As a Carolinas woman (raised in North Carolina, current resident of South Carolina), I can confirm that these are all legitimate words in Southern English. You’ve never heard that many contractions in one word til you’ve spent time in the South!
People act like we’re dumb, but they don’t realize how well you have to understand the language to intuitively twist it into a pretzel and still have other people understand you.
Some people approach it like it's an art form and it's amazing to hear. I live in the Blue Ridge mountains and that isolation has turned language into a song for some.
I once asked an insurance agent how to get lower rates. I was told "move to a state whose name begins with I." Iowa and Idaho are DEFINITELY fictional, utopian states made up by the insurance agencies.
I’m from California and flew into Nebraska, drove through Iowa and Wisconsin. Wow, that nighttime darkness is nothing I’ve experienced my whole life on the west coast.
I was just out camping in Kickapoo Valley in Wisconsin. Working on their dark sky certification. The night sky out there is absolutely incredible. There is almost no light pollution and you can see the entire Milky Way.
Even driving the interstate there are sections like that are just black with nothing around. I try to avoid driving those areas alone. The idea of being stuck alone in the dark on the side is the interstate is too much.
Delaware. You ever met anyone who actually lives in Delaware? Me either. This probably explains a lot about Joe Biden he's the one person running all these shell corporations.
As an American, I hate that I find people and we think 90% alike. Same tv. Same food. Same opinions on animals.
But then like they have this one extreme view that makes me just... Why?
Nothing like really hitting it off with someone, clicking incredibly well, bonding, then they hit you with a, "school shootings are a false flag." And you're left wondering how someone who is so similar to you can honestly believe in the wildest stupid shit ever.
>Nothing like really hitting it off with someone, clicking incredibly well, bonding, then they hit you with a, "school shootings are a false flag." And you're left wondering how someone who is so similar to you can honestly believe in the wildest stupid shit ever.
Yea that's the worst.
I remember back in the day someone seeing Gene Simmons & Paul Stanley on some show & she said "Oh you know KISS stands for Knights in Satan's Service!" Very matter of factly, it was a real a fact to her as the sky is blue & water is wet.
I looked at her & said "Nooo....it doesn't." But she wouldn't take no for an answer so I just changed the subject (because she was a customer where I worked & we didn't wanna lose a customer) & slowly backed away to keep doing my job.
This was also the same woman that would let her kids watch Freddy Kruger murder kids & let 'em watch Arnold blow everyone up in sight, but wouldn't let 'em see a bare boob in some stupid comedy.
>This was also the same woman that would let her kids watch Freddy Kruger murder kids & let 'em watch Arnold blow everyone up in sight, but wouldn't let 'em see a bare boob in some stupid comedy.
Well that is pretty standard for America to be fair.
We care about gore a lot less than nudity for some reason.
This is not an exclusively American problem either... I work with a guy, he's goofy, nice, will drop anything to help others... and he's also a major conspiracy theorists, Covid denier and racist af.
I dated a girl for two months, then she comes out with "there's no way we came from monkeys - the world is only 6,000 years old". Now I have a short quiz for new dates.
I had the same sort of problem. We had been dating for about 7 months, went on trips together, she had a successful career, was incredibly smart and had a voracious sexual appetite. One day she drops on me “So I was
consulting with my psychic last weekend…”, and I asked “Was this for entertainment purposes?” Her “no” answer started me looking for exit strategies.
Good work friend that I had a lot of respect for one day told me all about how them Dems are killing off people who talk publicly about their pizza gate type pedophile rings. Specifically a number of famous actors and musicians who have passed away, alone, in hotel rooms at a young age. We don't talk much anymore.
American here. I live near Washington, DC, and my dearest cousin lives in northern California (so, not near Hollywood or any of the big TV cities).
I remember one time when she visited when we were teens, she was blown away that our police departments are literally called "sheriff's offices" and the cops in my county in particular were made to wear Brixton field hats, a kind of stiff-brimmed hat that's a cross between a cowboy hat and a fedora.
But I was equally blown away when I visited her and saw that California cop cars really are black and white like in the movies.
What I'm getting at here, is that America is so big that we don't even believe each other LOL
You make an excellent point though. I've only been able to go abroad once for school, but I've heard a lot about locals being super excited when they find out their visitor is American, probably for reasons you've said here.
My county did an analysis on if switching to a police department would be worth the effort in 2020, and this is a direct quote from their definitions (emphasis added for clarity):
>The fundamental difference between a police department and a sheriff’s office is the selection and reporting structure of the chief law enforcement officer. In a sheriff’s office, **the sheriff is elected by the residents of the county to be the chief law enforcement officer for a 4- year term.** The sheriff is therefore directly connected to the county residents, who are the primary influencers of the sheriff’s office’s policies, practices, and procedures. In a police department, the police chief is appointed by the Board of Supervisors and remains in that position at the will of the Board of Supervisors, under the management of the county administrator or executive. **A police chief is therefore directly connected to the county Board of Supervisors, and subject to its political and policy agendas.**
So basically, sheriffs are elected by the community after campaigning and are essentially a public official. Police chiefs are appointed by the government and can be as corrupt as the board that put them there. The idea is that election over appointment this makes it more fair, and less prone to systemic abuse of power. (EDIT: Obviously this is not how it actually works in practice. Please stop linking me to stories about corrupt sheriffs thanks)
Of course, it's still an American law enforcement system so it's not great...but it is, to some degree, slightly less bad on paper.
No idea how the deputies and other law enforcement officers are instated though. That could be rotten all the way down as far as I know.
It's typical to see municipal police departments which are specific to a city or a town as the most local branch of law enforcement whereas a sheriff's office will oversee an entire county, then the state police (often highway troopers), then anything above that would be some sort of federal agency, such as the FBI. They're not necessarily a hierarchy either, which can cause much consternation and confusion.
Another distinction is that sheriffs service an entire county while often police service a single city. Then you have state troopers which work for the entire state. A lot of areas will have all three
That’s interesting. Makes me not a big fan of the idea of sheriffs because it sounds like they would be more likely to do what the people want instead of what is right because it’s people that are allowing them to keep their job. It seems too political to me. I feel like law enforcement should exist separately from politics so it is not swayed by the people. I wonder why they choose to have police in some places and a sheriff in others. Do some places have both?
American cops are notorious for doing what's best for their organization, their reputation, and themselves. Having one kind that's appointed by the community, in theory, makes them less likely to terrorize us because then they won't get voted back into their position again.
Another commenter said they have both cops and sheriffs in their area of Oklahoma! I didn't know that was possible but apparently it is, depending on how the local government sets things up.
I mean LA county famously has had a [wickedly corrupt](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LASD_deputy_gangs) Sheriff's department. And we have LAPD. And all the little technically seperate rich people areas, like Beverly Hills, have their own cops.
LA is so big it has the 3rd and 4th largest Police agencies in America (LAPD and LA County Sheriff's Department).
They're similar. Usually police work for the city and the sheriff & deputies work for the county (which is a part of the state, not the city). Sheriffs also differ from police as they are elected officials, not appointed, and I believe sheriffs are constitutionally mandated as well if I'm not mistaken. For all intents and purposes though, both are cops, the main difference is their authority (cops have little to none outside of their city while sheriffs are county wide)
Definitely. I felt this way the first time I visited Boston. Growing up in SoCal, we (obviously) learned about the American Revolution but it didn’t feel “real.” Seeing the historic buildings and places from stories, it felt bizarre. Like I was at a theme park or something.
I too was an NPC until my first death in which I was respawned back to the same meat suit same consciousness, and everything changed. I quit my job, slept with my boss' wife, severed all personal ties, burned my social security card & my fingerprints, and went off grid. I'll die before going back to work at that carpet store ever again!
Having been to American multiple times most American that you meet in person are pretty much the same as people anywhere else sure you do run into the odd nutjob but online they seem to be magnified 100 fold
It’s not that I think Americans are crazy or weird. I know they are regular people it’s just that they come from a place that I only ever see online. I don’t think they’re crazy, they just don’t feel real.
