10 American Stereotypes I Believed Before Visiting (as a European) — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00I'm French, and like many Europeans, I had  a bunch of preconceived ideas about the
2. 0:04US before I actually visited. I have to  admit that some were totally ridiculous,
3. 0:09but some others actually turned out to  be true. So, let's explore that together,
4. 0:13starting with the first stereotype I had,  which is that Americans are very patriotic.
5. 0:18So yes, as a European, when I first arrived,  I was so surprised by how many American flags
6. 0:24there were in the streets. It's not really  a thing in France; people don't fly French
7. 0:28flags in their front lawns. It's seen  as being a bit weird. But on my side,
8. 0:32as someone who loves cultures, I'm really into it,  you know? I really like the Fourth of July decor,
9. 0:38especially in the suburbs of Chicago,  where my boyfriend is from. It is so
10. 0:41cool and really gets me in a patriotic  mood, even though I'm not from the US.
11. 0:45But it's not only that. People take the national  anthem very seriously, like standing up at sports
12. 0:50events. Bobby told me that growing up, he had to  say the Pledge of Allegiance every single day at
13. 0:56school. So, it definitely feels overall like a  more patriotic experience than what I've lived
14. 1:01personally. But I just want to say that it's also  very polarized. Americans themselves have very
15. 1:07strong opinions about their country, and I've  met a lot of people who are very apologetic for
16. 1:11being American. This is maybe linked to the other  stereotypes we're going to talk about in a bit.
17. 1:16But I feel it's such a shame that these  people feel the need to do that because I
18. 1:19feel the US is a really great place to be from.  And you know, obviously, like in every country,
19. 1:24there are good things and bad things. But in  my personal opinion—and I've lived and worked
20. 1:28in the US, I've been to 15 states, but I've  also lived in eight different countries—I can
21. 1:33say that the US is a really great place to be  from. But another funny side of this stereotype
22. 1:38is sometimes some people have a tendency to  see the US as the center of the world. Like,
23. 1:43for example, you know, thinking you can  pay in dollars in Paris. And obviously,
24. 1:48do not do that. If someone accepts your dollars  in Paris, they don't have good intentions,
25. 1:53and you're probably being overcharged. In  general, you should always read up about
26. 1:57a country before visiting. Things are going  to be very different from where you're from.
27. 2:01And obviously, not everyone is like that. If  you're on this channel, you're probably really
28. 2:06interested in cultures and you're trying your  best to adapt, as I can see with all the really
29. 2:11cool comments you're leaving on my videos.  But this leads me to my second stereotype,
30. 2:15which is Americans are supposedly bad at  geography. By now, we've all seen these
31. 2:21YouTube videos of people asking Americans  to name a country, any country. Just name a
32. 2:26country. And obviously, these videos play into  the story. They're also cherry-picked, and I'm
33. 2:31sure that if you shoved the camera in my face and  yelled at me, I would forget all the countries.
34. 2:36But since it's a light video and it's about  my personal opinion on these stereotypes,
35. 2:41I have to tell you about something weird that  keeps happening to me in the US. And you know,
36. 2:45maybe you have an opinion on that. So, I'm from  France, and I grew up right there. And my dad is
37. 2:49from Spain, the country in Europe that's right  there. And you know, sometimes this comes up in
38. 2:54conversations, like, for example, if we're talking  about our origins with people. And in the US,
39. 2:59for whatever reason, people misunderstand or  don't remember correctly and think I'm from
40. 3:04Mexico. And you know, I love Mexico. I think it's  a great country. I've spent a lot of time there
41. 3:09during my travels. I've actually lived there  for six months. But I am not from Mexico. I'm
42. 3:14literally from the other side of the pond. Like,  it's a 10-hour flight to go from Paris to Mexico.
43. 3:19And this has led to very awkward situations,  especially at work, with people going out
44. 3:23of their way to be nice and introducing me as  Mexican to actual Mexican people, who are like,
45. 3:28"Oh, cool! Which part of Mexico are you from?"  And I'm like, "Um... France." And you know,
46. 3:32the people who forget where I'm from are very  educated. They're trying to be nice. And I've
47. 3:38never understood why this happens so often and  why it's always Mexico and not, for example,
48. 3:42Canada, where they also speak French. But I  feel at this point it's not even a question
49. 3:46of geography but more of listening when  people tell you where they're from.
