By far the most common comment I get is I thought you'd be louder or more obnoxious, apparently Americans are thought to be both.
Also the general feeling or experience with Americans has been that we are arrogant or think that our way is the best way to do things. Or that we are stupid..a former roommate of mine proved this time and time again--being American and all, always speaking before thinking and making themself look dumb, although I don't think it's a totally American trait perhaps we are just louder about the fact. In addition the feeling is that we don't know much about what happens outside our own country which is true..I agree with that one..I feel I've gotten alot better on that one..most people know lots about our politics and country while I realized I knew nothing about huge european or asian countries and their politics or way of life..I suppose we aren't innudated with it like other countries are with American entertainment/news..I think this is what gives people the most warped view of Americans..they see the bad way more often than the good.
Finally I'm always being asked if I'm Canadian, the reason for this? Canadians are offended when someone asks them if they are American and since there are heaps of Canadians here people just automatically ask if you're Canadian. It's not hard to tell whose Candian though..they love to wear the Canadian Flag everywhere and are even fond of wearing shirts that say I'm NOT American--nice of you neighbors to the north!!
Also in a typical Ugly American incident--on the sailboat we went to the reef there were about 25 people from Isreal, Holland, Ireland, England, Norway, Sweden and of course the US. Besides Joey and I there were 3 other Americans, sorority girls if I've ever seen them who didn't socialize with anyone but each other--we're stuck on a boat people at least try to make friends. The bar we had our after boat party at was hosting a wet t-shirt contest and I turned to Joey to tell him they were the 3 #1 candiates to enter but before I even finished the sentence one of them stumbled over and shouted that they'd went and signed up for a wet t-shirt contest. Then at the boat party tried to get everyone to come and cheer for them, of course all 3 of them entered and figured they had a better chance of winning that way..they were acting like they were on girls gone wild..much to the amusement of especially the Irish girls who thought they were acting like every bad US tv show they'd ever seen..so embarassed for them. Also I ran into 2 of them here in Brisbane last Friday and no they didn't win, got naked for nothing!
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That's hilarious - stupid airheads, giving us all a bad name :)
You know, the main problem with the media is that it tends to cover only the extreme...that applies to all cultures. When 9/11 happened, the only people in Middle Eastern cultures who got coverage were those who were cheering about the American lives lost. There wasn't much coverage of those who sympathized with us. The important and challenging thing is to remember that just because the media didn't cover them, it doesn't mean those people don't exist.
Just like all Americans don't agree with "W" on every issue, or on any issue in my case. But the media loves drama, so they're not going to talk about those who want peace instead of war.
The media's our downfall, I tell you.
So you keep doin' your thing and make us Americans look good!!! We need some positive PR abroad - you can create positive images of Americans one country at a time...
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