Clearing up misconceptions about your country!

[Discon]

Norway

1: There are NO polar bears
2: We do not live of seal-meat
3: There's actually not snow all year everywhere. This is because of the gulf stream heating the coast. In fact only very few places have snow all year.
4: There aren't that many glaciers.
5: Our national course isn't sheep's head. It's cabbage and lamb put into a pot with lots of whole peppers. Oh, or a certain frozen pizza.
6: We DO eat lamb's ribs at christmas

 

[Citrus]

That Canadian accent you hear on TV only exists in the East. Everybody I know sounds exactly like Americans do.

I've lived in Canada my entire life and have never seen bagged milk. If I did, I'd be as weirded out as someone from another country.

Rush makes up for Celine Dion and Nickelback.

The only time I've heard a Canadian say "eh" is to mock the stereotype. And I don't even know what this "aboot" thing is all about. Maybe that's from those East Canadian accents.

Toronto is not the capital of Canada. Ottawa is.

I've never met a lumberjack.

Also, you may have heard that Canadians are obsessed with Tim Hortons. That is 100% true. It may even be more popular here than Starbucks is in America.

 

[orangebandguy]

Not all britsh people drink tea all the time whilst wearing a Top Hat or a monocle.

 

[Sonicron]

Wow... you nailed it, man. Especially the language aspect (I'm studying linguistics right now, so yes, I can confirm that bit).
To everyone: We don't actually all eat bratwurst and sauerkraut each and every day of our lives.
Oh, and about the army bit, that's actually funny: When I was with the Bundeswehr, due to some weird planning errors after a field exercise our unit took up residence in an American military base for two days. The G.I.s were really friendly, but for some reason almost all of them wanted to trade weapons with us; upon inquiry why they wanted our guns, the frank reply was, "Man, don't you know that compared to your G36 our guns are absolute crap...?" After that they also tried to swap uniforms with us.

yeah, the whole world digs german weapons! we could add that, too. germany is not pacifist at all, because we sell tanks, jetfighters and guns to everyone.

your story sounds really funny . i live in wiesbaden and you may know there are a lot of airbases out here so i got to know some people from the army and the thing with the german guns being badass and all that seems to be pretty big with them.

Well, yeah, but you have to admit... our tanks kind of rule. God, I love the Leopard design.
Yeah, I've noticed all the airbases around Wiesbaden. I live in Kiel, but only because of my University studies - I'm originally from Hessen. My dad lives about 5 minutes from Bad Schwalbach, so I get to drive through Wiesbaden pretty much every time I visit him over the holidays.
That reminds me... I haven't had Äppler in a long time, I'm looking forward to that when I get home over christmas.

no way! do you know nastätten? it´s just 10 minutes from bad schwalbach. this is where i´m originally from. but i´m also leaving to the north, i´m moving to hamburg the next year. man, i love äppler, too. you surely know bambus(äppler and cola), the regional mix up drink? i´m sort of addicted to it...

the internet is a small place, really

Sure I know Nastätten, it's really not that far from Hohenstein (where my dad lives).
Still, that's not where I grew up; I grew up in Freigericht, about 20 minutes from Hanau. Yeah, the internet really is a small place. ^^
And yes, I know bambus, I'm addicted to it, too, although where I grew up everyone calls it 'Panzersprit'. Yum.
Hamburg can be pretty cool, but I think living there would drive me nuts - too much noise and too many people. Maybe it's because I grew up in the countryside... that's why I chose Kiel instead. Oh, and once you move up north, make sure you Äppler supply lines are secure because they don't know that heavenly drink up here at all. Whenever I tell my pals about it they go, "Are you talking about cidre...?" Grrrrrr...

 

[Cowabungaa]

Us Dutchies are not constantly stoned, we actually have a lower percentage of pot users than the US where pot isn't legal. Little statistics like that make me chuckle.

Not all britsh people drink tea all the time whilst wearing a Top Hat or a monocle.

Well you should!

 

[waterhazard]

most german accents in american movies are horribly inaccurate. it does often sound stupid but it doesn´t sound like that at all. in the end, english is something like the bastard daughter of saxon german, frisic/dutch, some scandinavian and a few french terms(trust me on that, i studied that shit) so please be kind to your language parents.

