Europeans: "How come Americans don't travel to other countries?" Americans: "We have two neighbors. And unless you live on the boarder you have to fly or drive 10 hours to get there."
Yeah I don't think people realize just how big geographically the US is You could take the Mediterranean sea and place it over the US and it still wouldn't reach the US's borders
@@brett_flower ill assume what you say is true, but Australia has way less geographical diversity than the United States. I live near saguaro desert, pine forests, grassy plains, mountains, ocean, lakes, rivers, rolling hills, the grand canyon, big cities, small isolated towns. HOT summers a few hours away, and snowy winters the other direction. Modern, high end amenities in one city, rich history in another. And I'm just in one small part of the USA. It's not that a lot of us don't want to travel even greater distances and see other cultures, but with not much time off given for work and how expensive it is to travel in general, might as well just drive a few hours and be in a totally different environment. Then make it back home in time to have to return to work without jet lag :/ it's unfortunate in one sense, but luckily we do have a lot to see nearby. Also to cover my bases: I'm not saying Australia doesn't have a lot to see too, and I really hope to visit one day. It's just a whole different level in the United States.
@@brett_flower99% of your country is desolate nothingness. At least the US interior is populated. The only city in the middle of Australia is Alice springs
I have never been to the USA and I probably never will, but even so I get really upset every time fellow Europeans spit out all these demeaning stereotypes about Americans: being Italian I really suffered from being stereotyped when living in Northern Europe and I know what it feels like, so I try not to do it to other people. On top of that, all Americans I've come across in Europe have been nice, educated people who love smiling.
I was in Germany for three months and I don’t think I felt as amazing as when I visited Rome. It was chaotic especially compared to Germany, but it was the first time I felt like I was in the place that was alive.
Fast food is popular, but we know it's not the same as its fresher counterparts. I love burgers, and I love McDonald's. But a hamburger from McDonald's, a hamburger at a cookout, and a hamburger from a diner or someone's kitchen taste like three different foods.
@@LucileHR but you are right to be careful with fried chicken, even in small restaurants, the chickens are factory farmed. That’s why chickens in the US look like turkeys in Europe, and the amount of fat in a factory-farmed American chicken is insane, they have blobs of fat comparable to pork.
Totally true. I tend to rate foods from different places in tiers. So all the fast food places like McDonald’s and Wendy’s exist on one tier, In-and-Out and Five Guys on another, then restaurant burgers, etc.
@@HarryPujols That is not accurate. There is plenty of affordable chicken that is free range, the same with beef and pork. It is very dependent on where you live. Where I live its possible to make a pork chop medium and not worry about become sick, but when I was traveling to Southern California people thought I was out of my mind for even bringing this up. That is to say, there is absolutely healthy food in the US, both clean meat and fresh vegetables. It just costs more than the food that is not raised in a healthy way.
When I visited Paris I saw a restaurant called the Indiana Cafe which served Tex-Mex food. I thought this was hilarious because I am from Indiana and we are not known for Tex-Mex food at all.
There's a "Kansas" wild west themed resturant in South Africa. I laughed because I was born in the state of Kansas. The resturant's decor honestly wasn't really that accurate, but I appreciated the effort
I am from NWI, and that is hilarious. I usually just say Chicago area when talking about where I am from because everyone immediately assumes I live in a corn field if i just say Indiana.
@@matthewmosier8439I don’t know if it’s themed the same as Tex mex, but Kansas was a very big cowboy state I didn’t know this until recently it’s pretty interesting. Like whole cowboy gang vs Native American battles would happen there and things like that
As an American, it is refreshing to hear someone from another country speak supportively. Thank you! You are right by saying some Americans apologize for being who they are…. Which I think is crazy!
@@CharlieSteak-b7w wonder why they bash Americans? 👀... For example, just in the last month, an American woman set fire to various restaurants, just because she fot kicked out of one of them, for being loud and rude. She then flew as quick as possible to Arizona. Another, American tourist, (this one a couple of years ago) took a DUMP in the streets of a hood. I'm sorry, but is quite hard not to have stereotypes and some resentment, when ones experience hasn't been the best. Being treated like dog S in at your own place by foreigners, never leaves a good impression
I've had a lot of European friends, none of them were ever rude or belittling because I was an American. We'd make jokes, had banter, but it we never had fights over who's country was better. I think what has happened is that the small minority of Americans that are assholes, and the small minority of Europeans that are assholes, have been battling it out online for no discernable reason while the rest of us are just chilling. But it does feel nice to have somebody who'd not a US native say that the US is nice, it certainly helps me think we are doing something right.
I'm incredibly ashamed of this government and countrymen. We have a lot to be sorry for, even preemptively these days. And when people hear that I have utterly disgust for this government, they tell me to leave... as if my ancestors hadn't been here longer than this government had existed, and before Europeans first saw this land from a ship.
A third big reason Americans don’t travel to other countries as much as Europeans is they get way less vacation time and the vacation time they get also includes their holiday time off, so it’s very little time off compared to most Europeans.
@@danielpeters2282 This is definitely more of the issue. Could I take a week a year to travel? Sure. Do I want to be dropping $500 per person on the plane tickets, $200 on transportation to the airport, and who knows how much on food and lodging in Europe (because let's be honest, they're not upset that we don't visit Vietnam)? Absolutely not. Hell, even within the country I recently calculated a family vacation to Boston at $2000
Certainly a valid reason. Most of my family doesn’t live close to me, so I’d rather visit them than travel abroad, given the limited time and funds available. It doesn’t hurt that the US has such a wide variety of peoples and places. Mountains, deserts, jungles, rainforest, big cities. Jews, Muslims, Christians. Conservatives, liberals. Vegans, meat eaters. Brits, French, Italians, Germans, Chinese, Japanese, Russians, Africans, aussies. We’ve got a bit of everything here.
Until 9/11 a passport was not required to visit Mexico or Canada. Hawaii & Alaska are states. Guam, Puerto Rico, The USVI, etc are American territories that don’t require a passport. So until rather recently Americans could do an insane amount of traveling without needing a passport. We have counties bigger than countries. Driving state to state is like going country to country in Europe and other parts of the world. I live on the coast of South Carolina. We are ranked 40th out of 50 so 39 states are bigger. Yet I can drive over 4 hours and still be in SC. America is enormous! Look up furthest points within Alaska, Hawaii, California, & Florida. Hundreds of miles apart.
One, IMO, ridiculous bit of fall out from 9/11 is that there is a town that straddles the Canadian-American border and the Canadian and American kids could cross at will to play tag or whatever with each other. Now it practically takes an act of Congress to be able to cross to the opposite side of town.
@@nedhill1242 Gee whillikers, apparently UA-cam hates it when I make comments about indestructible passports found at ground zero belonging to certain Saudi gentlemen on that September day, twenty-three years ago.
bullying people for not traveling just sounds like a class issue. It costs $$$$$ to travel. It’s such a privileged and low key ableist thing to value (not if you yourself enjoy traveling but if you judge others for not traveling)
What is traveling. Growing up we traveled nearly every weekend drove 4, 8, 14 hours to places in the state or to nearby states. Guaranteed it was a better experience than getting on a plane or driving to another European. There's really no reason to travel outside the US we have some of the best beaches some of the best mountains some of the best ski resorts some of the best amusement parks some of the best natural wonders some of the best wildlife outside of traveling for cultural there's not really a reason to travel outside of the United States and then hey you can just go to North to Canada or South to Mexico or get on a cruise ship and travel to many of the islands south of America
I was just thinking these sorts of things as well! In other places in the world, traveling from one country to another is like traveling from one state to another in America because countries are about the size and distance of our states. I would love to travel, but it costs a lot of money to travel out of the US, like $1000's, especially if you have a spouse and family AND the way we work here is ran differently. For instance, in some other countries it's required that employers give people paid vacation. So, in all actuality it costs $1000's for Americans to travel out of the country and then some when we lose money from missing work (only some employers here give paid vacation out of choice).
I think it's from a skewed perspective. I've had friends who studied abroad for a short time in France, and they did a TON of travel while there bc it was so accesible. Here, the only equivalent would have to be a short road trip...
Yes, however, I would also say America is larger than a lot of Europe and each state could be it's own country. However, people also have some difficulty traveling due to not having the option to because of a lack of vacation time.
As an American, thank you for your patience and attempt to understand us. We are a nation of extremes and its really beautiful but also really messed up sometimes. One thing i wish i could express to non-Americans is the vast differences between regional differences even. The US is massive and the experience you have in the Midwest will be vastly different than you will in New York per se. I really do love my country, we have the absurd people you see in videos and also people pushing absurd technical boundaries. Southern comfort food is some of the most amazing food. There is a reason they call it soul food, it nourishes your body and spirit.
Our country sucks period. Most people are idiots and we have an obesity epidemic. We lack healthcare, are completely racist, and bullies to the rest of the world. I cannot wait for this country to fall apart.
As a Brit living in France I would say that the geography thing is more to do with cultural exposure. Like, I'm from London and there I would say that the first thing people try to memorise about people is their nationality. In France on the other hand, I've had people ask me about guns and Trump, one person even straight up introduced me as Californian. So yeah confusing countries is definitely not a US exclusive thing.
I once saw a German man go on a rant about Americans because he saw a video of two people with obviously British accents in a German store laughing about the fact that the German word for glove is “hand-shoe” (but with a different spelling, of course).
If you ask the typical western European to name every country within 1000km of where they live and whether they can speak the countries' primary language, they'd do poorly compared to asking a typical American the same question.
I've heard Americans apologize for their country while living in Italy. They were quickly shut down by the Italians. Thanks for sharing your experience.
@@monember2722literally, they think they’re better than rural Americans because they’re more “educated”, when in reality they just happened to be born in a wealthy place to a family with money. Ironically most of these people don’t know shit compared to those in poorer states like me.
@ That too, I stg these people like to call farmers, miners, laborers, etc. uneducated and stupid, when without them our entire society would collapse because the US is one of the largest suppliers of food and raw materials.
There are a lot of Americans who HATE fast food and chain restaurants. I am one. I'm retired and I live in a mid sized city suburb. Unfortunately, the vast majority of nearby restaurants are Chain Joints. We have a small number of locally owned places and only a few of them are any good. Thai, Vietnamese and a Greek restaurants, a few coffee cakes and bakeries are all that actually make their own food and don't get frozen, pre-made heat or fry and eat junk It's not that we don't want good food. It's because the restaurant business is so difficult for locals to survive in, so we're overloaded with Chain Joints.
Even though I’m a fan of fast food, it’s not like I eat there every day and I’m overweight. In fact I’m actually underweight. Basically the only reason America has sooo much fast food is because of the convenience of it.
Yep. A couple of years ago when visiting Italy with my family an Italian man had all these stereotypes about being from the US, and he asked my daughter (5yo) how much she liked McDonald's. I said she's never been and doesnt like burgers. His son, on the other hand, loved McDonald's. He also assumed we ate a full American breakfast daily, and was surprised again when I said I don't eat breakfast and kid just usually eats toast. It's still weird to me to see how some stereotypes stick.
It’s especially difficult in suburbs that aren’t too densely populated. I live in a densely populated suburb in a major metropolitan area and there are a lot of local businesses. In areas that aren’t bigger markets only chain restaurants can survive unfortunately.
I only get fast food if I’m travelling a far distance and can’t stop and spend an hour at a restaurant. But I’m in Mass and some of our towns have laws regulating how many chains can operate within town borders. There’s a McDonald’s in my town and a Dunkin Donuts in every town around me but any other fast food place takes 30 minutes to get to at least. Even so though our roast beef and sub shops are only marginally healthier than fast food joints 😂
5:34 another factor is time off of work. Millions of Americans only get 2 weeks out of the year for vacations so spending a whole years time off to go to another country is rare.
Only 2 weeks? I work for CVS in Massachusetts and get 4 weeks. Usually, I take 2 weeks as full weeks off and use the remaining 2 weeks for long weekends or to subsidize short days. Is 2 weeks really the norm?
It's also important to keep in mind that there are plenty of working class jobs where even if you have 2 weeks or more of PTO saved up, good luck getting your boss to approve more than 2 or 3 days back to back. Just because you have the time to take, doesn't mean your manager has to let you take it all at once.
Unless they've changed it in the past few years, you can still cruise to the Caribbean & Mexico without a passport as long as you have a driver's license & are returning to the same port you left from
@nataliet1260 A passport is used for flying They have an ID card for land travel Cruises only need a birth certificate, but you better hope you don't miss the boat
@wolfangwarriorjr7246 I've never been on a cruise that didn't require some form of government issued photo ID. That might be a cruise line thing & not a legal requirement, though.
It’s so expensive to travel to Europe from the US. I just accepted as a child that I’d never be able to afford to go. We get no vacation time here, and with the long flights, jet lag, and short amounts of time off allowed by employers, it’s really not surprising that many Americans don’t or can’t travel abroad. And all of the rhetoric about how Europeans and others don’t like us doesn’t really encourage many to go. I’d love to see Europe. I’d love to live in many European countries and learn a bunch of languages. It’s not possible for me.
We (Americans) get no vacation time? Evidently, that depends on your employer. I'm a retiree and worked at four different places during my 30-year career. All offered one vacation day and one sick day each month, both of which could be accumulated with no limit.
I have problems with my ears that would prevent me from flying, but I’d love to take a boat across the Atlantic. But, yeah, I’ve also had to accept that I’ll probably never get the opportunity, although that really hurts, especially as a European American who desperately wants to connect with the places my ancestors came from.
Agree. I wanted to see the UK, but after watching several videos, I learned especially the English sometimes aren't fond of Americans. Some of them consider us stupid, self-centered, and racist. Hardly makes me want to spend my vacation dollars there. I'd still like to see Scotland. Have they're much friendlier towards Americans.
Some stereotypes re the US seem to have to do with the size of the country. Cowboy hats and pickup trucks are a feature in some areas of the South and Southwest but even within those areas they're not used by the majority of people. There are 10's of millions of us who don't wear cowboy hats,don't drive pickup trucks and don't eat junky fast food. There is very delicious food that is made quickly on site (technically fast) but very good quality food.
Even though I've never owned a cowboy hat (mostly because whether or not I bother with any kind of hat depends upon how much time I'm going to be in what weather) I don't think those that do are doing anything wrong. And it don't have anything to do with their intelligence. As for Pick up Trucks. I've owned about 3 different ones in my life time. 2 of them were classified as halftones,and 1 mid sized. I've also drove different sizes of cars and a van. I see no need to apologize for any of them. As for food,I've eaten different types. From good to junk. What I eat tends to depend on time,convenience and budget. And I don't apologize for that either. Now if their has been twice in my life a joke came out wrong, (and I'm not talking about off color jokes) and even though I didn't and still don't think the jokes were that bad I did decide to apologize personally to the people that got offended cause they are people I have known and didn't want to hurt, But as for apologizing for things that aren't nobodies bossiness, I just don't see the need.
@@Troy_Palo24 Europe is roughly 10.2 million square kilometers, and the United States is roughly 9.8 million. So the US is only slightly smaller than the entire continent of europe, and that’ll change significantly if Trump purchases Greenland
That's a good point about those videos that show American's being unable to answer questions on the street being cherry-picked. I've also met a few people that amuse themselves by pretending to be completely ignorant about something that should be common knowledge, or will take up a ridiculous side in an argument, purely because they think it's funny to watch other people react to them. Then there's the fact that it's common knowledge that the people that are doing these interviews are going to be picking the absolute worst answers to air, so some people treat it like it's a contest for the performance with the dumbest answers with the prize being that the winner gets to be on TV. All that's needed would be three or four people out of a hundred that think this way and the interviewers will have all the material they need.
It’s crazy how people don’t understand that the same thing can and does happen when they interview people in other countries. They used to do one of those street interview things in Australia that was really popular and the results might have even been worse lol
A story to share. I was reminded by watching your stereotypes. I was in France. A group of French had arranged for a surprise at lunch. The restaurant had video screens and a sound system. A slide of the American flag was displayed on the screen and the sound system played the American national anthem. I saw the flag and heard the anthem. Looking around the restaurant, I rose to stand and placed my hand on my heart while regarding the flag. One of my French friends saw me and started to talk with those around him. Soon, the entire restaurant of French people were standing in respect to the Ametican flag. I still get emotional telling this story. How SUPER of the French!
@Anon54387 Yes, I have heard the same. HOWEVER, Lucille views on stereotypes apply both ways. The French are not American, and their personal space, as well as eye contact and saying hello, might contribute to Americans feeling differently in some places. I was in the west of France on a motorcycle tour. It started in Nantes and went to Spain, then Portugal returning to Normandy and back to Nantes. Everywhere in the West of France felt warmly welcoming. The Loire Valley is highly recommended.
Actually, the Flag Code, military code and traditional, civilian code says that standing at attention, placing hand or hat over heart or rendering a hand salute for active duty and veterans is only for live presentation of colors and not those on TV.
@stevecagle2317 thank you for the clarification. Correct information is always appreciated. In the circumstance where foreign nationals were honoring America and may not have had access to physical flags, standing felt right to fit the situation.
When I ask a smug European to find Rhode Island, Belize, and Prince Edward Island on a map, they immediately rethink the stereotype that Americans are bad at geography.
@@DennisWestenend Really demonstrating Contrarian's point. There are~193 countries in the world, last I checked. You cannot get an exact number because there are several places that have declared they are a country but then arent recognized by everyone as a country or there are differences in definitions for a country. The median country size is ~70k km^2 and the median US state size is ~147k km^2. Any time someone tells me Americans are bad at geography I offer them a chance to label all 50 states. Most people I have met in other countries dont even know all 50 let alone have the ability to label them on a map.
This would happen to me when I was young, and I memorized the world map (minus islands) and when someone would come at me with that stereo type I would challenge them to draw the world, and I would quickly turn there arrogance around and make them feel stupid. I realized though over time that people who choose to speak that way, or feel its appropriate to confront someone with a stereotype are not worth your time and to just avoid those people.
One of the factors that makes medical care expensive in the US is liability insurance. The US is a VERY litigious country. And everyone goes after the 'deep pockets' like doctors, hospitals, businesses - that sort of thing. In college I went to a middle-aged doctor that practiced out of his home. He charged me $20 a visit, and was very thorough and experienced. He even did minor surgery right then and there. It was all very much under the radar and very much appreciated.
