What did I think it was going to be like?
I’ve spent my entire life watching High School Musical on TV so we could say I used to believe America was like a fantasy. Popular guys and mean girls is what almost all young Spanish think about when they hear the word America. Now I’ve seen that it is actually more real than I thought it would be, meaning that my life here is pretty much the same it was back at home, keeping in mind the obvious differences (like measuring units or the way to get into college). Those are details that seem bigger than they really are.
And yeah, I know that’s not really a perspective, it is more like a personal opinion of how I thought this country would be. I think it is how Spanish (even European) young people (or people who don’t know a lot about the world yet) see America, or the way they expect it to be. And as Spanish youth are a big part of the current population, I thought it was important to share this perspective too.
"People in the U.S. are very religious (and at least here in Spain that’s not something very common). That makes them believe in things without the need of scientific proof more often, and it also makes them more conservative."
- DUNA GRIERA, 17
"It is a very rich country that’s poor at the same time. They have a really strong economic power, and in general, they are very advanced (both politically and socially). On the other hand, they have a lot of laws I don’t agree with (like being able to have guns or the death penalty)."
- MARIONA SERRET, 16
"Keeping in mind that I’m still pretty young to have a strong and complex opinion about this subject, I can say in the United States, they have really good food, very different from ours (and probably way less healthy). Also, their education, in general, is worse than what we have in Europe at least."
- JÚLIA LAHOZ, 12
"I think the U.S. is a very rich county and very popular all over the world. In the county itself, though, there are a lot of social differences. You can perfectly find really wealthy people as well as families with many economic problems who struggle to move forward. And the fact that there aren’t public resources for people who need them just makes it difficult for them to succeed. And about the culture, I think they have really different traditions and ways to function. "
- ANNA MORAGAS, 16