Clearing up misconceptions about your country!

[SadakoMoose]

I'm sure the American posters are having a LOT of fun with this thread.
BTW, Estonia's age of consent is 14.
Have fun!
America:
Actually many of us are pretty self conscious about or current world status, some to the point of depression. Some days I get so jealous of those hip European kids with their universal health care and their parkour and their kick ass educational system. It really hurts me somewhere deep inside to know they've always had nicer things than me and probably a greater leg up in the world.
Their economies typically do better. They speak more languages on average, and are exposed to different cultures on a first person basis. Also, their reputation in the world is not crap.
What's worse is drivers education.
Here, you get a beginners permit at age 14-16, learn to pass an official test, are given a regular drivers license and sent off into the world. As a result our teen driving fatality rate is higher than in Europe.
A DMV test can't teach you how to drive, and as a result these inexperienced drivers are getting into situations way above their heads. In Europe, as I understand it, they actually teach you to FREAKING drive. Yes it takes longer, and is a lot harder, but at least their accidents rates are lower.

 

[nbrown48]

British people have good teeth! Free NHS covers it

Thank you! exactly - I hardly know anyone with bad teeth. Can't speak for the Scots, mind you.
For all those Americans knocking the NHS recently, you have not a clue.

Also the bad food thing - that might have been true 30 years ago, but it has totally changed with the increase of multiculturalism.

 

[Canid117]

England.
And another thing, why do the bad guy's in American movies tend to have "British" accents??

That is the generic "foreign" accent and the bad guys can't be Americans after all, they have to be foreigners right? *cough*

British accents just sound so cunning and sinister as long as Jean Claude Van Damme isn't doing them

 

[Mozared]

On the Netherlands:

-This has been said before, but I just want to emphasize it: We do *not* smoke weed each day. Smoking weed really isn't all that common over here, and you'll only see it going around in some of the lower-life neighbourhoods. And Amsterdam.
-Also said before, also want to emphasize: Nobody here wears wooden shoes. Maybe a couple of farmers do, but I honestly can't say I've ever seen a Dutch person wearing them.
-There isn't just hookers and weed in Amsterdam. In fact, the red light district is a fairly small zone that only retains it's big name to attract tourists.
-'Holland', is actually a rather bad name for the Netherlands. Holland is the province (county) of the country that was most important during the 1500, 1600's. While we've grown used to it and calling our country 'Holland' isn't likely to upset anyone, it is technically the same thing as calling the United States "Texas" or "New Jersey".

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

All right one thing really, in Canada it's not always snowy. Seriously, we have seasons too. It gets cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Like really hot, it was around 30 degrees(Celsius) for a few weeks last summer.

 

[Canid117]

All right one thing really, in Canada it's not always snowy. Seriously, we have seasons too. It gets cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Like really hot, it was around 30 degrees(Celsius) for a few weeks last summer.

Isn't that like 70 degrees Fahrenheit? That's my late fall and early winter and I live in the North western United States.

 

[DazBurger]

I struggle to speak for the United States as I have been repeatedly called a bad American by Americans and non-Americans for failing completely at every stereotype of our people.

I think I'm more of a stereotypical Dane.

I know its a loooooong time ago that you wrote this... But what is a steretypical Dane?

 

[Chrono180]

NEW MEXICO IS A STATE DAMMIT! WE ARE NOT PART OF MEXICO!
A state misconception, rather than a country misconception but still, it really bugs me when someone goes "I don't care how "New" Mexico is, we don't sell tickets outside of the U.S.

 

[Spoonius]

New Zealand

Most people in the country don't actually shag sheep.

What!

ASIO has failed us...

 

[sam13lfc]

We don't drink tea/eat crumpets all day. They're both disgusting anyway.

 

[8-Bit Grin]

We are NOT all fat.

Yes, we do have a lot of fatties in our country, but the majority of us is skinny to fluffy.

We're doing a lot to fix it, dammit!

-F, the spokesman of the American Skinny's Association.

 

[Blizzarded Soul]

- Most English people are not posh
- Very few of us actually drink tea. However LOADS of us drink coffee.
- Most of us have good teeth
- Most of the "English accents" in film and TV don't sound anything like any sort of English accent.
- Manners is what many of our people lack.
- We (or most of us) aren't patriotic in any shape or form.
- Most of us don't really care about the queen.