That's a factor but it's not the biggest factor The biggest factor is how much doctors and nurses get paid. And then how much anesthesiologist get paid because yes they are responsible if you die so there's a liability issue for them and they get paid a lot of money from that. In many countries such as South Korea and many European countries that have good "free" health care most of their doctors are making between like $50,000 to $100,000 in America a nurse makes that much money and the average doctor makes like $220,000 or $280,000. And then you run into the issue which some places have made illegal I think it still happens where every single nurse or doctor that interacts with you gets paid. That would be like taking your vehicle to have a repair and the labor was going to be $120 cuz it was going to be an hour and the labor is $120 an hour and five mechanics touched your vehicle so you have to pay $120 * 5 for their labor. There's also many clinics and doctors offices that are privately owned or owned by a group of people who charge very little money cuz they're not making hundreds of thousands of dollars and they're not up charging 1400% or more. There's multiple clinics here in more of a poor area where it's $50 to see a doctor and if they have to do anything even such as stitch you up apply a cast for broken bones whatever at most you might be walking out paying $150 to $300 and they have payment plans they also have their own pharmacy and provide things at much cheaper because they are mostly given you the generic brand unless you have to have name brand
@@Kirinketsu_ yes, but its a bit of a complex topic, as many nations which are paying less are seeing a decline in doctors, with some slated to have an crisis within the next few decades, as people are increasingly not wanting to put up with the schooling for the pay offered. USA also has a doctor shortage, but for a different cause, as the regulations limit # of new doctors without regard to competency A few other notes is that almost nobody pays the bill that is given to you, part of the reason its high because the law allows them to write it off on the taxes. So if you have insurance you get a "deal" and if you don't get insurance you still pay the same rate but the hospital gets to write off a huge amount on their taxes pretending its "charity" that they did not charge you whatever number they decided. Complicating that further is that government insurance pays a higher rate (closer to the "made up" cost) because they know the government doesn't really care that much to make sure they are getting a good deal. Costs are rarely audited, and the government almost gives a blank check. For the average American, the end of day out of pocket medical costs are about the same as they are in a lot of the eu. If you take the delta in tax paid, compute the percentage going to healthcare out of the taxes, and then compare it with insurance + average medical expenses. Even without company provided insurance. For example, i statistically save a few grand every year under this system, but the nature of that cost is longer periods of low cost followed by spikes of high cost. Frequent spikes of high costs can be mitigated, and i know people who are in/out of the urgent care and sometimes hospital weekly to monthly who maintain a good enough, but not luxurious, standard of living without a high paying job. When you take everything into consideration, the average American making minimum wage saves about 2k a year in healthcare costs from reduced taxes. but then needs to pay that back when something happens. The more you make the more you "save" because of how the percentages work, with the peek "saving" being around 60-80k annual income usd. So you have less "consistent" cost, and bigger spikes. Bankruptcy in USA is also different then a lot of people understand. Its very recoverable, and you can actually keep a surprising amount of QOL while bankrupt. The idea of a medical bill suddenly ruining your life is only partially true, you certainly hold some cost, but its never unrecoverable. It also is pretty much mitigatable if you plan ahead for it, in general you can do better here if you plan for medical expenses proactively, but there are less protections for those who "wing it" and don't plan. And yeah clinics exist in america and are amazing if you can find them, but they are less common, the government policies + cost of doctors + liability + other factors make them just a less attractive model to start up.
Your comment about people thinking you are Mexican made me think of the time my grandmother did something that was sort of opposite. When my grandmother first met my brother’s in-laws, who are from Colombia, she pulled me aside and whispered “Are they French?”
The criticism of America that annoys me most is our food. People try the McDonald's in their own country and think that is just what American food is. It's like trying porridge then thinking all European food sucks. There's a whole hierarchy of burgers. Same for hotdogs. The burrito is American despite being called Mexican food. Cajun food, Southern barbecue, San Francisco sourdough, New England clam chowder. Lobster! Then there's foods we've made our own like American Chinese food being totally different from authentic Chinese food, and American pizzas becoming unrecognizable to Italians. America is incredibly food rich, and anyone that thinks our food sucks has only tried the equivalent of our "porridge," fast food. Which we all agree is trash and unhealthy.
THIS. Most people in America have some pretty specific opinions about what makes a good burger. Makes me think about Hank Hill and his propane and propane accessories 😂
I think the lawsuit myth is mainly due to two things. One you can file a lawsuit for basically anything. But a bad suit will usually get thrown out immediately over being frivolous. Similar thing happens when you hear about terrible proposed laws that have zero chance of passing. And two is how big corporations and investors don’t want to pay for things. So people have to sue them sometimes to, say get insurance companies to actually payout. Afterwards said companies will push propaganda about frivolous lawsuits to stigmatize suing in the hopes more people will be hesitant to enforce their rights
The lawsuit myth which really isn't a myth comes from the stupid lawsuits people file that get talked about on the news. That being said American suing people like crazy kind of true because of insurance they're not really expected to be getting paid by the owner of the vehicle or home they were injured by or dog or whatever they're hoping to get paid by the insurance company and many insurance company pay out
@@Kirinketsu_ like most "myths" there is fact and exaggeration mixed together. A. people sue more here then they should B. people have to sue more here sometimes C. companies stigmatize certain lawsuits as "bad" by omitting facts D. Individuals with an agenda over-emphasis certain lawsuits as "good" by omitting facts All these are true simultaniously
Great video! Very accurate. I’m an American who lived in Austria for years and married an Austrian (we moved to the US after a while). It’s nice to hear you appreciate our optimistic outlook, because that’s ultimately the reason I told my husband I was moving back. I think Parisians get a bad rap for being unfriendly but everything I’ve ever heard about Paris is actually true of Vienna (except pissing on the street). I simply couldn’t handle the endless negativity over nothing, and how people would never treat me like I was their real friend. My husband also prefers people here. Our healthcare system is terrible in a lot of ways but in others, it’s superior to the European ones - if you have good insurance. I got very very sick in Austria after a virus, like long covid basically, and all the doctors told me to my face it’s because I’m fat and there is nothing wrong with me. I was fat before I had the virus and active and able then, of course. Many doctors are like this in the US too but because of the way our system is, you can find doctors who will go deeper, who’ll run tests and try treatments that aren’t standard. I have since, in the US, been diagnosed with 3 autoimmune disorders, an immunodeficiency and a genetic disorder that none of them ever checked for. All of these were triggered or worsened by the virus and aiI went from fit and healthy to totally disabled and they just told me I got lazy. I’m in some patient support groups online and patients in EU countries tend to be totally unable to get care. Eg, I got diagnosed with a spinal CFS leak and got in for a patch 3 months later, but in the UK, the NHS says a spontaneous leak can’t exist and therefore no care is available at all. It’s so heartbreaking. Some of them fundraise to travel to the US to see specialists. BTW - it’s not an excuse because people should remember these things, but I can tell you why they get your nationality mixed up. You look like you could be Latina, and your accent is much subtler than most French accents we hear, and some of the way you say things does sound like it could be from Spanish. I’m saying this as someone with French friends, who I’ve visited in France, and also a French doctor. I live in an area with a large hispanic population and if you hadn’t told me, that’s what I would’ve assumed.
My sister (we’re American) lived in France for a couple years. She got sick for a while, when she went to see a doctor she was told she had a cold and it would go away soon. She ended up facetiming her American friend’s mom who is a doctor and immediately she told her she probably has a bad case of strep throat and somehow, I don’t know how, managed to get her penicillin. Immediately she started to get better. How those French doctors she saw couldn’t identify strep throat is incredibly pathetic
One thing I think Europeans don’t comprehend about the USA is geography. The 48 lower states are the size of all of western Europe and much of eastern Europe. The USA is huge. Distances are vast.
In my experience, most Europeans do not comprehend the geography of the US. Only those people who are specifically interested in the US really understand how big it is.
@@Idahoguy10157 Plenty of Americans also lack civic literacy, an understanding of the traditions and history of the US etc. And those are probably bigger issues to me. I would never allow anyone to become a US citizen unless they could explain all the Articles in the Constitution and the first 14 Amendments. And then they would have to swear loyalty and express a desire to preserve those things. So anyone who couldnt explain the 2nd or the 9th Amendment or disagreed with them would not be allowed citizenship. But I am one of those crazy people who likes the US.
When I first moved to the US, i thought people wouldn't know much about Canada or speak any other language other than English. After 20 years i've lived here, most Americans know some info about Canada like Quebec is a french speaking province or who Canada's Prime Minister. Aslo, I've met many Americans who speak more than 1 language and frequently it is not Spanish. There's a growing football culture in American and many Americans are watching leagues in Europe and many that I know have learned other languages because of it. Everything from Dutch to Polish to Portguese just to follow their favourite clubs because matches from those countries are rarely televised in English. I've had a few meetings in French in South Carolina with non-native french speakers. As for American food, when I travel within the US, i'm always draw to local cuisine, always trying something new. Great Video.
I have family in Michigan who are often in Canada, and I can sing the Canadian National Anthem because I love hockey. I had a roommate from Edmonton who taught me to make scones and real cucumber sandwiches.
I'm a Texan. We have people from almost every country on Earth living here. For many English is their second language. I live in Central Texas. We have more Czech people here than anywhere outside the Czech Republic. I had my first kolache before I had my first donut. Czech culture is celebrated here. When I was a kid, my mother had friends who spoke fluent Czech. English was their second language. My own heritage French- Canadian, German, Irish, and Comanche Indian. Like so many Americans, I'm a "mutt!"
@@garyjackson3531My mama is a Texan and I've been through your area before. Pretty place! The first thing we do when we visit is get some good Mexican food, bbq, and chicken fried steak, lol. Funny, but we had kolache at Christmas this year. Howdy from NC. 🙋🏻♀️
@Mick_Ts_Chick Howdy! That's great to hear. Central Texas BBQ is a gift from the German immigrants. So is the chicken fried steak (a take on the schnitzel) Glad you enjoy yourself! Good Tex-Mex is hard to beat. I've been to Tennessee and Kentucky, but need to visit the Carolinas.
@@Mick_Ts_Chick Howdy! That's great to hear. Central Texas BBQ is a gift from the German immigrants. So is the chicken fried steak (a take on the schnitzel) Glad you enjoy yourself! Good Tex-Mex is hard to beat. I've been to Tennessee and Kentucky, but need to visit the Carolinas.
I’m from the US, and my jaw literally dropped when you said $26 for ear infections at the doctor. A normal doctor visit like a wellness check up is at least $100-300 per visit just to SEE the doctor and have them say you’re fine 😭
I'm British-American from London/NYC and my experience is that major world cities have more in common with each other than they do with some smaller and more regional cities. I lived in Paris for a few years and NYC is more like Paris or London than it is like smaller US cities in the Deep South or the Midwest apart from Chicago. So there is that too. The regionalism in the US is so dramatic. We could easily be maybe six different countries with distinct regional cultures whereas in Europe that separation already happened after the fall of artificially combined countries like the Soviet Union, former Yugoslavia, Czechia and Slovakia etc.
Regionalism is rampant in many European countries too. In fact, one of the reasons the US seems more patriotic than Europe is because many Europeans identify more with their historical region than their country. Spain's regionalism is probably the most obvious, with the Catalans in the east and the Basque in the north. Germany has a lot of regionalism too. I recently went to the "state" of Nordrhein-Westfalen and if you're in Cologne or Dusseldorf or Bonn, the history museums tend to focus on the history of the Rheinland. Meanwhile in the Westfalen portion of the state, the history seemed to be all about the Ruhrgebiet. This is also true in France. I've traveled all over the north and we could usually tell when crossed over into a different Region. While Paris is obviously cosmopolitan, as are the larger cities, regular towns are not, and people actually look different from Region to Region. It's not as obvious as, say, someone from Bilbao compared to someone from Sevilla, but if you look closely you can see genetic similarities across large percentages of people in one Region. Ironically, the French themselves are famous for believing each Region has its own stereotypes, yet this thinking often doesn't extend to a country as large as the US.
@kevinbhieey9188 I'm a Pennsylvanian. And we are very different from people in New Jersey and New York (who are different from each other), and these are three relatively small states in the Northeast. That doesn't even get close to the number of differences when you get to the Deep South, Texas, the Midwest, etc.
My Spanish wife gets it now. We've done road trips from Maine to Key West, the Pacific Coast Highway, around the Grand Canyon, around the Great Lakes. It's a big country. Just going to my hometown in Western PA from N.VA is six hours. Now, what I love about Spain, is that it is like a condensed USA. All the natural beauty, mountains, beaches, skiing, islands, scuba diving,,,, and OMG food, in a nice little bite sized morsel. So think of it that way, USA is a like a Super-Sized Big Mac with fries and Spain is like a kid's Happy Meal.
A Mexican would never believe you're from Mexico due to your accent, even if you speak Spanish. Mexican Spanish is very different from that spoken in Spain.
"Americans can only speak English." This is kinda ironic. I know most English people speak only English. Most French people speak only French. Most German people speak only German. Most Polish people speak only Polish, etc. I swear; the Europeans are the worst at insults 😂.
Still, it is much more common for europeans to speak multiple languages, they are surrounded by other languages. Even if it is also true that most people only speak their native languag
There isn’t really a reason to learn another language other than pure curiosity. You can live your entire life in the US without coming across a single person that doesn’t speak English. You can even travel to internationally to places like Ireland and the UK without having to learn a new language.
14:48 I don't think she went into enough depth about portion sizes. The reason they are so large is that there is a very big leftover culture im the US, so stores sell large portions with the intention that you will finish it over the course of a few days in your own home, after you're full in the restaurant
The leftover culture stuff is not true not sure where that came from but that's not why portion sizes as in food you buy at a restaurant and what you're talking about as in bulk buying food were created. Large portion sizes as in you go to a restaurant and you get a lot of food for a little bit of money started back in the 1900s when many people worked labor intensive jobs, working in the mines, mills, factories and so many other labor intensive jobs. They required more food than the average person working and restaurants started offering more food to win them over as a customer over other restaurants similar to how you seen in the '90s when restaurants started offering 48 oz and the higher drinks for like a dollar or a $1.50. Bulk food like being able to buy a family size or super size cans of foods or bags of food is due to how large the United States is. Back even in the '90s it was common in some places for people to drive 40 minutes to 2 hours to a proper grocery store that had more than just a handful of selection of food that their local little mom and pop store had. So when people would drive to stores they would buy the large bulk items that would last them for multiple weeks if not months. I live 22 mi from the main city The closest Walmart to me used to be 25 mi away until they built one that is 12 miles away from me back in like 2012. Before that if I didn't want to drive 30 to 40 minutes my only options for small little stores that had very low quantity of items. So when I would go to the grocery stores in the city I would buy in bulk and that would last me weeks so I wouldn't have to waste time and money on gas going there every other day.
@@Kirinketsu_ ok, well I'm American and my family has always taken home leftovers and so do most of my friends. And practically every restaurant offers boxes to take things home. Buying in bulk has absolutely nothing to do with restaurant portion sizes.
@@JudeKS10 I didn't say buying a bulk had anything to do a portion sizes from restaurants. The reason why you take over leftovers at the restaurant usually is because the portion sizes are large larger than you can eat. The reason why the portion sizes are large is because that all came from back in the early and mid 1990s when restaurants started offering larger portion sizes for workers working labor jobs to win them over as customers. And even though the majority of people don't work labor jobs anymore they still sell the same portion sizes because people expect the biggest bang for their buck and even though the people don't need it they still consume those portion sizes which is the issue with obesity in America there's no portion control people think they're supposed to eat what they're given likely from being taught don't be wasteful
@@Kirinketsu_ That's not how it is in my experience, but maybe I'm just in a different culture region (the US has 11 different cultures, so some of these things differ)
@ bro I am not talking about from experience I am talking about fact. This is all documented, however if you just Google it you need to look pass all of the claims that it started in the 70s. It first started around the 1890s to 1920s. This was when America was booming the gilded age or the golden age. The labor force grew not only did you have child labor but also women started joining the labor force. Many families ate out every night, and thus the completion started between restaurants offering larger potions sizes. This stopped after the the great depression but picked right back up starting around the late 50s and early 60s into the 70s as the US started coming back online once again and the. men in the labor force mainly young men 14-19 working in the many new factories were targeted with massive portion sizes to feed them after a long hard days work for a competitive price. In the 70s to 80s over processed foods meant the price of food became cheaper. restaurants started offering ever larger portion sizes along with fast food restaurants, their items such as burgers became larger or the prices of say a double chesses burger was now the old price of a single. Items sold in stores also became larger, it was all about value, buy the value size pay less and get more. Then in the 80s and 90s restaurants mainly fast food started their food wars one upping each other on the size of food and mainly drinks. Selling burgers with 4, 5, 6 patties for a few cents more per patty, selling massive size drinks for 10 cents to 50 cents more for 32, 48, 64oz, that spark the whole super size me. It started as being targeted at the labor forced and then turned into marketing as being seen as value....because what happened is people ate more than they should or use more than they should and threw out the left overs making these companies more money in the long run.
The folks who apologize for being American are ironically lost in the privilege of growing up here. There are a lot of great countries in the world, but there are a lot of places where the average person has a standard of living below what homeless people in the US experience. Instead of being grateful for everything we have, and just believing we still have a lot to learn from others, they run a weird narrative, where we are the worst country ever. It's pretty sad. I'm very proud to be American, even though I love and respect a lot of other countries.
I can be grateful for what I have, recognize my privilege, and be deeply ashamed of our government and our countrymen. Wanting better is a great motivation to enact positive change.... and we are failing eachother and our fellow earthlings in many many ways...
The "Americans only speak one language" myth largely come from how the information is found out. People who were raised in a household using multiple languages are obviously noted as being bilingual. However, people who are in a monolingual household but have learned another language (or even multiple) to a decent level are considered "monolingual". People like to take the infamous statistic of how many Americans are monolingual and pretend all these people are lazy and don't even know what "bonjour" means --- when in reality most people in that group are learning another language and many of them could even be considered fluent in another language but simply don't speak it at home (e.g. the language is only used at work or online). Meanwhile, Europeans have the opposite situation where they can claim to know 5 languages which they only know basic phrases in. I'm not saying this is common, but it does happen.
are you serious ? If you speak two language, you speak two language, at home or not at home is irrilevant, or do you tink i speak english with my italian family ?
@@Marco-ww1ht ... And that's why the American survey is heavily criticised for asking how many languages people speak at home instead of how many they know.
Great video about stereotypes. Like you said in the video, there is a lot of nuance. And while some of these are true in some areas, the U.S. is such a large and diverse country that comparing New York to Texas is a little like comparing Belgium to Spain. I'm just happy we have taken a French girl and turned her into a Southern chicken and waffles girl. Mission accomplished.
The monetizing thing is interesting because I never understood why people in comment sections immediately say something should be turned into a career when someone does it as a hobby.It's so important to have hobbies that have nothing to do with earning a living.
I think the difference is that people are more secure in France because basic needs our assured. No one has to worry about a large medical expense bankrupting them. A bit many Americans would stay home with their family more if they didn’t have that worry.
Something to consider when thinking about American stereotypes is that the country has a land area nearly the same size as the entire continent of Europe and a population at least double that of any individual European country.
We typically only get two weeks off per year, so we must love working? What on earth would make you think we love that arrangement? The reason it's like that is that certain individuals and groups have done an effective job of selling us the idea that that's just how it has to be.