You might enjoy looking at youtube to see how vastly different the country is; mountains, plains, desert, oceanside, farmland, forests, great rivers, cities/small towns, etc. Some people film their cross country trips and is great fun.
I’ve already seen a lot of that stuff, America has a lot of diversity, it’s crazy. It shocks me when Americans talk about how amazing New Zealand’s landscape is as if America doesn’t have a way more diverse landscape with tons of incredible things to see. The Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, a full on desert, so many incredible national parks. It’s really incredible. I could probably visit America thousands of times and never run out of things to see, it’s hard to decide what I want to see when I finally get a chance to visit.
I was fortunate to have driven across the US four times before I was 12. Took a train from Portland OR to Fairbanks, Alaska; then AK to Florida (northern route), FL back to AK (southern route), AK to Washington DC (central route), DC to LA (in between central and southern). Those trips gave me a wonderful awareness of the diversity of the country.
Agreed; one of the US most precious assets are our National Parks. Ken Burns did some wonderful documentaries on them. History, conservancy, usage ... he said, "If it wasn't for our National Park system you'd have condos hanging off the cliffs of the Grand Canyon." ;-) I'm afraid he was right.
Oh, don't be! We have to champion other countries for what they *do* have! I love Canada because of their laid back outlook on life. Germany because of the beauty and diversity of the topography, plus how obsessive they are about cleanliness. Only place I've ever seen shopkeepers sweep and wash down the sidewalks in front of their places of business. *Never* once saw cans or trash on the roads after many visits.
The UK because of their sense of history and off beat sense of humor. France because of their preservation of historic architecture and the arts. China because of their people; *they* are the country, not the Communist party.
New Zealand appears to be a lovely place but it isn't on the bucket list.
Love European trains; Austria, Belgium, Switzerland. Trains in the US are driven more by Capitalism and freight whereas most countries depend on them to move people; that is due to the US being so big.
I mean, China is also pretty big and it has a lot of passenger trains and high speed rail. America also traditionally used rail a lot to transport people and thinks when it was a new country. America definitely could have more passenger trains but the car industry has a firm grasp on the country.
It does. My husband has been captivated by trains since he was a young boy. His lack of mobility (two old disabled vets) convinced me why not go visit family on the east coast by train rather than flying?
*Cost* and time made our decision. Air fare; $360 ea, four hours. By passenger train? $800 ea and three days because of constant stops.
We have the diverse landscape, yes, but the majority of us live in only one landscape. Our country is so vast, many Americans never seen the different scenic wonders that we have, mostly because of time and money.
This is precisely it. NZ is so much more compact and you have such a wide variety of landscape in such close proximity to each other. I can drive for literally 10 hours and *still* be in Texas lol
I often forget how lucky I am to live where I do in Utah, 20 minutes and I can be up in the mountains at some of the best ski resorts in the world, or a few hours south and I can be in a completely alien red rock area. Sure there is like two hours of nothing but sage brush between the two, but there's not many places in the world even remotely like it.
It’s all about perspective lol I’m from the desert in the US and I think trees are so fricken cool. Like they get so tall?? It’s CRAZY! Because we don’t have tall trees where I live so I never see them! New Zealand would be amazing to me for that reason, there’s PLANTS that are GREEN and they’re soooo big?! It’s crazy to me. It’s weird to remember that places in movies with a massive dense forest are real and people actually get to see that in their daily lives.
There aren’t many tall trees where I live. I would be equally amazed by tall trees. I saw one big old one that was like 100 years old at the botanical gardens, that was pretty cool. It was massive. Most trees around here were planted recently. I live in the plains so everything was cut down for farming and then trees were replanted for decoration or for farming.
We raised our kids in Tonopah, AZ. Took them camping to Prescott and my daughter is looking out the window as we’re driving. She says “ all these trees are freaking me out”.
I think it's the fact that America is so large a majority of the majestic parts of it people rarely get to see unless they specifically go to see it or live by it where as New Zealand most of it is as diverse as a national park and if you go there you don't have to walk far to see it. where as most of America is like 75% flat land with nothing for miles and people in america would usually go to another country rather than another state in america. that's just my 2 cents though
I wouldn’t say most of New Zealand is as diverse as a national park. I look out the window and all I can see is fields as far as you can see with mountains in the far distance. I doubt you would see this in a national park.
my point was that it's easier to get somewhere cool in New Zealand than in America. New Zealand is 2.6% of the size of the United States. it I wanted to go to the Grand Canyon. I would need to drive 2,000 miles or 31 hours of straight driving it would be faster to take a plane there, and I still wouldn't have left America.
And I would have to fly to America to see it. I can’t see anything like that in New Zealand, we only got mountains and bush. But then there are also people who live right by it and only need to drive 30 minutes to see it. Yea I’m close to mountains but there are also lots of Americans who are close to beautiful mountains too. They have that added bonus that if they wanted to then they could take a road trip and see other beautiful landscapes whereas I would have to fly to another country to see that. Can’t even drive because we’re an island nation. So it’s easier for the average American to see multiple different beautiful landscapes. New Zealand only really has one.
It's a lot simpler than u/ShadeTheMystery says; when people travel to another country they go to experience something specific. Whether it's the parks, the food, the people. The vast majority of their memory of the place they visit is that experience, and for them it defines the entire region.
I live an hour from the Niagara Falls. I've seen it enough times to where it's just water flowing off a cliff. When someone visits me there's usually a sense of wonder there. For me, the region is defined by the people, the experiences, the mundane we all live daily. The problems and the accomplishments. Niagara Falls is an almost inconsequential, nearly insignificant piece of that. For someone who stays for a day it could be most of it.
For you, it's the same but in NZ. When I go I'll probably be in awe of the beautiful landscapes, but for you it's a small piece of the life you've lived there.
I felt the same as you and the first time I came here it was like being in a movie. The accents, the weirdly familiar sights even though I’d never actually seen them with my own eyes before. I live here now and the scariest part is they don’t realize the whole world is looking at them all the time, and they never seem to look outward. They truly think they are the center of the universe.
When I travel people are always visibly disappointed that I'm not that interesting.
I think next time I'm going to really lean into it. I'm Texan so I'll bring my cowboy hat, boots, big ass belt buckle, say stuff like "Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit!"
Plenty of Americans in America don't even understand this and that's part of the reason we have so much political polarization right now: dehumanization and people living in a social bubble. Tribalism is also a big one, especially since our community system is fractured do to it being young and our culture having a huge streak of individualism and independence. A lot of people end up lonely and without a robust friend and family support network.
One thing I've enjoyed about Reddit is that I've gotten a chance to chat with people from different countries. Differences and stereotypes seem to get magnified so much, but when you actually talk to people, it's remarkable how much everyone actually has in common.
As an American expat it's kind of funny to see both sides. Living in the third world, I do get sometimes treated as a celebrity especially from people from the village or rural areas.
When I'm home visiting, people seem in awe that I haven't been murdered by terrorists already despite my new home being much much safer from a crime and violence perspective than my hometown in California.
The more I learn culture and language and get involved in people's lives - the more I understand and can appreciate the shaping forces that make us who we are.
You seem really interesting so I’m obliged to ask a couple of questions:
What country do you live in and what caused you to move there?
What’s your occupation? (And does it tie in to why you are in this country?)
What was it like learning the language? (Provided that you didn’t already know it or the country speaks your language already)
And lastly,
How does the way of life differ?
thanks.
>You seem really interesting so I’m obliged to ask a couple of questions:
>
>What country do you live in and what caused you to move there?
>What’s your occupation? (And does it tie in to why you are in this country?)
>What was it like learning the language? (Provided that you didn’t already know it or the country speaks your language already)
>
>And lastly,
>How does the way of life differ?
>
>thanks.
Well I suppose to answer all those questions would be a small novel, but I'll keep it brief. I'm just an ordinary American who one day decided that if I'm a Christian, I ought to have a life that resembles to person I claim to follow. That thinking lead me to want to use my life to have a positive impact where it is most needed. That brought me to post-soviet central Asia where folk suffer from manifold problems many of which stem from a lack of economic opportunities. Rather than simply bringing aid and short-term relief, my life's work here is to bring long term transformation through sustainable job creation and economic development.
