Anyone else watching these vids? Granted, some are probably exagerated as that theme is really hot now so they're jumping on the bandwagon for eyes, but I believe most of them are real, especially the initial ones. I used to talk to euros a lot and it always amazed me at how little they knew about the usa....and what they knew wasn't representative of us, or even true.
The ones who knew more about the usa could vouch for many of the feelings they had because they visited america. Invariably that meant they flew here, often to a resort or big city and did a vacation here. Fewer spent more time here and they mostly attended/visted a university town.
Some observations from me:
They are small populations living a mostly urban life, so the size, the expanse, of the lower 48 is quite the shock to them. They think you can drive from ny to ca in a day for example.
I didn't know air conditioning is a luxury item there. And apparently ice cubes.
Their stores must be small, like in the downtown urban nyc for example as they are stuck in size by when they were built.
The urban v. rural divide in the usa is even more striking through their eyes. This relates to sizing and distances where they live vs here.
Something a lot of people say is, "if you want to know america and americans, drive across it". I think that's true, but also will add to don't take the interstates. A lot of europeans who do that, take the old Route 66. Touristy and also dates their cultural exposure to the us.
Talking to euros over the last 3 decades, they had/have no idea how out govt works, meaning the structure of federalism and states. They were befuddled at how a city/state can just do things seemingly on their own and "the usa government couldn't do much about it".
All in all, amusing to watch. And I'm glad they are getting exposure to the usa directly, rather than through filters.
The ones who knew more about the usa could vouch for many of the feelings they had because they visited america. Invariably that meant they flew here, often to a resort or big city and did a vacation here. Fewer spent more time here and they mostly attended/visted a university town.
Some observations from me:
They are small populations living a mostly urban life, so the size, the expanse, of the lower 48 is quite the shock to them. They think you can drive from ny to ca in a day for example.
I didn't know air conditioning is a luxury item there. And apparently ice cubes.
Their stores must be small, like in the downtown urban nyc for example as they are stuck in size by when they were built.
The urban v. rural divide in the usa is even more striking through their eyes. This relates to sizing and distances where they live vs here.
Something a lot of people say is, "if you want to know america and americans, drive across it". I think that's true, but also will add to don't take the interstates. A lot of europeans who do that, take the old Route 66. Touristy and also dates their cultural exposure to the us.
Talking to euros over the last 3 decades, they had/have no idea how out govt works, meaning the structure of federalism and states. They were befuddled at how a city/state can just do things seemingly on their own and "the usa government couldn't do much about it".
All in all, amusing to watch. And I'm glad they are getting exposure to the usa directly, rather than through filters.