Right! I'm sure most Americans are envious of the generous vacation time given in France and some other European countries and would love to have so much time off also!d
I remember Dan Rather reporting this for the CBS Evening News. He used a disgusted facial expression after reading the copy. 20/20(?) did a report on it -- I assume to pile on -- only to discover that she would have lost both her legs but for the extraordinary surgical techniques she was able to get -- primarily involving skin grafts. She sued specifically to get McDonald's to lower the temperature of the coffee (failed). I remember my mom not drinking the coffee until she could scoop ice out of my dad's pop and dump it in the coffee. Then Seinfeld did the coffee episode, reinforcing Dan Rather's disgusted presumption.
Such a sad story! I have to say that as a European I didn’t know the truth until relatively recently. Now that I’ve seen the photos I feel so bad for her!!
Brigitte- I was always suspicious of the way the coffee lawsuit was portrayed, and like many people, was not surprised to learn that the lady involved in that suit had only sued out of financial necessity, and that MacDonalds had been told something like eight times previously to reduce temperatures. The effort to discredit your family friend was of course part of a larger effort to undermine consumer protections, during the mid nineties, in that days crusade against "frivolous" lawsuits. I'm very glad that more people and particularly the youngsters simply aren't buying the corporate line. You may wish to see what Adam Conover says about the coffee lawsuit, a very concise and thorough explanation- more for you to show others, as you doubtless have all the facts already.
I always felt so sorry for that woman! Things have really changed as a result of that case. Restaurant coffee used to be blazing hot--this was in the midwest before Starbucks or other coffee shops became a thing. I remember being at a diner once, taking a sip of my coffee, and promptly spitting it all over the table. THAT'S how hot it was. I can't imagine something so hot being poured on my thighs?!
It was her own fault she spilled it in her lap ! She took the lid off to add cream/sugar & set it on the dashboard. When her daughter stepped on the gas, the cup dumped its contents in her lap !! I am not a McDonalds maven, but this was NOT their fault.
It’s always important to take stereotypes with a grain of salt. I just went to Paris last week for the first time and honestly most of the negative stereotypes I heard were either false or very over-exaggerated. Most Parisians were not rude, the city itself was quite clean, and I felt safe walking around despite what you hear on the news. The only negative things that held true was the amount of crowds and that Parisians really don’t like you speaking French to them lol
Paris is a particularly packed city by Western standards. The thing is that French people estimate city population according to administrative borders, whereas Americans estimate city population according to metro areas, which makes a big difference. As such, for a French guy, Paris has 2 million people, which for a US guy is the population of Denver. But "Paris" is only the central part and the truth is that there are 12 million people in the Paris metro area, all living in a much more concentrated area than anything you would find in Chicago or LA, which leaves NYC only as the decent comparison (despite NYC metro area being twice bigger than Paris).
It depends on where you, some parts do have a lot of garbage on the floor. I think as long as you start your conversation with Bonjour, most parisians will not be rude. I usually have a good experience but my coworker from Costa Rica said that she would never go back. Everyone's experience is different
Cool video...there are, of course, a lot of dummies in the US but I have a hard time believing the dummy ratio is any higher here vs. Europe or anywhere else. I lived in our international dorm during college so I hung out with a lot of people from the UK, Finland, Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, & the Netherlands for extended periods of time...they were all great people, it was really fun, but I wasn't blown away by their intelligence lol. That's not to say any of them were dumb either, it's just when Europeans talk about "stupid Americans" it's almost like they feel they have achieved some higher level of thinking, it's very haughty though it doesn't offend me or anything. You go pull a random person off an assembly line in France & compare them to a random person from the US & I think they will have comparable knowledge of the world as a whole. The European will, of course, likely know more about Europe but that's to be expected.
One mistake many Americans make is when they see people here from Europe that are very well spoken and say look how smart Europeans are. The mistake they are making is that those who have the means to travel to the USA and spend some weeks here are likely people with more education. Earning good money and education often go hand in hand. So they are comparing the more educated among the Europeans to the broader sample of Americans that they are around everyday. It's a sort of unwitting cherry picking, we all do that to some extent, have our own confirmation biases, and try as we might to not do that we are all human and will have some of that. If they went to London or Paris or Birmingham or Marseille they'd be around all types of British and French people. Often, we make the mistake that because someone isn't the best at communicating that they are dumb. Some people that don't have a lot of education nonetheless have a lot of wisdom. It's frustrating knowing such people because what's holding them back isn't that they lack wisdom and intelligence but lacked the opportunity to develop it in school. There are some people in that boat that would've gotten more value out of college than those occupying those seats. There truly are people with bachelor's and master's degrees that are clueless. I've fallen into that trap myself until I really listen to people and kind of penetrate their rather clunky way of putting things and realize there is some real wisdom there, I guess it's true one shouldn't judge a book by the cover. One guy wrote of what he called the urban rednecks, people that literally live in the shadows of the best museums, colleges and libraries in the world yet are ignorant despite it. OTOH, he spoke of people that live in the rural south and midwest that do take advantage of the public libraries and ARE well read despite not having been able to complete as much formal education. I often here that New Yorkers are so cultured because of the museums, galleries, symphonies, opera, etc. Most New Yorkers don't go to the museums, etc. rather are, ahem, availing themselves of the seedy stuff the city has. The cultured New Yorker is largely a myth IMO. Sorry that this turned into quite a rant. BTW, the snobbiest big city people I've encountered are in Boston. They really DO look down their noses at others. But their city is filthy, they just throw trash everywhere, I had a water bottle and couldn't find a trash can on the sidewalks anywhere, eventually I had to duck into a restaurant to throw it away, I showed more respect to their city than Bostonians. We may not be the most sophisticated in the little western farming town I grew up in, but we do put trash cans on the sidewalks and do actually use them. It's worth noting that a high school class mate of mine went to MIT and another to Harvard, and they both had similar things to say about Boston. It's not political stuff that shocked them since California also tends to be very left leaning, it's just that California does tend to be very informal, not a lot in the way of social norms, while in Boston everyone seems to be playing a role and has a fear of stepping out of it, I even got this vibe from the young woman serving us a hamburger and a bar and grill type place. There's just a very stiff feel to the way people act in Boston. It's like be human, PLEASE!
@@LucileHR Yes, we do pay a lot for health care in the USA, and there are things to be done to change that (the answer isn't more government involvement, government involvement IS why we are having these problems, ObamaCare increased government involvement and now we pay more per month for less insurance, and John Roberts was simply wrong for deciding that law was Constitutional, US government wasn't granted that power, Justice Roberts is spineless) but while you pay $0 in France for your ear treatment your taxes are far higher than ours in the USA, you are paying for your treatment through your taxes and supporting bloated government bureaucracies on top of it. Our government bureaucracy is also bloated here in the USA but, as of now, not yet as bloated as most European countries. The size of the American federal bureaucracy increased by multiples during WW2, the justification (such as it was) being the war, but the problem is that it was never downsized after the war ended. And now that we might have a chance at finally downsizing it people are again whining. It's like people like paying taxes to support all these federal employees, and will so many millions of them that's a solid voting bloc that will vote for politicians that continue to expand government or, at least, refuse to downsize it.
@@LucileHR And people in America never used to have to go through their employer for insurance. People just used to go buy it themselves the way they do with house or automobile insurance. It was in the 1970s (government again) that the norm of it being tied to employment started.
@@LucileHR The Olive Garden thing. There is no shortage of people of Italian descent and many very good family owned Italian restaurants in the USA, owned by people of Italian descent. There was a good one on Higuera Street in San Luis Obispo, for instance, but the daughter took over the restaurant and changed it to a different type of food. Even in the so-called hick towns one finds these. For instance, I inexplicably found myself in downtown Bakersfield, California (it's the sort of city that one normally just passes through without stopping except maybe to buy gasoline) and was surprised that there was a very good Italian restaurant there. There's one in northwest Fresno that doesn't look like much, but has good food nonetheless.
About the Americans who travel. Yes, only a fraction of Americans travel outside of the US, but Americans are very well traveled. We just travel within the US. And, when we consider that each state differs in various ways, it really is almost like traveling to a different country.
Well this video has almost a quarter million views. So it might be more than you think. I find it interesting to hear about. I'm not ashamed of where I'm from so really the stereotypes are mostly amusing. Caring about what other people think to a healthy degree helps you understand the world you live in, it gives you more information. But also the vast majority of Europeans I've met either don't have these stereotypes, only believe some of them to a small degree, or understand there is probably some nuance they don't understand. Just like they understand that your aggressive bravado reflects on you and you alone.
When it comes to people from the US trying to pay for things in Paris with US Dollars it's not as crazy as it sounds. If we go on cruises to Mexico or Caribbean islands, we don't really need to exchange our money. Most businesses in the ports readily accept US Dollars. I went on a cruise to Alaska last year. We disembarked in Vancouver, Canada. Some businesses accepted US Dollars although they gave the change in Canadian Dollars. Some businesses only accepted Canadian Dollars. Many people go on vacations without learning anything about where they are going ahead of time. If they are going on an escorted tour they often don't even read the fine print in the brochure.
It’s as crazy as it sounds. Sure those small islands and countries proximate to the US have adopted the dollar, but everyone should know that the vast majority of Europe-far older than the US do not and do business with the Euro.
In the Caribbean, the USD goes a long way. The Eastern Caribbean Dollar is always the same exchange rate 2:1. The Bermuda dollar and Bahama dollar are 1:1. Many others are also either 1:1 or another fixed conversion rate.
Some countries (e.g., Argentina historically) have preferred dollars. It is easy to use an ATM to get local currency. Do a little bit of homework before you go and you will find you don’t need to use airport exchange counters and you will probably get the best exchange rate just using your US bank card. It is very easy and helps you get along where you are at!
Ecuador, Panama, and Costa Rica use the US Dollar as their currency. Touristy areas in LatAm use the US Dollar as a secondary currency. Then there's countries like Lebanon, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe that use US Dollars as an underground currency since their primary currency is worthless or undervalued.
I normally just use my credit card if I am out of the country. Except for when I am in Mexico, Belize, Honduras or any of the countries I have been to there. They will gladly accept our money but I am only really in tourist areas sure they won't have much trouble converting it to their money. If I am going to be in a country for a week or longer I will try to convert some USD to their money to have some cash though.
Re: International travel Aside from how much money and how close you are to another country -- there's a third factor: how much vacation time you have. Americans don't have as much vacation time as many Europeans, especially western Europeans.
I think that a particulaely high proportion of Americans who do travel to Europe and other long-range destinations are retired because they have the time to do it.
Its a whole lot closer if we are going to travel outside the country to go to Canada, Mexico, anywhere in the Carribean, Central America, South America. I have never been to Europe but I been to plenty countries outside of the US. Besides all the cruises we have that really are relatively cheap. Sure you don't get to spend much time in the countries you stop in but we have cruises going out constantly where I am from in Charleston or where my other house is on the Gulf over in Mobile or New Orleans.
The confusion with Mexico and Spain is most likely because the largest demographic of spanish speakers living in the US are of Mexican decent (immigrants or Mexican-American citizen). So when Americans encounter someone who speaks Spanish they often will assume they're either Mexican or Puerto Rican. Yes, Puerto Ricans are Americans too but on the continental US you do encounter a lot more Mexican Spanish speakers then Puerto Ricans depending on where in the US you're living. Not to mention Mexico is one of our two neighbors. So Americans will assume someone who speaks Spanish is Mexican because its just so common in the US that they got use to it. We also don't have as many French speakers as Canada dose. Louisiana has a good French speaking population but its very small compared to Spanish which is the 2nd most common language in the US that is way more wide spread and influential. I've encounter way more Spanish speakers in the US then French speaking Louisiana folk or French Canadians. Even the people of Quebec Canada don't interact with English speakers that much. Not even with their fellow English speaking Canadians. Many of them choose to keep to themselves. There is also no wave of French speaking Canadians trying to cross into the US from the Northern border right now, but we've been having a wave of people entering from the Mexican border. So there are currently more Mexican Spanish speakers living in the US right now then Canadian French Speakers. So I can understand why not many Americans assume your from Canada for speaking French because we don't see that as often as Spanish speakers from Mexico.
As an American who speaks both Spanish and French, I must observe that Mexican and Puerto Rican accents differ from each other, and have NOTHING in common with the sound of French, so mistaking a French native for Mexican can only be from underexposure to a variety of foreign languages, plus goofiness.
When I lived in South Florida, most of Latin America was well represented. If you called someone Cuban, they would politely correct you about their country of origin. However, calling them Mexican is an insult.
@9:07 You show a woman who has a $14,000 bill for a 3 hour emergency room stay. My wife recently had a emergency visit that lasted longer, but during that time she had multiple x-rays, echocardiagram, ultrasound on her heart, and a CT done. We had a $50 co-pay from our insurance. My point is, there is no blanket description for medical costs in the US. It's SO highly dependent on your coverage. Some are good, some are not.
As an American in the southeast USA, I'm regarded as somewhat patriotic. There is almost always a flag flying in the front of my house. I usually fly the current 50-star American flag, but on certain days, I will fly other flags -- e.g. on June 14 (US Flag Day), I fly my US "Betsy Ross" 13-star flag, but on July 4 ("Independence Day" I fly the "Grand Union" flag (13 stripes and the British Union Jack in the canton.since the "Betsy Ross" flag was not adopted by Congress until 1777, nearly a year after the Declaration of Independence. The Grand Union flag is a bit ironic since it looks very similar to the flag of the British East India Co, whose taxed tea was tossed into Boston Harbor in 1773 becoming one of the catalysts for the War for American Independence. On June 15, I fly my English "Cross of St George" flag for Magna Carta Day. I fly my French Tricolore on Bastille Day and on August 25 for the WW2 Liberation of Paris Day, and on April 30 (Camerone Day) and on Cinco de Mayo, I fly my red and green "Legio Nostra Patria" flag.
Sounds like you know more about different flags (and the history of the American flag) than many Americans--certainly more than I did as an American before reading your comment!
A French friend of mine from Nice was surprised by how loud Americans can be. I’m not loud, but I get it! I’ve been learning French and love France-I even have a beautiful 1940s post-WW2 map of the country that’s a great keepsake. I was confused by how things are laid out in France though, so I had to study the difference between departments, regions, and cities, which was so interesting. I think more Americans should dive into history, especially if traveling isn’t an option. Funny enough, I know more French history than my friend who grew up there! He seems to love it here though, especially since he’s cute and gets plenty of attention from us American girls! Also, I’m seen as Mexican when I’m not Hispanic at all. I’m Japanese, Chinese, German, Russian and Italian, no Hispanic at all, but since I live in Southern California and grew up in a place predominantly Mexican and since I have brunette hair and am tan people assume I’m Hispanic. I took Spanish in high school but didn’t keep up with it. I do like Mexican culture though and food.
I think this is important, especially with Americans learning French history and culture. Most of the people who told me France is awful interpret cultural differences as rudeness and don’t take time to learn the history. Think of how de Gaulle was called rude and arrogant by the anglosphere, when really he was just trying to get his country liberated and had to be forceful so people would listen to him. Speaking of de Gaulle, there’s no way people can generalize only Americans as being idiots, I once talked to a French girl who was very nice but didn’t know who de Gaulle was… let’s just say my brain broke 😭
In terms of size of the USA, for comparison, for one county, i.e., San Bernardino County, in southern California, you could fit all of Belgium and Luxembourg within its borders and still have 5000 sq miles left over. Just to drive across San Bernardino County, it's about the same distance as driving from Bruges to KöIn. In terms of distances in the US, imagine driving across country from the coast of Maine to San Diego, California. That's a longer drive than from Paris to Baghdad -- longer than driving from Lisbon to Moscow. On your drive across the USA, there would be no passport control, no need for any customs declaration when you cross state borders, and you'd be able to talk with almost all of the natives in the same language.
8:50 it also costs me about $25 to see a doctor and I am American. Even if you don’t have insurance, medical providers will have “self pay” rates, which are generally very equitable. Even if you can’t pay, “stabilizing care” must be given to you anyway at no cost. Despite the stereotypes, we don’t allow people to just die on the streets.
I have insurance and it costs me $45 to see my primary care provider, and if I am referred to a specialist, I have to pay the full price of $175-$250 for the office visit until my $6000 annual deductible is met, and after that, I have to pay 50% of the office visit. $25 to see a doctor is quite cheap.
A lot of places have same-day insurance if you don't have insurance if you tell them this before you're seen by doctor they will offer you the ability to sign up for that same day insurance a lot of times it's free sometimes there's a small fee maybe $50 at most and it will more or less cover the entire visit or there might be a copay of like 20 bucks The same can apply to pharmacies especially the pharmacies that are connected to these doctor offices or small clinics they will have certain insurance companies that will cover people who are uninsured as long as you sign up for them cuz they're more or less just getting reimbursed by the government on taxes
@@JLeeHarshbargeryou have to pay 50% after you're deductible you're getting ripped off that is bad insurance unless it also comes with a maximum out of pocket
If you want to have a bizarre experience, go hang with my Choctaw relatives in SE Oklahoma on the 4th of July. Very much not what people would expect, very patriotic & the pow-wow (aka "A Stomp") is fun. The Choctaw Nation is not stuck in the "Poor us" mindset
I remember seeing someone talk about marines visiting their reserve for whatever reason, and how they found it funny that the marines (who are typically advertised as hardcore killing machines) were having more fun playing with the kids, rolling around in the grass, and playing tag than anything else. The part I found funny was random people in the comments telling them they should be ashamed for letting "the invaders" near them, among many other negative things. Like man, some people just can't comprehend natives just being happy😅
I lived in a city that's a part of the Creek Nation. In my experience it's a spectrum of "poor me I hate white people" to fully assimilated red blooded American and most Natives are somewhere in the middle. They still talk about how white people stole their land but they also enjoy the comforts of living in the white man's world
Oh wow! I see exactly where that is and went there a few months ago to test out the cable car :) also I was in Azerbaijan in September!! Enjoy Toulouse !!
Another reason Americans travel less is TIME. We consider ourselves lucky if we have any vacation time at all. Employers often don't let us take a vacation, or strongly discourage it. When we are allowed vacation time, it's often without any pay, and not necessarily more than a few days in a row. If you have only 5 days for vacation, you're not going to want to spend 2 of them on an Airplane.
My daughter is an underemployed college grad. She has essentially free health care through the state. She pays $5 a month and has lower copays than I do with my plan though my employer. Doctor visits are $5 and prescriptions are free if generic. The programs are out there, you just have to look for them. It is less than 1^% if the population that has no health coverage.
Hi Ms. Lucile, An American female here. This is what I am about. I always study a country's history and culture before I travel to it. I like to appreciate who they are and what historical events their country has experienced. l also attempt to learn the language. For example, I started studying French daily on January 1st, 2024, for my September 2024 trip to France. That is how I ended up watching your "Lucile" videos. I completed my trip to France and still love listening to you ! I am at fault for being a perpetual smiling person and somewhat loud if I am excited about something. So I would probably be very gleeful if I saw you. You are such a sweet soul. Bless you and enjoy life. Love from DJ
The whole "Two weeks of vacation" thing is a little misleading. A lot of companies are adopting more generous vacation policies, but also the smaller amount of vacation time is usually for new hires and those new to the work force. With seniority and time in grade you usually are awarded more PTO as you're with the company longer or progress through the ranks. You can also negotiate your PTO during the hiring process but most people just take what they're offered and don't ask.
