5 More Things Europeans Think About Americans

When you put yourself out there to be judged, you will be judged. The United States of America is the current superpower of the world, one of the number one destinations for immigrants, and as a consequence, one of the most critically-judged countries in the world. The rest of the world has a love-hate relationship with the States, recognizing both the good and the bad. Politics are one thing, and luckily Americans are not blamed for every decision the U.S. government makes that the rest of the world doesn’t like. However, Americans are still internationally criticized because of certain common behaviors seen throughout the country. Following is the continued list of American behaviors that seem to baffle foreigners. For the first part of the list, please refer to my article, “10 Things Europeans Think About Americans.”

1) Americans have strange and unhealthy eating habits. As a nation, we do not make the effort to portray ourselves as healthy eaters. In fact, according to Europeans, America actually encourages bad eating habits through marketing advertisements and television shows that manipulate consumers into thinking that being overweight is natural and healthy. Some Americans use this false information as an excuse to keep eating bad food. The doctor’s opinion logically comes in second place to health advice distributed through television. Bad eating habits even extend beyond those who are overweight. Thin Americans can be seen just as often eating fast food, a bag of chips, or devouring oversized portions. That’s one side to the phenomenon of America’s odd eating habits; the other side is that Americans eat strange food combinations.

There are too many bizarre American food combinations to list, but here are a few popular ones in the U.S. that would fail in other parts of the world: Nacho cheese with Nutter Butter bars, chips on sandwiches, fried chicken with waffles, chili dogs, macaroni and cheese burgers, fried ice cream, and cream cheese with hot Cheetos. And they say Americans have no imagination when it comes to cuisine!

2) Americans are violent, crazy, gun-slinging mass murderers. This is something I hear a lot as an American living abroad. I am often asked, “So how many guns do you own?” My response that I have neither owned nor touched a gun in my life seems to surprise people. The other questions include, “Why is there so much gun violence?” “Why are there so many school shootings?” The answer to all of these questions is, “I don’t know, people that violent must suffer from an array of mental illnesses.” Compared to other First World Nations, Americans are extremely violent. This sickness that plagues the U.S. is a serious problem, and I hope that one day as an American I can feel safe walking down the street by myself without the fear of being shot, robbed, raped, abducted, or otherwise harassed. There is danger everywhere, but I personally feel safer in most parts of Europe.

3) Americans are obsessively religious. I can understand this criticism because I have the same opinion. I believe people should be free to worship how they want, when they want, and where they want. As long as they are following the law, and not harming themselves or others, then it is their choice. Some religious Americans cannot live with the fact that there are other religions and ways of living. You can see them knocking on doors, protesting outside of concerts and on the streets of Las Vegas. According to them, everyone is going to “hell” unless you believe exactly what they believe, and live exactly the way they live. In Europe, there are a lot of devoted religious followers, but they feel secure enough with their choices and beliefs that they do not have to harass others into thinking the same way. Help and guide those who ask for it, otherwise please respect the rights of others to think for themselves.

4) Americans are too punctual. If this sounds hard to understand, that’s because it is. I personally think that there should be few exceptions to being late, especially in professional settings. Some Europeans think Americans take being on time to an extreme. They agree (although not always in practice) that one should be on time to a meeting, interview, or otherwise work-related rendezvous. When it comes to everything else though, they tend to be anywhere from five minutes late to a few hours late. The fact that being late might cause problems in someone else’s schedule doesn’t occur to them. When you express irritation at their tardiness, you are often met with a rebuttal that will make you appear to be the one in the wrong. Europeans take the saying “Take the time to stop and smell the roses” quite literally.

5) In the beginning Americans are very friendly, but then they disappear. Here is a common complaint that I hear from French people. In the States, people are very welcoming to foreigners: we show interest in their language, country, and culture. We show them around, invite them to eat, go to the movies, introduce them to our friends, but then we sort of lose contact with them. This is because Americans generally do not have a lot of time to sit around talking about the weather, whereas the French enjoy nothing better than to sit around for hours over coffee or wine talking about anything and everything that is irrelevant to actual life. Once Americans understand that the foreigner is not satisfied with meeting up once every week or two, they politely disengage themselves from the friendship. The French are not looking for someone to talk to now and then, they are looking for life-long friends. Americans do not have the time to be life-long friends with every interesting person they meet. Word of advice: make it clear from the beginning that you are not looking for a best friend, because the foreigner may be expecting just that.

Annoying other cultures is inevitable, just as it is impossible not to be annoyed by other cultures in return. These annoyances are just cultural differences, and should be treated as such. Certain American behaviors that bother other nations are easy to understand, such as the overwhelming amount of violence. Then there are American attributes such as punctuality and smiling too much that could only be seen as bothersome from a foreigner’s perspective. No hard feelings, we all have negative and positive traits that make our countries what they are.

Jacqueline Perrier-Gillette is currently a resident of Paris, France, where she lives with her husband. Together the two of them operate their small translation company, giving Jacqueline the opportunity to observe the French and their culture up close. She is an avid reader, writer, and student of foreign languages.

By Jacqueline Perrier-Gillette