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45 Non-Americans Confess The Strange Things They Assumed About Americans
Huge portion sizes, yellow school buses, giant pickup trucks, and people casually calling everyone “buddy.” If your brain instantly jumped to the USA while reading that, trust us; you’re definitely not alone. Most of us carry around a mental scrapbook of stereotypes about different countries, usually stitched together from movies, TV shows, random internet clips, and the occasional dramatic news headline. But as entertaining as those assumptions can be, they’re often wildly exaggerated… or just completely off the mark.
Speaking of which, someone online asked: “Non-Americans, what American stereotype that turned out not to be true shocked you the most?” And let’s just say, the answers delivered. From people expecting every American to look like they just walked off a Baywatch set, to genuinely believing everyone in the US is rolling in money, these responses are equal parts funny, baffling, and oddly relatable. Keep scrolling because some of these assumptions are about to give your idea of America a serious reality check.
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#1
My wife's family came to visit us in the US for the first time, and they were noticeably disappointed by the lack of cowboys. They genuinely thought that my wife and I were like the academic exception, and that basically everyone else was cowboys.
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#2
When some of my family first visited here, I took them on a several state tour so they could experience a bit of variation in culture and scenery.
They were most surprised that it wasn't mostly huge cities. They expected a lot more of NYC and a lot less of rural towns with no stop lights.
#3
Middle class apartments aren't as big as what sitcoms tend to portray :(.
The USA is often referred to as the “land of opportunity,” a place many people associate with big dreams, bigger ambitions, and the idea that anything is possible if you work hard enough. It’s a country that has drawn immigrants, entrepreneurs, students, and hopeful adventurers for generations. But like every nation, America also comes with its own wonderfully confusing quirks that leave outsiders scratching their heads.
Take the date format, for example. The U.S. is one of the few places that write the month before the day in numerical dates. So while most of the world sees 07/09 and thinks 7 September, Americans casually read it as July 9; it’s the kind of thing that can leave international travelers double-checking their flight bookings and silently wondering if they’ve just missed their trip by two months.
#4
The egoistic, awful mean people you are supposed to be. You aren't. I went though 19 states in my last roadtrip and I didn't find anyone who was a mean jerk. Quite the opposite.
#5
Well I'm American from California and the school I go to has a lot of German, Swedish, and Norwegian students doing their semester abroad and I've gotten to know quite a lot of them.
Every new batch of these students, I hear the same thing: I didn't realize there were so many nonwhite people here!
Yep. California is majority Latino / Asian. I guess they watch a lot of TV and movies about this place and think it's all just a bunch of blonde surfer dudes and beach babes and it just really.....isn't.
#6
I have a roommate who went to study in US college for a semester in a exchange program......apparently, at least American students, are not as wealthy as they seem to be portrayed in media. A lot are fighting for pennies and eating ramen just like us poor bastards in Eastern Europe , not a much of difference.
America also holds onto certain systems that much of the rest of the world moved on from long ago. The biggest example? Measurement units. While most industrialized nations use the metric system, the U.S. continues to rely on inches, feet, pounds, and gallons for daily life. So while much of the world is comfortably calculating in centimeters and liters, Americans are out here discussing temperatures in Fahrenheit and trying to explain what a quarter-pounder actually weighs.
#7
That Americans in America are so much nicer than tourist Americans. I’ve had way too many run ins with obnoxious backpackers overseas or home in Australia. But the Americans in America are so nice even the ones living here are great.
Michael Largey 1 hour ago
Money is the correlation between being a tourist and being annoying.
#8
Not everyone is fat. A lot of fat people, but less than I thought.
London Paris 15 hours ago
Gotta admit, the first time I went to the U.S, I WAS expecting a lot more obesity but what I DID see was a distressing amount of homelessness.
#9
Fast food restaurants like McDs and KFCs are considered "low class".
when kfc and pizzahut came to my country it was in rich area, was buzz of the town and there was long lines for months.
David Paterson 17 hours ago
I was shocked by the "do not buy food from a fast food chain in NY". I tried it and learnt the hard way that they were right.