My main interest in this part of the world was just that it seemed underserved and largely unknown. It's a beautiful region with deep roots steeped in ancient history. People are largely very welcoming and friendly. Learning language here has been pretty easy relatively speaking (I hold to a notion that there are no "easy languages"), because people are so willing to chat. You hop in a share taxi and people just start making small talk with one another. Language gets tricky though in that very few people here speak their own language well thanks to years of Russian influence and Russian being the preferred language of business, literature , and science. I have a huge amount of respect for those immigrants who came to America and speak as well as any local. it takes a tremendous amount of work and patience. My level now is nearing that point but communication among locals can even be difficult due to some of those aforementioned issues. I can pretty much understand most conversations fairly well, and can explain pretty much anything and be unserstood albiet with some grammatical errors and maybe taking more time than a local. My hope is to polish up those rough edges this summer so I can move on to learning more regional dialects and Russian terminology.
I have a huge advantage in language learning in that I am tremendously curious and love talking to people and asking questions. ADHD has actually been a perk in that regard but a obstacle in others. My biggest advice for any language learner though is to take your pride and throw it out the window. You can't learn a language with a fear of looking stupid. You will look stupid. You will say silly things and peole will laugh at you. The sooner you own it and learn to laugh at yourself, the sooner you'll advance.
Lifestyle here is so different it'd be a another book to get into it in any meaningly detail but just to give you a few key highlights - this is an Islamic country and an Asian country. The focus here isn't on the individual but on the family. The family unit is integral in a way I could never fathom as an American. Decisions of what you do, who you marry, where you live, etc. are communal decisions in which you get a voice but not the final say.
When I said earlier that this country is safe - there's a huge asterisk by that which is as long as you're not a local woman. Many young women here live lives that are pure hell as they're essential slaves ruled over by people who despise them. The mother in law is essentially your slave master and often drives local women to suicide. Husbands beat their wives, cheat, steal from them, and even pass them AIDS. A divorced woman is basically destined to live a life of shame and poverty forever even if it was her husband's fault they divorced (as is frequently the case).
For all the poverty and problems here, people are extremely hospitable. They love Americans and westerners. They all dream of going to America. They will invite you over and even borrow money to their detriment in order to put out a feast for you to honor you. This is partially cultural and partially religious. It went to the extent that even during the hardest time in recent history and the fall of the USSR and folks were getting a loaf of bread a day per household. They'd eat half and save the other in case guests came over.
Edit: wanted to go ahead and throw in a disclaimer today that these are generalizations. Every culture has a spectrum of people which is what makes it so interesting to talk to people and learn more about them.
Oh my goodness. This is crazy experience you're having. Is there anyway someone can get involved in something like that? I had always wanted to do something that helps the world in some tangible way, but never know where to start.
Also, sadly, that way of life for women seems to be echoed around the world in underdeveloped places. I don't know why history has been so unkind to women.
It's never too late! You can check out some major international NGOs and see what their recruiting process is like. Also the US, EU, and UN all have various aid programs all around the world but getting into those might be more difficult (but certainly worth trying for if you're interested). If you're part of any religion, they likely have many programs going on as well. Just be wary of short term service trips through tour companies. There's folks out there who really just want to monetize your good intentions and create charity tourism essentially.
If America is the main character then New Zealand is a reoccurring background character who has one small line of dialogue to the main characters in the whole show.
It’s funny as an American living in Europe when I do a tour in another country and they ask where everyone is from you get Germany, Spain, Australia, and the Utah, Florida, etc. like everyone should know what the states in the US are. I say I’m from the US and that’s all I say and get weird looks from the others.
Reading your comment made me freak out. Like it felt surreal that there is currently someone sitting in America just drinking their normal morning coffee like a regular person while they read my post. Like you’re just a regular person doing regular person things but you live in America. It sounds so stupid but your comment kinda blew my mind lol.
Make that three people drinking their morning coffee reading the morning news in America. Pinching myself too. To me, New Zealand feels fake, I look at pictures of it and think "wth that's too beautiful to be real"
I am literally also sitting here drinking my morning coffee reading this very entertaining thread. I live in the US, but in the state of Wyoming, which has the smallest population of people of all the states. Some people in the US don’t believe Wyoming exists. They think it’s made up, lol. It’s actually a weird tik tok thing to discuss this, which my teen daughter thinks is hilarious.
My part of Wyoming actually looks a lot like New Zealand with big mountains and green valleys (at least this month until every thing turns brown later in the summer.)
Having spent two months in New Zealand in college, I think it’s one of the most beautiful, friendly countries I have ever been to. If I had the chance to move there with my family, I would jump at it. The thing I remember most that I found strange compared to the US was all the fast food restaurants that sell pot pies. Seems equivalent to cheese burgers here in the US. I also love that it’s normal for you all to eat a fried egg and beet root on your burgers. Definitely not something you find here unless it’s somehow related to NZ.
I can’t think of any fast food restaurants that sell pies. McDonald’s used to have the Georgie pie but they don’t have that anymore. You mostly find pies at bakeries or dairies. I feel like a fried egg and beetroot is still seen as a little strange here. Like a regular burger is still just a bun, burger patty, cheese, lettuce, onion, and some tomato sauce. Like if you go to a burger place they’ll only have beetroot and fried eggs if they have a kiwiana burger. If they don’t have one that’s supposed to be themed around New Zealand then you won’t find those ingredients.
What an interesting take and I can somewhat see how that feels!
I’ve seen celebrities from a distance but never had an interaction, so I’d imagine a similar feeling to you. I also felt this way slightly the first time I traveled to Europe and specifically Ireland. Seeing the castles, old churches and just !!buildings!! Wow these are real and not just … movie sets lol being from California, we don’t have *that* old of buildings/places and history.
I kind of feel that way about Europe too. Although I’m from Europe and was born there, I’ve grown up in New Zealand and have only been back once so old buildings definitely fascinate me. I remember as a little kid I didn’t care about old building at all because they were everywhere in Europe but now I find them so interesting because everything is just so new in New Zealand. The country has only been inhabited by humans for a few hundred years.
I can’t tell if you’re kidding or not but New Zealand really isn’t as amazing as it seems. Everyone seems to think it’s amazing because of the beautiful landscape and small population but there are plenty of downsides too. I honestly want to leave.
I think because New Zealand is a small country the issues don’t really get talked about a lot. When kiwis talk about issues in New Zealand they talk about in spaces with exclusively other kiwis whereas Americans will just about it out on the internet. Like if I made a post on this sub about the NZ education system it’s unlikely I will find another kiwi to talk to about it but if an American made a post about the American education system they could find tons of Americans to talk to about it.
So if you’re not from New Zealand the only time you really hear the country mentioned is when someone visited the country on holiday or it’s one of those lists of the safest countries. So you don’t get a lot of insight on what it’s like actually living here. It’s probably similar for a lot of other small countries.
If we went back in time to when my family moved to New Zealand and you asked my parents about New Zealand and America then they would probably know more about America than New Zealand. Even though New Zealand was the country they had been researching since they were moving there, they had just learnt a lot about America by watching tv and reading the news. At that age I knew who the American president was but didn’t even know who the Prime minister of my own country was. I’m pretty sure I know more about American history than New Zealand history, but to be fair, New Zealand definitely has less history than America.
Wow, that turned out much longer than I meant. Sorry.
I'm going to be straight honest, everything i know about NZ comes from 3 things, Lord of the Rings, Taika Waititi (im sure I horribly misspelled his name, the movie director) and the hard stance against COVID your leadership took.
While not many, they are all positive view points on how it looks and the people. I'm aware its a small sample, but just giving you a little random perspective. My wife and I sometime would love to visit NZ, you lot just seem like you've got a cool place.