Online & only once have i seen a filipino who did look mexican especially with his thick mustache but I say many filipinos seem hispanic even if they don't have such heritage
the Americans being untraveled one always gets me. I regularly (multiple times a year) drive through the far reaches of 4 states, ND, MN, MT, and SD. That is roughly an area equivalent to Paris to Kyiv and down to the Northern edges of Croatia and Serbia. Each of those states has multiple unique cultures with backgrounds from all around the world and the added bonus of Native American culture and historic sites
Wow your ease and fluency speaking English, not to mention how good your pronunciation is, was really impressive. You're also very kind and forgiving of American foibles. I was very amused by your recounting your problems with Americans getting your nationality wrong. It's bizarre, you don't look or sound remotely Mexican 😂 Thank you for the entertaining and informative video.
A very balanced, fair, and dare I say, loving synopsis of American culture. My wife and I have spent a lot of time in Europe, and we'll continue to do so. We love it there. We believe that travel helps us to understand each other on a more genuine level. We can, and should, learn from each other. Merci, Lucile!
Some Americans may incorrectly assume you have Mexican heritage because Americans literally refer to Mexicans and other people from latin america as "Spanish" as in spanish speaking. Also mexicans are far more common than actual Spaniards in america. This is most likely where the confusion is. Its actually rare to encounter Spaniards in the states. If you used the word Spaniard instead of spanish, it would likely clear up.
They also refer to people from Quebec as "French", which always disturbs me a lot as a French as Quebeckers are definitely North American. From my perspective, that sounds as silly as referring to American people as "English".
To be fair the French aren't perfect either, living in France as a Brit, people confuse my country with the United States all the time. Sometimes they'll try to justify it by saying that the two are essentially the same to which I'll usually respond with "would you have the same attitude if I called you Quebecois?"
Americans are far more likely to refer to pretty much everyone from south of the Rio Grande as Mexican, as though it is an ethnicity and not a nationality. Nothing pisses off, for example, Guatemalans faster than referring to them as Mexicans. On top of that, so many Russians emigrated to the Ensenada area that the locals have taken to calling them Russicans....and their white kids are Mexicans.
A dullard might confuse Spanish and Hispanic, plus Mexico's Criollos tend to be ethnically European and presumably could say they are Spanish in the sense that Chinese-Americans say they are Chinese
6:35 There are more Spanish speakers in the US than in _Spain_ - in fact, the only country with more Spanish speakers is Mexico. And I grew up in a city where there were dozens of languages from all over the world spoken at home. Yes, it's true that we're predominantly monolingual English speakers, but it's by no means universal.
Regarding Americans and travelling, it's so expensive to fly out anywhere outside us. For example, I'm in Memphis, TN area. A round trip train for 2 adults from London to Paris (least expensive price - Eurostar) the total is $648.00. For a roundtrip flight from Memphis to Paris for 2 adults the total (united airlines: $8,771.22 - with taxes included). For most american's, travelling to Europe just isn't feasible especially since most Americans can barely afford their healthcare let alone 10 grand just for flights. Obviously you can make it cheaper, but in general it's very pricey.
Re: International Travel Another factor people don't consider is that, unless you live on one of the coasts, you have to take an expensive and hours-long flight, or do an expensive and multi-day-long drive, just to get to an airport where you can take your even longer and more expensive flight across an ocean to reach whenever you're going. That's a lot of travel before you've even started traveling...
You can drive from Warsaw to Paris, visiting Berlin along the way, in less time than it takes to drive from my parents' place in Boston to their condo in Tampa. And that's just the east coast.
I absolutely love that you mentioned how you try to avoid the chain restaurants in the United States! I’ve been singing the same song for years! Luckily I’m from New England which while still inundated with chain restaurants, seems less reliant on them than other areas of the country. When I eat out, I go exclusively to locally owned independent restaurants. I had a very hard time in certain states, such as Oklahoma, finding good restaurants. There’s a few but much harder to find in the glut of chain restaurants everywhere.
300 is wild for an ear infection. My bet is because it was urgent care. I dont have insurance and when i had an ear infection it was like $50. When i slippes my knee cap out of place and had ny knee x rayed, it was like 60.
This was so interesting! I am an American who lived in Paris for a year. The food bit was interesting, because when I lived in France another French person told me the exact same! He said he loved southern food. As someone from the American south, I also love southern food so it’s always wonderful to hear that people appreciate our culture. As for Geography, Americans are bad at it because it is not formally taught in school. I don’t recall ever taking a geography class and I have a college degree. Of course some people take courses like AP Geography, but in general I don’t think we teach it as much as other countries do. Language wise- I had SO many people in France astounded when I would tell them that Americans generally found French useless (not me lol) and that Spanish was important. I would explain that there were a lot of people in the US who couldn’t speak English and could only speak Spanish and they were always shocked! Where I live in the US now is very heavily Hispanic influenced. I would estimate about 1/2-2/3 of the students in my classroom are bilingual. (Spanish, Portuguese, or Haitian Creole). I think Europeans just assume ALL Americans speak English, but there are many people living and working in this country who can’t speak English. Thank you for your perspective! :)
At that time McD's coffee was sold at a higher temp than anyone else's because they believed no one would drink coffee in their car, customers would wait until they got home, so they obliged them by making it stupidly hot. The original award was so high because McDonald's had settled out of court over 200 times for the same thing. She was the first to take it to court without settling.
I love the way you speak in your soft French accent and then, suddenly, you say "Chicago" with, what I assume is your boyfriend's exact accent! I liked this video, having grown up in Canada, studied in France for a year and living in West Africa for the past thirty years, I love cultural comparisons and learning about various people's perceptions. Oh, and KFC is horrible! I tasted it once as a child (long before you were born), and... Never again!
I have a friend who married a Northern European and moved there after their son was born. Out of respect the country will remain unnamed, however it is one that is touted here the US for its free healthcare. Her son became very ill and after waiting nearly 12 hours at the hospital all they did was take his vitals and gave her acetaminophen (Tylenol) and sent them home. Her son ended up having bacterial meningitis and nearly died. She said that while the healthcare is *free* (taxes are exorbitant, far more than her US taxes + healthcare insurance btw) she said it’s like the DMV long waits and less than subpar service. She definitely misses the US healthcare as it’s far superior in her opinion. She said if Americans think the European system is better that they should visit an IHS facility as it’s pretty similar.
A reason why americans don’t travel to other countries like for instance Europe is because a flight costs over $1000. When you factor this to lets say a $250 flight from Michigan to Orlando Florida its a no brainer. Both of these flight prices are round trips and if you spend less on flights you can do more on your trip. Michigan and a place like Orlando Florida are vastly different and honestly they feel like different countries. I’ve been lucky personally to go on 2 cruises and I am going on another one in February. For Americans it’s somehow the cheapest way to see the world and they still are pricey.
There’s nothing like homemade fried chicken. My dad and uncle used to spend all day making batter and frying chicken in peanut oil. The love made everything better.
I’m very American 🇺🇸 but I absolutely love to travel abroad. Love to learn about cultures and languages. Currently starting French language 🙌 ( I speak and read a little Japanese. )
It's always funny when Europeans say that Americans have no real culture. If you just look at music, the USA has given the world: ragtime, blues, jazz, country, bluegrass, Rock , r &b, hip-hop, minimalism, ect.
America is so diverse that I, a person living in the state near the east coast, have lived a culture that is completely foreign and misunderstood by my collegw classmates who grew up on the East Coast. They can't even understand my accent sometimes. And our dialects are so different that I sometimes have to ask them the meaning of words that are basic to them, and the same the other way around. I moved from West Virginia to New Jersey for college and it is like living in a completely different world.
With people thinking you're from mexico... I'm curious how you're wording it. Are you saying "My dad is Spanish" Or "My dad is from Spain" Because I feel like if you said the 2nd, maybe a handful of people would misunderstnad but I'd think most people would get it... but maybe I have too much faith in people 😅
Americans all take foreign language classes in school. We just don't continue or retain that education, because we have relatively little use for it. If we travel 2000 miles in any direction, the vast majority of us can still use English with no difficulty in communication. Many of those of us who live close to a national border learn and use some Spanish or French through exposure or lessons.
So true about the portion sizes. Me and my kids - American since birth - are even overwhelmed by it and will often order one plate to split between two or three of us
If I'm going to a restaurant for dinner than sure I'll take some left overs. If it's to a restaurant for lunch me and my mom will either share a dish or get two dishes, half them, and give each other a half of our dishes.
It's true what you said about lawsuits. It's terrible in the U.S. My husband and I have personally been sued three separate times, two of which ended up being dismissed, and one of which I defended myself and actually won. They were all for different reasons, but all centered around real estate or property rights. And I know two different neighbors who are currently involved in the same kind of lawsuits. It's just ridiculous. I'm glad that you also brought up other languages spoken parce que je parle français!😊 Wonderful video. Thanks for all your great content!
The lawsuits are a good thing. It keeps corporations accountable for their actions since we don’t have adequate/enforced consumer protections from the law otherwise.
Considering how the US is about the size of the ENTIRETY of Europe, a fair comparison would be to ask Europeans how many countries they've visited outside of Europe. I looked it up awhile back, and Europeans travel far less than Americans when framed this way.
I wonder if it’s the schools that teach differently here in the U.S.? I’m originally from Hawaii and we learned of course about American geography but we also learned world geography as well. Same with my son’s school in Idaho. And another one is the Spain Mexico thing. I am honestly shocked that they said you were from Mexico. That one I didn’t understand. As far as medical, yes, it totally depends on insurance but I will say is that the hospitals here are very good about giving discounts or letting you pay whatever amount you can per month. With my first son, we paid $5,000 out of pocket and insurance covered the rest. With my daughter we got a different insurance and only had to pay $1,000 for her birth. So it depends so much! I love these videos so much & different peoples perspectives on the U.S. ❤
The whole reason these stereotypes persist is because of people with small minds. Nobody is exactly the same as someone else just because of where they live.
Well said. The world includes billions of INDIVIDUALS. We should all have the right to be who we are -- and not be judged by ANY preconceived notions (which is what a stereotype is). Get to know me, and you might be surprised by how many stereotypes I defy!!!!! I look for individuality in everyone I meet, and I ALWAYS find it.
From what I remember, the Chinese don’t call their country china (or their version of it) they call(ed) it the middle kingdom because they legit thought they were the center of the world.
I never understood why people point out Americans as not knowing countries and stuff as though that's an exclusively American thing. Just because someone is from like, Germany, for example, does not mean that they know every country on Earth without studying. Surprisingly, you aren't born with knowledge, and not everyone has the same interests
I as a little afraid to click on this. 😅 I used to think I had to apologize for my nationality, so it means a lot to hear you say that’s not necessary. You’re very balanced in your video, and it was so enjoyable to listen! 💖
Why would you apologize for your nationality? You cannot control it. Who cares if people do not like you. They are the ignorant ones for being xenophobic
One reason Americans feel the need to apologize to you is because they're aware that there are other Americans that go to Paris and try to pay for things in dollars 😂
Apologising for being for being America is cringe and pathetic. Europeans have done far more harm on this planet yet with the exception of Germany you don’t see Europeans apologising for their country.
Never made that mistake myself, but I definitely came across rude, wealthy, elite Americans who trashed our country much to the amusement of their elite European hosts. It was sad to watch.
In Austria they sell tee shirts gently mocking American tourist's alleged great ignorance about geography. The slogan reads:"This is Austria there are NO kangaroos". Also an elderly American couple staying in a hotel in Spain on the 4th of July were so angry that their hotel had no American flags flying, no Independence parties planned nor any firework displays that they decided to cut short their stay. They told the manager their reason for checking out days early and they were utterly shocked to find out that only Americans celebrate the 4th of July!
About time she found out. What national holiday did she celebrate at home? We celebrate ours! Ditto others’. - The existence of other viewpoints in human minds is a never ending revelation.
@@dusksoldier IMO this is one drawback to the use of IATA airport codes (maybe not in the confusion of similar-sounding country names, but in cases where there are different cities with the same name). Unlike ICAO codes, there's nothing in the IATA code that tells you what country the airport is in. I once heard of a businessman who meant to book a flight to Manchester, England and accidentally booked one to Manchester, New Hampshire instead! Without looking it up, would you know which of those airports is MAN and which is MHT unless you've flown there a lot?
In the movie "Dumb and Dumber" there was a line where Jim Carrey (yes, I know he's Canadian, but it's an American movie) meets an Austrian woman and responds with "Well, G'day mate!" when she tells him where she's from. I'm sure there were people here that were wondering why people in the theater were laughing at that remark, but most of us are in on the joke.
As a high school French teacher in the U.S., most of my students visiting France hated French food. The bread hurts their jaw, they want food to taste like back home; they have trouble with the stereotypes of French people ("I thought everyone would speak English!"), the public transportation in France is kind of scary to them. I think the solution is just for them to spend more time in France because then the language and the cultural change slows down. Your channel is wonderful!
A lot of foreigners I know tend to confuse American food with corporation food. Recently a fella from Australia I know visited texas and said the food was horrible, was very confused because thats probably one of the best places to get food in us. I asked what they got and it was some weird meal thing because it was around thanksgiving from a franchise. It looked like the straw would cost more than the food. Fast food is solely for something that is usually cheap, not good, but aint bad, and well fast. If we want something good we go to family ran places or we make it ourselves.
Yeah a lot of Europeans I've met when I lived in Ireland didn't understand why Americans don't travel. And I always have to say that America is roughly the size of Europe, the straight line distance from NYC to LA is the same as London to Baghdad. And we only have two neighboring countries. Flying is also more expensive because we are the same size as Europe with less than half the population, so just by economies of scale and smaller market size flights will cost more here than in Europe. If I want to fly to Miami or LA from Philadelphia it can easily cost $250+ at peak season for a single person whereas a flight of similar distance at peak season like from London to Palermo Italy would be less than half the price. So many Americans have to save up a lot more to fly equivalent distances, let alone to another country.
Europeans: "How come Americans don't travel to other countries?"
Americans: "We have two neighbors. And unless you live on the boarder you have to fly or drive 10 hours to get there."
Australians: Hold my beer - Can't drive to any neighbour and we still travel twice as much as the US peeps do 😜
Who lives on a "boarder"? That seems like it would be very uncomfortable.
Yeah I don't think people realize just how big geographically the US is
You could take the Mediterranean sea and place it over the US and it still wouldn't reach the US's borders
@@brett_flower ill assume what you say is true, but Australia has way less geographical diversity than the United States.
I live near saguaro desert, pine forests, grassy plains, mountains, ocean, lakes, rivers, rolling hills, the grand canyon, big cities, small isolated towns. HOT summers a few hours away, and snowy winters the other direction. Modern, high end amenities in one city, rich history in another.
And I'm just in one small part of the USA.
It's not that a lot of us don't want to travel even greater distances and see other cultures, but with not much time off given for work and how expensive it is to travel in general, might as well just drive a few hours and be in a totally different environment.
Then make it back home in time to have to return to work without jet lag :/ it's unfortunate in one sense, but luckily we do have a lot to see nearby.
Also to cover my bases: I'm not saying Australia doesn't have a lot to see too, and I really hope to visit one day. It's just a whole different level in the United States.
@@brett_flower99% of your country is desolate nothingness. At least the US interior is populated. The only city in the middle of Australia is Alice springs
I have never been to the USA and I probably never will, but even so I get really upset every time fellow Europeans spit out all these demeaning stereotypes about Americans: being Italian I really suffered from being stereotyped when living in Northern Europe and I know what it feels like, so I try not to do it to other people. On top of that, all Americans I've come across in Europe have been nice, educated people who love smiling.
You’re clearly meeting the Americans who are cultured and as you said, educated. Wait until you meet the Americans we’re apologizing for. 😅
@@iamashleylbrown wait until you meet some of my compatriots. There are uneducated ones a bit everywhere (even though their concentration may vary).
I visited Rome last year and you guys really do live up to the stereotype. In a good way.
I was in Germany for three months and I don’t think I felt as amazing as when I visited Rome. It was chaotic especially compared to Germany, but it was the first time I felt like I was in the place that was alive.
@@mof5490 sorry, the stereotypes I was referring to were very negative ones, for example people were flabbergasted that I was always 5 minutes early.
Fast food is popular, but we know it's not the same as its fresher counterparts. I love burgers, and I love McDonald's. But a hamburger from McDonald's, a hamburger at a cookout, and a hamburger from a diner or someone's kitchen taste like three different foods.
Totally agree!
@@LucileHR but you are right to be careful with fried chicken, even in small restaurants, the chickens are factory farmed. That’s why chickens in the US look like turkeys in Europe, and the amount of fat in a factory-farmed American chicken is insane, they have blobs of fat comparable to pork.
Totally true. I tend to rate foods from different places in tiers. So all the fast food places like McDonald’s and Wendy’s exist on one tier, In-and-Out and Five Guys on another, then restaurant burgers, etc.
@@HarryPujols That is not accurate. There is plenty of affordable chicken that is free range, the same with beef and pork. It is very dependent on where you live. Where I live its possible to make a pork chop medium and not worry about become sick, but when I was traveling to Southern California people thought I was out of my mind for even bringing this up.
That is to say, there is absolutely healthy food in the US, both clean meat and fresh vegetables. It just costs more than the food that is not raised in a healthy way.
Indeed
When I visited Paris I saw a restaurant called the Indiana Cafe which served Tex-Mex food. I thought this was hilarious because I am from Indiana and we are not known for Tex-Mex food at all.
For real tho 😂
There's a "Kansas" wild west themed resturant in South Africa. I laughed because I was born in the state of Kansas. The resturant's decor honestly wasn't really that accurate, but I appreciated the effort
I am from NWI, and that is hilarious. I usually just say Chicago area when talking about where I am from because everyone immediately assumes I live in a corn field if i just say Indiana.
Make BAGUETTE Great Again 🥖
@@matthewmosier8439I don’t know if it’s themed the same as Tex mex, but Kansas was a very big cowboy state I didn’t know this until recently it’s pretty interesting. Like whole cowboy gang vs Native American battles would happen there and things like that
As an American, it is refreshing to hear someone from another country speak supportively. Thank you! You are right by saying some Americans apologize for being who they are…. Which I think is crazy!
Sammeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Same I’m so happy, I usually see people just bashing on us Americans. It’s not cool. But this lady is so nice. 😊
@@CharlieSteak-b7w wonder why they bash Americans? 👀...
For example, just in the last month, an American woman set fire to various restaurants, just because she fot kicked out of one of them, for being loud and rude. She then flew as quick as possible to Arizona.
Another, American tourist, (this one a couple of years ago) took a DUMP in the streets of a hood.
