Okay, I was super scared because I’m a South Asian Muslim but I was there for a month in October and people were very, very nice. I don’t know why, but I expected some unfriendliness for sure, based off what the media reports. And I assume people who are living/studying there have a different experience (a lot of relatives/friends live there and had heard their stories). But wow, everyone we met was nice, accommodating, and friendly!
I’m American, but my wife is Brazilian. She said when she first got here (7 years ago) that she thought people would be smarter here. Because in other countries, they’re taught how great everything was here, and everyone lives in a huge house (problly from watching tv/movies) and that everyone is really smart because of the school system. Didn’t take her long to figure out people are not smarter here compared to other parts of the world.
I was shocked by the homeless population in San Francisco. Literally one of the greatest concentrations of wealth to ever exist and people are living in tents and pissing in the streets. And people walk by like it’s nothing.
I used to work with guys from Africa. They were shocked that all Americans aren’t millionaires. I ask why they thought everyone was a millionaire and they said in the movies everyone is held for ransom and it is a million dollars. There aren’t poor or homeless people in movies. It wasn’t what they expected.
That Americans were rude. Americans turned out to be the nicest people I’ve ever met. So much so, that I moved to the States and prefer their company over company of people from my native country. No joke. Totally serious.
Not my own, but something others I know think. Europeans always go on about “Americans are so direct and it’s weird to have casual conversations”, but… being from the Middle East, that’s literally what we do too. I felt more comfortable socially in the U.S. than the UK.
I thought people would be way fatter. I have been living in DC for nearly nine months now, with occasional trips to VA, MD, NYC, UT, NV, AZ, FL, SC, SD and MN. I have hardly seen any really obese person. The typical American I’ve encountered I consider “bulky”, like the ratios are the same, but just taller, wider and heavier. Not fat. So I guess (but this is my anecdotal experience which is of course nearly not as strong as comprehensive statistics) that the whole talk is about BMIs slightly above 25 or whatnot, which is not that big of a deal, is it?
We had a foreign exchange student from Norway when I was in highschool and I basically asked her this same question. She basically said she pretty much thought we all looked like either 2010 Rick Ross or Tiger King.
I thought that americans were crazy and extremely patriotic and also a bit dense. When I took the job there some of my friends told me “wtf are you serious ? You’re gonna be surrounded by morons”. Mind you, the only vision I had of americans was through social media and political news.
Americans (and I’m not saying that because as a foreigner in this country I am scared to get deported to el salvador) are extremely nice and very very normal. I never had a bad interactions with a US citizen, everyone was very welcoming and super nice. My first day at work a guy I barely knew took me out for dinner and drinks wirh some of his friends.
And americans are (in my experience) not crazy patriotics zealots. They are extremely normal and pretty dumbfounded by what the hell is happening in this country.
And they are not stupid….they just sometimes have this preconceived notion that everything in the world works the same way as in the USA. When I told people I didnt have a driver licencr and would use public transports in my home country (because they were very good), most americans I told were surprised and sometimes SHOCKED. Which I get, if I was born in this country I would have probably gotten a driver licence asap
US citizen here: A Spanish family visited my home and the first thing they wanted assurance about was that US households didn’t REALLY have garbage disposals in their sinks. They thought it was a myth.
I’m American but my wife is Taiwanese. 11 years together and she still finds it odd how you can go to a store and they’ll ask how you’re doing being friendly. When I went there I understood the difference. People are extremely friendly there but they’ll only help if you ask as it’s considered weird just to randomly help people. Like holding the doors open for people here is good manners, I only saw that a handful of times and it was for disabled people. She was also thrown off how loud people can be but also have a genuine small talk conversation with a total stranger. Also how helpful people can be. She sometimes thinks it’s for shady reasons as she always heard dangerous America was. First time she went to throw the trash in our dumpster at our communitywhike I was at work and she was struggling and someone who was driving by in the lot jumped out to help her.