Then there are the traditions that sound almost too bizarre to be true, like the annual Presidential Turkey Pardon. Every year before Thanksgiving, the sitting U.S. President participates in a lighthearted White House ceremony where selected turkeys are officially “pardoned” and spared from becoming someone’s holiday dinner. Instead of ending up on a plate, these birds are sent off to agricultural universities or sanctuaries to live out the rest of their unusually famous lives. It’s one of those uniquely American traditions that somehow manages to be both absurd and oddly wholesome at the same time.
#10
Ι didn't eat as many good burgers as I expected to. I thought being in the country that invented fast food, it'd taste good too. Of course there were higher end restaurants that had great food in the US.
unfilteredCigarette73 8 hours ago
If you want good "American-style fast food" skip the chains and go to a roadside diner or a real BBQ joint, the fast food chains are just cheap nasty imitations of that stuff
#11
I have a lot of family in France and when my cousin came to visit she was surprised that yellow school buses were an actual common thing. She thought it was just in the movies.
#12
My female Japanese exchange student friends were all disappointed that American men normally aren’t as hot as American TV Drama stars.
In the U.S., school sports are far more than just a pastime; they are the heartbeat of the community. Every year, more than 8 million students participate in high school sports across the U.S., making it a huge part of school culture. For many Americans, these games are about more than supporting the local team; they’re a chance to watch future professional stars rise, since pathways to leagues like the NFL and NBA often begin through college athletics.
With higher education costs being so high, sports can also offer valuable scholarship opportunities, which is why some families start their children in competitive programs at a very young age. It’s this mix of ambition, opportunity, and community pride that makes school sports feel like far more than just an after-school activity.
#14
I don't know if it was so much as a stereotype or just my expectation but I thought they'd be a lot more people driving American muscle cars than there were.
panther 7 hours ago
Considering the value of muscle cars, and how much insurance is, people wait until the weekend or when the weather is nice.
Laszlo Larthlanc 6 hours ago
They also get about 6 or 7 miles to the gallon, or at least that's how it seems if you own one.
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DeoManus Argentem 4 hours ago
"Muscle cars" haven't been truly made since the mid 1970s. Thus, if they're still running they're valuable - many extremely valuable. Yeah, I'd be disappointed too - they're awesome!
#15
My Brit housemate was convinced we all ate spray cheese on crackers all the time.
Then there’s the shopping experience, which can catch many visitors completely off guard. In most countries, the price you see on a shelf is the exact amount you pay. Simple. Clean. No surprises. In the U.S., though, what you see is often not what you get. Sales tax is usually added only at checkout, and because that tax varies by city and state, the final total can change depending on where you are. For international visitors, this often leads to that awkward little pause at the register where your brain does a quick “wait…that’s not the number I saw.”
#16
The meals, while definitely large, were not nearly as gigantic as I had been expecting. I was actually a little disappointed, as I love American food and was expecting portion sizes to be double what I was used to. Turns out the meals were only slightly larger than average, just covered in grease and sugar.
David Paterson 17 hours ago
I found them to be smaller than the typical Australian meal, to be honest.
#17
My then (German) girlfriend’s family and I went across the east coast. Along the way, I asked them the same question, and her father told me that he expected WAY more fast food chains. He thought most of us were fat.
And ketchup. He expected us to put ketchup on everything.
Literally. Everything.
Ye Olde Dirty Grumpy 7 hours ago
The Brits call ketchup tomato sauce, which isnt entirely wrong
#18
As a young child I lived in the US long enough to learn english and speak it without an accent, then went back to live in South America. Fast forward 12 years I came to the US for college and have lived here since.
My only experience of American culture was TV in movies during my formative years since I'd left, and as a result I cursed quite liberally.
I didn't realize that it's not appropriate to drop F-bombs every other sentence. The embarrassment is only aggravated by the fact that I'm white and speak with no accent; with foreigners who look foreign they get a pass for being quirky, but I was just assumed to be a pottymouth jerk.
Bob Brooce 17 hours ago
If you tell them it's a habit you picked up in the navy they'll have a different attitude and many will thank you for your service. One stereotype that has some truth to it is swearing like a sailor.
One of the more surprising legal quirks is that the U.S. is one of only two countries in the world, alongside New Zealand, that allows pharmaceutical companies to advertise prescription medications directly to the public on television. That means American viewers are used to seeing cheerful commercials where smiling people frolic through fields while a soothing voice casually lists side effects that somehow sound scarier than the illness itself. For outsiders, it can feel surreal.
