Lies My Teacher Told Me: Chapter 3

I didn't really get why everyone who knows about or who is in ICU keeps on saying that the amount of studying ICU students do cannot be compared with other universities. I've always thought that it was the Stream 3,4 students who had to deal with staggering amount of homework .. UNTIL THIS GOLDEN WEEK! Now I completely understand why. I guess I will have to face it since I'm in ICU and this was why I choose to this university...:)

Anyways, back to the book.

When I was in an international school in high school, it was compulsory for all 9th graders to take American history for a year. This class was truly American done by an American teacher based on American textbooks. Let me emphasize one thing, it was an international school consisted with international students. However, the content was purely based on the American perspective that neglected the fact that we were students who come from all different countries of the world with different identities. But this course did succeed to put the American spirit in our minds. And off course, I was not an exception. This whole let's-brainwash-international-students-year glorified my image towards America. Until I read this chapter, I've always thought that Pilgrims were the first ones to settle, and that improved the American society, including that of the Native Americans. Therefore, the things that were suggested in the book were shocking and fresh for me. After all, the Pilgrims were heroified. At the first point, never weren't they the first ones to settle in America nor did they introduce the European culture. Moreover, it was natural for them to had been able to rule over the Native Americans with the epidemics swiping out most of the Indian population. As for the Native Americans, my American history class implied the inferiority of the indigenous people to the whites, though they didn't really mention in actual words. But this seems so ironical now knowing that the Native Americans were the ones who introduced many of the crops and ways to harvest them. Considering all these facts, the whole celebration of Thanksgiving turned out to be nothing more than an occasion to reassure the American citizen's obedience to the country. Well, I guess the turkey part is still good though. Although, Americans can be more attentive and tolerant about Thanksgiving instead of being so ethnocentric if they could know about the truth behind it, just like I did.