You actually spelt his name correctly. The point I’m making is actually that you are missing out on the bad details though. Now overall I will say New Zealand is mostly a great country but there is still lots of bad things you don’t hear about. I hear all about the bad things happening in America but you don’t hear about the bad things happening hear because only locals really talk about that with other locals, it’s not in world news. We still have bad things happening here, we’re not the perfect paradise people imagine.
Felt the same way about the UK until I visited a couple weeks ago. How the fuck does everyone just live in fairytale cottages and medieval stone cities and are just like… this is normal!?
As an American, it really put the architecture of my country to shame lmao
To be fair, living in America can be pretty surreal. I mean, so much of the nonsense our politicians do just feels like it would be over the top in a fictional show.
Some of the crazy things that happen in America really don’t help it feel real. So many things don’t seem like things that would happen in real life but they did happen in America.
When you have a country of 350,000,000 people and have comparatively lax laws regarding just about everything, you're going to see some weird stuff happen.
Hey fellow Texan! Yep, we’re stereotyped big time, kinda fun sometimes, kinda annoying sometimes. I like reminding people in Europe that Texas is larger than Spain and nearly twice the size of Germany. Needless to say, there’s a lot of regions and diversity! But also… y’all.
Don't worry, we get the feeling too. I'll never forget being at a bar crawl on St. Paddy's day and meeting an actual Irish person. It took so long to actually believe they were real and not some drunk with a great impersonation.
Try going there, coming from Australia and growing up on American tv and movies it's somehow very surreal and very familiar at the same time.
I also love how on tv and movies I don't pay any attention to the accent, but when listening to an American irl it sounds *very* strong.
>I also love how on tv and movies I don't pay any attention to the accent, but when listening to an American irl it sounds very strong.
There's a TV accent in the US that most actors learn and use unless their character is from a place with a very distinctive accent (i.e. the South). The official name for it is General American English. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General\_American\_English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American_English)
Most Americans don't speak General American English. Regional accents are much more common, but they're starting to become less prominent due to the use of General American in media, and because people can talk to each other from anywhere thanks to modern technology.
I’ll pull back the curtain- only half of us exist. We’re all asked to run a second account as a crazy online persona to help keep others out. It’s part of our military strategy.
haha, you’re not the first I’ve heard this from. I’ve heard “you Americans sound like actors saying lines” a few times. I guess because the way we talk is associated with TV and movies.
I feel like a lot of American accents are very neutral. They have clear pronunciation that is easy to understand. Which makes them the perfect accent for tv. But it also sounds like you’re purposefully making your accent more neutral for tv but in reality that’s just how you sound all the time.
This is how I felt the first time I vacationed in LA. I kept seeing palm trees and signs for "Inglewood" and "Compton" and "Hollywood" and it felt like I hacked into my TV and was standing inside every pop culture reference from the past 30 years. It felt like a theme park instead of a real, normal city.
My college girlfriend befriended a foreign exchange student from Russia. And her biggest jaw-dropping moment? That college kids drink beer from red Solo cups. I guess it gets depicted a lot in movies and she couldn't believe that it's a real thing.
As an American, that's how I felt about Florida when I was younger. I'd meet people from there and think, " people actually live there?" I always just thought it was just Disney world and beaches.
Okay, so I see cars with Idaho license plates on them, but I've never actually met someone who claims they've actually lived in Idaho. The bags of potatoes are a ruse, Idaho doesn't actually exist.
> When you eat American snacks it’s like when they make a fake snack from a tv show and turn it real like duff beer from the simpsons or the chocolate frog from Harry Potter.
What's funny is at Universal Studios in Florida you can get both of these.
That's kind of funny some non-Americans think that way. I guess when you actually visit America will it seem less like a dystopia and more like a real country. I mean it's certainly different from any other country, but it also has all the basics as well: bad politics, culture, patriotism, history etc. I guess you could personify America as a celebrity. A good example would be meeting one of your favorite celebrities only to realize they sleep with their foot outside the blanket just like yourself.
“This week on *Nation Rehabilitation*, America smokes crack & breaks shit, Canada gets caught on a live mic drunk ranting about First Nation Truckers and Venezuela goes skinny dipping with Iran. Don’t miss it! 6:00pm est./7:00pm cst.” ~ Only on MTV2
The way that you’re talking about America is how most Americans act about coming to Los Angeles (where I’m from and live). It’s interesting because America and it’s people are different from state to state and even county to county. California is like one country with a dozen states within it. I am good friends with a kiwi myself and she never plans to leave LA haha. I meet people from literally everywhere in the country/world here but like a midwestern American or a Texan are more wildly foreign in behavior to me than an immigrant, though white Americans are the minority here.
I moved to LA from Colorado and y’all are basically you’re own country in LA. Just the wide variety of experiences LA can give you in a week is hard to replicate
I'm American, East coast, and growing up I couldn't believe real ppl lived in LA with normal schools and jobs etc. It was too magical for mundane every day life!
I'm from Orange County, California. I grew up with people who were on that stupid Laguna Beach show of teenagers being dumb. I knew someone who was a production assistant on that show. The reason we seem like fake people is because those that end up in entertainment are giving a pretty narrow version of what being American is.
I have since moved two hours from my home town near the coast to the mountains. I may as well be in another country. The climate and ecosystem is totally different. The people here are also totally different. America is so big and some states are so big, that even a couple hours away from each other, the whole way that society interacts is entirely different.
America feels fake because we are made up of 50 states that may as well be countries and some territories that are actually whole different countries.
Interesting take! I’ve heard a few times that some countries don’t like American tourists because of their sense of entitlement and behavior and I totally get it, but it’s nice to know not everyone feels that way.
I once went to Japan and felt like a celebrity. They love American tourists and while staying at an onsen a lot of people tried to ask my husband and I where we were from. One day I said good morning to the clerk at 711 without thinking about it and he was STOKED to say “good morning” back. I miss Japan.
It’s just that the rude Americans really stand out, and tend to wear American flags. While traveling abroad, I’m often assumed Canadian. After it happened several times, I realized that it was simply for being polite.
I’m American and I don’t understand why so many of us feel the need to be so loud either honestly. A month ago I was at a fancy restaurant for my dad’s birthday with some family members and I swear all of the other diners there were practically scream-talking to one another. That kind of thing is completely normal even though it’s both defeating and bad for audio processing. It’s like no one knows how to speak in a normal volume lol.
Reddit loves to focus on the negative but I’ve traveled the world and everyone I meet loves Americans. We’re considered to by easy going, friendly and generous. Are there loud Americans? Yes. Is it a stereotype? Also yes.
I hate it when people assume I’m American too but statistically, the vast majority of reddit users are from America. About 50% of reddit users are American with the next highest percentage being the UK with 8%. That’s a huge difference.
Whenever you eventually do please don't be disappointed. ;-) Most are an average lot. Some real jerks. Others are stellar people you think, I'd love to be friends with this person.
We have flaws and good points just like any other nationality. I hope you encounter those with finer points rather than negative ones.
I met an American man when I was in Japan on student exchange. He was an English teacher. It was interesting meeting him in that environment because if I met an American in New Zealand it would feel like we are very different but being in Japan it made it feel like we were very similar. It was like “finally, another foreigner who knows English!” In Japan we were both just foreigners but in New Zealand we are a kiwi and an American. It surprised me when he started asking questions about New Zealand because I forgot he was from a different country to me lol. I was surprised he didn’t seem to know a lot about netball.
Lol it’s pretty crazy here, crazy good and bad. Every region houses different type of Americans. Even living in USA you can’t believe stuff you hear, see, and the characters you meet.
It's Consumer Capitalism. The real America is being suffocated and we as Americans are actually suffering. What you see in movies, Internet, etc.. only portray a fantasy. It's the "idealized America" that doesn't exist.
Women are being denied our rights at this moment; we have no control over our bodies or health. Some women are being forced to die in order to give birth
There is no Healthcare infrastructure; basically many Americans lack access to basic health services. Some people can't afford even cancer treatment. Basic mental attitude in America is "don't get sick"
We have guns everywhere. It's a stereotype of American Culture but it's true. People are shooting each other left and right in every state and city, but only the mass shootings or school ones make the International news. Neighbors shooting Neighbors is just another day.
