An integral part of U.S culture is the country’s stance on work-life balance. We focus on working hard to keep up with other countries and their developments. This can also be defined as ‘The American Dream,’ which so many people immigrate to the U.S in hopes of achieving. With technology being easily accessible and evergrowing, the working world has become highly advanced due to the hard active people behind it.
While the work ethic of the U.S is undeniable, there is a heavily negative side that sacrifices people’s personal lives in favor of heeding the conglomerate that is the workforce. U.S culture emphasizes pushing ourselves to the extreme when it comes it work that we forget to enjoy life. We don’t appreciate the things we have, people around us, focusing on the future rather than the present. Our culture constantly wants more, undermining people’s accomplishments in favor of doing better. It is said that U.S culture revolves around working ourselves to the bone, discounting the life we were given. Even if we want to take off and enjoy what the world offers, people are punished financially like no paid vacation time, which can be detrimental to the U.S. I want to live my life to the fullest, travel, and experience new things, but that cannot be done when my culture prioritizes work rather than my well-being.
Many other cultures and countries outside the U.S would view this cultural aspect as baffling. Other countries have a clear distinction between personal and work life. They enjoy life at the moment, creating valuable experiences with their loved ones. This is done through travel because they have more paid time off. I imagine these cultures would be confused about why we push ourselves to the brink of exhaustion, seemingly by choice, when there is a life outside of just work. The U.S lives to work while other cultures and countries work to live. Other countries value life experiences and do not work as much as the U.S.
This exercise and forward-thinking mindset prepare me for the perspective of other cultures’ values. I should not be surprised that I will encounter a culture outside of the U.S that is not 24/7. I hope that preparing myself with this mindset allows me to relax and enjoy my time abroad. This will enable me to meet new people and experience things I might never have been able to do within the U.S border.