I'm sorry, but is quite hard not to have stereotypes and some resentment, when ones experience hasn't been the best. Being treated like dog S in at your own place by foreigners, never leaves a good impression
I've had a lot of European friends, none of them were ever rude or belittling because I was an American. We'd make jokes, had banter, but it we never had fights over who's country was better. I think what has happened is that the small minority of Americans that are assholes, and the small minority of Europeans that are assholes, have been battling it out online for no discernable reason while the rest of us are just chilling. But it does feel nice to have somebody who'd not a US native say that the US is nice, it certainly helps me think we are doing something right.
I'm incredibly ashamed of this government and countrymen. We have a lot to be sorry for, even preemptively these days.
And when people hear that I have utterly disgust for this government, they tell me to leave... as if my ancestors hadn't been here longer than this government had existed, and before Europeans first saw this land from a ship.
A third big reason Americans don’t travel to other countries as much as Europeans is they get way less vacation time and the vacation time they get also includes their holiday time off, so it’s very little time off compared to most Europeans.
Yes!
And not everyone has thousands to drop vacationing
@@danielpeters2282 This is definitely more of the issue. Could I take a week a year to travel? Sure. Do I want to be dropping $500 per person on the plane tickets, $200 on transportation to the airport, and who knows how much on food and lodging in Europe (because let's be honest, they're not upset that we don't visit Vietnam)? Absolutely not. Hell, even within the country I recently calculated a family vacation to Boston at $2000
I used to work for a big international company, and I was shocked at how much vacation our German and French co-workers got.
Certainly a valid reason. Most of my family doesn’t live close to me, so I’d rather visit them than travel abroad, given the limited time and funds available.
It doesn’t hurt that the US has such a wide variety of peoples and places. Mountains, deserts, jungles, rainforest, big cities. Jews, Muslims, Christians. Conservatives, liberals. Vegans, meat eaters. Brits, French, Italians, Germans, Chinese, Japanese, Russians, Africans, aussies.
We’ve got a bit of everything here.
It sounds like you approached the country with an open mind, and now you have a pretty accurate view of it, neither glamorized nor pessimistic
Absolutely!!!
Should be pessimistic
@@stevenhenry5267 really, why is that?
@@stevenhenry5267trump is right we are becoming
A 4th world country
@@royharper2003
Don’t engage.
Trust me.
Until 9/11 a passport was not required to visit Mexico or Canada. Hawaii & Alaska are states. Guam, Puerto Rico, The USVI, etc are American territories that don’t require a passport.
So until rather recently Americans could do an insane amount of traveling without needing a passport.
We have counties bigger than countries. Driving state to state is like going country to country in Europe and other parts of the world.
I live on the coast of South Carolina. We are ranked 40th out of 50 so 39 states are bigger. Yet I can drive over 4 hours and still be in SC. America is enormous!
Look up furthest points within Alaska, Hawaii, California, & Florida. Hundreds of miles apart.
One, IMO, ridiculous bit of fall out from 9/11 is that there is a town that straddles the Canadian-American border and the Canadian and American kids could cross at will to play tag or whatever with each other. Now it practically takes an act of Congress to be able to cross to the opposite side of town.
@@Anon54387
For me, the most ridiculous fall out from 9/11 were the fully intact passports of the terrorists themselves at ground zero.
SE North Carolina coast here. 4 hours at highway speed gets me to the western side of Charlotte.
"Yet I can (...) be in SC."
Probably for much longer than four hours, if you remember to turn before crossing the border.
@@nedhill1242
Gee whillikers, apparently UA-cam hates it when I make comments about indestructible passports found at ground zero belonging to certain Saudi gentlemen on that September day, twenty-three years ago.
bullying people for not traveling just sounds like a class issue. It costs $$$$$ to travel. It’s such a privileged and low key ableist thing to value (not if you yourself enjoy traveling but if you judge others for not traveling)
Like if you are well traveled as an American you are either really rich or in a lot of debt. Prioritizing savings and bills shouldn’t be shamed.
What is traveling. Growing up we traveled nearly every weekend drove 4, 8, 14 hours to places in the state or to nearby states. Guaranteed it was a better experience than getting on a plane or driving to another European.
There's really no reason to travel outside the US we have some of the best beaches some of the best mountains some of the best ski resorts some of the best amusement parks some of the best natural wonders some of the best wildlife outside of traveling for cultural there's not really a reason to travel outside of the United States and then hey you can just go to North to Canada or South to Mexico or get on a cruise ship and travel to many of the islands south of America
I was just thinking these sorts of things as well! In other places in the world, traveling from one country to another is like traveling from one state to another in America because countries are about the size and distance of our states. I would love to travel, but it costs a lot of money to travel out of the US, like $1000's, especially if you have a spouse and family AND the way we work here is ran differently. For instance, in some other countries it's required that employers give people paid vacation. So, in all actuality it costs $1000's for Americans to travel out of the country and then some when we lose money from missing work (only some employers here give paid vacation out of choice).
I think it's from a skewed perspective. I've had friends who studied abroad for a short time in France, and they did a TON of travel while there bc it was so accesible. Here, the only equivalent would have to be a short road trip...
Yes, however, I would also say America is larger than a lot of Europe and each state could be it's own country. However, people also have some difficulty traveling due to not having the option to because of a lack of vacation time.
As an American, thank you for your patience and attempt to understand us. We are a nation of extremes and its really beautiful but also really messed up sometimes. One thing i wish i could express to non-Americans is the vast differences between regional differences even. The US is massive and the experience you have in the Midwest will be vastly different than you will in New York per se. I really do love my country, we have the absurd people you see in videos and also people pushing absurd technical boundaries. Southern comfort food is some of the most amazing food. There is a reason they call it soul food, it nourishes your body and spirit.
Our country sucks period. Most people are idiots and we have an obesity epidemic. We lack healthcare, are completely racist, and bullies to the rest of the world. I cannot wait for this country to fall apart.
Soul food tastes great but it's a ticket to heart disease and diabetes. It does not nourish the body, it overloads it with fat and salt.
Exactly, I always explain to my European friends, like do you realize how big the US is? lol
Great comment bro. From North to South and West Coast to East Coast it is completely different. 🇺🇸🇺🇸❤️
As a Brit living in France I would say that the geography thing is more to do with cultural exposure. Like, I'm from London and there I would say that the first thing people try to memorise about people is their nationality. In France on the other hand, I've had people ask me about guns and Trump, one person even straight up introduced me as Californian. So yeah confusing countries is definitely not a US exclusive thing.
I once saw a German man go on a rant about Americans because he saw a video of two people with obviously British accents in a German store laughing about the fact that the German word for glove is “hand-shoe” (but with a different spelling, of course).
And not all French people are sophisticated or highly educated. I have met some bowl-headed French people, for sure.
If you ask the typical western European to name every country within 1000km of where they live and whether they can speak the countries' primary language, they'd do poorly compared to asking a typical American the same question.
@@bW9taeH4Um... were you being intentionally or unintentionally funny right there?
@@j.w.m.415lol it’s either a joke, an american bad at geography, or a non american who doesn’t know just how large the US is
I've heard Americans apologize for their country while living in Italy. They were quickly shut down by the Italians. Thanks for sharing your experience.
I find those people just as arrogant as the Europeans who automatically think so poorly of us. It's arrogance and nothing more.
@@monember2722literally, they think they’re better than rural Americans because they’re more “educated”, when in reality they just happened to be born in a wealthy place to a family with money. Ironically most of these people don’t know shit compared to those in poorer states like me.
@@seagaulle amen brother, turns out farming is freaking hard and tractors are like starships now
Honestly, it's gives off a Bad Image, When you're the Kind of person Being Apologetic about everything, Especially where you're From
@ That too, I stg these people like to call farmers, miners, laborers, etc. uneducated and stupid, when without them our entire society would collapse because the US is one of the largest suppliers of food and raw materials.
There are a lot of Americans who HATE fast food and chain restaurants. I am one. I'm retired and I live in a mid sized city suburb. Unfortunately, the vast majority of nearby restaurants are Chain Joints. We have a small number of locally owned places and only a few of them are any good. Thai, Vietnamese and a Greek restaurants, a few coffee cakes and bakeries are all that actually make their own food and don't get frozen, pre-made heat or fry and eat junk
It's not that we don't want good food. It's because the restaurant business is so difficult for locals to survive in, so we're overloaded with Chain Joints.
I mean I just cook my stuff lmao is that so hard 😂😂😂
Even though I’m a fan of fast food, it’s not like I eat there every day and I’m overweight. In fact I’m actually underweight. Basically the only reason America has sooo much fast food is because of the convenience of it.
Yep. A couple of years ago when visiting Italy with my family an Italian man had all these stereotypes about being from the US, and he asked my daughter (5yo) how much she liked McDonald's. I said she's never been and doesnt like burgers. His son, on the other hand, loved McDonald's. He also assumed we ate a full American breakfast daily, and was surprised again when I said I don't eat breakfast and kid just usually eats toast. It's still weird to me to see how some stereotypes stick.
It’s especially difficult in suburbs that aren’t too densely populated. I live in a densely populated suburb in a major metropolitan area and there are a lot of local businesses. In areas that aren’t bigger markets only chain restaurants can survive unfortunately.
I only get fast food if I’m travelling a far distance and can’t stop and spend an hour at a restaurant.
But I’m in Mass and some of our towns have laws regulating how many chains can operate within town borders. There’s a McDonald’s in my town and a Dunkin Donuts in every town around me but any other fast food place takes 30 minutes to get to at least. Even so though our roast beef and sub shops are only marginally healthier than fast food joints 😂
5:34 another factor is time off of work. Millions of Americans only get 2 weeks out of the year for vacations so spending a whole years time off to go to another country is rare.
Only 2 weeks? I work for CVS in Massachusetts and get 4 weeks. Usually, I take 2 weeks as full weeks off and use the remaining 2 weeks for long weekends or to subsidize short days. Is 2 weeks really the norm?
@@02ujtb00626 I'd say so.
@@02ujtb00626I work at a major corporation and I get 20 days
Fr
It's also important to keep in mind that there are plenty of working class jobs where even if you have 2 weeks or more of PTO saved up, good luck getting your boss to approve more than 2 or 3 days back to back. Just because you have the time to take, doesn't mean your manager has to let you take it all at once.
Before 2009 a passport was not required for Americans visiting Canada, Mexico, and most countries in the Caribbean.
Unless they've changed it in the past few years, you can still cruise to the Caribbean & Mexico without a passport as long as you have a driver's license & are returning to the same port you left from
@nataliet1260
A passport is used for flying
They have an ID card for land travel
Cruises only need a birth certificate, but you better hope you don't miss the boat
@wolfangwarriorjr7246 I've never been on a cruise that didn't require some form of government issued photo ID. That might be a cruise line thing & not a legal requirement, though.
It’s so expensive to travel to Europe from the US. I just accepted as a child that I’d never be able to afford to go. We get no vacation time here, and with the long flights, jet lag, and short amounts of time off allowed by employers, it’s really not surprising that many Americans don’t or can’t travel abroad. And all of the rhetoric about how Europeans and others don’t like us doesn’t really encourage many to go. I’d love to see Europe. I’d love to live in many European countries and learn a bunch of languages. It’s not possible for me.
We (Americans) get no vacation time? Evidently, that depends on your employer. I'm a retiree and worked at four different places during my 30-year career. All offered one vacation day and one sick day each month, both of which could be accumulated with no limit.
I have problems with my ears that would prevent me from flying, but I’d love to take a boat across the Atlantic. But, yeah, I’ve also had to accept that I’ll probably never get the opportunity, although that really hurts, especially as a European American who desperately wants to connect with the places my ancestors came from.
Agree. I wanted to see the UK, but after watching several videos, I learned especially the English sometimes aren't fond of Americans. Some of them consider us stupid, self-centered, and racist. Hardly makes me want to spend my vacation dollars there. I'd still like to see Scotland. Have they're much friendlier towards Americans.
You can learn languages to good level without living abroad.
@ea42455 Congratulations, you won the lottery. American youth did not
Some stereotypes re the US seem to have to do with the size of the country.
Cowboy hats and pickup trucks are a feature in some areas of the South and Southwest but even within those areas they're not used by the majority of people.
There are 10's of millions of us who don't wear cowboy hats,don't drive pickup trucks and don't eat junky fast food.
There is very delicious food that is made quickly on site (technically fast) but very good quality food.
Even though I've never owned a cowboy hat (mostly because whether or not I bother with any kind of hat depends upon how much time I'm going to be in what weather) I don't think those that do are doing anything wrong. And it don't have anything to do with their intelligence. As for Pick up Trucks. I've owned about 3 different ones in my life time. 2 of them were classified as halftones,and 1 mid sized. I've also drove different sizes of cars and a van. I see no need to apologize for any of them. As for food,I've eaten different types. From good to junk. What I eat tends to depend on time,convenience and budget. And I don't apologize for that either. Now if their has been twice in my life a joke came out wrong, (and I'm not talking about off color jokes) and even though I didn't and still don't think the jokes were that bad I did decide to apologize personally to the people that got offended cause they are people I have known and didn't want to hurt, But as for apologizing for things that aren't nobodies bossiness, I just don't see the need.
A pick truck can get you a job. I doubt any European can understand that.
"56% of people in France have visited another county"
Okay, but how many have visited another country that isn't in Europe?
Not much
Country* but yeah America is literally the size of Europe
@DogmanofthewestAmerica is extremely bigger than the entirety of Europe.
@@Troy_Palo24 Europe is roughly 10.2 million square kilometers, and the United States is roughly 9.8 million. So the US is only slightly smaller than the entire continent of europe, and that’ll change significantly if Trump purchases Greenland
It’s like if an American bragged about being a globetrotter because they’ve visited other states.
That's a good point about those videos that show American's being unable to answer questions on the street being cherry-picked. I've also met a few people that amuse themselves by pretending to be completely ignorant about something that should be common knowledge, or will take up a ridiculous side in an argument, purely because they think it's funny to watch other people react to them. Then there's the fact that it's common knowledge that the people that are doing these interviews are going to be picking the absolute worst answers to air, so some people treat it like it's a contest for the performance with the dumbest answers with the prize being that the winner gets to be on TV.
All that's needed would be three or four people out of a hundred that think this way and the interviewers will have all the material they need.
It’s crazy how people don’t understand that the same thing can and does happen when they interview people in other countries. They used to do one of those street interview things in Australia that was really popular and the results might have even been worse lol
Africa is my favorite country.
My phone autocompleted my sentence with country, even Apple’s favorite country is Africa.
A story to share. I was reminded by watching your stereotypes. I was in France. A group of French had arranged for a surprise at lunch. The restaurant had video screens and a sound system. A slide of the American flag was displayed on the screen and the sound system played the American national anthem. I saw the flag and heard the anthem. Looking around the restaurant, I rose to stand and placed my hand on my heart while regarding the flag. One of my French friends saw me and started to talk with those around him. Soon, the entire restaurant of French people were standing in respect to the Ametican flag. I still get emotional telling this story. How SUPER of the French!
What part of France were you in? I hear that the French opinion of Americans does vary by where one is in France.
@Anon54387 Yes, I have heard the same. HOWEVER, Lucille views on stereotypes apply both ways. The French are not American, and their personal space, as well as eye contact and saying hello, might contribute to Americans feeling differently in some places.
I was in the west of France on a motorcycle tour. It started in Nantes and went to Spain, then Portugal returning to Normandy and back to Nantes. Everywhere in the West of France felt warmly welcoming. The Loire Valley is highly recommended.
Actually, the Flag Code, military code and traditional, civilian code says that standing at attention, placing hand or hat over heart or rendering a hand salute for active duty and veterans is only for live presentation of colors and not those on TV.
@stevecagle2317 thank you for the clarification. Correct information is always appreciated. In the circumstance where foreign nationals were honoring America and may not have had access to physical flags, standing felt right to fit the situation.
r/thathappened
Not to mention how painfully cringe that is to everyone else
When I ask a smug European to find Rhode Island, Belize, and Prince Edward Island on a map, they immediately rethink the stereotype that Americans are bad at geography.
Just ask them “what’s the capital of New York?”
A city is different then a state or country...
@@DennisWestenend None of those places are cities, Dennis, and Belize is a country.
@@DennisWestenend Really demonstrating Contrarian's point.
There are~193 countries in the world, last I checked. You cannot get an exact number because there are several places that have declared they are a country but then arent recognized by everyone as a country or there are differences in definitions for a country.
The median country size is ~70k km^2 and the median US state size is ~147k km^2. Any time someone tells me Americans are bad at geography I offer them a chance to label all 50 states. Most people I have met in other countries dont even know all 50 let alone have the ability to label them on a map.
This would happen to me when I was young, and I memorized the world map (minus islands) and when someone would come at me with that stereo type I would challenge them to draw the world, and I would quickly turn there arrogance around and make them feel stupid. I realized though over time that people who choose to speak that way, or feel its appropriate to confront someone with a stereotype are not worth your time and to just avoid those people.
One of the factors that makes medical care expensive in the US is liability insurance. The US is a VERY litigious country. And everyone goes after the 'deep pockets' like doctors, hospitals, businesses - that sort of thing.
In college I went to a middle-aged doctor that practiced out of his home. He charged me $20 a visit, and was very thorough and experienced. He even did minor surgery right then and there. It was all very much under the radar and very much appreciated.
That's very true. Malpractice insurance alone is probably a large percentage of every bill they hand out.
That's a factor but it's not the biggest factor The biggest factor is how much doctors and nurses get paid. And then how much anesthesiologist get paid because yes they are responsible if you die so there's a liability issue for them and they get paid a lot of money from that.
In many countries such as South Korea and many European countries that have good "free" health care most of their doctors are making between like $50,000 to $100,000 in America a nurse makes that much money and the average doctor makes like $220,000 or $280,000. And then you run into the issue which some places have made illegal I think it still happens where every single nurse or doctor that interacts with you gets paid. That would be like taking your vehicle to have a repair and the labor was going to be $120 cuz it was going to be an hour and the labor is $120 an hour and five mechanics touched your vehicle so you have to pay $120 * 5 for their labor.
There's also many clinics and doctors offices that are privately owned or owned by a group of people who charge very little money cuz they're not making hundreds of thousands of dollars and they're not up charging 1400% or more. There's multiple clinics here in more of a poor area where it's $50 to see a doctor and if they have to do anything even such as stitch you up apply a cast for broken bones whatever at most you might be walking out paying $150 to $300 and they have payment plans they also have their own pharmacy and provide things at much cheaper because they are mostly given you the generic brand unless you have to have name brand
@@Kirinketsu_ yes, but its a bit of a complex topic, as many nations which are paying less are seeing a decline in doctors, with some slated to have an crisis within the next few decades, as people are increasingly not wanting to put up with the schooling for the pay offered. USA also has a doctor shortage, but for a different cause, as the regulations limit # of new doctors without regard to competency
A few other notes is that almost nobody pays the bill that is given to you, part of the reason its high because the law allows them to write it off on the taxes. So if you have insurance you get a "deal" and if you don't get insurance you still pay the same rate but the hospital gets to write off a huge amount on their taxes pretending its "charity" that they did not charge you whatever number they decided.