This is true but there is also latin to draw upon for english and also why is lipstick counted as masculine in its verb? (I had to do german as a language course for 2 years im in england btw and i found it boring as hell :/)

 

[Redingold]

In Australia
- Not everything is poisonous and trying to kill us.

Yeah, some of the sheep might not kill you. Cookie for reference.

 

[iamthehorde]

Sure I know Nastätten, it's really not that far from Hohenstein (where my dad lives).
Still, that's not where I grew up; I grew up in Freigericht, about 20 minutes from Hanau. Yeah, the internet really is a small place. ^^
And yes, I know bambus, I'm addicted to it, too, although where I grew up everyone calls it 'Panzersprit'. Yum.
Hamburg can be pretty cool, but I think living there would drive me nuts - too much noise and too many people. Maybe it's because I grew up in the countryside... that's why I chose Kiel instead. Oh, and once you move up north, make sure you Äppler supply lines are secure because they don't know that heavenly drink up here at all. Whenever I tell my pals about it they go, "Are you talking about cidre...?" Grrrrrr...

thanks for the info! äppler and cidre, it´s just not the same, only äppler is the real deal! i´m really looking forward to hamburg, i just love it. it´s my favorite city in germany and a lot of my friends have moved there. and i also want to study there. they have a degree course called "sound, vision, games" which is basically game design, it´s also well connected with sponsors like ea and eidos and seems to be really good, not something half-assed where you don´t get a job with. until summer i studied language typology in mainz, but it didn´t really work out because i can´t finish my art history course. they switched to bachelor and are not offering the courses i need to get a degree it´s like they say "bad luck, dude." now i´m not motivated anymore. i think for me it´s better to go through fachhochschule because then i can´t screw up my classes.

 

[Skeleon]

This is true but there is also latin to draw upon for english and also why is lipstick counted as masculine in its verb? (I had to do german as a language course for 2 years im in england btw and i found it boring as hell :/)

Because the word "lipstick" translates to "Lippenstift", which consists of "lips" and "pen". And "pen" (or "Stift") is a masculine word in German, that's why "lipstick" is also masculine. "Lips" is just an addition that doesn't change the gender of the word "pen".
Now you might ask: "Why is "pen" masculine?".
I have no clue. Most things have genders in the German language.
Desk is male, bank is female. Bread is genderless, by the way.
I guess that's just how our language developed and we never changed it.

 

[D088Y]

2)We're not nice, we're simply subtle

why do you not want people to think your nice :S

OT:i like the way my country(England) is conceived by other nations so i do not want to change the way you view us

 

[Cody211282]

USA:
1. Capitalism is a dying trend, sometimes i feel I'm one of the only people in college who likes it
2. Despite what most people say they have no idea who the people they vote for represent AKA most people are politically retarded, and just jump on the band wagon
3. We are not all fat, a good part of us are but we don't like them anyway
4. We get into wars/ fights that we shouldn't, also we don't get into a few we should, but thats what you get when everyone is asking for you help
5. Not all conservatives are religious, I am and I'm agnostic

Utah:
1. Yes about 80-10% of the people here are mormon, it sucks
2. Yes the mormons make laws based off their faith
3. No we are not all gun loving hicks, I love my guns but I'm not a hick
4. Yes there is polygamy here, no the mormons don't practice it an off shoot of their church does, but yes they did at one point
5. There is really no reason to come here ever, everything we have other states have more of or are better at

 

[rokkolpo]

holland.

no. we don't have prostitutes everywhere(mostly amsterdam).
yes there is weed everywhere if youre looking.
yes were cheap (but it's in the blood, great merchents)

what else do u say about us?

 

[rokkolpo]

We do not have bad teeth
Not everyone drinks tea and eats crumpets

you only said we.....yet everyone knows who youre talking about.

