What wrong or ... questionable ... assumptions do people from your country have?

[tokaido-hokuriku]

To see what I mean, here are some examples from places that I have experience of:

The EU:

(1) That Europe is the centre of world civilisation (still) and that apart from maybe North America and Australasia, the rest of the world is a wholly undeveloped mass of poverty and subsistence.

(2) That knowing about different parts of the EU makes one particularly cosmopolitan, and that thus Americans are particularly closed-minded and insular. Europeans will often push the low passport ownership in the US in support of this claim, but it seems to me that only a small proportion have travelled outside the EU, even to nearby places like Israel or North Africa.

Japan:

(1) That the rest of the world is very dangerous. Now, Japan is very safe, but people are always shocked to find out that UK police don't carry guns.

(2) That Japan is the most expensive place in the world.


The USA:

(1) That other countries, especially European ones, are ethnically and culturally static and homogeneous. This drives me nuts: it's almost as if they see different countries as (potential) ingredients for the 'melting pot' and nothing else. Relatedly, that your great-grandparents emigrated from a certain country means that you have much in common with me, a citizen of that country.
American: "I'm Irish"
Me: "Oh cool, where are you from, Dublin?"
American: "Uh no, Boston"

(2) That Iran is some kind of ruthless dictatorship that would be incredibly dangerous to visit. When I mention to USian friends my hope to go there this year, you can really see how much even left-wing graduate students have swallowed the propaganda.

tokaido-hokuriku

[Athena]

Originally Posted by tokaido-hokuriku

(2) That Iran is some kind of ruthless dictatorship that would be incredibly dangerous to visit. When I mention to USian friends my hope to go there this year, you can really see how much even left-wing graduate students have swallowed the propaganda.

Er... it's sorta kinda hard to NOT feel that way when there's a Big Scary Travel Warning about Americans going to Iran. If nothing else, our two countries don't have decent enough relations that the US can even provide any protection or help via their embassy if an American runs into trouble there.

Propaganda or not, my feeling is that there's plenty of places to vacation where the population doesn't have really good reasons to not like Americans, and where if I do run into trouble, there's an American Embassy with the power to help me out if needed.

[tokaido-hokuriku]

Originally Posted by Athena

Er... it's sorta kinda hard to NOT feel that way when there's a Big Scary Travel Warning about Americans going to Iran. If nothing else, our two countries don't have decent enough relations that the US can even provide any protection or help via their embassy if an American runs into trouble there.

Propaganda or not, my feeling is that there's plenty of places to vacation where the population doesn't have really good reasons to not like Americans, and where if I do run into trouble, there's an American Embassy with the power to help me out if needed.

Interesting, though, that the warning doesn't mention any threats to non Iranian-Americans? (In any case, I know several Iranian Americans who split their time between the two places).

I'm not saying it's completely danger-free, but it seems to me that USian people believe that Iran is something on a par with North Korea or Iraq, which genuinely would be very repressive and dangerous.

t-h

[olivesmarch4th]

A lot of my fellow Americans tend to believe that every other country in the world is a dangerous hellhole compared to the U.S. Many of the people I now hang out with are quite internationally savvy, but the general attitude in my hometown region was that international travel is an inherently dangerous thing. My parents refused to let me travel internationally--to Austria--when I was a minor because of this. Some of my relatives thought I was nuts to go to Mexico on my own, and they couldn't conceive of the fact that I felt safer there than I'd ever felt anywhere in the U.S.

Then there is the ''hellhole'' thing -- they seem to imagine every non-U.S. country as filled with poverty and crumbling infrastructure, when that's simply not the case. And even developing countries are further along than they imagine.

[Septima]

Originally Posted by tokaido-hokuriku

(2) That knowing about different parts of the EU makes one particularly cosmopolitan, and that thus Americans are particularly closed-minded and insular. Europeans will often push the low passport ownership in the US in support of this claim, but it seems to me that only a small proportion have travelled outside the EU, even to nearby places like Israel or North Africa.

An American without a passport has never left his own COUNTRY, an entirely different issue that a european who has never been outside the EU. You can travel to plenty of other countries within the EU, in some cases even without a passport.