Complicating that further is that government insurance pays a higher rate (closer to the "made up" cost) because they know the government doesn't really care that much to make sure they are getting a good deal. Costs are rarely audited, and the government almost gives a blank check.
For the average American, the end of day out of pocket medical costs are about the same as they are in a lot of the eu.
If you take the delta in tax paid, compute the percentage going to healthcare out of the taxes, and then compare it with insurance + average medical expenses. Even without company provided insurance.
For example, i statistically save a few grand every year under this system, but the nature of that cost is longer periods of low cost followed by spikes of high cost. Frequent spikes of high costs can be mitigated, and i know people who are in/out of the urgent care and sometimes hospital weekly to monthly who maintain a good enough, but not luxurious, standard of living without a high paying job.
When you take everything into consideration, the average American making minimum wage saves about 2k a year in healthcare costs from reduced taxes. but then needs to pay that back when something happens. The more you make the more you "save" because of how the percentages work, with the peek "saving" being around 60-80k annual income usd. So you have less "consistent" cost, and bigger spikes.
Bankruptcy in USA is also different then a lot of people understand. Its very recoverable, and you can actually keep a surprising amount of QOL while bankrupt. The idea of a medical bill suddenly ruining your life is only partially true, you certainly hold some cost, but its never unrecoverable. It also is pretty much mitigatable if you plan ahead for it, in general you can do better here if you plan for medical expenses proactively, but there are less protections for those who "wing it" and don't plan.
And yeah clinics exist in america and are amazing if you can find them, but they are less common, the government policies + cost of doctors + liability + other factors make them just a less attractive model to start up.
Your comment about people thinking you are Mexican made me think of the time my grandmother did something that was sort of opposite. When my grandmother first met my brother’s in-laws, who are from Colombia, she pulled me aside and whispered “Are they French?”
There was French in Mexico to be fair
@@longiusaescius2537 for about five minutes. French didn’t really leave any sort of mark on Spanish in Mexico.
@@Rogue_Centurionexactly. Germany has left a bigger impression on Mexican culture than France lol
@ am one
The criticism of America that annoys me most is our food. People try the McDonald's in their own country and think that is just what American food is. It's like trying porridge then thinking all European food sucks.
There's a whole hierarchy of burgers. Same for hotdogs. The burrito is American despite being called Mexican food. Cajun food, Southern barbecue, San Francisco sourdough, New England clam chowder. Lobster! Then there's foods we've made our own like American Chinese food being totally different from authentic Chinese food, and American pizzas becoming unrecognizable to Italians. America is incredibly food rich, and anyone that thinks our food sucks has only tried the equivalent of our "porridge," fast food. Which we all agree is trash and unhealthy.
THIS. Most people in America have some pretty specific opinions about what makes a good burger. Makes me think about Hank Hill and his propane and propane accessories 😂
I think the lawsuit myth is mainly due to two things.
One you can file a lawsuit for basically anything. But a bad suit will usually get thrown out immediately over being frivolous. Similar thing happens when you hear about terrible proposed laws that have zero chance of passing.
And two is how big corporations and investors don’t want to pay for things. So people have to sue them sometimes to, say get insurance companies to actually payout. Afterwards said companies will push propaganda about frivolous lawsuits to stigmatize suing in the hopes more people will be hesitant to enforce their rights
You mean like the lawsuit of man that sued the other man for ruining his happy marriage? The second man was his wife's lover
The lawsuit myth which really isn't a myth comes from the stupid lawsuits people file that get talked about on the news.
That being said American suing people like crazy kind of true because of insurance they're not really expected to be getting paid by the owner of the vehicle or home they were injured by or dog or whatever they're hoping to get paid by the insurance company and many insurance company pay out
@@Kirinketsu_ like most "myths" there is fact and exaggeration mixed together.
A. people sue more here then they should
B. people have to sue more here sometimes
C. companies stigmatize certain lawsuits as "bad" by omitting facts
D. Individuals with an agenda over-emphasis certain lawsuits as "good" by omitting facts
All these are true simultaniously
Great video! Very accurate.
I’m an American who lived in Austria for years and married an Austrian (we moved to the US after a while). It’s nice to hear you appreciate our optimistic outlook, because that’s ultimately the reason I told my husband I was moving back. I think Parisians get a bad rap for being unfriendly but everything I’ve ever heard about Paris is actually true of Vienna (except pissing on the street). I simply couldn’t handle the endless negativity over nothing, and how people would never treat me like I was their real friend. My husband also prefers people here.
Our healthcare system is terrible in a lot of ways but in others, it’s superior to the European ones - if you have good insurance. I got very very sick in Austria after a virus, like long covid basically, and all the doctors told me to my face it’s because I’m fat and there is nothing wrong with me. I was fat before I had the virus and active and able then, of course. Many doctors are like this in the US too but because of the way our system is, you can find doctors who will go deeper, who’ll run tests and try treatments that aren’t standard. I have since, in the US, been diagnosed with 3 autoimmune disorders, an immunodeficiency and a genetic disorder that none of them ever checked for. All of these were triggered or worsened by the virus and aiI went from fit and healthy to totally disabled and they just told me I got lazy. I’m in some patient support groups online and patients in EU countries tend to be totally unable to get care. Eg, I got diagnosed with a spinal CFS leak and got in for a patch 3 months later, but in the UK, the NHS says a spontaneous leak can’t exist and therefore no care is available at all. It’s so heartbreaking. Some of them fundraise to travel to the US to see specialists.
BTW - it’s not an excuse because people should remember these things, but I can tell you why they get your nationality mixed up. You look like you could be Latina, and your accent is much subtler than most French accents we hear, and some of the way you say things does sound like it could be from Spanish. I’m saying this as someone with French friends, who I’ve visited in France, and also a French doctor. I live in an area with a large hispanic population and if you hadn’t told me, that’s what I would’ve assumed.
"I got diagnosed with a spinal CFS leak"
Chronic fatigue syndrome?
My sister (we’re American) lived in France for a couple years. She got sick for a while, when she went to see a doctor she was told she had a cold and it would go away soon. She ended up facetiming her American friend’s mom who is a doctor and immediately she told her she probably has a bad case of strep throat and somehow, I don’t know how, managed to get her penicillin. Immediately she started to get better. How those French doctors she saw couldn’t identify strep throat is incredibly pathetic
@@knrdvmmlbkkn probably meant CSF - cerebral spinal fluid
One thing I think Europeans don’t comprehend about the USA is geography. The 48 lower states are the size of all of western Europe and much of eastern Europe. The USA is huge. Distances are vast.
In my experience, most Europeans do not comprehend the geography of the US. Only those people who are specifically interested in the US really understand how big it is.
@ … Plenty of Americans don’t understand. Americans living on the coasts aren’t interested in flyover country. Unless they drive across the country
@@Idahoguy10157 Plenty of Americans also lack civic literacy, an understanding of the traditions and history of the US etc. And those are probably bigger issues to me. I would never allow anyone to become a US citizen unless they could explain all the Articles in the Constitution and the first 14 Amendments. And then they would have to swear loyalty and express a desire to preserve those things.
So anyone who couldnt explain the 2nd or the 9th Amendment or disagreed with them would not be allowed citizenship. But I am one of those crazy people who likes the US.
@JaceBrenner-l4k Yes. Go back to 1920 border bill
@@Idahoguy10157good. I'm glad they ignore my state and think it's boring. Leave us alone and have a nice day😊
When I first moved to the US, i thought people wouldn't know much about Canada or speak any other language other than English. After 20 years i've lived here, most Americans know some info about Canada like Quebec is a french speaking province or who Canada's Prime Minister. Aslo, I've met many Americans who speak more than 1 language and frequently it is not Spanish. There's a growing football culture in American and many Americans are watching leagues in Europe and many that I know have learned other languages because of it. Everything from Dutch to Polish to Portguese just to follow their favourite clubs because matches from those countries are rarely televised in English. I've had a few meetings in French in South Carolina with non-native french speakers. As for American food, when I travel within the US, i'm always draw to local cuisine, always trying something new. Great Video.
I have family in Michigan who are often in Canada, and I can sing the Canadian National Anthem because I love hockey. I had a roommate from Edmonton who taught me to make scones and real cucumber sandwiches.
I'm a Texan. We have people from almost every country on Earth living here. For many English is their second language.
I live in Central Texas. We have more Czech people here than anywhere outside the Czech Republic. I had my first kolache before I had my first donut. Czech culture is celebrated here. When I was a kid, my mother had friends who spoke fluent Czech. English was their second language.
My own heritage French- Canadian, German, Irish, and Comanche Indian. Like so many Americans, I'm a "mutt!"
@@garyjackson3531My mama is a Texan and I've been through your area before. Pretty place! The first thing we do when we visit is get some good Mexican food, bbq, and chicken fried steak, lol. Funny, but we had kolache at Christmas this year. Howdy from NC. 🙋🏻♀️
@Mick_Ts_Chick Howdy! That's great to hear. Central Texas BBQ is a gift from the German immigrants. So is the chicken fried steak (a take on the schnitzel) Glad you enjoy yourself! Good Tex-Mex is hard to beat. I've been to Tennessee and Kentucky, but need to visit the Carolinas.
@@Mick_Ts_Chick Howdy! That's great to hear. Central Texas BBQ is a gift from the German immigrants. So is the chicken fried steak (a take on the schnitzel) Glad you enjoy yourself! Good Tex-Mex is hard to beat. I've been to Tennessee and Kentucky, but need to visit the Carolinas.
I’m from the US, and my jaw literally dropped when you said $26 for ear infections at the doctor. A normal doctor visit like a wellness check up is at least $100-300 per visit just to SEE the doctor and have them say you’re fine 😭
Urgent care is really cheap if you have insurance
I'm British-American from London/NYC and my experience is that major world cities have more in common with each other than they do with some smaller and more regional cities. I lived in Paris for a few years and NYC is more like Paris or London than it is like smaller US cities in the Deep South or the Midwest apart from Chicago. So there is that too. The regionalism in the US is so dramatic. We could easily be maybe six different countries with distinct regional cultures whereas in Europe that separation already happened after the fall of artificially combined countries like the Soviet Union, former Yugoslavia, Czechia and Slovakia etc.
Regionalism is rampant in many European countries too. In fact, one of the reasons the US seems more patriotic than Europe is because many Europeans identify more with their historical region than their country. Spain's regionalism is probably the most obvious, with the Catalans in the east and the Basque in the north. Germany has a lot of regionalism too. I recently went to the "state" of Nordrhein-Westfalen and if you're in Cologne or Dusseldorf or Bonn, the history museums tend to focus on the history of the Rheinland. Meanwhile in the Westfalen portion of the state, the history seemed to be all about the Ruhrgebiet.
This is also true in France. I've traveled all over the north and we could usually tell when crossed over into a different Region. While Paris is obviously cosmopolitan, as are the larger cities, regular towns are not, and people actually look different from Region to Region. It's not as obvious as, say, someone from Bilbao compared to someone from Sevilla, but if you look closely you can see genetic similarities across large percentages of people in one Region. Ironically, the French themselves are famous for believing each Region has its own stereotypes, yet this thinking often doesn't extend to a country as large as the US.
The hubs of corruption do transcend national borders, inflated egos easily flock together within concrete jungles.
@kevinbhieey9188 I'm a Pennsylvanian. And we are very different from people in New Jersey and New York (who are different from each other), and these are three relatively small states in the Northeast. That doesn't even get close to the number of differences when you get to the Deep South, Texas, the Midwest, etc.
My Spanish wife gets it now. We've done road trips from Maine to Key West, the Pacific Coast Highway, around the Grand Canyon, around the Great Lakes. It's a big country. Just going to my hometown in Western PA from N.VA is six hours.
Now, what I love about Spain, is that it is like a condensed USA. All the natural beauty, mountains, beaches, skiing, islands, scuba diving,,,, and OMG food, in a nice little bite sized morsel.
So think of it that way, USA is a like a Super-Sized Big Mac with fries and Spain is like a kid's Happy Meal.
A Mexican would never believe you're from Mexico due to your accent, even if you speak Spanish. Mexican Spanish is very different from that spoken in Spain.
Of course not 😅 An American thinking she’s Mexican , doesn’t surprise me at all though. She looks like some of my relatives from Jalisco lol
"Americans can only speak English." This is kinda ironic. I know most English people speak only English. Most French people speak only French. Most German people speak only German. Most Polish people speak only Polish, etc. I swear; the Europeans are the worst at insults 😂.
They have the most hypocritical insults.
Seriously, if anything Americans are the best in the Anglosphere when it comes to knowing other languages. The English are by far the worst lol
Still, it is much more common for europeans to speak multiple languages, they are surrounded by other languages. Even if it is also true that most people only speak their native languag
There isn’t really a reason to learn another language other than pure curiosity. You can live your entire life in the US without coming across a single person that doesn’t speak English. You can even travel to internationally to places like Ireland and the UK without having to learn a new language.
Actually Germany has a very high percentage of English speakers, but I get what you’re going at.
14:48 I don't think she went into enough depth about portion sizes. The reason they are so large is that there is a very big leftover culture im the US, so stores sell large portions with the intention that you will finish it over the course of a few days in your own home, after you're full in the restaurant
The leftover culture stuff is not true not sure where that came from but that's not why portion sizes as in food you buy at a restaurant and what you're talking about as in bulk buying food were created.
Large portion sizes as in you go to a restaurant and you get a lot of food for a little bit of money started back in the 1900s when many people worked labor intensive jobs, working in the mines, mills, factories and so many other labor intensive jobs. They required more food than the average person working and restaurants started offering more food to win them over as a customer over other restaurants similar to how you seen in the '90s when restaurants started offering 48 oz and the higher drinks for like a dollar or a $1.50.
Bulk food like being able to buy a family size or super size cans of foods or bags of food is due to how large the United States is. Back even in the '90s it was common in some places for people to drive 40 minutes to 2 hours to a proper grocery store that had more than just a handful of selection of food that their local little mom and pop store had.
So when people would drive to stores they would buy the large bulk items that would last them for multiple weeks if not months.
I live 22 mi from the main city The closest Walmart to me used to be 25 mi away until they built one that is 12 miles away from me back in like 2012. Before that if I didn't want to drive 30 to 40 minutes my only options for small little stores that had very low quantity of items. So when I would go to the grocery stores in the city I would buy in bulk and that would last me weeks so I wouldn't have to waste time and money on gas going there every other day.
@@Kirinketsu_ ok, well I'm American and my family has always taken home leftovers and so do most of my friends. And practically every restaurant offers boxes to take things home. Buying in bulk has absolutely nothing to do with restaurant portion sizes.
@@JudeKS10 I didn't say buying a bulk had anything to do a portion sizes from restaurants. The reason why you take over leftovers at the restaurant usually is because the portion sizes are large larger than you can eat. The reason why the portion sizes are large is because that all came from back in the early and mid 1990s when restaurants started offering larger portion sizes for workers working labor jobs to win them over as customers. And even though the majority of people don't work labor jobs anymore they still sell the same portion sizes because people expect the biggest bang for their buck and even though the people don't need it they still consume those portion sizes which is the issue with obesity in America there's no portion control people think they're supposed to eat what they're given likely from being taught don't be wasteful
@@Kirinketsu_ That's not how it is in my experience, but maybe I'm just in a different culture region (the US has 11 different cultures, so some of these things differ)
@ bro I am not talking about from experience I am talking about fact.
This is all documented, however if you just Google it you need to look pass all of the claims that it started in the 70s.
It first started around the 1890s to 1920s. This was when America was booming the gilded age or the golden age. The labor force grew not only did you have child labor but also women started joining the labor force.
Many families ate out every night, and thus the completion started between restaurants offering larger potions sizes.
This stopped after the the great depression but picked right back up starting around the late 50s and early 60s into the 70s as the US started coming back online once again and the. men in the labor force mainly young men 14-19 working in the many new factories were targeted with massive portion sizes to feed them after a long hard days work for a competitive price.
In the 70s to 80s over processed foods meant the price of food became cheaper. restaurants started offering ever larger portion sizes along with fast food restaurants, their items such as burgers became larger or the prices of say a double chesses burger was now the old price of a single. Items sold in stores also became larger, it was all about value, buy the value size pay less and get more.
Then in the 80s and 90s restaurants mainly fast food started their food wars one upping each other on the size of food and mainly drinks. Selling burgers with 4, 5, 6 patties for a few cents more per patty, selling massive size drinks for 10 cents to 50 cents more for 32, 48, 64oz, that spark the whole super size me.
It started as being targeted at the labor forced and then turned into marketing as being seen as value....because what happened is people ate more than they should or use more than they should and threw out the left overs making these companies more money in the long run.
The folks who apologize for being American are ironically lost in the privilege of growing up here. There are a lot of great countries in the world, but there are a lot of places where the average person has a standard of living below what homeless people in the US experience. Instead of being grateful for everything we have, and just believing we still have a lot to learn from others, they run a weird narrative, where we are the worst country ever. It's pretty sad. I'm very proud to be American, even though I love and respect a lot of other countries.
I can be grateful for what I have, recognize my privilege, and be deeply ashamed of our government and our countrymen. Wanting better is a great motivation to enact positive change.... and we are failing eachother and our fellow earthlings in many many ways...
The "Americans only speak one language" myth largely come from how the information is found out.
People who were raised in a household using multiple languages are obviously noted as being bilingual. However, people who are in a monolingual household but have learned another language (or even multiple) to a decent level are considered "monolingual".
People like to take the infamous statistic of how many Americans are monolingual and pretend all these people are lazy and don't even know what "bonjour" means --- when in reality most people in that group are learning another language and many of them could even be considered fluent in another language but simply don't speak it at home (e.g. the language is only used at work or online).
Meanwhile, Europeans have the opposite situation where they can claim to know 5 languages which they only know basic phrases in. I'm not saying this is common, but it does happen.
are you serious ? If you speak two language, you speak two language, at home or not at home is irrilevant, or do you tink i speak english with my italian family ?
@@Marco-ww1ht And that's why the American survey is heavily criticised.
@CityLights-v6u bilingual is someone who can speak two languages, it doesn't matter where they speak them or even if they never use one
@@Marco-ww1ht ... And that's why the American survey is heavily criticised for asking how many languages people speak at home instead of how many they know.
@@Marco-ww1ht I speak English to my family if they understand English, even though our first language is Russian and Ukrainian.
Great video about stereotypes. Like you said in the video, there is a lot of nuance. And while some of these are true in some areas, the U.S. is such a large and diverse country that comparing New York to Texas is a little like comparing Belgium to Spain. I'm just happy we have taken a French girl and turned her into a Southern chicken and waffles girl. Mission accomplished.
100% about the nuance!! And yes chicken and waffles are the best!!
The monetizing thing is interesting because I never understood why people in comment sections immediately say something should be turned into a career when someone does it as a hobby.It's so important to have hobbies that have nothing to do with earning a living.