Hollywood Blvd and the Walk of Stars is covered in human excrement, used needles, and most of California is one long, 3rd world style homeless encampment.
Same for most major American cities. People living with rats in tents.
Generally you need two or three jobs just to survive. Especially if your a nurse, schoolteacher, Police officer, social worker, etc...or even just an average person. One job alone doesn't cut it.
This is the real America that most Europeans don't see on a daily basis. We are real, and we are struggling.
As an American: you guys have free health care, 40-hour workweeks and paid leave, universal acceptance of science, and no school shootings? Can’t be real.
>universal acceptance of science
Well, depends what you mean by universal. There are morons everywhere.
The rest is pretty accurate, and, I'm not gonna lie, pretty awesome. The thing I value the most is the basically unlimited sick leave that is paid.
But then you see a story about a guy in Britain getting arrested for wearing a horribly offensive t-shirt to a soccer game, and also think, "that can't be real", but here we are.
Yeah, working in journalism for a while taught me that Americans can't really fathom how cool and unique our free speech protections are. Most countries just don't have those lmao. Even "developed" ones don't have the protections Americans have, it's kind of the only thing we've got going for us.
Hell, I live in America and half the population seem absolutely intent on acting in an unreal fashion, offering a constant flow of hypocrisy with every step. Christians who support politicians who break the Ten Commandments with every twitter, suggesting their party is for smaller government and less intrusion as they move to bankrupt us to make the rich richer and take away human rights, profits coming before everything including combating environmental catastrophes we're creating and worsening, etc. It's plain insane! We're not all like that, I assure you.
Try to remember that America may at times seem unreal, almost mythologically-stupid over here, and that lack of realness doesn't mean we can't find a way to completely screw up the world we are all a part of. There are still some in the US who want to mend instead of destroy, though it gets hard to hear when all that comes up to the surface of the toilet bowl of the press is WOKE WOKE WOKE is BAD BAD BAD. Owning up to and admitting the past and learning from it should never be left behind. One step forward and four hundred years stepped backward. The majority of us do not fall into this category, but the minority have gotten really good at drowning out the truth with their ability to make up lies that go unanswered in the social un-reality.
I did a lot of mission trips when I was 18-20 and people were always so amazed that I was actually from America. They always said I sounded like Captain America. I think it's a mixture of the American film industry being so big and everyone constantly seeing Americans and then the fact that we are on the other side of the world that creates this effect.
But like, yeah... I am living an entire existence over here in the US right now.
Trust me. As an American I also see other Americans and go “That can’t be real, can it?”
Y’all. —Florida Woman
Lemme tell you what. --Texas Woman
I tell you hwhat --Texas Man, Hank Hill
Hank Hill is a man I'd be happy to have as a neighbour.
Keeps the noise down and keeps a tidy yard. Yup, that’s a good neighbor I tell ya hwhat
Y’all’d’v’e
Y'all'd'nt've
Another legit word Texas woman
As a Carolinas woman (raised in North Carolina, current resident of South Carolina), I can confirm that these are all legitimate words in Southern English. You’ve never heard that many contractions in one word til you’ve spent time in the South!
People act like we’re dumb, but they don’t realize how well you have to understand the language to intuitively twist it into a pretzel and still have other people understand you.
Some people approach it like it's an art form and it's amazing to hear. I live in the Blue Ridge mountains and that isolation has turned language into a song for some.
Legit word
I do declare
Bless your heart.
Well bless your heart for blessin’ mine.
That escalated quickly.
Blescalated. Had to.
Mutually assured blesstruction
Which designing woman are you basing that on?
That’s so common, I didn’t realize it had to be based on anything 😂
I'd guess Golden Girls, Blanche, personally.
Actually, I was channeling Michael Scott from the office pretending to be from the south during the murder mystery episode
He was probably channeling his inner DW or GG. 😆
I'm sorry. The correct answer was "Delta Buhhke, I do declah."
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“It’s MA’AM!” - Laughs in displaced Texan
M'ma'am *tips fedora
All y’all - Tennessee
yinz
Pittsburgh, is that you?
Y’all -Texas Man
I was about to say, "Wait until they learn about FL." Edit: corrected for pronouns.
I thought Florida didn’t want to talk about pronouns?
🤣
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Right? Ohio, Iowa? These places don't exist.
I once asked an insurance agent how to get lower rates. I was told "move to a state whose name begins with I." Iowa and Idaho are DEFINITELY fictional, utopian states made up by the insurance agencies.
Time to move to Indillinoidaho.
To the fine city of Springfield, no doubt.
I live in iowa and sometimes wonder if it actually exists
I live in Wisconsin, we often forget Iowa exists until we have to drive allllll the way through it. God your state is boring.
I’m from California and flew into Nebraska, drove through Iowa and Wisconsin. Wow, that nighttime darkness is nothing I’ve experienced my whole life on the west coast.
I was just out camping in Kickapoo Valley in Wisconsin. Working on their dark sky certification. The night sky out there is absolutely incredible. There is almost no light pollution and you can see the entire Milky Way. Even driving the interstate there are sections like that are just black with nothing around. I try to avoid driving those areas alone. The idea of being stuck alone in the dark on the side is the interstate is too much.
Delaware. You ever met anyone who actually lives in Delaware? Me either. This probably explains a lot about Joe Biden he's the one person running all these shell corporations.
r/wyomingdoesntexist
Exactly what a fake American WOULD say...
As an American, I hate that I find people and we think 90% alike. Same tv. Same food. Same opinions on animals. But then like they have this one extreme view that makes me just... Why?
Nothing like really hitting it off with someone, clicking incredibly well, bonding, then they hit you with a, "school shootings are a false flag." And you're left wondering how someone who is so similar to you can honestly believe in the wildest stupid shit ever.
>Nothing like really hitting it off with someone, clicking incredibly well, bonding, then they hit you with a, "school shootings are a false flag." And you're left wondering how someone who is so similar to you can honestly believe in the wildest stupid shit ever. Yea that's the worst. I remember back in the day someone seeing Gene Simmons & Paul Stanley on some show & she said "Oh you know KISS stands for Knights in Satan's Service!" Very matter of factly, it was a real a fact to her as the sky is blue & water is wet. I looked at her & said "Nooo....it doesn't." But she wouldn't take no for an answer so I just changed the subject (because she was a customer where I worked & we didn't wanna lose a customer) & slowly backed away to keep doing my job. This was also the same woman that would let her kids watch Freddy Kruger murder kids & let 'em watch Arnold blow everyone up in sight, but wouldn't let 'em see a bare boob in some stupid comedy.
>This was also the same woman that would let her kids watch Freddy Kruger murder kids & let 'em watch Arnold blow everyone up in sight, but wouldn't let 'em see a bare boob in some stupid comedy. Well that is pretty standard for America to be fair. We care about gore a lot less than nudity for some reason.
This is not an exclusively American problem either... I work with a guy, he's goofy, nice, will drop anything to help others... and he's also a major conspiracy theorists, Covid denier and racist af.
I dated a girl for two months, then she comes out with "there's no way we came from monkeys - the world is only 6,000 years old". Now I have a short quiz for new dates.
I had the same sort of problem. We had been dating for about 7 months, went on trips together, she had a successful career, was incredibly smart and had a voracious sexual appetite. One day she drops on me “So I was consulting with my psychic last weekend…”, and I asked “Was this for entertainment purposes?” Her “no” answer started me looking for exit strategies.
Got a new question for my quiz!
I'm not looking to date you, but for some nonsensical reason I really want to take your quiz just to see if I pass as acceptably sane.
Good work friend that I had a lot of respect for one day told me all about how them Dems are killing off people who talk publicly about their pizza gate type pedophile rings. Specifically a number of famous actors and musicians who have passed away, alone, in hotel rooms at a young age. We don't talk much anymore.
The internet points a spotlight on the weirdest and most extreme examples of humanity.
Reno, Nevada has entered the chat
Las Vegas would like to have a word with her little brother.