And neither Israel or North Africa are "close" to most european countries. I'd say it's easier to get to America, and I've been there (pre-WTC, but still...)

[Harmonious Discord]

USA - Animals only attack people that are harassing them. Anybody that was attacked is 100% at fault and the animal isn't.

[tokaido-hokuriku]

Originally Posted by Septima

An American without a passport has never left his own COUNTRY, an entirely different issue that a european who has never been outside the EU. You can travel to plenty of other countries within the EU, in some cases even without a passport.

Got to disagree with you here: the EU is about the same size as the USA (very roughly!) and you don't need a passport to travel within it (well, within Schengen or between UK and IRL). Until recently, I think, you didn't need a passport to travel to Canada from the USA. Aside from language barriers, I think travel within Schengen/Eurozone is quite similar to travel within the USA: no passport checks, same currency, takes a few hours.

So it does smack of hypocrisy to mock USians for not owning passports (ie, for not travelling outside North America) whilst never or rarely travelling outside of the EU.

Originally Posted by Septima

And neither Israel or North Africa are "close" to most european countries. I'd say it's easier to get to America, and I've been there (pre-WTC, but still...)

I think you're way off here - sure, Israel's a bit far, but easyjet flies to North Africa and there are regular and fairly cheap ferry services. How many EU citizens have even been to Ukraine or Turkey?

The US is much, much further away than any of these places, even from the UK.

t-h

[Tamerlane]

Originally Posted by Septima

An American without a passport has never left his own COUNTRY,

That will be the case in the future, with tightened border restrictions. However I visited both Canada ( more times than I can count ) and Mexico long before I ever got mine.

[dangermom]

An American without a passport has never left his own COUNTRY, an entirely different issue that a european who has never been outside the EU. You can travel to plenty of other countries within the EU, in some cases even without a passport.

Does one need a passport to enter Canada and Mexico? I've always kind of had the impression that you need ID and nothing more. (Come to think of it, I've been to Canada and I didn't have a passport then.) Also, I don't have a passport now--it's expired--but I have been to a bunch of other countries. Statistics of valid passport ownership won't reflect the number of people who have been abroad but whose passports have expired.

Relatedly, that your great-grandparents emigrated from a certain country means that you have much in common with me, a citizen of that country.
American: "I'm Irish"
Me: "Oh cool, where are you from, Dublin?"
American: "Uh no, Boston"

I think you're missing the unstated assumption in that conversation. An American who wants to state his ancestry will say "I'm Irish," which really means "my ancestors came from Ireland." Since it's usually completely obvious that he is not actually from Ireland--the lack of accent, the fact that he'll tell you he's from Boston--it doesn't need to be stated. It's just a point of interest, it doesn't mean you're now blood brothers or anything.

[tokaido-hokuriku]

Originally Posted by dangermom

I think you're missing the unstated assumption in that conversation. An American who wants to state his ancestry will say "I'm Irish," which really means "my ancestors came from Ireland." Since it's usually completely obvious that he is not actually from Ireland--the lack of accent, the fact that he'll tell you he's from Boston--it doesn't need to be stated. It's just a point of interest, it doesn't mean you're now blood brothers or anything.

I know now what it means, but the above conversation took place in China, and it wasn't obvious that he was born in the US. I thought he really was telling me he was from Ireland (as for the accent, I was thinking maybe he moved to US/Canada when he was younger or something).

I'm not having a go or anything, but it was just something that tripped me up. I do think, however, that USians often think that ancestry carries more weight than it actually does.

t-h

[Alessan]

Originally Posted by Septima

And neither Israel or North Africa are "close" to most european countries. I'd say it's easier to get to America, and I've been there (pre-WTC, but still...)

A couple of weeks ago, when I was vacationing in Rhodes, my wife and I struck up a brief conversation with a Dutch couple whose freakishly tall 3-year-old was playing with our son. They asked us where we were from, and when we said "Israel", they looked surprised, and said: "That's very far!"

Well, no, we said.

