Muslim teens

Muslim teens visit the U.S. and are surprised by what they find:

"Before, I thought the Americans were like the Europeans -- no religion, no moral values, taking drugs, having sex, drinking all the time," said Sirine, an earnest 17-year-old Tunisian who stayed with an Atlanta-area family. "But my opinion changed. I found people going to church a lot, and some are really conservative. I found the people more friendly than I expected. I thought all Americans were for the war, like the government. But some people are different."

Her host mother, to her surprise, kept a scrapbook of antiwar news clippings.

Abdulrahman, a thoughtful 16-year-old from Syria who spent the year in Waters, Michigan, agreed.

"Back home in the Middle East," he said, "when we used to hear about the United States in the news and movies, they only show you what they want. Then, when I came to Michigan, I found out in the United States there are some of the nicest and most open-minded people I ever met. I didn't expect to find that."

Kaoutar, a quick-to-smile 17-year-old from Morocco, stayed with a family in Ashland, Oregon. Ashland was "such a liberal community," she said. Quite unlike anything she had imagined, the children in her host family were not allowed to watch television.

Ahmad, a tall and mature-sounding 17-year-old from Kuwait, said: "It wasn't really like the movies. People were open-minded, but a little afraid until we got to know them."

So the Arabs all think that we're a bunch of amoral libertines while the Europeans think we're prudish religious wackos. Don't they all watch the same movies from the U.S.? What gives?