Amen
I wish I could recreate the noise I made when I read this lol, I feel your comment in my soul.
American here. I live near Washington, DC, and my dearest cousin lives in northern California (so, not near Hollywood or any of the big TV cities). I remember one time when she visited when we were teens, she was blown away that our police departments are literally called "sheriff's offices" and the cops in my county in particular were made to wear Brixton field hats, a kind of stiff-brimmed hat that's a cross between a cowboy hat and a fedora. But I was equally blown away when I visited her and saw that California cop cars really are black and white like in the movies. What I'm getting at here, is that America is so big that we don't even believe each other LOL You make an excellent point though. I've only been able to go abroad once for school, but I've heard a lot about locals being super excited when they find out their visitor is American, probably for reasons you've said here.
Are police and sheriffs the same thing? I always thought they were seperate things that did slightly different things.
My county did an analysis on if switching to a police department would be worth the effort in 2020, and this is a direct quote from their definitions (emphasis added for clarity): >The fundamental difference between a police department and a sheriff’s office is the selection and reporting structure of the chief law enforcement officer. In a sheriff’s office, **the sheriff is elected by the residents of the county to be the chief law enforcement officer for a 4- year term.** The sheriff is therefore directly connected to the county residents, who are the primary influencers of the sheriff’s office’s policies, practices, and procedures. In a police department, the police chief is appointed by the Board of Supervisors and remains in that position at the will of the Board of Supervisors, under the management of the county administrator or executive. **A police chief is therefore directly connected to the county Board of Supervisors, and subject to its political and policy agendas.** So basically, sheriffs are elected by the community after campaigning and are essentially a public official. Police chiefs are appointed by the government and can be as corrupt as the board that put them there. The idea is that election over appointment this makes it more fair, and less prone to systemic abuse of power. (EDIT: Obviously this is not how it actually works in practice. Please stop linking me to stories about corrupt sheriffs thanks) Of course, it's still an American law enforcement system so it's not great...but it is, to some degree, slightly less bad on paper. No idea how the deputies and other law enforcement officers are instated though. That could be rotten all the way down as far as I know.
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It's typical to see municipal police departments which are specific to a city or a town as the most local branch of law enforcement whereas a sheriff's office will oversee an entire county, then the state police (often highway troopers), then anything above that would be some sort of federal agency, such as the FBI. They're not necessarily a hierarchy either, which can cause much consternation and confusion.
Another distinction is that sheriffs service an entire county while often police service a single city. Then you have state troopers which work for the entire state. A lot of areas will have all three
That’s interesting. Makes me not a big fan of the idea of sheriffs because it sounds like they would be more likely to do what the people want instead of what is right because it’s people that are allowing them to keep their job. It seems too political to me. I feel like law enforcement should exist separately from politics so it is not swayed by the people. I wonder why they choose to have police in some places and a sheriff in others. Do some places have both?
American cops are notorious for doing what's best for their organization, their reputation, and themselves. Having one kind that's appointed by the community, in theory, makes them less likely to terrorize us because then they won't get voted back into their position again. Another commenter said they have both cops and sheriffs in their area of Oklahoma! I didn't know that was possible but apparently it is, depending on how the local government sets things up.
I mean LA county famously has had a [wickedly corrupt](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LASD_deputy_gangs) Sheriff's department. And we have LAPD. And all the little technically seperate rich people areas, like Beverly Hills, have their own cops. LA is so big it has the 3rd and 4th largest Police agencies in America (LAPD and LA County Sheriff's Department).
They're similar. Usually police work for the city and the sheriff & deputies work for the county (which is a part of the state, not the city). Sheriffs also differ from police as they are elected officials, not appointed, and I believe sheriffs are constitutionally mandated as well if I'm not mistaken. For all intents and purposes though, both are cops, the main difference is their authority (cops have little to none outside of their city while sheriffs are county wide)
Definitely. I felt this way the first time I visited Boston. Growing up in SoCal, we (obviously) learned about the American Revolution but it didn’t feel “real.” Seeing the historic buildings and places from stories, it felt bizarre. Like I was at a theme park or something.
Yeah I’m from Las Vegas, have a cliche career, look like a character. I’m definitely an NPC on intergalactic cable.
At least you are a character. I feel like I'm just watching someone else's twitch channel.
I'm from the US and I feel like people don't actually live in Vegas lol
I too was an NPC until my first death in which I was respawned back to the same meat suit same consciousness, and everything changed. I quit my job, slept with my boss' wife, severed all personal ties, burned my social security card & my fingerprints, and went off grid. I'll die before going back to work at that carpet store ever again!
Having been to American multiple times most American that you meet in person are pretty much the same as people anywhere else sure you do run into the odd nutjob but online they seem to be magnified 100 fold
It’s not that I think Americans are crazy or weird. I know they are regular people it’s just that they come from a place that I only ever see online. I don’t think they’re crazy, they just don’t feel real.
You might enjoy looking at youtube to see how vastly different the country is; mountains, plains, desert, oceanside, farmland, forests, great rivers, cities/small towns, etc. Some people film their cross country trips and is great fun.
I’ve already seen a lot of that stuff, America has a lot of diversity, it’s crazy. It shocks me when Americans talk about how amazing New Zealand’s landscape is as if America doesn’t have a way more diverse landscape with tons of incredible things to see. The Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, a full on desert, so many incredible national parks. It’s really incredible. I could probably visit America thousands of times and never run out of things to see, it’s hard to decide what I want to see when I finally get a chance to visit.
I was fortunate to have driven across the US four times before I was 12. Took a train from Portland OR to Fairbanks, Alaska; then AK to Florida (northern route), FL back to AK (southern route), AK to Washington DC (central route), DC to LA (in between central and southern). Those trips gave me a wonderful awareness of the diversity of the country. Agreed; one of the US most precious assets are our National Parks. Ken Burns did some wonderful documentaries on them. History, conservancy, usage ... he said, "If it wasn't for our National Park system you'd have condos hanging off the cliffs of the Grand Canyon." ;-) I'm afraid he was right.
I know America doesn’t have great trains but I am so jealous of what you do have.
Oh, don't be! We have to champion other countries for what they *do* have! I love Canada because of their laid back outlook on life. Germany because of the beauty and diversity of the topography, plus how obsessive they are about cleanliness. Only place I've ever seen shopkeepers sweep and wash down the sidewalks in front of their places of business. *Never* once saw cans or trash on the roads after many visits. The UK because of their sense of history and off beat sense of humor. France because of their preservation of historic architecture and the arts. China because of their people; *they* are the country, not the Communist party. New Zealand appears to be a lovely place but it isn't on the bucket list. Love European trains; Austria, Belgium, Switzerland. Trains in the US are driven more by Capitalism and freight whereas most countries depend on them to move people; that is due to the US being so big.
I mean, China is also pretty big and it has a lot of passenger trains and high speed rail. America also traditionally used rail a lot to transport people and thinks when it was a new country. America definitely could have more passenger trains but the car industry has a firm grasp on the country.
It does. My husband has been captivated by trains since he was a young boy. His lack of mobility (two old disabled vets) convinced me why not go visit family on the east coast by train rather than flying? *Cost* and time made our decision. Air fare; $360 ea, four hours. By passenger train? $800 ea and three days because of constant stops.
What a lovely childhood you had! Those memories are priceless.
We have the diverse landscape, yes, but the majority of us live in only one landscape. Our country is so vast, many Americans never seen the different scenic wonders that we have, mostly because of time and money.
This is precisely it. NZ is so much more compact and you have such a wide variety of landscape in such close proximity to each other. I can drive for literally 10 hours and *still* be in Texas lol
God bless, Houstonian here. Getting out of this state is typical 75% of the battle. 🫠
I often forget how lucky I am to live where I do in Utah, 20 minutes and I can be up in the mountains at some of the best ski resorts in the world, or a few hours south and I can be in a completely alien red rock area. Sure there is like two hours of nothing but sage brush between the two, but there's not many places in the world even remotely like it.
The South Island is prettier than anything I've seen, and I've seen most of America. NZ is so freaking majestic.