Look at a map. The Netherlands are about three times as distant from Rhodes as Israel. Now, Rhodes may be the easternmost point of the EU (I think), but still - we're not that far away.

[Ruken]

Originally Posted by Septima

An American without a passport has never left his own COUNTRY, an entirely different issue that a european who has never been outside the EU. You can travel to plenty of other countries within the EU, in some cases even without a passport.

And neither Israel or North Africa are "close" to most european countries. I'd say it's easier to get to America, and I've been there (pre-WTC, but still...)

Part of it is due to size. If I drive 11 hours east of El Paso, I'm still in the same state. Where do you end up if you drive 1200 km from Paris? Florence, Madrid, Dublin, Copenhagen, the borders of Poland or Slovakia. The scale difference is tremendous. I remember an Irish girl I met New Haven CT who was trying to wrap her head around driving to Rochester, NY. You can't drive 600 km west from anywhere in Ireland!

As for passports, I've come back from Mexico plenty of times without even an ID. I don't think you can do that now, but for a while you just said "American Citizen" and that was that. You certainly didn't need any forms or IDs to get into Mexico.

North Africa isn't close? Berlin to Gibraltar is 3000km. Is there a ferry across? Boom, you're in Africa. When I started grad school I drove from El Paso to New Haven. That's 3600km. A flight from Paris to Israel looks to be less than 7 hours. Hardly arduous, and you're barely changing time zones.

[Beware of Doug]

Some Pole, meeting P.J. O'Rourke in Warsaw: "You're from America? Do you surf?"

[bump]

One questionable assumption I can think of is that Americans think that the UK is completely metric, and that we're the only country that still uses the Imperial measurements.

This isn't the case; many UK things are if not officially, then still informally set in the Imperial system- beer (pints), road mileage & speeds(miles/mph), weight(stone or lbs), etc...

Another misconception that many people have is that all Mexicans are like those poor guys who mow lawns, bus tables, etc... News flash... there are well-to-do, and even some middle class Mexicans who are much like the rest of us, just that they speak Spanish.

[Green Bean]

Originally Posted by tokaido-hokuriku

I'm not having a go or anything, but it was just something that tripped me up. I do think, however, that USians often think that ancestry carries more weight than it actually does.

I think you're misunderstanding the role that ancestry plays in American culture. It DOES carry a lot of weight here. I understand that a person in Russia wouldn't really give a hoot that my great-grandparents came from there, but another American of Russian ancestry probably would.

Furthermore, people generally try to find commonalities when they're meeting new people, as in "you went to Pitt? I went to Carnegie Mellon!" This wouldn't be a point of commonality in Pittsburgh, but to two people living in New Jersey, it would be.

Therefore, it doesn't surprise me that an Irish-American in China would say that, because to him, being Irish is a very important part of his identity, and therefore, it is something that to him you legitimately have in common.

[Shamozzle]

I'm a Canadian living in Canada and I've noticed that many Canadians think that most Americans are rude, stupid idiots. It's not true, of course, but that's the impression people have here.

[Captain Amazing]

Originally Posted by tokaido-hokuriku

Got to disagree with you here: the EU is about the same size as the USA (very roughly!)

The US is about 9.8 million square kilometers. The EU is about 4.3 million. So, the US is a little over twice as big as the EU.

[tokaido-hokuriku]

Originally Posted by Captain Amazing

The US is about 9.8 million square kilometers. The EU is about 4.3 million. So, the US is a little over twice as big as the EU.

Fair point - I was wrong.

But I suppose this backs up my original claim: Europeans smugly think that Americans are insular, but rarely travel outside an area less than half the size.

t-h

[Septima]

Ok, I didn' know about not needing passports for Canada and Mexico. Ignorance fought.

[Racer1]

Originally Posted by tokaido-hokuriku

Fair point - I was wrong.

But I suppose this backs up my original claim: Europeans smugly think that Americans are insular, but rarely travel outside an area less than half the size.

t-h

Whilst I agree with your point about many Europeans wrongly stereotyping Americans (and being self-satisfied dicks sometimes), I don't think this is a decent comparison. For a start, in the US you have the same language and culture throughout the states. Not so in the EU. Other EU countries really are foreign to most travellers despite the distance being the same or less.