She still thinks it’s dangerous here so doesn’t like going anywhere alone but she knows it’s not as bad as she thought. Still though, Taiwan is 3rd safest country so its still not up to her standards. But nothing ever is lol
That Americans don’t understand dry humour. We Brits are very snobby, thinking our deadpan wit is superior to in-your-face US sitcom humour. The Americans in my company that I’d met in online calls were super upbeat and cheerful with cheesy jokes. Meeting them in person and seeing actual dry American humour was devastating. They were so funny.
Compared to a normal German town I felt as if I had fallen in a pot of honey.
Everyone was incredible nice and sweet and going out of their way to help me.
When I was in a coffee shop they always gave me extra stuff and were talking so friendly.
When I wanted to buy a shirt for my niece at Macey’s they told me where I could get more teenager stuff in OTHER stores that would be cooler.
People on the streets were smiling at me- it felt unreal.
Once I was mistakingly given an alcoholic drink at a restaurant and when I asked them if I could get a non-alcoholic they were trying to comp my meal, I had to say again and again that everything was wonderful and of course I would pay and also tip -they acted as if they had to compensate me but it was just the wrong drink.
I was in fact a bit afraid of NY and never cared much for big cities, but my 14 days there were wonderful (2009), I just wanted to visit a friend studying there but I really fell in love with the people and beauty of NY.
Just come back from New York. Everyone was so polite (to us and when observing how people interacted in shops etc) and a lovely man waiting for his bagel on his way to work apologised to me for the weather. I’m from the uk so manners maketh the man or woman. Lovely experience.
I was told you can’t eat healthy in the US. What I got were salad bowls with tons of veggies, proteins and surprisingly little dressing for like $10 (ok, + tax + tip) in restaurants.
It wasn’t a misconception – I just didn’t believe everything you see in the movies is real and especially in Christmas movies, things are a bit exaggerated. So, I didn’t believe people really had THAT crazy of Christmas lights in suburbs.
I was so very wrong. America is crazy for their Christmas lights.
I moved from Germany to NYS. I never expected such a breathtaking nature. No movie could have had prepared me. I’m in love
I expected Americans like in the movies. Everyone is fighting for his right. To be honest, I never felt a big difference between Germans and most of the New Yorkers I met here.
The only difference is, they are so open hearted, love small talks. I love it
Each state is vastly different. Sometimes I felt like I was in different countries.
I remember years ago visiting NYC and chatting with locals (as I do) I got the imprecation they didn’t really care about the rest of the country.
Had a AAA tow driver in Virginia refuse to jump my Toyota because it wasn’t American but in Washington state I didn’t know anyone and everyone was super friendly and accommodating.
I find it difficult to generalize the US after traveling all over it.
I assumed everyone would be standoffish and rude. I was in Texas and everyone was so happy to meet me I felt like a celebrity lol. It actually got annoying how everyone wanted to talk like we are old friends. I was like madame I do not know you.
I’d only seen the bus driver tapping the sign on Simpsons to not talk to him. In both my home country and where I live now, it’s not a big deal…
Enter late 20-something dumb white girl.
I had misjudged my layover in Chicago (13 hours quickly became 4, without sleep) and desperately needed to get from Soldier Field to something that would get me to the airport. I desperately plead with the driver to drop me off at (I think?) the red line (this was sooo long ago) and he just glared and told me to get to the back. I tried counting the streets as the bus rolled on, since my phone had run out of roaming and I was going off the map in my backpack. I’d go off whenever it felt close enough…I knew I had fucked up. I’d dawdled my time away just strolling through random neighbourhood a to look at orthodox churches. Now, I was going to miss my flight. I shouldn’t have stupidly believed that anyone in the US would ever help another person. The terrible thoughts about myself and Americans rolled through my head and…
Suddenly, the bus screeches to a halt.
“To the passenger who needs the red line, get off now!”
I scrambled off the bus after yelling a tearful thank you. Made my flight and made it home.
People are people. We are all the same wherever we are. It just blew my mind that the driver actually stopped in the middle of his route to let me off, even if it was something that happened in both of the countries that I lived.
