Any non-Americans living/lived in America that dislike American behaviour?

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Leafsfan29 is on the 1st tee

Having lived in the US for 5 years (I'm Canadian and have also spent time in England (Leeds) and Australia (Canberra)), your criticisms have some validity, but are somewhat institutional.

America is slowly becoming an island into itself. As such, Americans are somewhat inward looking, which explains your first few points. When you get them out of their native environment for any length of time, they do adapt. When you have a sliver of the population that actually has a valid passport and who travels abroad, it's easy to see why this is the case.

On the other hand, Americans do have (or least had) this unflappable optimism to the point of being annoying.

At the end of the day, every culture is different; I've come to learn that, in the main, people are generally well-meaning, and if you can look for the positives, it makes things a bit easier.

The eating habits, unfortunately, are tied to income levels, work habits, and poor urban planning and development.

The fast food/obesity epidemic is somewhat economic in nature, and also due to horrific planning and zoning; communities pretty much letting these fast food outlets come in en masse at the expense of local, fresh, and healthier alternatives.

William W

My God, you sound like a whiner. Have you ever made any attempt to understand any other culture? Have you lived any place besides New York and the UK? If you can't handle the cultural difference between NYC and London, do you think you could ever live and thrive in, say, Moscow, Madrid, Caracas, Jakarta, or Lagos? I don't think so.

Some of what you say is true, but true in the same way that ex-pats complain about the host culture in any part of the world. Believe it or not, lots of New Yorkers (and Tokyoites and Cairenes and...) in London will complain about
# 7: terrible British fashion sense
# 11: celebrity culture: Spice Girls, Beckham, etc
# 1:fakeness of manners (too formal and stiff)
# 12: inability to form close human contact
# 13 DOING, not just watching, too much violence (football hooligans, etc)

Of course, many of these would be one-sided, ignorant comments. And similar comments can and are routinely made by bilous ex-pats the world over.

You complain in #5 about cultural arrogance and ignorance, but that is exactly what you've done in this post. It's filled with ethocentric blather like "too soon", "too loud", "too informal". If you're a reserved (or repressed) middle-class English person, you will find many Americans too loud, but you'll have the same reaction to Italians, Brazilians, Arabs, Turks. That's your right but you show no awareness that there's no culture-free standard of the proper volume or appropriate degree of formality for a conversation. I imagine that you'd be a total bore and boor visiting, say, Egypt or Indonesia or France and would drone on about how these people didn't do "the right thing" at "the right time".

And in #5, I've had Brits try to educate me about American culture when they haven't been in the US for even 2 days. And I've had them try to educate me about Indian culture in the vilest racist manner and dismiss whatever I had to say even though I lived there 5 years, learned 2 languages to fluency, have 2 degrees from Indian universities (I happen to be white), and have made many friends in India.

Of course, I've also meant many people from the UK who are smart, funny, witty, and well informed. But then again, that tends to happen to me wherever I go, including the US and New York. I'm guessing you're the kind of person who feels that you only meet fools wherever you go. Maybe you should ask why that's so and look at yourself for the explanation.

You sound like a person singularly unsuited for living abroad or, I suspect, for even meeting people in our own country who happen to be from a different class or religion than your own. I suspect that if you return to London you will be much happier, and your colleagues in New York will be a lot happier. I'm not so sure that the good people of London, though, will be that much better off.

Sebastian

i think you are stereotyping way too much there.

My girlfriend is American and she is nothing like any of the things you have listed there, and neither are her friends

Also, just think about all the negative stereotypes there are of Britons (yob culture, binge drinking, Chavs). Some conform to those stereotypes, but the mass majority do not.

right now you are conforming to the whinging Brit, who has his head shoved so far up his own rear that he really can't see how arrogant he is, thinking that he and his culture are superior to others when in fact it's not.

it's just a different way of life, and i think you should respect that since you are in THEIR country, and if you don't like it, get out or just learn to live with it.

cubooh

I think you are focusing too much on the negatives. The more we focus on something, the worse it gets. I'm in the UK but have worked with Americans, sure they are different to us and I accept that, they have been brought up differently. Americans think we are too reserved. Live and let live or move back to the UK.

norcal gal

That is a biased opinion my friend. you mention that they try to educate you on British culture when they have only been there 2 days but you are a hypocrite because you haven't seen all of America or met anyone from any place besides NY. That city has it's own little world and I live in California and visited NY and I didn't like it either. So please refrain from making haste judgments. You wouldn't like me to go to England and do the same. I am thin and fit (workout)and would rather listen than talk about my self all day and have no bills besides living expenses. I listened to you rattle on putting down America. Well you are not a prisoner if you are so unhappy, I am sure England would love to have you back.