In the UK, for example, you are likely to get more traveller points for visiting somewhere relatively close by like Warsaw than you are by visting somewhere like Florida where the culture is pretty similar to the UK.

[tokaido-hokuriku]

Originally Posted by Racer1

Whilst I agree with your point about many Europeans wrongly stereotyping Americans (and being self-satisfied dicks sometimes), I don't think this is a decent comparison. For a start, in the US you have the same language and culture throughout the states. Not so in the EU. Other EU countries really are foreign to most travellers despite the distance being the same or less.

In the UK, for example, you are likely to get more traveller points for visiting somewhere relatively close by like Warsaw than you are by visting somewhere like Florida where the culture is pretty similar to the UK.

All definitely true ... though I think the cultural differences between, say, Seattle and South Carolina are non-trivial. You are spot on about the language though.

t-h

[Justin_Bailey]

Originally Posted by Racer1

Whilst I agree with your point about many Europeans wrongly stereotyping Americans (and being self-satisfied dicks sometimes), I don't think this is a decent comparison. For a start, in the US you have the same language and culture throughout the states.

Ha! Spoken by someone who has obviously never visited more than one US city.

[1010011010]

Originally Posted by Septima

An American without a passport has never left his own COUNTRY, an entirely different issue that a european who has never been outside the EU. You can travel to plenty of other countries within the EU, in some cases even without a passport.

I'd put traveling about to difference states within the US on par with traveling about to different states within the EU. The scale and variety of geography is about the same. You aren't as likely to encounter a language barrier in the US as the EU... but that's about it.

Europe has a lot of deep history that the US simply does not. BUT, Europeans on holiday in Europe ignore the scale of history in the EU in much the same way Americans on holiday in America ignore the scale of geography. If the only depth you're reaching on vacation is the commoditized culture of multi-national consumerism... you might as well be in your own neighborhood.

[Martha Medea]

Originally Posted by Ruken

As for passports, I've come back from Mexico plenty of times without even an ID. I don't think you can do that now, but for a while you just said "American Citizen" and that was that. You certainly didn't need any forms or IDs to get into Mexico.

The passport requirement for US citizens was tightened up recently, at least for travel to the Caribbean.

North Africa isn't close? Berlin to Gibraltar is 3000km. Is there a ferry across? Boom, you're in Africa.

Yes, the ferries across the Strait from Algeciras or Tarifa to Tangier or Ceuta take less than a couple of hours.

A flight from Paris to Israel looks to be less than 7 hours. Hardly arduous, and you're barely changing time zones.

More like 4 hours (it was about 4hr30min from London last time I flew to Tel Aviv).

[Racer1]

Originally Posted by Justin_Bailey

Ha! Spoken by someone who has obviously never visited more than one US city.

Heh, not true, I've visited many US cities. Sure, there are fairly big differences, but not so big that I couldn't read the signs, ask someone something, or made any massive mistakes in etiquette.

So there!

I get where you are coming from though.

[Shagnasty]

Let's say that you are living in the Boston area and a rich relative offers to buy you a trip. The choices are to go to Northern California or Western Europe. Both are about a six hour flight away. In a flight of fancy, you pick a trip to Paris, London and Venice. The next day, reality sets in and you are terrified. There are only 3 months to take numerous language classes, endless books to read, and reservations that would be beyond all but the most brilliant people. This simply isn't going to work and you know it. Panic attacks set in a few days later because you know the situation is hopeless.

Actual reality: All you have to do is read the guidebooks in the way that you would read them for a U..S. based trip. You pack your bags and you go. Almost everyone speaks English wherever you go and you don't have to do much of anything that is different. A driving trip through Mexico would be much harder (and the people would be much poorer).

To be fair, my family never travelled to Europe when I was growing up nor did anyone else I knew did either. My wife has traveled to Europe 50+ times and the first few times that I went to Europe, I travelled by myself to meet her their on business trips. Customer service isn't as good as it is in the U.S. but someone always helped me (in English) to get where I was going. I don't speak French yet I have walked around Paris by myself for days upon days by myself. No one was ever rude to me.