#19
How polite everyone was... Right up until someone in authority tells them they can't get into somewhere without queuing to buy a ticket. I have never seen so many people spontaneously falling deaf or shouting that they don't understand while walking further in.
But otherwise really polite. I was incredibly thrown by instances of someone bumping into me and getting apologies instead of just continuing on.
Laura Gillette 1 hour ago
I think the queueing thing must be regional, because as an American, I was shocked when I traveled in Italy and no one there knew how to line up for anything. In DC, the expectation is to wait for all the people to get off the metro car before the people getting on start going in, and we at least form semi-lines, and don't try to squeeze past someone in front of you. In Italy, getting on and off public transportation was like... if you don't throw elbows, you're not going to get where you need to go. Also, my friends who were Catholic and went to Mass told me that when people went up for communion, there was just a mad rush-and-mob to the front. They said at home in the US, people go up pew by pew, and line up quietly, so they were pretty shook to see the different behavior.
#20
The major thing for me was the degree of poverty and homelessness I saw. They don't show that in the movies (generally), and it's pretty bad.
Geoffrey Scott 11 hours ago
C'mon up to central Michigan. Even in the larger towns, the amount of folks on SNAP and Medicaid is the rule.
#21
My wife came to the US from the Philippines and she didn't like it much. Americans keep to themselves, whereas in PH they walk the streets to talk to their neighbors and relatives every day. If I had to say what she was most surprised at, it would be that we can drive so fast with the A/C on in the car and not get car sick. In the PH, the roads are completely unpredictable. You'll have a nice stretch of road and then out of nowhere there's broken concrete that will destroy your car, so 50 mph is breakneck speed. The transport vans and buses go fast/slow/fast/swerve/hard brake/fast. It would destroy anyone's stomach. In the US, I'm driving 90 mph on the freeway and she's perfectly comfortable. How fast we going? Oh about 145 kph. Oh my God!
I think the biggest misconception of Americans is that everyone wants to go there. Just like anywhere, it's not for everyone. I left because I was tired of spending 85% of my income just on living expenses. Here in PH, I spend about 15% and work less hours.
#22
My aunt was devastated when she learned that not all of arizona looks like monument valley and there are no ostrich sized road runners that go meep meep
Edit: Also coyotes run faster than road runners.
David Paterson 17 hours ago
Little known outside the USA, the actual call of the roadrunner resembles the sound of a dying puppy. Not meep meep.
Beyond the Hollywood stereotypes, oversized food portions, and dramatic movie-style high school experiences, the United States is filled with cultural habits, legal oddities, and local traditions that make it uniquely fascinating. It’s a place where modern innovation sits side by side with long-standing customs, where convenience often wins, and where regional differences can make one state feel completely different from another. That blend of familiar and unexpected is part of what makes America such a constant topic of curiosity.
#23
Foreign students thought that people in LA run into celebrities all the time.
Laszlo Larthlanc 6 hours ago
Depending on what part of L.A. you live and work in, it sure happens a lot more than it does other places, especially if you work in retail or a delivery service.
#24
I was shocked that frat parties and frats/sororities in general were real (and how movies portray them aren’t far from reality).
#25
I went to New York, having read that Newyorkers are the coldest and rudest type of Americans. Went there, was pleasantly surprised how nice everyone was. Disclaimer: am from Estonia.
#26
My mom was shocked and horrified when she came to the US and found out that not everyone looked like the people in Baywatch.
Her nightmare turned worse when we went to a taco bell and she saw a B I G woman who needed two chairs.
Poor woman.
Luke || Kira (he/she) 9 hours ago
Must've had an amazing life when the biggest trauma she's ever gone through was seeing a fat person
And while many of these quirks are very real, these posts remind us just how many assumptions people make about the country before actually experiencing it. Some stereotypes are exaggerated, some are hilariously inaccurate, and a few turn out to be surprisingly true. Be honest—did you believe any of these, too? And if you’ve got your own assumptions or funny misconceptions about the U.S., go ahead and share them. We’re curious to hear what America looks like from your side of the screen.
#27
I always envied the American school system, where you study many subjects broadly until your second year of university, as opposed to specializing starting in your mid teenage years. I love learning and always wanted to keep up with, say, literature and history, while I was studying my math and science. This American system was presented to me as a pride of the nation, and one that would produce a culture of broadly educated polymaths with an appreciation for many topics outside of their few main interests. Turns out that, somehow, the opposite is the case.