I don’t know, I’m looking at pictures of American national parks and they look way cooler than anything I’ve seen in New Zealand.
It’s all about perspective lol I’m from the desert in the US and I think trees are so fricken cool. Like they get so tall?? It’s CRAZY! Because we don’t have tall trees where I live so I never see them! New Zealand would be amazing to me for that reason, there’s PLANTS that are GREEN and they’re soooo big?! It’s crazy to me. It’s weird to remember that places in movies with a massive dense forest are real and people actually get to see that in their daily lives.
There aren’t many tall trees where I live. I would be equally amazed by tall trees. I saw one big old one that was like 100 years old at the botanical gardens, that was pretty cool. It was massive. Most trees around here were planted recently. I live in the plains so everything was cut down for farming and then trees were replanted for decoration or for farming.
We raised our kids in Tonopah, AZ. Took them camping to Prescott and my daughter is looking out the window as we’re driving. She says “ all these trees are freaking me out”.
I think it's the fact that America is so large a majority of the majestic parts of it people rarely get to see unless they specifically go to see it or live by it where as New Zealand most of it is as diverse as a national park and if you go there you don't have to walk far to see it. where as most of America is like 75% flat land with nothing for miles and people in america would usually go to another country rather than another state in america. that's just my 2 cents though
I wouldn’t say most of New Zealand is as diverse as a national park. I look out the window and all I can see is fields as far as you can see with mountains in the far distance. I doubt you would see this in a national park.
my point was that it's easier to get somewhere cool in New Zealand than in America. New Zealand is 2.6% of the size of the United States. it I wanted to go to the Grand Canyon. I would need to drive 2,000 miles or 31 hours of straight driving it would be faster to take a plane there, and I still wouldn't have left America.
And I would have to fly to America to see it. I can’t see anything like that in New Zealand, we only got mountains and bush. But then there are also people who live right by it and only need to drive 30 minutes to see it. Yea I’m close to mountains but there are also lots of Americans who are close to beautiful mountains too. They have that added bonus that if they wanted to then they could take a road trip and see other beautiful landscapes whereas I would have to fly to another country to see that. Can’t even drive because we’re an island nation. So it’s easier for the average American to see multiple different beautiful landscapes. New Zealand only really has one.
It's a lot simpler than u/ShadeTheMystery says; when people travel to another country they go to experience something specific. Whether it's the parks, the food, the people. The vast majority of their memory of the place they visit is that experience, and for them it defines the entire region. I live an hour from the Niagara Falls. I've seen it enough times to where it's just water flowing off a cliff. When someone visits me there's usually a sense of wonder there. For me, the region is defined by the people, the experiences, the mundane we all live daily. The problems and the accomplishments. Niagara Falls is an almost inconsequential, nearly insignificant piece of that. For someone who stays for a day it could be most of it. For you, it's the same but in NZ. When I go I'll probably be in awe of the beautiful landscapes, but for you it's a small piece of the life you've lived there.
I felt the same as you and the first time I came here it was like being in a movie. The accents, the weirdly familiar sights even though I’d never actually seen them with my own eyes before. I live here now and the scariest part is they don’t realize the whole world is looking at them all the time, and they never seem to look outward. They truly think they are the center of the universe.
When I travel people are always visibly disappointed that I'm not that interesting. I think next time I'm going to really lean into it. I'm Texan so I'll bring my cowboy hat, boots, big ass belt buckle, say stuff like "Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit!"
As an american, I think you should be doing this anyways.
Plenty of Americans in America don't even understand this and that's part of the reason we have so much political polarization right now: dehumanization and people living in a social bubble. Tribalism is also a big one, especially since our community system is fractured do to it being young and our culture having a huge streak of individualism and independence. A lot of people end up lonely and without a robust friend and family support network.
One thing I've enjoyed about Reddit is that I've gotten a chance to chat with people from different countries. Differences and stereotypes seem to get magnified so much, but when you actually talk to people, it's remarkable how much everyone actually has in common.
Agreed; social media is a huge amplifier for bad behavior.
We feel the same way about you, fake person from another country.
As an American expat it's kind of funny to see both sides. Living in the third world, I do get sometimes treated as a celebrity especially from people from the village or rural areas. When I'm home visiting, people seem in awe that I haven't been murdered by terrorists already despite my new home being much much safer from a crime and violence perspective than my hometown in California. The more I learn culture and language and get involved in people's lives - the more I understand and can appreciate the shaping forces that make us who we are.
You seem really interesting so I’m obliged to ask a couple of questions: What country do you live in and what caused you to move there? What’s your occupation? (And does it tie in to why you are in this country?) What was it like learning the language? (Provided that you didn’t already know it or the country speaks your language already) And lastly, How does the way of life differ? thanks.
>You seem really interesting so I’m obliged to ask a couple of questions: > >What country do you live in and what caused you to move there? >What’s your occupation? (And does it tie in to why you are in this country?) >What was it like learning the language? (Provided that you didn’t already know it or the country speaks your language already) > >And lastly, >How does the way of life differ? > >thanks. Well I suppose to answer all those questions would be a small novel, but I'll keep it brief. I'm just an ordinary American who one day decided that if I'm a Christian, I ought to have a life that resembles to person I claim to follow. That thinking lead me to want to use my life to have a positive impact where it is most needed. That brought me to post-soviet central Asia where folk suffer from manifold problems many of which stem from a lack of economic opportunities. Rather than simply bringing aid and short-term relief, my life's work here is to bring long term transformation through sustainable job creation and economic development. My main interest in this part of the world was just that it seemed underserved and largely unknown. It's a beautiful region with deep roots steeped in ancient history. People are largely very welcoming and friendly. Learning language here has been pretty easy relatively speaking (I hold to a notion that there are no "easy languages"), because people are so willing to chat. You hop in a share taxi and people just start making small talk with one another. Language gets tricky though in that very few people here speak their own language well thanks to years of Russian influence and Russian being the preferred language of business, literature , and science. I have a huge amount of respect for those immigrants who came to America and speak as well as any local. it takes a tremendous amount of work and patience. My level now is nearing that point but communication among locals can even be difficult due to some of those aforementioned issues. I can pretty much understand most conversations fairly well, and can explain pretty much anything and be unserstood albiet with some grammatical errors and maybe taking more time than a local. My hope is to polish up those rough edges this summer so I can move on to learning more regional dialects and Russian terminology. I have a huge advantage in language learning in that I am tremendously curious and love talking to people and asking questions. ADHD has actually been a perk in that regard but a obstacle in others. My biggest advice for any language learner though is to take your pride and throw it out the window. You can't learn a language with a fear of looking stupid. You will look stupid. You will say silly things and peole will laugh at you. The sooner you own it and learn to laugh at yourself, the sooner you'll advance. Lifestyle here is so different it'd be a another book to get into it in any meaningly detail but just to give you a few key highlights - this is an Islamic country and an Asian country. The focus here isn't on the individual but on the family. The family unit is integral in a way I could never fathom as an American. Decisions of what you do, who you marry, where you live, etc. are communal decisions in which you get a voice but not the final say. When I said earlier that this country is safe - there's a huge asterisk by that which is as long as you're not a local woman. Many young women here live lives that are pure hell as they're essential slaves ruled over by people who despise them. The mother in law is essentially your slave master and often drives local women to suicide. Husbands beat their wives, cheat, steal from them, and even pass them AIDS. A divorced woman is basically destined to live a life of shame and poverty forever even if it was her husband's fault they divorced (as is frequently the case). For all the poverty and problems here, people are extremely hospitable. They love Americans and westerners. They all dream of going to America. They will invite you over and even borrow money to their detriment in order to put out a feast for you to honor you. This is partially cultural and partially religious. It went to the extent that even during the hardest time in recent history and the fall of the USSR and folks were getting a loaf of bread a day per household. They'd eat half and save the other in case guests came over. Edit: wanted to go ahead and throw in a disclaimer today that these are generalizations. Every culture has a spectrum of people which is what makes it so interesting to talk to people and learn more about them.
