When Nick Kristof first went to Egypt, he was asked his name in Arabic. When he answered, in Arabic, that his name was Nick, he received a horrified look.
Kristof later learned that 'Nick' is a vulgar word in Arabic.
Though this misconception was a harmless one, many of the misconceptions Americans and the rest of the world have about each other are not, said Kristof and his wife Sheryl WuDunn who spoke Tuesday night at the Student Center.
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The Pulitzer Prize-winning couple currently works at the New York Times and both have lived in China and Japan.
Kristof and WuDunn focused on how many Americans and Asians do not understand each other.
"There are many miscommunications and gaps," WuDunn said. "It can be bridged, but it's natural that people have different views of others and don't try to understand."
WuDunn said many Americans don't realize the importance of Asia, which makes up one-third of the world's GDP.
Many people also don't understand that Asia is not rising but recovering, she said.
"This is an anomaly," WuDunn said. "For most of history, the East has been far richer than the West."
Americans need to start focusing on other countries, she said.
"We are so inward looking we often don't care what the world thinks of us," WuDunn said.
She said that state-controlled government in Asia has greatly decreased and the economy is improving.
WuDunn said another misconception Americans have is toward sweat shops.
"A lot of people think (sweat shops) are a bad thing, but I can't tell you the number of times people told us how grateful they were for their jobs," WuDunn said.
The growth of Asian economy can also be attributed to the increase of women in the workforce, she said.
Kristof said everyone can be blamed for the hatred toward Americans.
Part of the problem is that others are jealous of the role the United States plays, but the other part is that Americans don't pay attention to how they say their message, Kristof said.
He said Saddam Hussein has helped spread the misconceptions of the United States.
"Hussein's propaganda has been ineffective in strengthening himself," Kristof said. "You get the feeling that people dislike Saddam, but he has been effective in undermining America."
Kristof said that while the Shi'ite Muslims are against Hussein, they are also distrustful of the United States.
While Iraq has certainly caused problems, North Korea is much worse, he said.
"Iraq is like a liberal democracy compared to North Korea," Kristof said. "They don't even have a regular radio in North Korea, just a speaker on the wall controlled by the government."
The way to improve many of these misconceptions is by education, with a focus on foreign languages and student exchange, WuDunn and Kristof said.
They also said parental involvement is necessary.
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