I was told that Americans were superficial and that their interest wasn’t genuine. But after traveling to the U.S. frequently in recent years, I’ve realized that Americans are actually kind, open, and genuinely interested in talking to you.
It’s not really a misconception but I was taken aback by the scale of everything. From the size of the land itself, the distances, the size of cities, parks and neighborhoods, the height and size of the buildings downtown of a few major cities, the variety of products in supermarkets and the packaging sizes….the list goes on and on. Obviously, I knew it was to be expected, but seeing it with my own eyes was truly fascinating, and in some ways it made me understand the american way of thinking and living a little bit more.
Ok, one thing that didn’t meet my expectations were the fresh produce in California. I thought everything would feel and taste amazing since it’s grown locally in perfect weather conditions, but anything I bought was bland and tasteless 😭
The food. I’m French and I thought everything would be awful but i didcoverd the south US version of BBQ and I miss it since.
I also discovered sweet potatoes there and I eat it all the time now.
I genuinely believed everyone ate fast food for every meal. Then I visited and realized there are tons of people who are super into cooking, farmer’s markets, and healthy eating.
As an American reading comments about how we were kinder than expected is actually really heartwarming. Makes me realize that it’s not so much the citizens that are the problem right now, just the people in power. There’s a lot more wonderful people out there than we realize, they just aren’t quite so loud.
Comments
American here. People think we butt into everything, even when were not invited.
I expected to see people walking around carrying guns like it’s a Rambo cosplay.
Okay, I was super scared because I’m a South Asian Muslim but I was there for a month in October and people were very, very nice. I don’t know why, but I expected some unfriendliness for sure, based off what the media reports. And I assume people who are living/studying there have a different experience (a lot of relatives/friends live there and had heard their stories). But wow, everyone we met was nice, accommodating, and friendly!
I’m American, but my wife is Brazilian. She said when she first got here (7 years ago) that she thought people would be smarter here. Because in other countries, they’re taught how great everything was here, and everyone lives in a huge house (problly from watching tv/movies) and that everyone is really smart because of the school system. Didn’t take her long to figure out people are not smarter here compared to other parts of the world.
New Yorkers were pleasant and helpful.
When I went to New York, not a single person said “Hey, I’m walking here”. Or “what are you? Some kinda mook?”.
This was disappointing
I was shocked by the homeless population in San Francisco. Literally one of the greatest concentrations of wealth to ever exist and people are living in tents and pissing in the streets. And people walk by like it’s nothing.
I thought US people all lived in good conditions..but the levels of poverty in cities like Portland, Seattle Oakland and NY were astonishing.
I used to work with guys from Africa. They were shocked that all Americans aren’t millionaires. I ask why they thought everyone was a millionaire and they said in the movies everyone is held for ransom and it is a million dollars. There aren’t poor or homeless people in movies. It wasn’t what they expected.
That Americans were rude. Americans turned out to be the nicest people I’ve ever met. So much so, that I moved to the States and prefer their company over company of people from my native country. No joke. Totally serious.
Not my own, but something others I know think. Europeans always go on about “Americans are so direct and it’s weird to have casual conversations”, but… being from the Middle East, that’s literally what we do too. I felt more comfortable socially in the U.S. than the UK.
I thought people would be way fatter. I have been living in DC for nearly nine months now, with occasional trips to VA, MD, NYC, UT, NV, AZ, FL, SC, SD and MN. I have hardly seen any really obese person. The typical American I’ve encountered I consider “bulky”, like the ratios are the same, but just taller, wider and heavier. Not fat. So I guess (but this is my anecdotal experience which is of course nearly not as strong as comprehensive statistics) that the whole talk is about BMIs slightly above 25 or whatnot, which is not that big of a deal, is it?
We had a foreign exchange student from Norway when I was in highschool and I basically asked her this same question. She basically said she pretty much thought we all looked like either 2010 Rick Ross or Tiger King.
I’ve been living in the US for a year.
