I'm from Malaysia and I think that while my American friends are lovely and wonderful, some (or most?) Americans are self-absorbed and rather clueless about the world outside of the US. An American I met while in Spain told me she thought that Malaysia is in Africa.  Oh, dear LORD.

Thankfully, my brilliant American boyfriend isn't clueless nor self-absorbed.

I think the US is overrated, I have travelled outside the country and the more I do, the more I want out.  Some people really over romanticize the American lifestyle.  It's not that glamorous or beautiful.  Americans that have travelled elsewhere have more perspective than your typical "But I've been to the East or West Coast" Americans.  

Them Irish.  Always smart alecs.   That's why I love them.

On a serious note though, just like Americans, not every European, even within the same country, has the same views.  When I went to France, I didn't get any trouble from anyone, but when I lived in Seville I was constantly getting rude looks and answers from people, even though I was speaking in Spanish and trying very hard to fit in (as well as a tall, light-haired, very-obviously-foreign girl can over there).  But I've heard others say the exact opposite about those places, so it just depends.

@MsKittyCatty@xanga - Oh I forgot to add that after the initial hostile question they were friendly.  I thought my comment kind of said that but I guess not.  Sorry.

@eowynnabeeowyn@xanga - I was in Lyon and besides the initial question, everything else was very pleasant.  Paris, on the other hand, had a lot of rude people, but I understand it since it was the holidays and Paris was overrun with tourists, lots of rude tourists.

I still want to go back to Lyon and live for a year or two.

"Fat, but rich."

"They love hamburgers and pizza."

"The U.S. does not have four seasons."

"You can die easily in the U.S."

"I think of the U.S. as a place where people run around with guns, shooting each other."

"Pretty good Fried Chicken."

"Lazy, but a good place to get a job."

"They love football (American football)"

"I love their music."

-all asked in Korea.

I'm American and have never been outside of the country (Which is a stereotype in itself, but it's out of lack of funds, not lack of interest.) so it's great to hear these opinions.

I guess I just always assume that we're looked down on by other countries, because our media does tend to promote ignorance, violence, stupidity, misogyny, and pseudo-sciences. Glad to know most people don't hold that against the people =)

@NikBv@xanga - you should. I'll read it.

I'm from the US and I'd say other than the racist and fundamentally Christian thing, the rest of the opinions seem pretty well-founded. I suppose it depends on where you are in the US though and who you come across because I'm sure if I lived in a different area I would come across many more Christian fundamentalists and racist individuals.

It drives me nuts whenever I see someone on television expressing their opinion about how the US is the best country.

hamburger and overalls.

:D

i'm from the u.s. and i'm kind of getting tired of everyone hating on americans. which is funny for me to say b/c i used to hate on americans all the time when i was younger, even though i am one.

there are billions of people in this country. we are all different. we all have differing views and differing levels of tolerance and intelligence. you can not base how you feel about americans off of our stereo-types. some are fat, lazy, racist, christian-fundamentalist idiots. and some of us are smart, tolerant, open to new things, and very aware. it depends on who you meet.

dear world: please stop trying to shove us all in to a box.

I'm from England and we think your tv sucks and is way over the top, lol. :-p
I think people think Americans are pretty ignorant, no offense, i dont generalise, thats not my opinion.

Americans complain less than people from the UK??? What went wrong with you people?!