I think most Americans are scared of Europe and they imagine it to be much more exotic than it is in the most basic ways. I could hop on a plane to any western European country by myself tonight without much concern at all. Most Americans don't understand that.

[GorillaMan]

Originally Posted by tokaido-hokuriku

How many EU citizens have even been to Ukraine or Turkey?

Just for the record, Turkey's in the top 10 destinations for British summer tourism, and I was there last week.


Anyway, arguing about passports, or millions of square miles, means nothing. If the accusation is that fewer Americans travel beyond locations with which they are culturally familiar, I suspect it's (a) true, and (b) really hard to prove. On the other hand, it's probably true that many northern European adventures to 'exotic' locations involve nothing more than monolingual package tours, and even somewhere as once-adventurous as Thailand is now mundane.

When a big chunk of one cliche collides with the other, in the enticement of Europeans to Florida and Disneyland, I don't know who walks away with least pride.

[dangermom]

Originally Posted by Shagnasty

I think most Americans are scared of Europe and they imagine it to be much more exotic than it is in the most basic ways. I could hop on a plane to any western European country by myself tonight without much concern at all. Most Americans don't understand that.

I disagree. I think most Americans know perfectly well that one can easily manage in any western European country with little trouble. It's a big deal to go to Europe because it's expensive and most people don't get to travel so far very often.

I don't hop on a plane for a weekend in Paris because it's too much money for the time spent--if I'm going to another country I want to spend a good chunk of time there. (My cousin actually does do this, but she has a fairly unusual lifestyle IMO.) And I want to prepare well to get the best out of the time I've got.

[threemae]

Originally Posted by Septima

Ok, I didn' know about not needing passports for Canada and Mexico. Ignorance fought.

Careful. This topic is in a constant state of fluctuation; stringent rules are proposed and pushed back, but check with the State Department before travel.

http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_articl...?storyid=82426

[Harmonious Discord]

Originally Posted by Racer1

Heh, not true, I've visited many US cities. Sure, there are fairly big differences, but not so big that I couldn't read the signs, ask someone something, or made any massive mistakes in etiquette.

So there!

I get where you are coming from though.

There are areas where you'll find the people don't speak English, and the stores don't have English on the signs.

[Buckler of Swashing]

I find that many Australians think we're much, much more important in terms of global power and influence than we actually are. Also, they're very, very keen to be noticed by the rest of the world. OMG - They're looking at us!!! They like us!!!

[Sage Rat]

Originally Posted by tokaido-hokuriku

(1) That Europe is the centre of world civilisation (still) and that apart from maybe North America and Australasia, the rest of the world is a wholly undeveloped mass of poverty and subsistence.

I've visited at least something like 20 different countries of varying prosperity throughout the world, and while a lot of countries may use modern construction materials to create multistoried buildings and whatever, I'd still have to say that outside of Europe, the US, Australia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, and maybe a few other places, most countries in the world are impoverished and subsistence for the large majority of the population. I might even include Hong Kong in that, given the number and conditions of workers fresh over from the mainland.

Certainly, there aren't a lot of places where you'll find people living in caves, but a lot of countries aren't much changed in terms of how life is lived from how they were 200 years ago beyond that they have concrete to build with and guys with AK47s on the streets, unless you're part of an affluent minority living in one of the major cities.

You might check the electricity consumption per capita map. Saudi Arabia looks to be the only country outside of those listed which has decent electricity for most to use.

[Richard Pearse]

Originally Posted by Buckler of Swashing

I find that many Australians think we're much, much more important in terms of global power and influence than we actually are. Also, they're very, very keen to be noticed by the rest of the world. OMG - They're looking at us!!! They like us!!!

