misconceptions and prejudices

[Krikit 1,166]

I'm going to take a wild guess the results of "Toronto is the capitol of Canada" experiment would be the same in a lot of countries.

Probably. But I'll bet you dollars to (Tim Horton's) donuts that Canadians would know the capital of the U.S.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

Probably, but I'll take a wild guess many Canadians would probably say the capitol of Brazil is Rio or Germany is Munich if they enountered some roving reporter on the street.

[Krikit 1,166]

Probably, but I'll take a wild guess many Canadians would probably say the capitol of Brazil is Rio or Germany is Munich if they enountered some roving reporter on the street.

Possibly. But not probably.

Sorry, RobinLake. I guess it's one of those "location" jokes. (You had to be there.) The show was called "Talking to Americans". (Not "Talking to Europeans or South Americans".) The U.S. is Canada's closest neighbour and trading partner. In school, Canadians were taught everything about the U.S. and the world, and hardly anything about their own culture and history. The humour and the point in Rick Mercer's satire was that Canadians were saturated with American information and statistics, but were learning hardly anything about their own culture and history. I guess you had to be there.

Edited August 2, 2007 by Krikit

[nane1104 146]

pretty amazing stuff....

[Nagishkaw 510]

Probably, but I'll take a wild guess many Canadians would probably say the capitol of Brazil is Rio or Germany is Munich if they enountered some roving reporter on the street.

Possibly. But not probably.

Sorry, RobinLake. I guess it's one of those "location" jokes. (You had to be there.) The show was called "Talking to Americans". (Not "Talking to Europeans or South Americans".) The U.S. is Canada's closest neighbour and trading partner. In school, Canadians were taught everything about the U.S. and the world, and hardly anything about their own culture and history. The humour and the point in Rick Mercer's satire was that Canadians were saturated with American information and statistics, but were learning hardly anything about their own culture and history. I guess you had to be there.

I Rick Mercer !

[Ban Hammer 14,290]

I had to listen to stuff like "are you still standing in line for bread?"

Standard response ought to be: "No. But unlike here, they still make real, actual bread in Germany."

Do you have to rub it in like that? Next you'll be telling us that they still make real, actual beer there, too...

Well, now that you mention it...

I miss german beer...and I am not even a beer drinker!

i can still get warsteiner here

[Marilyn. 340]

Probably, but I'll take a wild guess many Canadians would probably say the capitol of Brazil is Rio or Germany is Munich if they enountered some roving reporter on the street.

Possibly. But not probably.

Sorry, RobinLake. I guess it's one of those "location" jokes. (You had to be there.) The show was called "Talking to Americans". (Not "Talking to Europeans or South Americans".) The U.S. is Canada's closest neighbour and trading partner. In school, Canadians were taught everything about the U.S. and the world, and hardly anything about their own culture and history. The humour and the point in Rick Mercer's satire was that Canadians were saturated with American information and statistics, but were learning hardly anything about their own culture and history. I guess you had to be there.

I think I remember only studying Canadian history in Grade 6 maybe a bit here and there in other grades but like you said we mostly learned about the US and the other countries etc....

[randolady 1]

when really it made my toenails roll up when I was reading that in some States you still vote with paper and pencil...

Nothing wrong with pencil and paper. I'd much rather everyone voted with pencil and paper in fact. You don't get crashing voting machines or hanging chads when you stick a big X in a box on a paper ballot.

Much harder to fix an election if you have to lose or add paper ballots. You know, it's kinda nice to have a paper trail sometimes.

*coughcoughFloridacough*

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

The only thing that really bothers me is the fact that people (after asking where I'm from) keep saying "Oh, I'm half - German too".

Well, I read somewhere a long time ago that more than two out of three Americans can claim some German background. In light of that, it's not surprising that you'd hear that as often. Besides, having some German in you is a good thing. As I keep telling Nani: Living with a German builds character.

[Krikit 1,166]

I Rick Mercer !

OMG, I Rick Mercer tooooooo!!! But I'm confused. How do you come to know him if it's a Canadian show? (Not trying to be rude, here. Genuine question.)

The humour and the point in Rick Mercer's satire was that Canadians were saturated with American information and statistics, but were learning hardly anything about their own culture and history. I guess you had to be there.

Sorry... I was interrupted mid-writing on my previous post and had to come back. Really, what I meant to communicate was that Rick Mercer's satire was aimed at how little Americans (US Americans) knew about their northern neighbours, while Canadians could probably pass the US Citizenship test with very little effort.

[homesick_american 1]

The only thing that really bothers me is the fact that people (after asking where I'm from) keep saying "Oh, I'm half - German too".

Well, I read somewhere a long time ago that more than two out of three Americans can claim some German background. In light of that, it's not surprising that you'd hear that as often. Besides, having some German in you is a good thing. As I keep telling Nani: Living with a German builds character.

I'm part German myself. If you're a white American, the odds are OUTSTANDING that you have German, Irish, or BOTH in your background. I don't know why Germans would find this irritating; it seems sort of intolerant to me.

[JJWashington 0]

yep, I'm part german and irish

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

German, Irish, Polish here.

[Heracles 417]

What misconceptions and prejudices do you experience from people about your homecountry after you arrived in the US?

I am always amazed how people assume that I must be sooooo happy to be finally in the US, if in reality, the only reason why I am here and wanted to come here is to be with my husband.

I even got asked one time how we communicated while we were apart and when said per email, phone, text messages,...I earned a surprised look, like they couldn't believe we have that kind of technology...in GERMANY??????!!!!

I had a guy from NY -LI ask once if English was our second language in Australia. People ask how it was to live in Australia as they perceived it to be backwards when in reality most of its cities put any US city to shame. I always get the look when I tell people actually the US, in general, is one of the most run down developed countries I have been too.

I am not surprised though. Hardly any Americans travel let alone to other developed nations. Only 22% have passports and usually travel to south America.

PS In terms of technology we stuff like 2 way video cellphone calls in Aus back in 2003. Four years later I am yet to see a 2 way video calling service from any major cell provider.

Edited August 2, 2007 by Boo-Yah!

[Mrs.J06 4]

The only thing that really bothers me is the fact that people (after asking where I'm from) keep saying "Oh, I'm half - German too".

Well, I read somewhere a long time ago that more than two out of three Americans can claim some German background. In light of that, it's not surprising that you'd hear that as often. Besides, having some German in you is a good thing. As I keep telling Nani: Living with a German builds character.

I'm part German myself. If you're a white American, the odds are OUTSTANDING that you have German, Irish, or BOTH in your background. I don't know why Germans would find this irritating; it seems sort of intolerant to me.

My point was the wording of this (and I discussed this with (US) colleague as well and they agreed). Americans seem to say this a lot (whether it's German or Irish or whatever doesn't matter) - I think Europeans would put this differently - they would probably say "I have German ancestors, too", or "My Grandfather was German". But I have never heard a, say, German with an Italian father say "I'm half Italien" unless they speak very good Italian, have quite a few family members still living there and go there every sommer.

Does that make me intolerant? Yes probably... Sorry you can't tolerate my opinion!