Are Iraq and Afghanistan in the Middle East or in Asia? Is Louisiana in the United States? Is it really “absolutely necessary” to learn a foreign language?

Despite the United States’ global influence, many Americans ages 18 to 24 lack world knowledge, according to the National Geographic-Roper Public Affairs 2006 Geographic Literacy Study.

Of the 510 young Americans surveyed, 63 percent could not find Iraq or Saudi Arabia on a map of the Middle East, half couldn’t find New York state, and 88 percent could not find Afghanistan on a map of Asia, according to the final report.

International students are often appalled at the lack of geographical knowledge and cultural awareness in the United States.

“There is a lot of misunderstanding on both sides in Mexico and the United States,” said Efrain Gutierrez, an MPA student in the Evans School of Public Affairs from Guadalajara, Mexico.

Gutierrez worked in the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara and taught cultural workshops on Mexico’s culture and history to his American colleagues.

“Americans know that we [Mexicans] eat tacos and drink tequila, and Mexicans know that Americans eat hamburgers and play baseball,” Gutierrez said, “but there is no cultural awareness of what is happening in our societies beyond stereotypes.” Despite the fact that Mexico and the United States are neighbors, both countries lack education on the history of the Spanish colonization in Mexico and the 13 colonies in the United States, he said.

Education is necessary to increase the knowledge of each country and to understand each other, Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez isn’t the only international graduate student who believes that the United States and his own country should boost their cultural education.

“I think that many Americans know where China is but maybe they don’t know the real situation, the culture, the people’s lives and the environment,” said Lan Bai, an international student from Shanghai, China and also an MPA student in the Evans School.

There are many misperceptions on both sides, Bai said.

“Maybe some Americans see the current China as the old China,” she said. “Maybe some Chinese don’t know the American culture; they just know the power of the States.”

Chinese have some stereotypes about Americans, too, Bai said.

“Many Chinese think Americans are money-oriented just like the [capitalist] countries are always pushing you in [developing] countries,” Bai said. “I think the truth is that Chinese are more money oriented.”

Biases in the media contribute to the lack of understanding, Bai said.

“Many Chinese think Americans lack respect for the elderly and sometimes are too casual,” she said. “Chinese always think that Americans are cold-hearted, especially in their family relationships.”

In addition, many Americans may see China only through the lens of human rights, how the government treats its people or the environmental situation, Bai said.

“In my opinion, Chinese are more concerned about international affairs and Americans are more concerned about the interior affairs not the international,” she said.

Americans who haven’t traveled abroad don’t tend to become friends with international students right away, Bai said.

“My feeling is that the Americans who have just lived in the U.S. his or her whole life are much more colder,” Bai said. “They don’t want to be your friend.”

Supporting cross-cultural understanding means Americans — both young and old — should travel abroad more often — beyond Cancun and Shanghai. We should demand geography as a core curriculum in all K-12 classrooms across the U.S. whether public or private schools, and as students we should befriend an international student on campus or host one in our home.

Perhaps only then would we repair our tarnished international image and teach people around the world that we’re not cold-hearted people who munch on hamburgers and watch baseball all day and that we know where the U.S. has conflicts. That way, next time there’s a Geographical Literacy study, we won’t be appalled or embarrassed by our lack of geographical and cultural understanding.

Reach columnist Marissa Beach at opinion@dailyuw.com