I thought that americans were crazy and extremely patriotic and also a bit dense. When I took the job there some of my friends told me “wtf are you serious ? You’re gonna be surrounded by morons”. Mind you, the only vision I had of americans was through social media and political news.
Americans (and I’m not saying that because as a foreigner in this country I am scared to get deported to el salvador) are extremely nice and very very normal. I never had a bad interactions with a US citizen, everyone was very welcoming and super nice. My first day at work a guy I barely knew took me out for dinner and drinks wirh some of his friends.
And americans are (in my experience) not crazy patriotics zealots. They are extremely normal and pretty dumbfounded by what the hell is happening in this country.
And they are not stupid….they just sometimes have this preconceived notion that everything in the world works the same way as in the USA. When I told people I didnt have a driver licencr and would use public transports in my home country (because they were very good), most americans I told were surprised and sometimes SHOCKED. Which I get, if I was born in this country I would have probably gotten a driver licence asap
It’s really really nice seeing these comments and people realizing Reddit isn’t a valid depiction of the US lol
US citizen here: A Spanish family visited my home and the first thing they wanted assurance about was that US households didn’t REALLY have garbage disposals in their sinks. They thought it was a myth.
I turned it on and they were aghast.
I’m American but my wife is Taiwanese. 11 years together and she still finds it odd how you can go to a store and they’ll ask how you’re doing being friendly. When I went there I understood the difference. People are extremely friendly there but they’ll only help if you ask as it’s considered weird just to randomly help people. Like holding the doors open for people here is good manners, I only saw that a handful of times and it was for disabled people. She was also thrown off how loud people can be but also have a genuine small talk conversation with a total stranger. Also how helpful people can be. She sometimes thinks it’s for shady reasons as she always heard dangerous America was. First time she went to throw the trash in our dumpster at our communitywhike I was at work and she was struggling and someone who was driving by in the lot jumped out to help her.
She still thinks it’s dangerous here so doesn’t like going anywhere alone but she knows it’s not as bad as she thought. Still though, Taiwan is 3rd safest country so its still not up to her standards. But nothing ever is lol
I thought the Southern accent was made up/exaggerated for TV until I heard it come out of Some Guy.
Thinking of the US as one homogenous country.
That Americans don’t understand dry humour. We Brits are very snobby, thinking our deadpan wit is superior to in-your-face US sitcom humour. The Americans in my company that I’d met in online calls were super upbeat and cheerful with cheesy jokes. Meeting them in person and seeing actual dry American humour was devastating. They were so funny.
That Americans weren’t friendly
Fuck me I’ve rarely been treated better in another country. Class bunch of people
That people in NY were rude.
Compared to a normal German town I felt as if I had fallen in a pot of honey.
Everyone was incredible nice and sweet and going out of their way to help me.
When I was in a coffee shop they always gave me extra stuff and were talking so friendly.
When I wanted to buy a shirt for my niece at Macey’s they told me where I could get more teenager stuff in OTHER stores that would be cooler.
People on the streets were smiling at me- it felt unreal.
Once I was mistakingly given an alcoholic drink at a restaurant and when I asked them if I could get a non-alcoholic they were trying to comp my meal, I had to say again and again that everything was wonderful and of course I would pay and also tip -they acted as if they had to compensate me but it was just the wrong drink.
I was in fact a bit afraid of NY and never cared much for big cities, but my 14 days there were wonderful (2009), I just wanted to visit a friend studying there but I really fell in love with the people and beauty of NY.
Just come back from New York. Everyone was so polite (to us and when observing how people interacted in shops etc) and a lovely man waiting for his bagel on his way to work apologised to me for the weather. I’m from the uk so manners maketh the man or woman. Lovely experience.
I was told you can’t eat healthy in the US. What I got were salad bowls with tons of veggies, proteins and surprisingly little dressing for like $10 (ok, + tax + tip) in restaurants.
It wasn’t a misconception – I just didn’t believe everything you see in the movies is real and especially in Christmas movies, things are a bit exaggerated. So, I didn’t believe people really had THAT crazy of Christmas lights in suburbs.
