Check out this brief article of interest regarding how Americans are perceived abroad... by some. Comments welcome!!
(I'm not sure I'm qualified to give an opinion... My perspective is skewed by having been abroad for nearly 8 years... and missing it! I don't really want to be here just now...)
Poor Yannie. I thought of you last night and how you'd much rather be where I am. Give it some time, and if it's still horrid, look for a new job! Yes, we have a lot of dumb people in the US, but we have a lot of people in general. So, the percentage might be the same, but the number is higher.
ReplyDeleteI think Americans have a worse reputation overseas than we deserve. And it's probably due to jealousy (if it's not, than why does everyone want to live here? when the Olympics are on TV this summer, listen to how many times the announcer says such and such non-US athlete "lives and trains" in the US... makes you wonder). There's my hard-headed American response.
ReplyDeleteI will certainly grant that Americans aren't as aware of international issues as those in other countries and we are very self-focused. But in terms of general dumb-ness, I don't buy it at all. Like TeacherPerson said, we have tons of dumb people, but we have tons to people too (and lots of smart ones).
And Yanniesue, you don't have to give your opinion on Americans, just your opinion on the opinion of Americans by those overseas. Does everyone think we are fat, dumb, and ugly?
I remember the first time I ever left the US - I went with my family to Vancouver. We met a Canadian lady in a shop who asked us where we were from and I said Tennessee. She said, oh, is that near Pennsylvania? I was quite shocked until I realized that I didn't know any of the Canadian provinces. I've met a lot of smart Americans and a lot of dumb ones. I also think as a worst case,we can share our status on fat (I've been to Germany) and ugly (Russia). Note that I'm not making a claim for my nation's superiority here, rather a tie for inferiority. Furthermore, all the Americans I personally know who are fat, dumb, and ugly tend to be the nicest ones. But anyway, since I consider myself California by nationality, I don't think that article applies to me and my countrymen.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there are probably smart and dumb people everywhere, but that doesn't change perception. Americans generally have an idea that they can change things for the better, which is fairly unique among worldviews. The other thing I think is that Americans tend to have a renegade attitude compared to Brits who I think have a staid attitude by comparison. For instance, an American might not care at all to admit that he doesn't know or care whether Austria is a capitol or a country.
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