I can't think of anything else

We don't really wear either a Top hat or a Bowler hat when we go out in public.

 

[SNIPERFOX ft. Harry P.Ness]

this is to most americans who think OMG RUSSIA AM GAWNA TAKE OVER DAM WURLD BLOW UP DEY ASS AMERICA FTW!!!!!!!!!

*sorry if offensive*


- we dont drive banger cars.

-we are not terrorist commies, though commies exist on the border of siberia, they're not evil

-we are not gonna blow up the world

-people who hate russians, think were rich, but were piss ass poor cos of the cold war*WHY AMERICA WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY? YOU USED TO BE AWSOME. in the dark ages.....*

-we are not all bankers

-we are not evil

-we do own WW2 guns as souveneirs, and own AK-74's(most of use atleats

-once agian, we arnt gay all have AIDS and want to blow up the world

oh and F*** rucka ali

*again very sorry if offensive i mean only whacky americans who hate us for no reason, not natives and normal people and WW2 veterns pie and the smiles on little baby's faces
though i do hate the people who think massacaring natives was an awsome idea and nuking japan
was the best thing in the world, i do hate them*

 

[Elonas]

Iceland
Correcting a misconception. We, the people of Iceland, do not have power over volcanoes.

 

[LetoTheTyrant]

All right one thing really, in Canada it's not always snowy. Seriously, we have seasons too. It gets cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Like really hot, it was around 30 degrees(Celsius) for a few weeks last summer.

Isn't that like 70 degrees Fahrenheit? That's my late fall and early winter and I live in the North western United States.

30 Celsius is actually 86 Fahrenheit. Get to 35 Celsius and that's 95 Fahrenheit. So quite a bite warmer than 70.

And 70 Fahrenheit is 21 Celsius, which is, as a Brit, pretty damned warm. We're only just starting to get those sorts of Temperatures over here (had a hot spell of a couple of days in the 20's at the end of April). Beginning of Winter temperatures? Obviously not that north.

 

[CK76]

I struggle to speak for the United States as I have been repeatedly called a bad American by Americans and non-Americans for failing completely at every stereotype of our people.

I think I'm more of a stereotypical Dane.

I know its a loooooong time ago that you wrote this... But what is a steretypical Dane?

I go by my experience in Denmark and my Danish friends, so I mean no offense here as I have a great affection for the nation and its people.

Danes, from my experience, are a calm, happy, laid back content and extremely sarcastic people. They are happy with what they have in life with a humble attitude and strong work ethic. The humor is very dark and no subject is held sacred in their eyes as everyone is equal, equal to be joked about. Danes have a more progressive, liberal, open minded and tolerant mindset. Every time I talk to them I get head nods and "well, yeah" instead of anger and dissent. I don't know if I've ever met a more friendly and helpful people in my travels.

I'm not sure if you're Danish and that is why you're curious, but I just like the place and the people there. I think I'd be pretty boring and normal there fitting in just fine, besides not being able to pronounce "Rødgrød med Fløde".

Nice to meet you Gimmi A Burger.

 

[McShizzle]

Canadians are not like the in the movie Strange Brew (bunch a hosers, eh) although ironically many of us like the movie Strange Brew.

Canada is not run by Queen Elizabeth, although she is our head of state and lots of us still like her (though we're not too sure about the next guy).

Canadians have LOTS of guns. I can speak for Ontario (especially rural) when I say that just about everybody is packing, it's mostly rifles & shotguns though.

The native people that live in the Northern most parts of Canada are called Inuit, NOT Eskimos.

Nobody here calls them "Mounties". They are most commonly referred to by their acronym R.C.M.P. (Royal Canadian Mounted Police)

Canadians ARE apeshit over Tim Horton's. They're everywhere and they put almost all the independant places out of business. I swear there's crack in it or something.

 

[McShizzle]

bah double post

 

[Optimus Hagrid]

Ever tried filling your mouth with bread dough and tried to swallow it?

That's what eating crumpets is like.

Also, the British are incredibly rude, and certainly not gentlemanly. It's sad coming home from abroad to remember what a load of cunts everyone is.