I'm not sure about your first point, I think Australians have a high opinion of their importance in terms of local power, and they have a point. Australia is an important power in the oceanic region. I think your second point actually refutes your first. Australia suffers from culural cringe and small country syndrome (despite being a very big country physically.) Its people want to be noticed, as you said, and are very proud of its citizens who "make it big," like Hugh Jackman for instance. On the other hand they can't stand it when less glamorous people make it big, people like Dame Edna, Yahoo Serious, Paul Hogan, or Rolph Harris. Another side of it is when someone makes it big but is seen to sell out in some way. I always laugh when my wife has a go at Kylie Minogue and her "fake accent." That's not a fake accent dear, she just spends a lot of time out of Australia and has ended up with an accent influenced by various other countries.

I'm from New Zealand. New Zealanders have similar pre-conceptions about Americans as Europeans, i.e., they're insular and don't travel out of their country, they're fat, lazy, and stupid, etc. Of course, the ones you meet are alright, but then they're the ones who travel, the rest are insular, fat, lazy and stupid.

New Zealand also suffers, to a far greater extent than Australia, from small country syndrome. Famous or successful New Zealanders are idolised to a point that can become unfomfortable to watch. The moral of much of the nation can ride on the success or failure of their national rugby team.

Originally Posted by Ruken

Part of it is due to size. If I drive 11 hours east of El Paso, I'm still in the same state. Where do you end up if you drive 1200 km from Paris? Florence, Madrid, Dublin, Copenhagen, the borders of Poland or Slovakia. The scale difference is tremendous. I remember an Irish girl I met New Haven CT who was trying to wrap her head around driving to Rochester, NY. You can't drive 600 km west from anywhere in Ireland!

That can only be part of it. Australians travel yet their country is as big as the continental USA. You say you can travel 11 hours and be in the same state, I have to drive 9 hours to get to another TOWN. The state I live in is almost ten times the size of Texas, I can travel for FOUR DAYS and be in the same state. This doesn't stop us from going overseas though.

[Nava]

When I was moving to Miami for graduate school, the three most frequent reactions were:
"Oh, to Miami Playa?" Uh, no, that's a freaking beach development, no universities there. To Miami-Miami.
"To America!??!!! But they shoot people there!" A reference to drive-by shootings which is particularly cute when you can just look the idiot in the eye, say "you mean like ETA?" and watch them go overripe-tomato-red. I'm from "terrorist territory," who cares whether the sonabitch who shot you was trying to hit some other gangsta or a politician, you're still dead.
"To Julio Iglesias' Miami?" No, to the poor-students Miami. I wouldn't be allowed into Julito's Miami unless it was to scrub the bathrooms, see.

Between the 70s and 90s, Spaniards assumed that everybody in Latin America hated us, as we'd enslaved them for 500 years (ehm, excuse me, they started getting independent almost 200 years ago, learn to count) and destroyed their wonderful cultures where everybody lived in peace and harmony with nature and with each other (I'm not touching that one with a 100-foot pole). What with tourism over there and immigration to over here, this impression has now mostly disappeared, but you still run into the occasional vocational martyr. Said martyrs tend to shut up quite rapidly when I ask whether they've talked with any Latin American immigrant and asked their opinion on the subject; they never have.

Several years ago, I was part of an international project involving several European factories and one from South Africa. The South African team explained to us that most of their "peons" were completely illiterate; signing up for the "read and write courses" offered by the factory was the fast track to positions of responsibility. When a line manager needed a certain reagent, he'd give to the peon a photocopy of the label and a description of the item he had to look for (is it small bags, large sacks, plastic bottles). My European coworkers, specially the Swedish and British ones, refused to believe this; they were even getting angry when the South Africans insisted. Until I said "ok, guys, listen here. When you hear 'South Africa,' you think big cities, beaches, modern country. But what do you think when you hear 'Africa,' without the south? Hunger. Black kids with swollen bellies and flies on their eyes. The kind of images we get from people asking for money. You don't even think of Morocco or Egypt, when you hear 'Africa.' Now, in South Africa they have several languages, that would already be a problem as I imagine most of the peons don't speak English as their first language, if at all" (the South African confirmed) "and they aren't in a big city, so why do you expect them to be able to read English?"