Yes!! I really agree with that :)
I think the difference is that people are more secure in France because basic needs our assured. No one has to worry about a large medical expense bankrupting them.
A bit many Americans would stay home with their family more if they didn’t have that worry.
Most people don’t turn their hobby into a career or consider to in America unless you’re a child.
The thought is,if you can make money doing something you enjoy,its less like work. And also the extra money can help fund your hobby.
@@tritchie6272 but often hobbys become less fun as soon as you turn them into a job.
Something to consider when thinking about American stereotypes is that the country has a land area nearly the same size as the entire continent of Europe and a population at least double that of any individual European country.
We typically only get two weeks off per year, so we must love working?
What on earth would make you think we love that arrangement? The reason it's like that is that certain individuals and groups have done an effective job of selling us the idea that that's just how it has to be.
Reportedly, the American work environment is based on the Puritan Work Ethic. (Life is supposed a miserable torment until you die).
Right! I'm sure most Americans are envious of the generous vacation time given in France and some other European countries and would love to have so much time off also!d
I wonder how well known the Pinkerton Agency is around the world
@@JLeeHarshbarger Being able to afford to see a doctor *_before_* problems become life-threatening would be nice too.
@@Guitcad1I think the best way to solve the healthcare issue is with our 2nd amendment rights. They were given for a reason after all.
Thank you for talking about McDonald's coffee case. She was a friend of my mother's. She was badly injured and then the media was so horrible to her.
I remember Dan Rather reporting this for the CBS Evening News. He used a disgusted facial expression after reading the copy. 20/20(?) did a report on it -- I assume to pile on -- only to discover that she would have lost both her legs but for the extraordinary surgical techniques she was able to get -- primarily involving skin grafts. She sued specifically to get McDonald's to lower the temperature of the coffee (failed). I remember my mom not drinking the coffee until she could scoop ice out of my dad's pop and dump it in the coffee.
Then Seinfeld did the coffee episode, reinforcing Dan Rather's disgusted presumption.
Such a sad story! I have to say that as a European I didn’t know the truth until relatively recently. Now that I’ve seen the photos I feel so bad for her!!
Brigitte- I was always suspicious of the way the coffee lawsuit was portrayed, and like many people, was not surprised to learn that the lady involved in that suit had only sued out of financial necessity, and that MacDonalds had been told something like eight times previously to reduce temperatures. The effort to discredit your family friend was of course part of a larger effort to undermine consumer protections, during the mid nineties, in that days crusade against "frivolous" lawsuits.
I'm very glad that more people and particularly the youngsters simply aren't buying the corporate line. You may wish to see what Adam Conover says about the coffee lawsuit, a very concise and thorough explanation- more for you to show others, as you doubtless have all the facts already.
I always felt so sorry for that woman! Things have really changed as a result of that case. Restaurant coffee used to be blazing hot--this was in the midwest before Starbucks or other coffee shops became a thing. I remember being at a diner once, taking a sip of my coffee, and promptly spitting it all over the table. THAT'S how hot it was. I can't imagine something so hot being poured on my thighs?!
It was her own fault she spilled it in her lap ! She took the lid off to add cream/sugar & set it on the dashboard. When her daughter stepped on the gas, the cup dumped its contents in her lap !!
I am not a McDonalds maven, but this was NOT their fault.
It’s always important to take stereotypes with a grain of salt. I just went to Paris last week for the first time and honestly most of the negative stereotypes I heard were either false or very over-exaggerated. Most Parisians were not rude, the city itself was quite clean, and I felt safe walking around despite what you hear on the news. The only negative things that held true was the amount of crowds and that Parisians really don’t like you speaking French to them lol
Paris is a particularly packed city by Western standards. The thing is that French people estimate city population according to administrative borders, whereas Americans estimate city population according to metro areas, which makes a big difference. As such, for a French guy, Paris has 2 million people, which for a US guy is the population of Denver. But "Paris" is only the central part and the truth is that there are 12 million people in the Paris metro area, all living in a much more concentrated area than anything you would find in Chicago or LA, which leaves NYC only as the decent comparison (despite NYC metro area being twice bigger than Paris).
It depends on where you, some parts do have a lot of garbage on the floor. I think as long as you start your conversation with Bonjour, most parisians will not be rude. I usually have a good experience but my coworker from Costa Rica said that she would never go back. Everyone's experience is different
Cool video...there are, of course, a lot of dummies in the US but I have a hard time believing the dummy ratio is any higher here vs. Europe or anywhere else. I lived in our international dorm during college so I hung out with a lot of people from the UK, Finland, Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, & the Netherlands for extended periods of time...they were all great people, it was really fun, but I wasn't blown away by their intelligence lol.
That's not to say any of them were dumb either, it's just when Europeans talk about "stupid Americans" it's almost like they feel they have achieved some higher level of thinking, it's very haughty though it doesn't offend me or anything. You go pull a random person off an assembly line in France & compare them to a random person from the US & I think they will have comparable knowledge of the world as a whole. The European will, of course, likely know more about Europe but that's to be expected.
I totally agree with you!! This stereotype is one of my pet peeves haha
One mistake many Americans make is when they see people here from Europe that are very well spoken and say look how smart Europeans are. The mistake they are making is that those who have the means to travel to the USA and spend some weeks here are likely people with more education. Earning good money and education often go hand in hand. So they are comparing the more educated among the Europeans to the broader sample of Americans that they are around everyday. It's a sort of unwitting cherry picking, we all do that to some extent, have our own confirmation biases, and try as we might to not do that we are all human and will have some of that.
If they went to London or Paris or Birmingham or Marseille they'd be around all types of British and French people.
Often, we make the mistake that because someone isn't the best at communicating that they are dumb. Some people that don't have a lot of education nonetheless have a lot of wisdom. It's frustrating knowing such people because what's holding them back isn't that they lack wisdom and intelligence but lacked the opportunity to develop it in school. There are some people in that boat that would've gotten more value out of college than those occupying those seats. There truly are people with bachelor's and master's degrees that are clueless. I've fallen into that trap myself until I really listen to people and kind of penetrate their rather clunky way of putting things and realize there is some real wisdom there, I guess it's true one shouldn't judge a book by the cover.
One guy wrote of what he called the urban rednecks, people that literally live in the shadows of the best museums, colleges and libraries in the world yet are ignorant despite it. OTOH, he spoke of people that live in the rural south and midwest that do take advantage of the public libraries and ARE well read despite not having been able to complete as much formal education. I often here that New Yorkers are so cultured because of the museums, galleries, symphonies, opera, etc. Most New Yorkers don't go to the museums, etc. rather are, ahem, availing themselves of the seedy stuff the city has. The cultured New Yorker is largely a myth IMO.
Sorry that this turned into quite a rant.
BTW, the snobbiest big city people I've encountered are in Boston. They really DO look down their noses at others. But their city is filthy, they just throw trash everywhere, I had a water bottle and couldn't find a trash can on the sidewalks anywhere, eventually I had to duck into a restaurant to throw it away, I showed more respect to their city than Bostonians. We may not be the most sophisticated in the little western farming town I grew up in, but we do put trash cans on the sidewalks and do actually use them. It's worth noting that a high school class mate of mine went to MIT and another to Harvard, and they both had similar things to say about Boston. It's not political stuff that shocked them since California also tends to be very left leaning, it's just that California does tend to be very informal, not a lot in the way of social norms, while in Boston everyone seems to be playing a role and has a fear of stepping out of it, I even got this vibe from the young woman serving us a hamburger and a bar and grill type place. There's just a very stiff feel to the way people act in Boston. It's like be human, PLEASE!
@@LucileHR Yes, we do pay a lot for health care in the USA, and there are things to be done to change that (the answer isn't more government involvement, government involvement IS why we are having these problems, ObamaCare increased government involvement and now we pay more per month for less insurance, and John Roberts was simply wrong for deciding that law was Constitutional, US government wasn't granted that power, Justice Roberts is spineless) but while you pay $0 in France for your ear treatment your taxes are far higher than ours in the USA, you are paying for your treatment through your taxes and supporting bloated government bureaucracies on top of it. Our government bureaucracy is also bloated here in the USA but, as of now, not yet as bloated as most European countries. The size of the American federal bureaucracy increased by multiples during WW2, the justification (such as it was) being the war, but the problem is that it was never downsized after the war ended. And now that we might have a chance at finally downsizing it people are again whining. It's like people like paying taxes to support all these federal employees, and will so many millions of them that's a solid voting bloc that will vote for politicians that continue to expand government or, at least, refuse to downsize it.
@@LucileHR And people in America never used to have to go through their employer for insurance. People just used to go buy it themselves the way they do with house or automobile insurance. It was in the 1970s (government again) that the norm of it being tied to employment started.
@@LucileHR The Olive Garden thing. There is no shortage of people of Italian descent and many very good family owned Italian restaurants in the USA, owned by people of Italian descent. There was a good one on Higuera Street in San Luis Obispo, for instance, but the daughter took over the restaurant and changed it to a different type of food. Even in the so-called hick towns one finds these. For instance, I inexplicably found myself in downtown Bakersfield, California (it's the sort of city that one normally just passes through without stopping except maybe to buy gasoline) and was surprised that there was a very good Italian restaurant there. There's one in northwest Fresno that doesn't look like much, but has good food nonetheless.
About the Americans who travel. Yes, only a fraction of Americans travel outside of the US, but Americans are very well traveled. We just travel within the US. And, when we consider that each state differs in various ways, it really is almost like traveling to a different country.
Europeans might be surprised to learn that the average American does not care what Europeans think.
Ya I might be the only American who just gets really depressed and sad when I remember that so many people will hate me because I'm American lol.
Well this video has almost a quarter million views. So it might be more than you think. I find it interesting to hear about. I'm not ashamed of where I'm from so really the stereotypes are mostly amusing. Caring about what other people think to a healthy degree helps you understand the world you live in, it gives you more information. But also the vast majority of Europeans I've met either don't have these stereotypes, only believe some of them to a small degree, or understand there is probably some nuance they don't understand. Just like they understand that your aggressive bravado reflects on you and you alone.
When it comes to people from the US trying to pay for things in Paris with US Dollars it's not as crazy as it sounds. If we go on cruises to Mexico or Caribbean islands, we don't really need to exchange our money. Most businesses in the ports readily accept US Dollars.
I went on a cruise to Alaska last year. We disembarked in Vancouver, Canada. Some businesses accepted US Dollars although they gave the change in Canadian Dollars. Some businesses only accepted Canadian Dollars.
Many people go on vacations without learning anything about where they are going ahead of time. If they are going on an escorted tour they often don't even read the fine print in the brochure.
It’s as crazy as it sounds. Sure those small islands and countries proximate to the US have adopted the dollar, but everyone should know that the vast majority of Europe-far older than the US do not and do business with the Euro.
In the Caribbean, the USD goes a long way. The Eastern Caribbean Dollar is always the same exchange rate 2:1. The Bermuda dollar and Bahama dollar are 1:1. Many others are also either 1:1 or another fixed conversion rate.
Some countries (e.g., Argentina historically) have preferred dollars. It is easy to use an ATM to get local currency. Do a little bit of homework before you go and you will find you don’t need to use airport exchange counters and you will probably get the best exchange rate just using your US bank card. It is very easy and helps you get along where you are at!
Ecuador, Panama, and Costa Rica use the US Dollar as their currency. Touristy areas in LatAm use the US Dollar as a secondary currency. Then there's countries like Lebanon, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe that use US Dollars as an underground currency since their primary currency is worthless or undervalued.
I normally just use my credit card if I am out of the country. Except for when I am in Mexico, Belize, Honduras or any of the countries I have been to there. They will gladly accept our money but I am only really in tourist areas sure they won't have much trouble converting it to their money. If I am going to be in a country for a week or longer I will try to convert some USD to their money to have some cash though.
Re: International travel
Aside from how much money and how close you are to another country -- there's a third factor: how much vacation time you have. Americans don't have as much vacation time as many Europeans, especially western Europeans.
Yes! I was going to add that point as well!
I think that a particulaely high proportion of Americans who do travel to Europe and other long-range destinations are retired because they have the time to do it.
Its a whole lot closer if we are going to travel outside the country to go to Canada, Mexico, anywhere in the Carribean, Central America, South America. I have never been to Europe but I been to plenty countries outside of the US. Besides all the cruises we have that really are relatively cheap. Sure you don't get to spend much time in the countries you stop in but we have cruises going out constantly where I am from in Charleston or where my other house is on the Gulf over in Mobile or New Orleans.
😂the expensive Healthcare is so true lol. When she said $300 I was like “dang that’s a pretty good price!” Then I realized it’s $26 in France 💀
The confusion with Mexico and Spain is most likely because the largest demographic of spanish speakers living in the US are of Mexican decent (immigrants or Mexican-American citizen). So when Americans encounter someone who speaks Spanish they often will assume they're either Mexican or Puerto Rican. Yes, Puerto Ricans are Americans too but on the continental US you do encounter a lot more Mexican Spanish speakers then Puerto Ricans depending on where in the US you're living. Not to mention Mexico is one of our two neighbors. So Americans will assume someone who speaks Spanish is Mexican because its just so common in the US that they got use to it.
We also don't have as many French speakers as Canada dose. Louisiana has a good French speaking population but its very small compared to Spanish which is the 2nd most common language in the US that is way more wide spread and influential. I've encounter way more Spanish speakers in the US then French speaking Louisiana folk or French Canadians. Even the people of Quebec Canada don't interact with English speakers that much. Not even with their fellow English speaking Canadians. Many of them choose to keep to themselves. There is also no wave of French speaking Canadians trying to cross into the US from the Northern border right now, but we've been having a wave of people entering from the Mexican border. So there are currently more Mexican Spanish speakers living in the US right now then Canadian French Speakers. So I can understand why not many Americans assume your from Canada for speaking French because we don't see that as often as Spanish speakers from Mexico.
As an American who speaks both Spanish and French, I must observe that Mexican and Puerto Rican accents differ from each other, and have NOTHING in common with the sound of French, so mistaking a French native for Mexican can only be from underexposure to a variety of foreign languages, plus goofiness.
Mexico and France
Canadians also sound a lot like Americans.
Yeah I’ve been called a Mexican before(I’m Ecuadorian)
When I lived in South Florida, most of Latin America was well represented. If you called someone Cuban, they would politely correct you about their country of origin. However, calling them Mexican is an insult.
@9:07 You show a woman who has a $14,000 bill for a 3 hour emergency room stay. My wife recently had a emergency visit that lasted longer, but during that time she had multiple x-rays, echocardiagram, ultrasound on her heart, and a CT done. We had a $50 co-pay from our insurance. My point is, there is no blanket description for medical costs in the US. It's SO highly dependent on your coverage. Some are good, some are not.
As an American in the southeast USA, I'm regarded as somewhat patriotic. There is almost always a flag flying in the front of my house. I usually fly the current 50-star American flag, but on certain days, I will fly other flags -- e.g. on June 14 (US Flag Day), I fly my US "Betsy Ross" 13-star flag, but on July 4 ("Independence Day" I fly the "Grand Union" flag (13 stripes and the British Union Jack in the canton.since the "Betsy Ross" flag was not adopted by Congress until 1777, nearly a year after the Declaration of Independence. The Grand Union flag is a bit ironic since it looks very similar to the flag of the British East India Co, whose taxed tea was tossed into Boston Harbor in 1773 becoming one of the catalysts for the War for American Independence. On June 15, I fly my English "Cross of St George" flag for Magna Carta Day. I fly my French Tricolore on Bastille Day and on August 25 for the WW2 Liberation of Paris Day, and on April 30 (Camerone Day) and on Cinco de Mayo, I fly my red and green "Legio Nostra Patria" flag.
Sounds like you know more about different flags (and the history of the American flag) than many Americans--certainly more than I did as an American before reading your comment!
A French friend of mine from Nice was surprised by how loud Americans can be. I’m not loud, but I get it! I’ve been learning French and love France-I even have a beautiful 1940s post-WW2 map of the country that’s a great keepsake. I was confused by how things are laid out in France though, so I had to study the difference between departments, regions, and cities, which was so interesting. I think more Americans should dive into history, especially if traveling isn’t an option. Funny enough, I know more French history than my friend who grew up there! He seems to love it here though, especially since he’s cute and gets plenty of attention from us American girls!
Also, I’m seen as Mexican when I’m not Hispanic at all. I’m Japanese, Chinese, German, Russian and Italian, no Hispanic at all, but since I live in Southern California and grew up in a place predominantly Mexican and since I have brunette hair and am tan people assume I’m Hispanic. I took Spanish in high school but didn’t keep up with it. I do like Mexican culture though and food.
Loved reading your perspective! And so impressive that you read so much about history beforehand!
@thehapagirl92 To be fair indians are Asians from Siberia I can see why people think you're Mexican
@@LucileHRHe knows more about American politics though. I don’t care that much about politics. And my French pronunciation needs work😅
I think this is important, especially with Americans learning French history and culture. Most of the people who told me France is awful interpret cultural differences as rudeness and don’t take time to learn the history. Think of how de Gaulle was called rude and arrogant by the anglosphere, when really he was just trying to get his country liberated and had to be forceful so people would listen to him.
Speaking of de Gaulle, there’s no way people can generalize only Americans as being idiots, I once talked to a French girl who was very nice but didn’t know who de Gaulle was… let’s just say my brain broke 😭
In terms of size of the USA, for comparison, for one county, i.e., San Bernardino County, in southern California, you could fit all of Belgium and Luxembourg within its borders and still have 5000 sq miles left over. Just to drive across San Bernardino County, it's about the same distance as driving from Bruges to KöIn. In terms of distances in the US, imagine driving across country from the coast of Maine to San Diego, California. That's a longer drive than from Paris to Baghdad -- longer than driving from Lisbon to Moscow. On your drive across the USA, there would be no passport control, no need for any customs declaration when you cross state borders, and you'd be able to talk with almost all of the natives in the same language.
8:50 it also costs me about $25 to see a doctor and I am American. Even if you don’t have insurance, medical providers will have “self pay” rates, which are generally very equitable. Even if you can’t pay, “stabilizing care” must be given to you anyway at no cost. Despite the stereotypes, we don’t allow people to just die on the streets.
I have insurance and it costs me $45 to see my primary care provider, and if I am referred to a specialist, I have to pay the full price of $175-$250 for the office visit until my $6000 annual deductible is met, and after that, I have to pay 50% of the office visit. $25 to see a doctor is quite cheap.
A lot of places have same-day insurance if you don't have insurance if you tell them this before you're seen by doctor they will offer you the ability to sign up for that same day insurance a lot of times it's free sometimes there's a small fee maybe $50 at most and it will more or less cover the entire visit or there might be a copay of like 20 bucks The same can apply to pharmacies especially the pharmacies that are connected to these doctor offices or small clinics they will have certain insurance companies that will cover people who are uninsured as long as you sign up for them cuz they're more or less just getting reimbursed by the government on taxes
@@JLeeHarshbargeryou have to pay 50% after you're deductible you're getting ripped off that is bad insurance unless it also comes with a maximum out of pocket
You are right in that stabilizing care is a requirement. But that cost doesn't just get eaten by the system.