50. 3:50And also, I do feel that it's normal that some  Americans don't know about every single European
51. 3:54country. The US is such a big country.  There are many states already to remember,
52. 3:59so I don't expect people to know about the  exact place I'm from. Because I personally
53. 4:03don't know every single place in the US  either. Also, in Europe, our countries are
54. 4:07very tiny and close to each other. Like, France  is roughly the size of Texas, but there's also,
55. 4:11for example, Monaco, which is the size of  Central Park in New York. And you know,
56. 4:16Europeans also generalize the US too. Like,  one of my European pet peeves is when people
57. 4:21have very strong opinions about the US for no  reason, even though they've never been there.
58. 4:26And you know, this is because US politics are  very discussed by international media. Also,
59. 4:31American movies and American companies are  everywhere, but they are not representative
60. 4:36of American culture as a whole. Like, you know,  you can't have an educated point of view about
61. 4:41the whole American culture just by watching *Home  Alone,* for example. And this stereotype is also
62. 4:46linked to the next one, which is that Americans  don't travel. And I have to say that this one is
63. 4:52entirely not true. You've probably heard the myth  that only 10% of Americans have passports. Well,
64. 4:59apparently, this has not been true  for over 20 years. And apparently,
65. 5:03three-quarters of Americans have  visited at least another country.
66. 5:07So Americans are going abroad. They're just  visiting fewer countries than us Europeans.
67. 5:12Roughly a quarter of Americans have been to  five or more countries, when in France, that
68. 5:17number is 54%. And in smaller European countries  like the Netherlands, it's 83%. And you know,
69. 5:24that fully makes sense because there are two  factors at play in international travel, which are
70. 5:29basically how much money you have—because flights  and hotels are expensive—but also how close you
71. 5:34are to another country. Like, if we take the  example of the Netherlands, you could technically
72. 5:39bike to Belgium. It's super close. Also, in the  US, flights tend to be pretty expensive because
73. 5:44you're pretty far away from other countries.  Like, your only neighbors are Canada and Mexico.
74. 5:49And the US is so massive that a lot of people  prefer to travel domestically. Like, there's
75. 5:54already so much to do in the US. The nature is  very diverse, there are a lot of really cool
76. 5:59regional cultures, and also, things are  very, very far away from each other. Like,
77. 6:03for example, Barcelona in Spain is a very  common weekend trip from where I grew up in
78. 6:09France. It's roughly a four-hour drive.  In New York City, where I used to live,
79. 6:13the same amount of driving only got me to Ithaca  in New York state, which is in a very beautiful
80. 6:19region and has really nice nature, really cool  hikes, but obviously is not another country.
81. 6:25And another stereotype I had before  going to the US is that Americans don't
82. 6:29speak any other languages than English.  And this one is not entirely true. Like,
83. 6:34the US is a country that has been built on  immigration, and around one in five Americans
84. 6:39speaks a different language at home. But  even if you're not already bilingual,
85. 6:43it's never too late to start learning a  new language with today's partner, Rosetta
86. 6:47Stone. Rosetta Stone is an immersive language  learning app that uses pictures, audio, and
87. 6:53native pronunciation tools to help you confidently  speak a new language as if it were your first.
88. 6:58All their lessons are themed and built to  immerse you in real-world situations you'd
89. 7:03actually encounter. Also, they have this really  cool voice recognition feature called TruAccent,
90. 7:08and it listens to your pronunciation and gives  you feedback so that you can sound more like a
91. 7:13native speaker. At the moment, Rosetta Stone  is offering 60% off their lifetime unlimited
92. 7:18language subscription, giving you access to  all 25 of their languages for life with just
93. 7:23one payment. So, if you've been waiting  for the right moment to learn a language,
94. 7:27you should click the link  in the description below.