 

[Sonicron]

Sure I know Nastätten, it's really not that far from Hohenstein (where my dad lives).
Still, that's not where I grew up; I grew up in Freigericht, about 20 minutes from Hanau. Yeah, the internet really is a small place. ^^
And yes, I know bambus, I'm addicted to it, too, although where I grew up everyone calls it 'Panzersprit'. Yum.
Hamburg can be pretty cool, but I think living there would drive me nuts - too much noise and too many people. Maybe it's because I grew up in the countryside... that's why I chose Kiel instead. Oh, and once you move up north, make sure you Äppler supply lines are secure because they don't know that heavenly drink up here at all. Whenever I tell my pals about it they go, "Are you talking about cidre...?" Grrrrrr...

thanks for the info! äppler and cidre, it´s just not the same, only äppler is the real deal! i´m really looking forward to hamburg, i just love it. it´s my favorite city in germany and a lot of my friends have moved there. and i also want to study there. they have a degree course called "sound, vision, games" which is basically game design, it´s also well connected with sponsors like ea and eidos and seems to be really good, not something half-assed where you don´t get a job with. until summer i studied language typology in mainz, but it didn´t really work out because i can´t finish my art history course. they switched to bachelor and are not offering the courses i need to get a degree it´s like they say "bad luck, dude." now i´m not motivated anymore. i think for me it´s better to go through fachhochschule because then i can´t screw up my classes.

Ah, the transition problem. I never had to deal with that because the Bachelor/Master system was made mandatory in Kiel just when I started my studies about 2 years ago. It's complete shit, but at least I was conditioned to accept it right from the start and didn't have to deal with some of my courses not being available anymore.
And yes, only Äppler is the real deal, screw all the rest!!

 

[lleihsad]

America:

-Most of us find the comedy of non-Anglophone countries to be disconcertingly alien.

-We still can't reconcile our self-image of the "scrappy underdog" with our status as the leading superpower. It's hilarious to watch us try, though.

-We are positively addicted to fear. Impending catastrophe is something we just can't get enough of.

 

[FairlyFrightenedFeline]

Canada:
1)Our official sport is Lacrosse, not Hockey (No, it doesn't make sense to me either.)

What is an official sport? Do we need one!?

uh, an official sport is just a patriotic way of saying "we're good at this!" Im sure England has one to. Maybe tea sipping?

Did you read the name of this thread?

[small]It would probably be cricket[/small]

 

[rokkolpo]

Netherlands;
We don't smoke weed all the time and not every Dutchman can sell you some

but do you really dislike us germans that much? i love the netherlands by the way(not only because you can smoke weed there).

indeed many dutch(i,m dutch) dislike you, 'stupid' dutch people like to blame you for all hitler did.
also many dutchmen hate your hair and clothingstyles.

don't ask me why i don't share their vision of germany.

 

[rokkolpo]

Maybe it's because of all the jokes we crack about Dutch people and their mobile homes... ^^°



quote]

i,ve never heard of that before (jokes about mobile homes? caravans?)

tell me a joke

 

[Styphax]

Hmmm, for the United States. I live in Virginia, which means that...
-Half of us here are decently intelligent people and don't want to end up like the other half
-The previously mentioned other half watches fox news and believes in god with the same amount of passion and belief
-We're close to Washington DC (At least on the east side of VA on the fall line and all) so we think that we matter a lot more than we do.
-Ironically there aren't too many rednecks here. I'd say the bigger problem is suburbanites.
-Still though most of the previous posts about America apply here to any group.

 

[ottenni]

In Australia
- Not everything is poisonous and trying to kill us.
- We don't say 'G'day' and 'mate' that much.
- And really there isn't that many dangerous animals, except magpies.

What part of Oz do you live in? I've yet to meet someone in my state, including recent international arrivals, who don't say mate.

Also, most of our animals and bugs are poisonous and/or dangerous. Even the platypus has deadly venom glands on its claws, despite its ridiculously cute appearance and we have more species lethal spiders, snakes and other assorted creepy crawlies per hectare than pretty much anywhere else. That's ignoring the obviously dangerous stuff.

I live in rural Victoria, near where the brushfires were. Maybe people do say G'day and other stuff but its really not that strong. And as for creepy crawlies and stuff, i do not know a single person who has ever been on the bad side of a poisonous animal, so even if we have them they aren't that active.