literally another aussie in london

the thing about sri lanka

I know I finished talking about Sri Lanka weeks ago, but I forgot something.

And I think it is fairly important.

Sri Lanka is not very American.

It was perhaps the first place I have ever been that didn’t feel like it had been roughly mounted by the great thronging testosterone of the United States.

Australia, England, South Africa, Poland and France are the places I’ve been for long enough to study this Americanism up close, and it is easy to see.

Not just in fast food, but in music, TV, fashion.

Somehow Sri Lanka has less of it. Almost none in fact.

Most of the music that was played on radio that I heard was from England. The only rap or hip hop I heard was Sinahalese, and that was only once.

I saw one person wearing a basketball singlet the whole time I was there. I never saw a yankees cap, no Hollywood style adverts, and even nike and things like nike were nowhere to be seen.

There was no graffitti, no real mention of American culture on the streets at all and even the advertising had little Amercanisms in them.

I can remember only one American program on the TV at any time, and that was a film, that I have forgotten the name of.

Even in the cities it seemed that America had little impact.

The only constant reminder of America was coke. There was a lot of coke.

It everyway it felt way more like an English and Indian hybrid that had once visited America but not really liked it.

With it’s history and proximity to India it makes sense to be that sort of hybrid, but Australia feels way more American than English, so while the English is still there, it has been covered and added to by Americans.

In Sri Lanka, they just seem to have ignored the Americans.

They have done this to such an extent that they even banned Akon (oddly popular hip-hop squeaker) from touring them.

I respect this very Americanless society.

Word up to my Lankan homies.

October 15, 2010 Posted by Jrod | sri lanka | america | Leave a Comment