If you want to have a bizarre experience, go hang with my Choctaw relatives in SE Oklahoma on the 4th of July. Very much not what people would expect, very patriotic & the pow-wow (aka "A Stomp") is fun. The Choctaw Nation is not stuck in the "Poor us" mindset
I remember seeing someone talk about marines visiting their reserve for whatever reason, and how they found it funny that the marines (who are typically advertised as hardcore killing machines) were having more fun playing with the kids, rolling around in the grass, and playing tag than anything else.
The part I found funny was random people in the comments telling them they should be ashamed for letting "the invaders" near them, among many other negative things. Like man, some people just can't comprehend natives just being happy😅
I lived in a city that's a part of the Creek Nation. In my experience it's a spectrum of "poor me I hate white people" to fully assimilated red blooded American and most Natives are somewhere in the middle. They still talk about how white people stole their land but they also enjoy the comforts of living in the white man's world
Lucile, I love your videos! They are always so educational and informational!
Thank you so much Dominique!!
J'aime les drapeaux rouge, blanc et bleu. Duolingo est un app pour m'aider a apprendre français. Merci Beaucoup pour tes vidéos
Omg I am an Azerbaijani and I’m in Toulouse for my Erasmus at Université Paul-Sabatier! Toulouse is amazinggg
Oh wow! I see exactly where that is and went there a few months ago to test out the cable car :) also I was in Azerbaijan in September!! Enjoy Toulouse !!
The hot coffee incident was WAY BACK in the 90s and the car she was driviing in allegedly didn't have a cup holder.
Actually she was a passenger, in a parked car.
Another reason Americans travel less is TIME. We consider ourselves lucky if we have any vacation time at all. Employers often don't let us take a vacation, or strongly discourage it. When we are allowed vacation time, it's often without any pay, and not necessarily more than a few days in a row. If you have only 5 days for vacation, you're not going to want to spend 2 of them on an Airplane.
My daughter is an underemployed college grad. She has essentially free health care through the state. She pays $5 a month and has lower copays than I do with my plan though my employer. Doctor visits are $5 and prescriptions are free if generic.
The programs are out there, you just have to look for them.
It is less than 1^% if the population that has no health coverage.
Hi Ms. Lucile,
An American female here. This is what I am about.
I always study a country's history and culture before I travel to it. I like to appreciate who they are and what historical events their country has experienced. l also attempt to learn the language.
For example, I started studying French daily on January 1st, 2024, for my September 2024 trip to France.
That is how I ended up watching your "Lucile" videos. I completed my trip to France and still love listening to you !
I am at fault for being a perpetual smiling person and somewhat loud if I am excited about something.
So I would probably be very gleeful if I saw you. You are such a sweet soul.
Bless you and enjoy life.
Love from DJ
The whole "Two weeks of vacation" thing is a little misleading. A lot of companies are adopting more generous vacation policies, but also the smaller amount of vacation time is usually for new hires and those new to the work force. With seniority and time in grade you usually are awarded more PTO as you're with the company longer or progress through the ranks. You can also negotiate your PTO during the hiring process but most people just take what they're offered and don't ask.
3:40 lol people always assume my husband is from Mexico just because he’s brown but he’s from the Philippines lol
Lol it's so true! I'm half Filipino and i get mistaken as mexican all the time
Online & only once have i seen a filipino who did look mexican especially with his thick mustache but I say many filipinos seem hispanic even if they don't have such heritage
the Americans being untraveled one always gets me. I regularly (multiple times a year) drive through the far reaches of 4 states, ND, MN, MT, and SD. That is roughly an area equivalent to Paris to Kyiv and down to the Northern edges of Croatia and Serbia. Each of those states has multiple unique cultures with backgrounds from all around the world and the added bonus of Native American culture and historic sites
Wow your ease and fluency speaking English, not to mention how good your pronunciation is, was really impressive. You're also very kind and forgiving of American foibles. I was very amused by your recounting your problems with Americans getting your nationality wrong. It's bizarre, you don't look or sound remotely Mexican 😂
Thank you for the entertaining and informative video.
A very balanced, fair, and dare I say, loving synopsis of American culture. My wife and I have spent a lot of time in Europe, and we'll continue to do so. We love it there. We believe that travel helps us to understand each other on a more genuine level. We can, and should, learn from each other. Merci, Lucile!
I was in Cannes, France when I was in the Navy. They had a 4th of July celebration for us. Isn't that also around the same time a Bastille day?
Bastille day is July 14.
Some Americans may incorrectly assume you have Mexican heritage because Americans literally refer to Mexicans and other people from latin america as "Spanish" as in spanish speaking. Also mexicans are far more common than actual Spaniards in america. This is most likely where the confusion is. Its actually rare to encounter Spaniards in the states. If you used the word Spaniard instead of spanish, it would likely clear up.
They also refer to people from Quebec as "French", which always disturbs me a lot as a French as Quebeckers are definitely North American. From my perspective, that sounds as silly as referring to American people as "English".
To be fair the French aren't perfect either, living in France as a Brit, people confuse my country with the United States all the time. Sometimes they'll try to justify it by saying that the two are essentially the same to which I'll usually respond with "would you have the same attitude if I called you Quebecois?"
Americans are far more likely to refer to pretty much everyone from south of the Rio Grande as Mexican, as though it is an ethnicity and not a nationality. Nothing pisses off, for example, Guatemalans faster than referring to them as Mexicans. On top of that, so many Russians emigrated to the Ensenada area that the locals have taken to calling them Russicans....and their white kids are Mexicans.
@@Clery75019The Amish actually do refer to non-Amish Americans as 'English'. They would call YOU 'English'.
A dullard might confuse Spanish and Hispanic, plus Mexico's Criollos tend to be ethnically European and presumably could say they are Spanish in the sense that Chinese-Americans say they are Chinese
6:35 There are more Spanish speakers in the US than in _Spain_ - in fact, the only country with more Spanish speakers is Mexico.
And I grew up in a city where there were dozens of languages from all over the world spoken at home. Yes, it's true that we're predominantly monolingual English speakers, but it's by no means universal.
Regarding Americans and travelling, it's so expensive to fly out anywhere outside us. For example, I'm in Memphis, TN area. A round trip train for 2 adults from London to Paris (least expensive price - Eurostar) the total is $648.00. For a roundtrip flight from Memphis to Paris for 2 adults the total (united airlines: $8,771.22 - with taxes included). For most american's, travelling to Europe just isn't feasible especially since most Americans can barely afford their healthcare let alone 10 grand just for flights. Obviously you can make it cheaper, but in general it's very pricey.
Re: International Travel
Another factor people don't consider is that, unless you live on one of the coasts, you have to take an expensive and hours-long flight, or do an expensive and multi-day-long drive, just to get to an airport where you can take your even longer and more expensive flight across an ocean to reach whenever you're going. That's a lot of travel before you've even started traveling...
You can drive from Warsaw to Paris, visiting Berlin along the way, in less time than it takes to drive from my parents' place in Boston to their condo in Tampa. And that's just the east coast.
I absolutely love that you mentioned how you try to avoid the chain restaurants in the United States! I’ve been singing the same song for years! Luckily I’m from New England which while still inundated with chain restaurants, seems less reliant on them than other areas of the country. When I eat out, I go exclusively to locally owned independent restaurants. I had a very hard time in certain states, such as Oklahoma, finding good restaurants. There’s a few but much harder to find in the glut of chain restaurants everywhere.
300 is wild for an ear infection. My bet is because it was urgent care. I dont have insurance and when i had an ear infection it was like $50.
When i slippes my knee cap out of place and had ny knee x rayed, it was like 60.
It is. Between it being an urgent care and being in NYC. Urgent cares are always ridiculously expensive.
My dad was in the hospital for about 2 months and the bill was over 9 million dollars. Safe to say healthcare is pretty bad.
This was so interesting! I am an American who lived in Paris for a year. The food bit was interesting, because when I lived in France another French person told me the exact same! He said he loved southern food. As someone from the American south, I also love southern food so it’s always wonderful to hear that people appreciate our culture.
As for Geography, Americans are bad at it because it is not formally taught in school. I don’t recall ever taking a geography class and I have a college degree. Of course some people take courses like AP Geography, but in general I don’t think we teach it as much as other countries do.
Language wise- I had SO many people in France astounded when I would tell them that Americans generally found French useless (not me lol) and that Spanish was important. I would explain that there were a lot of people in the US who couldn’t speak English and could only speak Spanish and they were always shocked! Where I live in the US now is very heavily Hispanic influenced. I would estimate about 1/2-2/3 of the students in my classroom are bilingual. (Spanish, Portuguese, or Haitian Creole). I think Europeans just assume ALL Americans speak English, but there are many people living and working in this country who can’t speak English.
Thank you for your perspective! :)
At that time McD's coffee was sold at a higher temp than anyone else's because they believed no one would drink coffee in their car, customers would wait until they got home, so they obliged them by making it stupidly hot. The original award was so high because McDonald's had settled out of court over 200 times for the same thing. She was the first to take it to court without settling.
I love the way you speak in your soft French accent and then, suddenly, you say "Chicago" with, what I assume is your boyfriend's exact accent!
I liked this video, having grown up in Canada, studied in France for a year and living in West Africa for the past thirty years, I love cultural comparisons and learning about various people's perceptions. Oh, and KFC is horrible! I tasted it once as a child (long before you were born), and... Never again!
I have a friend who married a Northern European and moved there after their son was born. Out of respect the country will remain unnamed, however it is one that is touted here the US for its free healthcare.
Her son became very ill and after waiting nearly 12 hours at the hospital all they did was take his vitals and gave her acetaminophen (Tylenol) and sent them home. Her son ended up having bacterial meningitis and nearly died. She said that while the healthcare is *free* (taxes are exorbitant, far more than her US taxes + healthcare insurance btw) she said it’s like the DMV long waits and less than subpar service. She definitely misses the US healthcare as it’s far superior in her opinion. She said if Americans think the European system is better that they should visit an IHS facility as it’s pretty similar.
A reason why americans don’t travel to other countries like for instance Europe is because a flight costs over $1000. When you factor this to lets say a $250 flight from Michigan to Orlando Florida its a no brainer. Both of these flight prices are round trips and if you spend less on flights you can do more on your trip. Michigan and a place like Orlando Florida are vastly different and honestly they feel like different countries. I’ve been lucky personally to go on 2 cruises and I am going on another one in February. For Americans it’s somehow the cheapest way to see the world and they still are pricey.
There’s nothing like homemade fried chicken. My dad and uncle used to spend all day making batter and frying chicken in peanut oil. The love made everything better.
I’m very American 🇺🇸 but I absolutely love to travel abroad. Love to learn about cultures and languages. Currently starting French language 🙌
( I speak and read a little Japanese. )
Good luck with your French learning journey!!
@ Merci
As a native I have many things to complain about here, but I love small talk. It means we're all human here.
It's always funny when Europeans say that Americans have no real culture. If you just look at music, the USA has given the world: ragtime, blues, jazz, country, bluegrass, Rock , r &b, hip-hop, minimalism, ect.
Also sports like basketball, volleyball, skateboarding etc.
America is so diverse that I, a person living in the state near the east coast, have lived a culture that is completely foreign and misunderstood by my collegw classmates who grew up on the East Coast. They can't even understand my accent sometimes. And our dialects are so different that I sometimes have to ask them the meaning of words that are basic to them, and the same the other way around. I moved from West Virginia to New Jersey for college and it is like living in a completely different world.
Maybe for them, it cannot be culture if it is not ancient or medieval.
Culture is America's main export, in fact.
With people thinking you're from mexico... I'm curious how you're wording it. Are you saying "My dad is Spanish" Or "My dad is from Spain"
Because I feel like if you said the 2nd, maybe a handful of people would misunderstnad but I'd think most people would get it... but maybe I have too much faith in people 😅
Americans all take foreign language classes in school. We just don't continue or retain that education, because we have relatively little use for it. If we travel 2000 miles in any direction, the vast majority of us can still use English with no difficulty in communication. Many of those of us who live close to a national border learn and use some Spanish or French through exposure or lessons.
So true about the portion sizes. Me and my kids - American since birth - are even overwhelmed by it and will often order one plate to split between two or three of us
If I'm going to a restaurant for dinner than sure I'll take some left overs. If it's to a restaurant for lunch me and my mom will either share a dish or get two dishes, half them, and give each other a half of our dishes.
Quite a sweet (& too kind?) assessment of the USA, Lucile... Thanx!
It's true what you said about lawsuits. It's terrible in the U.S. My husband and I have personally been sued three separate times, two of which ended up being dismissed, and one of which I defended myself and actually won. They were all for different reasons, but all centered around real estate or property rights. And I know two different neighbors who are currently involved in the same kind of lawsuits. It's just ridiculous. I'm glad that you also brought up other languages spoken parce que je parle français!😊 Wonderful video. Thanks for all your great content!
Oh no! So sorry you and your husband were sued and happy you guys won!
The lawsuits are a good thing. It keeps corporations accountable for their actions since we don’t have adequate/enforced consumer protections from the law otherwise.
Considering how the US is about the size of the ENTIRETY of Europe, a fair comparison would be to ask Europeans how many countries they've visited outside of Europe.
I looked it up awhile back, and Europeans travel far less than Americans when framed this way.
I wonder if it’s the schools that teach differently here in the U.S.? I’m originally from Hawaii and we learned of course about American geography but we also learned world geography as well. Same with my son’s school in Idaho. And another one is the Spain Mexico thing. I am honestly shocked that they said you were from Mexico. That one I didn’t understand. As far as medical, yes, it totally depends on insurance but I will say is that the hospitals here are very good about giving discounts or letting you pay whatever amount you can per month. With my first son, we paid $5,000 out of pocket and insurance covered the rest. With my daughter we got a different insurance and only had to pay $1,000 for her birth. So it depends so much! I love these videos so much & different peoples perspectives on the U.S. ❤
Again these are my experiences, I know the U.S. is huge and some hospitals may not be as good as maybe my experiences 🤷🏻♀️
The whole reason these stereotypes persist is because of people with small minds. Nobody is exactly the same as someone else just because of where they live.
Well said. The world includes billions of INDIVIDUALS. We should all have the right to be who we are -- and not be judged by ANY preconceived notions (which is what a stereotype is). Get to know me, and you might be surprised by how many stereotypes I defy!!!!! I look for individuality in everyone I meet, and I ALWAYS find it.
It’s true that some Americans think we are the center of the universe. I just remind myself to be sensitive to others who are guests in my country. ❤
Love this 😊
We are the center of the universe. Only natural since we're the world's policeman and the protector of Europe.
From what I remember, the Chinese don’t call their country china (or their version of it) they call(ed) it the middle kingdom because they legit thought they were the center of the world.
OK. Just remember that only the UK is the centre of the world.
Even if a country is in the planet's core, it wouldn't be the center of the world. This notion is ridiculous.
I never understood why people point out Americans as not knowing countries and stuff as though that's an exclusively American thing. Just because someone is from like, Germany, for example, does not mean that they know every country on Earth without studying. Surprisingly, you aren't born with knowledge, and not everyone has the same interests
I as a little afraid to click on this. 😅 I used to think I had to apologize for my nationality, so it means a lot to hear you say that’s not necessary.
You’re very balanced in your video, and it was so enjoyable to listen! 💖
Why would you apologize for your nationality? You cannot control it. Who cares if people do not like you. They are the ignorant ones for being xenophobic
One reason Americans feel the need to apologize to you is because they're aware that there are other Americans that go to Paris and try to pay for things in dollars 😂
Apologising for being for being America is cringe and pathetic. Europeans have done far more harm on this planet yet with the exception of Germany you don’t see Europeans apologising for their country.
No, they are just Obamanauts.
Never made that mistake myself, but I definitely came across rude, wealthy, elite Americans who trashed our country much to the amusement of their elite European hosts. It was sad to watch.
In Austria they sell tee shirts gently mocking American tourist's alleged great ignorance about geography. The slogan reads:"This is Austria there are NO kangaroos". Also an elderly American couple staying in a hotel in Spain on the 4th of July were so angry that their hotel had no American flags flying, no Independence parties planned nor any firework displays that they decided to cut short their stay. They told the manager their reason for checking out days early and they were utterly shocked to find out that only Americans celebrate the 4th of July!
About time she found out.
What national holiday did she celebrate at home? We celebrate ours! Ditto others’.
- The existence of other viewpoints in human minds is a never ending revelation.
I'm like 99% sure the Austrian airport has a special service desk for tourists who booked a flight there thinking they'd be going to Australia.
@@dusksoldier IMO this is one drawback to the use of IATA airport codes (maybe not in the confusion of similar-sounding country names, but in cases where there are different cities with the same name). Unlike ICAO codes, there's nothing in the IATA code that tells you what country the airport is in. I once heard of a businessman who meant to book a flight to Manchester, England and accidentally booked one to Manchester, New Hampshire instead! Without looking it up, would you know which of those airports is MAN and which is MHT unless you've flown there a lot?
Well, arrogance and stupidity are not limited to Americans, but this was a delightful example of what not to do when abroad.
In the movie "Dumb and Dumber" there was a line where Jim Carrey (yes, I know he's Canadian, but it's an American movie) meets an Austrian woman and responds with "Well, G'day mate!" when she tells him where she's from. I'm sure there were people here that were wondering why people in the theater were laughing at that remark, but most of us are in on the joke.
As a high school French teacher in the U.S., most of my students visiting France hated French food. The bread hurts their jaw, they want food to taste like back home; they have trouble with the stereotypes of French people ("I thought everyone would speak English!"), the public transportation in France is kind of scary to them. I think the solution is just for them to spend more time in France because then the language and the cultural change slows down. Your channel is wonderful!
A lot of foreigners I know tend to confuse American food with corporation food. Recently a fella from Australia I know visited texas and said the food was horrible, was very confused because thats probably one of the best places to get food in us. I asked what they got and it was some weird meal thing because it was around thanksgiving from a franchise. It looked like the straw would cost more than the food.
Fast food is solely for something that is usually cheap, not good, but aint bad, and well fast. If we want something good we go to family ran places or we make it ourselves.
Yeah a lot of Europeans I've met when I lived in Ireland didn't understand why Americans don't travel. And I always have to say that America is roughly the size of Europe, the straight line distance from NYC to LA is the same as London to Baghdad. And we only have two neighboring countries. Flying is also more expensive because we are the same size as Europe with less than half the population, so just by economies of scale and smaller market size flights will cost more here than in Europe. If I want to fly to Miami or LA from Philadelphia it can easily cost $250+ at peak season for a single person whereas a flight of similar distance at peak season like from London to Palermo Italy would be less than half the price. So many Americans have to save up a lot more to fly equivalent distances, let alone to another country.