[Desert Nomad]

Originally Posted by tokaido-hokuriku

(2) That Iran is some kind of ruthless dictatorship that would be incredibly dangerous to visit. When I mention to USian friends my hope to go there this year, you can really see how much even left-wing graduate students have swallowed the propaganda.

tokaido-hokuriku

I am American and visited Iran on my own for nearly a month - it was absolutely wonderful. I crossed overland from Turkmenistan, travelled down the east side of the country to Zahadan, then west and north through Bam, Kerman, Shiraz, Esfahan, Yazd, Qom, Tehran, Tabriz and out through Turkey.

Sure there were "Down with USA" signs and such, but I have never been to a more friendly country. It IS a bit difficult to arrange a visa and these days Americans will need a guide, but can travel in a "group" of one.

BTW: I got the same crazy stares from Americans when I mentioned I was going/had been to Iran.

[Racer1]

Originally Posted by Harmonious Discord

There are areas where you'll find the people don't speak English, and the stores don't have English on the signs.

Alright, alright.

You can see what I was getting at though.

[Desert Nomad]

Originally Posted by Justin_Bailey

Ha! Spoken by someone who has obviously never visited more than one US city.

The difference between Alaska and Mississippi is far less than the difference between Portugal and Bulgaria (both in the EU)... not even the alphabet is the same.

[lalenin]

The biggest one about my country, Cuba, is that Cubans have free health care and free education. Without getting into the quality or availability of either, it is wrong to say that they are free. All Cubans work for the government, they are all paid by same government, and their salaries average $15 a month. In other words, every Cuban subsidizes health care and education through their low salaries.

[RickJay]

Originally Posted by lalenin

The biggest one about my country, Cuba, is that Cubans have free health care and free education. Without getting into the quality or availability of either, it is wrong to say that they are free. All Cubans work for the government, they are all paid by same government, and their salaries average $15 a month. In other words, every Cuban subsidizes health care and education through their low salaries.

When people say "Free health care" I think it's understood that they pay for it through their taxes; it's just that there's no marginal cost for the use of the service. I would mention that basic medical services here in Canada are "Free," but that's not a wrong assumption on my part. I know I pay for it with tax money. It's just that when I say "Free," I mean "isn't paid for on the basis of use."

To use another example, I would make a similar distinction between a toll highway and a "Free" highway. I realize I'm paying tax money to subsidize the "Free" highway, but it's still "Free" in the sense that I don't pay money for a discrete use of it, as opposed to Highway 407, where there's a direct cost to me every time I use it.

For Canada, by far the most common misconceptions are:

1. Canada is the world leader in the provision of UN peacekeeping forces. This isn't true and hasn't been true for a very, very long time. But I hear it all the time.

2. Canada has the world's best standard of living, the UN says so! Canada ranked #1 on some arbitrary definition of "Quality of live" for a few years back in the 80's or 90's, and ever since then I've heard this parroted by God only knows how many people. It's simply false; it was one measurement of highly questionable validity, we're not #1 on it anymore, and by a thousand other measurements other countries rank higher. In any event there's no appreciable quality of life difference between Canada and, say, Germany or Denmark.

3. Canada is the biggest country in the world. I've been hearing this one more and more; I think people are under the misapprehension that the Soviet Union breaking up pushed us from #2 to #1. Of course, Russia by itself is still much bigger than Canada.

[HazelNutCoffee]

When I first moved to Korea at the age of 13, my classmates eagerly asked me if American students really did all carry guns to school and have sex in supply closets.

I dunno, maybe I was the only one missing out.

[Shagnasty]

Originally Posted by HazelNutCoffee

When I first moved to Korea at the age of 13, my classmates eagerly asked me if American students really did all carry guns to school and have sex in supply closets.

I dunno, maybe I was the only one missing out.

I witnessed examples of both of those so your answer should have been: "Absolutely, you should visit sometime".

[tokaido-hokuriku]

I moved to the US for grad school, and my UK friends regularly trot out the myth that the US is full of guns and generally much more dangerous than home. They think everyone is packing. Two points:

(1) When I had friends to visit they commented on how /safe/ Chapel Hill seemed, compared to equivalent UK towns. No drunken belligerent gangs.