I was so very wrong. America is crazy for their Christmas lights.
I moved from Germany to NYS. I never expected such a breathtaking nature. No movie could have had prepared me. I’m in love
I expected Americans like in the movies. Everyone is fighting for his right. To be honest, I never felt a big difference between Germans and most of the New Yorkers I met here.
The only difference is, they are so open hearted, love small talks. I love it
Each state is vastly different. Sometimes I felt like I was in different countries.
I remember years ago visiting NYC and chatting with locals (as I do) I got the imprecation they didn’t really care about the rest of the country.
Had a AAA tow driver in Virginia refuse to jump my Toyota because it wasn’t American but in Washington state I didn’t know anyone and everyone was super friendly and accommodating.
I find it difficult to generalize the US after traveling all over it.
I honestly cant believe im seeing a post on reddit about Americans, that isnt just completely flaming us.
I assumed everyone would be standoffish and rude. I was in Texas and everyone was so happy to meet me I felt like a celebrity lol. It actually got annoying how everyone wanted to talk like we are old friends. I was like madame I do not know you.
I didn’t see a single person on a mobility scooter. I was led to believe they were everywhere.
I’d only seen the bus driver tapping the sign on Simpsons to not talk to him. In both my home country and where I live now, it’s not a big deal…
Enter late 20-something dumb white girl.
I had misjudged my layover in Chicago (13 hours quickly became 4, without sleep) and desperately needed to get from Soldier Field to something that would get me to the airport. I desperately plead with the driver to drop me off at (I think?) the red line (this was sooo long ago) and he just glared and told me to get to the back. I tried counting the streets as the bus rolled on, since my phone had run out of roaming and I was going off the map in my backpack. I’d go off whenever it felt close enough…I knew I had fucked up. I’d dawdled my time away just strolling through random neighbourhood a to look at orthodox churches. Now, I was going to miss my flight. I shouldn’t have stupidly believed that anyone in the US would ever help another person. The terrible thoughts about myself and Americans rolled through my head and…
Suddenly, the bus screeches to a halt.
“To the passenger who needs the red line, get off now!”
I scrambled off the bus after yelling a tearful thank you. Made my flight and made it home.
People are people. We are all the same wherever we are. It just blew my mind that the driver actually stopped in the middle of his route to let me off, even if it was something that happened in both of the countries that I lived.
I was told that Americans were superficial and that their interest wasn’t genuine. But after traveling to the U.S. frequently in recent years, I’ve realized that Americans are actually kind, open, and genuinely interested in talking to you.
It’s not really a misconception but I was taken aback by the scale of everything. From the size of the land itself, the distances, the size of cities, parks and neighborhoods, the height and size of the buildings downtown of a few major cities, the variety of products in supermarkets and the packaging sizes….the list goes on and on. Obviously, I knew it was to be expected, but seeing it with my own eyes was truly fascinating, and in some ways it made me understand the american way of thinking and living a little bit more.
Ok, one thing that didn’t meet my expectations were the fresh produce in California. I thought everything would feel and taste amazing since it’s grown locally in perfect weather conditions, but anything I bought was bland and tasteless 😭
The food. I’m French and I thought everything would be awful but i didcoverd the south US version of BBQ and I miss it since.
I also discovered sweet potatoes there and I eat it all the time now.
I genuinely believed everyone ate fast food for every meal. Then I visited and realized there are tons of people who are super into cooking, farmer’s markets, and healthy eating.
As an American reading comments about how we were kinder than expected is actually really heartwarming. Makes me realize that it’s not so much the citizens that are the problem right now, just the people in power. There’s a lot more wonderful people out there than we realize, they just aren’t quite so loud.
I thought there would be a lot of (morbidly) obese people, but when I visited the US* I didn’t see more than in my home country.
*My experience is probably skewed because I visited the West Coast (San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc.) and New York.
It honestly makes me so, so proud that half the comments are about how kind Americans are.
Food. I discovered that a lot of US diner are in fact great places for food.