Through the Eyes of Others

I often find it entertaining and enlightening to hear about my own country through the eyes of outsiders.  I am often one of the first to criticize it and the policies that the powers-that-be create, but I am also quick to defend it when outsiders start their own critiques.  It's a strange dichotomy.

Anywho, here's a list of some things people from outside of the USA find different from their home country.  Food for thought.


Here are some that I'VE heard:

I've definitely been told we are the loudest group, but also the friendliest.  I'm not sure if this is relevant only for when we travel out of the US or if it includes when people visit here.

Recently, while abroad,  someone told me that in the US we have an overwhelming amount of flags compared to other places...and then I realized it's totally true!

People are surprised at how inefficient (or non-existent) our bike lanes are.

I remember when studying Spanish in high school that one of our videos explained that many foreigners imagine that all Americans are cowboys and cowgirls, and are tall, blonde-haired and blue-eyed.

People were surprised at how many people of different races and cultures live in the US when they finally visited.  This is probably from TV under-representing the variety of people that make up our population.  People thought I exaggerated the percentage of different races until they could see for themselves!

A similar video from Europe showed that many Europeans thought that all Americans smoke cigarettes, a misconception that I am glad to say is not the case!

So many things are related to TV.  Many people assume that all Americans are sex-addicts from all of our shows and movies, or that we have crazy cheating and scandalous stories like Maury and other similar garbage shows.

Foreigners are often surprised that we treat our pets like part of the family.

I have heard people exclaim that they didn't realize that the US had so much open space and countryside (not cities).

People generally don't understand just how huge the US is, because many of them come from countries the size of some of our states.

I often have friends ask if I'm ok when they've seen news about fires, earthquakes, or tornadoes...I find it difficult to explain that (most of the time) those things are usually about as far away as they are from where I live (and thank goodness for that)!

We have a holiday for everything.  And we make up reasons just to have parties.

Our red solo cups intrigue people.


What kinds of things have you seen that are different or surprising about the US as a visitor?  What kinds of things have you, as a resident or citizen, heard about our little oddities from visitors?