Interviewee 1:
Passports: Greek, American, and Canadian.
This participant was born in Clearwater, Florida and grew up in Dunedin, Florida, before having moved to Emory College. She is of Greek ethnicity and is Greek Orthodox. According to the interview question, “what differentiates your culture with the typical multicultural one of the US?”, she said that Greek culture was “largely based off family and religion”. Family members were extremely integrated with each other, far beyond the usual direct family, and in some cases, to “cousins related by marriage”. Family commitments would usually be committed to over personal interests and “family events revolved around religious events” too. According to the interviewee, typically American families do not bode as well when referring to family and are usually “less distant” with them than friends, with whom they might feel closer with. The way she spoke of this seemed to suggest that she was referring to white families, and not of non-white families.
From her Greek perspective, the U.S. has a few negative aspects that are more obvious than others. This involved the idea that according to her, white culture had been lost in America. She pointed out how of all the ethnicities, white Americans seemed to have lost their culture over the generations. Also, she mentioned how there is a lot of “intercultural distance” in the U.S.
On the other hand, she praised the U.S. for its image as a country which exercises the people’s right to free speech (although she claimed that maybe there was a “bit too much…”) and that it is “possible to become anything that you want to become”. She also praised the higher education system in U.S. due to its highly rated universities.
When asked whether the U.S. is her home, she said “Yes”. Her reasoning was that her family lives there and she had been living there her “whole life”. She grew up by the seaside and claimed that it made her feel “safe”.
Interviewee 2:
Passports: British and American.
This participant was born in London, lived there for four years, and then moved to Darien, Connecticut to grow up there. He is a third generation, ethnically white American immigrant and is distant from his family in the UK and sees his close family as predominantly American. The interviewee said that both his countries of citizenship both had a similar multicultural diversity, however he believed that they were both on different political spectrums due to different ideologies.
From his British perspective, the U.S. has a few negative aspects that are more obvious than others. This involved the idea that according to him, the presidential elections gave America a bad image due to the reputation of Donald Trump and his behaviour/comments. He also mentioned how Americans stereotypically have a ‘big ego’ and that they can often a sort of ‘Freedom ignorance’ where they think themselves better due to their feigned patriotism. On the other hand, he praised America’s education system. He also mentioned how the US is a land of opportunity with many big cities to help citizens flourish.
When asked whether the U.S. is her home, he said “Yes”. His reasoning was that his family lives there and he had been living there his whole life. His family in the UK is also apparently very distant so he feels more at home in the U.S. because it ‘feels like home here’.
Passports: Greek, American, and Canadian.
This participant was born in Clearwater, Florida and grew up in Dunedin, Florida, before having moved to Emory College. She is of Greek ethnicity and is Greek Orthodox. According to the interview question, “what differentiates your culture with the typical multicultural one of the US?”, she said that Greek culture was “largely based off family and religion”. Family members were extremely integrated with each other, far beyond the usual direct family, and in some cases, to “cousins related by marriage”. Family commitments would usually be committed to over personal interests and “family events revolved around religious events” too. According to the interviewee, typically American families do not bode as well when referring to family and are usually “less distant” with them than friends, with whom they might feel closer with. The way she spoke of this seemed to suggest that she was referring to white families, and not of non-white families.
From her Greek perspective, the U.S. has a few negative aspects that are more obvious than others. This involved the idea that according to her, white culture had been lost in America. She pointed out how of all the ethnicities, white Americans seemed to have lost their culture over the generations. Also, she mentioned how there is a lot of “intercultural distance” in the U.S.
On the other hand, she praised the U.S. for its image as a country which exercises the people’s right to free speech (although she claimed that maybe there was a “bit too much…”) and that it is “possible to become anything that you want to become”. She also praised the higher education system in U.S. due to its highly rated universities.
When asked whether the U.S. is her home, she said “Yes”. Her reasoning was that her family lives there and she had been living there her “whole life”. She grew up by the seaside and claimed that it made her feel “safe”.
Interviewee 2:
Passports: British and American.
This participant was born in London, lived there for four years, and then moved to Darien, Connecticut to grow up there. He is a third generation, ethnically white American immigrant and is distant from his family in the UK and sees his close family as predominantly American. The interviewee said that both his countries of citizenship both had a similar multicultural diversity, however he believed that they were both on different political spectrums due to different ideologies.
From his British perspective, the U.S. has a few negative aspects that are more obvious than others. This involved the idea that according to him, the presidential elections gave America a bad image due to the reputation of Donald Trump and his behaviour/comments. He also mentioned how Americans stereotypically have a ‘big ego’ and that they can often a sort of ‘Freedom ignorance’ where they think themselves better due to their feigned patriotism. On the other hand, he praised America’s education system. He also mentioned how the US is a land of opportunity with many big cities to help citizens flourish.
When asked whether the U.S. is her home, he said “Yes”. His reasoning was that his family lives there and he had been living there his whole life. His family in the UK is also apparently very distant so he feels more at home in the U.S. because it ‘feels like home here’.