(2) Sadly, just before my friends came, a very high profile member of my university was shot dead. This made the myth somewhat harder to debunk ...

t-h

[Sternvogel]

Originally Posted by 1920s Style "Death Ray"

The state I live in is almost ten times the size of Texas

Texas's area is 268,820 square miles (696,241 square kilometers). For Western Australia (your country's largest state), the respective numbers are 1,021,478 and 2,645,615 -- about four times the Texas figures.

[An Gadaí]

One thing I find interesting is that a significant minority if not a majority of my friends and family in Ireland have visited or lived in New York City at one time or another. My girlfriend in Cleveland, Ohio and her friends and family have for the most part not visited the city. It might be to do with relative affluence but if I could get a bus to NYC I'd be there every weekend!

[dangermom]

Originally Posted by An Gadaí

One thing I find interesting is that a significant minority if not a majority of my friends and family in Ireland have visited or lived in New York City at one time or another. My girlfriend in Cleveland, Ohio and her friends and family have for the most part not visited the city. It might be to do with relative affluence but if I could get a bus to NYC I'd be there every weekend!

Yeah, but I'd rather go to Dublin (or London) than New York.

[Giles]

Originally Posted by An Gadaí

One thing I find interesting is that a significant minority if not a majority of my friends and family in Ireland have visited or lived in New York City at one time or another. My girlfriend in Cleveland, Ohio and her friends and family have for the most part not visited the city. It might be to do with relative affluence but if I could get a bus to NYC I'd be there every weekend!

Bus (or train) from Cleveland to NYC for the weekend would pretty well use up all your weekend -- you would have to turn around and go back just when you'd arrived. But, yes, it would make sense for a longer break, like a week or so.

[An Gadaí]

Originally Posted by Giles

Bus (or train) from Cleveland to NYC for the weekend would pretty well use up all your weekend -- you would have to turn around and go back just when you'd arrived. But, yes, it would make sense for a longer break, like a week or so.

Sorry, you're absolutely correct! I was conflating the time it would take to drive in a car with the time it would take to take a bus.

[Colophon]

I'll second what bump said - that a lot of people from America seem to think that Britain is totally metric. A lot also seem to think we have switched to euros.

As for us Brits, I think a lot of us think that all Americans are really dumb. Dumb and fat.

[An Gadaí]

Originally Posted by Colophon

I'll second what bump said - that a lot of people from America seem to think that Britain is totally metric. A lot also seem to think we have switched to euros.

We used to have our road signs in miles and km. Now it is exclusively km until you hit the border with NI then it becomes miles again. It would likely be a little bit confusing for the uninformed motorist crossing the border.

[nashiitashii]

Originally Posted by tokaido-hokuriku

The USA:

(1) That other countries, especially European ones, are ethnically and culturally static and homogeneous. This drives me nuts: it's almost as if they see different countries as (potential) ingredients for the 'melting pot' and nothing else. Relatedly, that your great-grandparents emigrated from a certain country means that you have much in common with me, a citizen of that country.
American: "I'm Irish"
Me: "Oh cool, where are you from, Dublin?"
American: "Uh no, Boston"

I find that there's also a fascination with foreigners and how they fit in with the stereotypes that Americans have of them. I'm American, but of Icelandic descent, so I am in a cultural halfway house and get lots of weird questions because people don't necessarily know anything in particular about Iceland beyond Björk and that Swedes eat lutefisk, so Icelanders must know what it tastes like too*.

I find that there are also a good deal of people who've never been exposed to anything outside of their own segment of American culture and thus are a bit xenophobic at times.

[sub]*Really, we don't eat that stuff and we're not that closely related culinarily. If Seinfeld characters were a good way to relate how Scandinavia relates to each other, it'd be as follows:
Denmark: Elaine Benes
Finland: Cosmo Kramer
Iceland: Jerry Seinfeld
Norway: Elaine's boss
Sweden: George Costanza
They're all different personalities, but they interact with each other well enough.