I'm sure the Americans that you speak so negatively of would be more than willing to help you pack your bags.

Rohn

I was born and raised in NYC. And if you don't like it here, go back to England.

marco l

eating habits? If the u.s has the worst eating habits it is closely followed by GB.

Carrie S

I lived in Houston Texas for 2 years and went to high school there. I found that the divide between the "have's" and the "have-not's" is much larger and that although they pretend not to be racist, they are far more racist than in the UK. They can't see the world outside the US. They'd ask where I was from. When I said Scotland they would ask if I slept in a castle or knew their uncle Bob. The news is so geared towards America that few Americans can tell you what is going on in the rest of the world. Most Americans are now convinced that it was the Iraqi's who rammed the World Trade Center instead of Afghanistan because of Bush's personal war. The few who venture to the UK are usually smart and open to new ideas but most Americans don't even own a passport. They can be very false. My mum would be invited round for "coffee" when she met someone new but when she turned up on their doorstep they looked surprised that she'd actually come without a formal invitation. Kids are brought up thinking that the sun shines out of their rear and are never told that things are not possible. Oh yes honey, of course you can be president, of course you can be a space explorer rather than - you're no good at math, better set your sights a little lower. That self confidence comes across as cockyness to us. They also have a really annoying habit of saying "like" after every other word.

stormibays

I'm an American and I should be offended but frankly, I see so much truth in this! It's always good to be knocked off your high horse. Although I try not to behave the way that you have described, I have noticed myself doing so at least for a few of rants. I am curious...are there any positives about American attitudes that you like?

Ben J

Uh... Can someone give this person a break... They are only going on what they have seen in the last 3 YEARS, which is quite a long time. I have an american uncle and yeah, he is the same as what this person has said. He is overweight, spends thousands of dollars on clothes, most of which are UGLY! He eats chocolate, lemonade all day. He thinks the world revolves around him... if someone is talking he will think your talking about him.

Cari

I completely agree with you. I live in London but recently the company that I work for was bought by an American company and therefore my office has been infiltrated by Americans.

I'm not sure that I agree that they're informal, but they certainly are too loud, and very fake. Don't even get me started about imposing views on others - we were a happily multi-cultural, multi-racial, multi-religious environment and at the same time didn't go out of our way to discuss issues related to this. Now the Americans have decided that we're somehow a Christian organisation. I am Christian and even I object to this - religion and the workplace should be separate.

You are right that they can't dress. White trainers, hello?!?! Also, so many of them are overweight and don't understand that overweight people need to dress to accommodate their shape, and can't just wear short skirts or whatever. I really don't like looking at their pasty white legs.

They certainly are ignorant about other cultures and think that they are always right. I work in recruitment and have had German candidates rejected by American managers for being too formal, or for formatting their CV wrong, or something like that. They can't accept that that is the culture in Germany - it's NOT wrong, it's just DIFFERENT.

I can't think of anything else to add; I think you've covered the list.

EDIT: Oh, and, you've only got to look at YA for proof that they think they are always right, and have no respect for other people's cultures. The number of times an American will correct the phrase that a British person uses and say "actually, you mean this ..." when in fact the British person has used what would be the correct term in Britain; it just might not be what they would say. Examples ...
- A British girl asked how she could get a "pay rise", and an American said "I think you mean a raise"
- A British person posted about "repossessed homes", and an American posted "I think you mean foreclosed homes"
- A British person posted about a "deposit" for buying a house, and an American replied "I think you mean a down-payment"
No, in each case the British person had posted exactly what they meant, and used the correct term as would be used in the UK. Americans, if you don't know the British phrase for something, then it's better not to comment at all than to "correct" people. Whose language is it anyway?!

Huggy B

My pet peeve. I have never yet met an American who can hold a knife and fork properly - it drives me insane.

They stab, jab then swap hands with their knife and fork and use the fork only to eat - and watching them cut up meat with a knife and fork is like watching someone with a frikkin sawblade...

Last time I was there - I swear the friggin immigration man had his hand out for a tip along with just about everyone else I have ever encountered in that country. After the fiasco at 13 different airports I have vowed NEVER to return there.

However, my American friends who have lived out of the states for well over 30 years - cringe themselves when they go back home to the US.

So its not just us Brits who spot the differences.
Mind you, there are many things about the UK which drive me crazy too. But at least they can hold a knife and fork properly.

At a high society dinner I was absolutely astounded watching all these beatifully dressed diners eating like cavemen and cavewomen - I cringed at their lack of manners and one guy actually drank the fingerbowl thinking it was nice lemon water to refresh his palate - he then looked around for a toothpick to pick the masticated meat out of his teeth!!!!!!! I kid you not!

Wish I had taped it! It was priceless!

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