable that can't be predicted.
Do you have any more questions?
My apologies, I thought you were here looking for a general discussion, and not a numerical value.
How much could a tourist learn about American culture by visiting Boston, NYC, DC and the Napa Valley over a two-week period?
Nothing...
Quote:
Originally Posted by BajanYankee
That didn't answer my question at all. I'll repeat it.
How much could a tourist (foreign tourist) learn about American culture from visiting Boston, NYC, DC and the Napa Valley over a two-week period?
absolutely nothing at all!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ffud
I don't see how your question could be answered any other way?
Exactly!
As with any culture from anywhere in the world one would need to immerse themselves within that culture and live it everyday for a period of time; what that time frame is, I could not say. Largely it is dependent on the "eye (s) of the beholder" and any experiences and pre-conceived notions he/she brings to their observations.
If it is just a superficial 'learning' it is probably best they stay wherever they are from and continue to watch a wide variety of American films, listen to a variety of American music, learn to prepare and eat 'real' American food. All of this entails experiencing all the various ethnicities and culture from around the world which have contribute to the 'American Experience'.
That's the best I have to offer you...if you find it to be lacking and not the detailed response you were seeking then I suspect you will need to elaborate in precise terms what it is you are 'really' looking for because your questions, as it stands now...for me, is not easy to answer. And perhaps someone else here can better answer this for you.
OR...merely read the Wikipedia version of American culture!
Culture of the United States
The United States of America has its own unique social and cultural characteristics such as dialect, music, arts, social habits, cuisine, and folklore. The United States of America is an ethnically and racially diverse country as a result of large-scale migration from many ethnically and racially different countries throughout its history as well as differing birth and death rates among natives, settlers, and immigrants.
They could learn a little bit, but they'd be missing the whole Southwest, the Midwest, and the Pacific Northwest. There is way more to American culture than New England, and the Mid-Atlantic, DC is nominally a "Southern" city but they'd miss out on a lot of Southern charm they could get somewhere like Savannah. Napa is a great region, but vastly different from San Francisco, and nothing like Southern California, heck Napa isn't even like Eureka, or Redding, in the North. They will come away having an awesome experience and getting a firm grasp on what the US is like, but will miss out on a whole bunch of the place and what makes a lot of the people the way we are.
How much could a tourist learn about American culture by visiting Boston, NYC, DC and the Napa Valley over a two-week period?
By that trip they'd learn America is mostly wealthy white people, uses a lot of public transportation, and is really urban. Napa would be an exception to the urban qualities, NYC is the only one not overwhelming white but they'd probably spend their whole visit in Manhattan anyway.
If a tourist completed several tours of the U.S. over the course of, say, 3-5 years, then they could probably learn quite a bit. I don't know that such an endeavor is all that realistic for most tourists, though.
With the OP's example, I wouldn't think a tourist would be getting to look at a very broad picture...if anything, the tourist might walk away from their little holiday thinking that their experiences in NYC, Boston, DC and California were, for better or worse, those of quintessential Americans in the quintessential United States (which would make them eerily similar to people from NYC, Boston, DC and California, really).
I don't think much. NYC is a very diverse and huge city and isn't reflective of the "average American" experience. Neither is Boston. In the DC area, maybe, if you go to the outer-ring suburbs.
I always recommend tourists who want to see "real American culture" to rent a car, drive out to the outer ring of suburbs of any American city, find out the sport in season (e.g. fall football season is pretty much standard across the country), and attend a game. Go to Walmart or Target, or favorite grocery store or mall. Go to the local "bar and grill". Be observant.
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