95. 7:29Alright, so this next one is a bit  weird, but another thing I've been
96. 7:32warned of before going to the US is medical  expenses. Like, I've literally been told,
97. 7:38"Be careful to not break a leg in the US;  otherwise, you'll be in debt." And you know,
98. 7:43given current events, it seems like a  really big issue. But luckily for me,
99. 7:47I haven't broken anything, and the only  medical emergency I had while living in
100. 7:51the US was an ear infection. And obviously,  ear infections are not life-threatening,
101. 7:56but if you've ever had one, it hurts so bad that  you're ready to do anything to make it stop.
102. 8:00On my side, I went to an urgent care facility  where I saw a doctor, and it cost me \$300.
103. 8:07Luckily, my health insurance was very good at  the time because I was working for a French
104. 8:12company in the US. So, I had to pay out of  pocket, and then I was reimbursed. But in
105. 8:16the time it took for me to get reimbursed, I was  very scared that my claim was going to be denied
106. 8:21or that I would not be reimbursed in full.  And to be honest, \$300 is a lot of money for
107. 8:26an ear infection. If we compare that to my most  recent ear infection—and I have sensitive ears,
108. 8:31okay—which was in Paris, I had to pay zero  out of pocket. Like, they didn't even ask to
109. 8:36see my credit card. They only needed my health  insurance card. If I had to pay out of pocket,
110. 8:40it would have been €25, which is around \$26. So,  it is very, very cheap to see a doctor in France,
111. 8:48and it's pretty easy to get an  appointment for everyday stuff.
112. 8:51Obviously, our system is not perfect, but  I feel it's a pretty good one. I've never
113. 8:54had any kind of medical stress in France. And  obviously, in the US, the stereotype varies
114. 8:59quite a lot depending on your health insurance  plan because it depends on your employer. And
115. 9:03I've seen both ends of the spectrum, like from  people who didn't have dental and couldn't
116. 9:08afford to get dental care—which really sucks,  like it's so painful—to the opposite end of
117. 9:12the spectrum, where I've seen stuff that's  not very necessary being reimbursed. Like,
118. 9:17recently, I was talking with my friends about this  clinic that gives you a Chanel goodie bag after
119. 9:22you give birth. So yeah, not very necessary. I'd  rather not pay \$300 if I have an ear infection.
120. 9:28But yeah, overall, I feel very grateful that  I've always been super healthy. My family and
121. 9:34all my loved ones have been very healthy,  so I haven't tested extensively any medical
122. 9:39system. And if you have any, want to share your  experience, feel free to leave me a comment.
123. 9:43Another thing I believed about the US is that  people sue each other for no reason. Alright,
124. 9:48I know this one is a bit of a weird one, but from  a European perspective, it seems like the US is
125. 9:52like the Wild West of lawsuits. Like, just driving  on the highway, you see a bunch of personal injury
126. 9:58lawyer ads. You have to sign release forms  all the time, and you hear about those crazy
127. 10:03viral lawsuits. And here, I can't talk about that  without talking about what happened to this poor
128. 10:07old lady that had to be hospitalized for eight  days after spilling McDonald's coffee on her lap.
129. 10:14Like, I've seen the pictures, and what  happened to this lady was really horrible.
130. 10:17She had third-degree burns, and she decided to  sue McDonald's to pay for her medical bills.
131. 10:23That's just what she was asking for. The title of  the New York Times documentary I watched about it
132. 10:28sums it up best: "Burned by Hot Coffee, Then by  the Media." Like, she was painted by the news as
133. 10:34just a dumb lawsuit that was fully useless. ABC  News even called it the poster child of excessive
134. 10:41lawsuits. And from a European perspective,  that's just what I heard. I actually didn't
135. 10:46know what happened to this lady and obviously  hadn't seen the pictures, which are awful.
136. 10:50So, I feel the stereotype comes from extreme  cases that were very publicized. And in reality,
137. 10:56things are a bit more nuanced. Like, I feel suing  for medical bills is totally understandable. And
138. 11:01seriously, the very few people I know  that have been involved in a lawsuit,
139. 11:05it has been for a very good reason. So,  I don't think suing people qualifies as
140. 11:09an American hobby. I don't know, and I  don't want to know. I'm not a lawyer,
141. 11:13I've never been involved in any lawsuits,  and I intend for things to stay this way.