#28
My wife took pictures of the Great Plains on our first road trip to show her dad that America can be boring.
Brian Droste 1 hour ago
Imhad an American friend that lived in Arizona. He moved to Indiana. He couldn't believe how everything green was here in Indiana. He even took pictures to send back to his friends back in Arizona.
#29
Not really a stereotype, but I was genuinely surprised at how beautiful a lot of the country is. Most of the cities aren’t so nice and pretty much met my expectations, but there are some truly stunning natural landscapes in the parts of the US that I visited, which was mostly west of Texas and up to South Dakota.
I was also kind of surprised that hardly anyone drives enormous “land yacht” sedans anymore; everyone just drives enormous trucks and SUVs.
Duane Ringlein 7 hours ago
I live in the mountains of North Carolina, I have a small SUV with 4-wheel drive, a regular sedan just doesn't get up the road to where I live during snow storms or icy conditions. But this area is beautiful and will never go back to living in the city.
#30
Not really shocked, but at Oktoberfest in Munich I hung out with some unconnected american tourists and was surprised to find the guy from Washington (state) was a hardcore pro Romney/Palin conservative and the two from Louisiana were really chilled out liberals. The impression I'd always had was of a more total north/south political divide, and as it turns out American politics is a little more complex than I'd given it credit for. Not much, but a little.
Geoffrey Scott 11 hours ago
I hate to say, Romney would've been an improvement. Palin? one step below JD. I can say as a 63yo, the majority of people are right d**d in the center. dismayed by the right AND the left.
#31
Canadian here. First time I flew out of an American airport, I expected the worst from the TSA. Turned out they’re basically the same as all airport security I’ve encountered.
Bruce Mardle 16 hours ago
When I visited the US (in '93) the immigration officer asked me if I had a criminal record. I said "no". He said "no?!". I managed to resist the urge to say "I'm sorry; I didn't know I needed one" 😁
#32
Exchange students from Spain were shocked that American high school was nothing like what's shown in TV/movies.
Loosey Goosey 1 hour ago (edited)
I badly wanted to go to an American high school when I was a teenager. I always thought US high schools are so much cooler than UK schools. No uniform, huge lockers, homecoming, spring break, cheerleaders, pep rallies ( I didn't know what a pep rally was, but it sounded fun). We only started having proms in the UK about 20 years ago because US shows made then look amazing.
#33
Well, I was little so I didn't know too much when I cam here, but I expected pink skinned redneck racists screaming at me for being brown, and big dirty cities, and all the "this is the actual real American dream, there aren't picket fences everywhere" scenarios.
I was surprised when everyone was naturally nice, the cities were big, but not as crowded as I expected, and I almost never had any "racist" experience. Years later my aunt came to visit from London and had similar expectations of the place, but after her trip finished her perception of the US changed and wanted to come back here when she could. Intrestingly enough, I experienced all the stuff I had originally thought I would have to deal with in the USA when I traveled to Europe.
Oh, and guns! I had a pretty bad view on guns before I used one. I don't exactly "love" guns now, but I find them cool and interesting.
#34
I thought the movies depicted fake characters. Women do not twerk on the streets in Miami, noone has big blonde extensions, heels and fake lashes, people don't sleep in masses on the streets.
To my surprise, these people weren't movie characters these are actually real people.
Lady Eowyn 9 hours ago
Depends entirely on where you are. I'm in the US and have never seen any "real people" like this.
#35
I was expecting to see a lot more radical right wing people sporting MAGA caps but the only people I saw wearing them were teenagers, probably ironically.
#36
That everything was great and first world, your public transport is bad and your cities are really spread out, how was I supposed to move around.
Lady Eowyn 9 hours ago
I am really sick of everyone who comments on how things are spread out. Learn a little about the country you are going to. America is big. Get over it.
#37
I came as an exchange student, was expecting the football players and cheerleaders to be the most popular people in school.... They weren't, it was the special orchestra and choir kids the ones that everyone loved. Plot twist.. I ended up marrying one of them.
