People naturally overgeneralize when it comes to perceiving other countries. Foreign students who perceive of America as uniform in character would do well to remember the diversity inherent in their own countries of origin. Any generalizations based on what they have seen in the media must be combined with real life experience, since television and the other media give a one dimensional picture of American life--even to native Americans. If you are a foreign student, consider that the West and the East coasts of the U.S. are different in many respects. The East coast is primarily represented by New York City. The West coast is typically conceived of as Southern California, or Los Angeles, in particular. Both New York and Los Angeles are vibrant metropolitan centers. They both are centers of the arts, fashion, finance, and entertainment. For this reason, both New York City and Los Angeles set the cultural trends which eventually work their way into more mainstream American culture.
In the heartland of the nation, the Midwest is represented by Chicago. It, too, is a bustling metropolis, but unlike New York City or Los Angeles, Chicago has a more midwestern flavor. Its origins were primarily agricultural--it was, and still is, a center of the meat-packing industry. The midwestern U.S., for which Chicago is a major agricultural hub, is more rural than either coast. At one time farms dominated the midwest. Although Chicago has always attracted large waves of imm
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