142. 11:18Alright, so this is supposed to be a light  video, and recently in my recommended,
143. 11:22I've had a lot of videos of Italians  trying Olive Garden. And you know,
144. 11:26as you could expect, their reactions are not  very good. They are very scared to go there,
145. 11:31they don't really like the food, and overall,  they find the experience very bland and
146. 11:36inauthentic. And that's often how Europeans tend  to perceive American food. And I have to admit
147. 11:41that I did believe that before I visited the  US. But luckily, I was proven entirely wrong.
148. 11:46The US is a massive country with a very rich food  culture that varies from state to state. And I
149. 11:52have to say that this stereotype is absolutely  untrue. I feel this bad image stems from the
150. 11:57fact that our only contact with American food  in Europe are the big fast-food chains. Like,
151. 12:02for example, I used to have a terrible image  of fried chicken because I only knew about KFC,
152. 12:08and it didn't look really good to me.  Like, I thought this was pure junk food,
153. 12:12and I was not really willing to try it.  I usually don't really like big chains
154. 12:16because I prefer to go to small shops. But a  few years ago, my American boyfriend actually
155. 12:21brought me to Atlanta, Georgia, to go to one of  the best fried chicken restaurants in the world.
156. 12:26And there, we actually met the chef, who told us  about the recipe that hasn't changed since 1945.
157. 12:32And like, they put so much love and care into  it. Like, they marinate the chicken overnight.
158. 12:36It's super juicy and tasty, and they serve it  with really delicious sides. And since then,
159. 12:42I've been such a big fan of fried chicken  and Southern food in general. I even love
160. 12:47chicken and waffles, which is another food  that would send Europeans into a coma. But
161. 12:52it's so good. And I feel that, in general,  the US does comfort food so well. And there
162. 12:57are so many small businesses that are not  owned by big corporations. And I feel you
163. 13:01obviously shouldn't rule out American food  just because you've seen McDonald's or KFC.
164. 13:05Like, it's really my pet peeve when Europeans  say the food is not tasty in the US. Because
165. 13:10not only is there really good American food, but  there's also food from all over the world. Like,
166. 13:15for example, in New York, I've tried really  authentic Malaysian food, Indian food,
167. 13:19Indonesian food. And all of these foods,  they're made very authentically. Like,
168. 13:23they keep the recipes the same as at home,  and they often import some spices or products.
169. 13:28Stereotype number eight is that people  love to work. And obviously, I'm French,
170. 13:32so it comes to no surprise to you that people  have a lot of vacation time in France. But that's
171. 13:37one image I had of Americans, and I do feel this  one is kind of true. Like, there is this "always
172. 13:42on" mentality where people are always thinking  about business, or maybe building side hustles,
173. 13:48and always trying to make things happen. And  obviously, sometimes it's a necessity. Like,
174. 13:52people who have several jobs, they don't always do  that because they love it. Like, they need to pay
175. 13:57rent. But there is more of a focus in the US on  having a side hustle, monetizing your passions.
176. 14:03Whereas in France, I know a lot of people,  for example, who are very good at a skill,
177. 14:08like art, but just do that in private and  will never think of monetizing anything.
178. 14:12And this also ties up with stereotype number nine,  which is that Americans are very optimistic and
179. 14:17outgoing. And that's a thing that I had to  adapt to in the US because it's not in my
180. 14:22culture. But now, I really love small talk. I  love how positive people are, and I've already
181. 14:26talked about it in the other video I made about  the US. But that's something that makes daily
182. 14:31life a bit nicer. And honestly, I feel like  this outgoing energy is reflected everywhere,
183. 14:36which leads me to my next stereotype: that  everything is big in the US. This one, coming
184. 14:41from a European perspective, is entirely true.  The highways are massive, the cars are very big,
185. 14:48the portion sizes are massive. Although  now, I'm used to it, and I really like it.
186. 14:52And one thing that's for sure massive in the US  is the distances. The US is such a big country.
187. 14:57And recently, I crossed it from New York to SF  by train, and it took me three days. I also made
188. 15:03a video about my thoughts, and I think you  should watch it next. I'll see you there.