#38
The education. I'm suprised that American students are allowed to express their thoughts and opinions although their opinions may not match to the teachers/professors. Also math is divided into small classes which is specialized in a specific of field, such as Linear Algebra, AP caculus and so on. It's completely different to my country.
Lady Eowyn 9 hours ago
I would have hated to be in a school where discussion was not allowed. I had a couple of classes like that in university - mostly required ones - and it was boring as hell simply to be talked at. i learned a lot more in classes where the teachers/professors interacted with their students.
#39
American's aren't as obsessed with doughnuts, hotdogs and burgers as I thought they were. Visited San Francisco on holiday and expected to find stands/stalls for fast food everwhere - it was actually quite hard to find a doughnut place!
DowntownStevieB 2 hours ago
Love SF! I'm from the other side of the US, and it's a very different lifestyle there then it is here. Not saying my state is bad, I love it. It's just a different coastal vibe.
#40
I was hoping that southern accents would be more 'redneck'y. But most of them just had a very faint hint of it.
Roman Arendt 14 hours ago (edited)
In my experience, people with (strong) accents or dialects tend to switch to the "high" language when in company of people who don't have that accent. And that's quite helpful sometimes. I wouldn't understand maybe half of sth a Swabian for example says if he wouldn't tune down his accent (for my sake) and vice versa.
#41
I was sad when I walked out of the airport and there wasn't some sort of fight everywhere I went.
Roman Arendt 14 hours ago
Just go to any Waffle House or to the new South Lawn of the White House in June.
#42
As someone from the uk who moved to u.s., as a kid i thought school would be interesting there like from disney... i was dumb
I moved to a rural area and was bored as anything because everything was so far away.
Geoffrey Scott 11 hours ago
Rural areas ARE boring, but, the peace and quiet are worth the 1/2 hour drive to a big box store.
#43
My husband is from the Philippines. He was shocked when he came here and found that Americans typically eat with either a spoon or a fork, not both at the same time as is common there. He'd thought that his country got that from us. He still sometimes shakes his head at our inefficient utensil habits.
...And I gotta admit, he's right. Fork in one hand and spoon in the other is really useful for many foods.
#44
Family comes from the UK to visit us in Atlanta and are visibly surprised to find no theme parks or “international blvd” like stripe of bars and entertainment.
Ended up taking them to Dollywood a few times. I think that’s a culture shock for most Americans, not just foreigners though.
#45
When I saw a news broadcast in American films I always assumed it was exaggerated. I went to america and i was surprised to see that that's how American tv really is.
What do you think ?
David Paterson 17 hours ago
Biggest surprise was rocky mountains Colorado. I was expecting scenery, wildlife. I wasn't expecting bumper to bumper traffic crawling at 10 mph, while my fuel empty light was on. No scenery or wildlife, just the back of the big vehicle ahead.
Bored Jellyfish 7 hours ago
Most tourists only want to drive through the parks. You have to get away from roads and do a little hiking. Colorado has so many beautiful trails with amazing scenery and wildlife- even some short ones for those who are feeling the altitude.
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Sam Trudeau 7 hours ago
As a Canadian, I also was expecting it to be more like Fallout. Not like "completely destroyed", but with less land and more cities, I thought it'd be more like closer cities
Peeka_Mimi 1 hour ago (edited)
When were you here? Now the Denver Metro is really the Denver Metro. Hop on I25 South from FoCo and you'll be in the city pretty much until Pueblo.
Load More Replies... David Paterson 17 hours ago
Biggest surprise was rocky mountains Colorado. I was expecting scenery, wildlife. I wasn't expecting bumper to bumper traffic crawling at 10 mph, while my fuel empty light was on. No scenery or wildlife, just the back of the big vehicle ahead.
Bored Jellyfish 7 hours ago
Most tourists only want to drive through the parks. You have to get away from roads and do a little hiking. Colorado has so many beautiful trails with amazing scenery and wildlife- even some short ones for those who are feeling the altitude.
Load More Replies... Sam Trudeau 7 hours ago
As a Canadian, I also was expecting it to be more like Fallout. Not like "completely destroyed", but with less land and more cities, I thought it'd be more like closer cities
Peeka_Mimi 1 hour ago (edited)
When were you here? Now the Denver Metro is really the Denver Metro. Hop on I25 South from FoCo and you'll be in the city pretty much until Pueblo.
Load More Replies...
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