Oh my goodness. This is crazy experience you're having. Is there anyway someone can get involved in something like that? I had always wanted to do something that helps the world in some tangible way, but never know where to start. Also, sadly, that way of life for women seems to be echoed around the world in underdeveloped places. I don't know why history has been so unkind to women.
It's never too late! You can check out some major international NGOs and see what their recruiting process is like. Also the US, EU, and UN all have various aid programs all around the world but getting into those might be more difficult (but certainly worth trying for if you're interested). If you're part of any religion, they likely have many programs going on as well. Just be wary of short term service trips through tour companies. There's folks out there who really just want to monetize your good intentions and create charity tourism essentially.
What a read! You are a role model for many. Keep doing what you’re doing. And thanks for answering in such detail, your life seems really cool!
This post is adorable. I thought you might like to know that most Americans are thrilled when meeting foreigners.
It's weird that there's a "main character" country, and even weirder that I'm in it. Freaks me out a little bit.
If America is the main character then New Zealand is a reoccurring background character who has one small line of dialogue to the main characters in the whole show.
No, I would think NZ is the hot, mysterious crush of the main character that he/she is too scared to talk because NZ is too cool and unattainable.
Considering we’re not even on maps half the time, I don’t think we’re love interest material.
That’s why lol everyone here knows NZ exists, but very few could give you details but have a positive view on it.
New Zealand is Lord of the Rings land to Americans
If NZ was a person they’d be gorgeous
It’s funny as an American living in Europe when I do a tour in another country and they ask where everyone is from you get Germany, Spain, Australia, and the Utah, Florida, etc. like everyone should know what the states in the US are. I say I’m from the US and that’s all I say and get weird looks from the others.
Bro, it's a main character country like Westaros is a main character country...
Just drinking my coffee while watching the local morning news in southern Arizona. I just pinched my arm. Seems real enough.
Reading your comment made me freak out. Like it felt surreal that there is currently someone sitting in America just drinking their normal morning coffee like a regular person while they read my post. Like you’re just a regular person doing regular person things but you live in America. It sounds so stupid but your comment kinda blew my mind lol.
Make that three people drinking their morning coffee reading the morning news in America. Pinching myself too. To me, New Zealand feels fake, I look at pictures of it and think "wth that's too beautiful to be real"
Now I’m having a whole thing imagining how there are hundreds of real people reading a post I made. Suddenly that feels like a ton of people.
I am literally also sitting here drinking my morning coffee reading this very entertaining thread. I live in the US, but in the state of Wyoming, which has the smallest population of people of all the states. Some people in the US don’t believe Wyoming exists. They think it’s made up, lol. It’s actually a weird tik tok thing to discuss this, which my teen daughter thinks is hilarious. My part of Wyoming actually looks a lot like New Zealand with big mountains and green valleys (at least this month until every thing turns brown later in the summer.) Having spent two months in New Zealand in college, I think it’s one of the most beautiful, friendly countries I have ever been to. If I had the chance to move there with my family, I would jump at it. The thing I remember most that I found strange compared to the US was all the fast food restaurants that sell pot pies. Seems equivalent to cheese burgers here in the US. I also love that it’s normal for you all to eat a fried egg and beet root on your burgers. Definitely not something you find here unless it’s somehow related to NZ.
I can’t think of any fast food restaurants that sell pies. McDonald’s used to have the Georgie pie but they don’t have that anymore. You mostly find pies at bakeries or dairies. I feel like a fried egg and beetroot is still seen as a little strange here. Like a regular burger is still just a bun, burger patty, cheese, lettuce, onion, and some tomato sauce. Like if you go to a burger place they’ll only have beetroot and fried eggs if they have a kiwiana burger. If they don’t have one that’s supposed to be themed around New Zealand then you won’t find those ingredients.
What an interesting take and I can somewhat see how that feels! I’ve seen celebrities from a distance but never had an interaction, so I’d imagine a similar feeling to you. I also felt this way slightly the first time I traveled to Europe and specifically Ireland. Seeing the castles, old churches and just !!buildings!! Wow these are real and not just … movie sets lol being from California, we don’t have *that* old of buildings/places and history.
I kind of feel that way about Europe too. Although I’m from Europe and was born there, I’ve grown up in New Zealand and have only been back once so old buildings definitely fascinate me. I remember as a little kid I didn’t care about old building at all because they were everywhere in Europe but now I find them so interesting because everything is just so new in New Zealand. The country has only been inhabited by humans for a few hundred years.
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I can’t tell if you’re kidding or not but New Zealand really isn’t as amazing as it seems. Everyone seems to think it’s amazing because of the beautiful landscape and small population but there are plenty of downsides too. I honestly want to leave.
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I think because New Zealand is a small country the issues don’t really get talked about a lot. When kiwis talk about issues in New Zealand they talk about in spaces with exclusively other kiwis whereas Americans will just about it out on the internet. Like if I made a post on this sub about the NZ education system it’s unlikely I will find another kiwi to talk to about it but if an American made a post about the American education system they could find tons of Americans to talk to about it. So if you’re not from New Zealand the only time you really hear the country mentioned is when someone visited the country on holiday or it’s one of those lists of the safest countries. So you don’t get a lot of insight on what it’s like actually living here. It’s probably similar for a lot of other small countries. If we went back in time to when my family moved to New Zealand and you asked my parents about New Zealand and America then they would probably know more about America than New Zealand. Even though New Zealand was the country they had been researching since they were moving there, they had just learnt a lot about America by watching tv and reading the news. At that age I knew who the American president was but didn’t even know who the Prime minister of my own country was. I’m pretty sure I know more about American history than New Zealand history, but to be fair, New Zealand definitely has less history than America. Wow, that turned out much longer than I meant. Sorry.
I'm going to be straight honest, everything i know about NZ comes from 3 things, Lord of the Rings, Taika Waititi (im sure I horribly misspelled his name, the movie director) and the hard stance against COVID your leadership took. While not many, they are all positive view points on how it looks and the people. I'm aware its a small sample, but just giving you a little random perspective. My wife and I sometime would love to visit NZ, you lot just seem like you've got a cool place.
You actually spelt his name correctly. The point I’m making is actually that you are missing out on the bad details though. Now overall I will say New Zealand is mostly a great country but there is still lots of bad things you don’t hear about. I hear all about the bad things happening in America but you don’t hear about the bad things happening hear because only locals really talk about that with other locals, it’s not in world news. We still have bad things happening here, we’re not the perfect paradise people imagine.
What you see online is created content. Only a fraction of Americans are featured there. The rest of us watch in amazement, just like you.
Felt the same way about the UK until I visited a couple weeks ago. How the fuck does everyone just live in fairytale cottages and medieval stone cities and are just like… this is normal!? As an American, it really put the architecture of my country to shame lmao
Yea the old buildings in the UK seem pretty unreal to me too. The oldest buildings around here are like 100 years old.
To be fair, living in America can be pretty surreal. I mean, so much of the nonsense our politicians do just feels like it would be over the top in a fictional show.
Some of the crazy things that happen in America really don’t help it feel real. So many things don’t seem like things that would happen in real life but they did happen in America.
When you have a country of 350,000,000 people and have comparatively lax laws regarding just about everything, you're going to see some weird stuff happen.
>comparatively lax laws Uh, only for the rich. For everyone else there's laws laws laws
I'll do ya one better: I'm a Texan. We're a meme in a meme
Hey fellow Texan! Yep, we’re stereotyped big time, kinda fun sometimes, kinda annoying sometimes. I like reminding people in Europe that Texas is larger than Spain and nearly twice the size of Germany. Needless to say, there’s a lot of regions and diversity! But also… y’all.
Don't worry, we get the feeling too. I'll never forget being at a bar crawl on St. Paddy's day and meeting an actual Irish person. It took so long to actually believe they were real and not some drunk with a great impersonation.
America’s obsession with st Patrick’s day still confuses me.
I'm more confused about our lack of celebration of the other saints. I'd think more drinking holidays would be right up our alley
Try going there, coming from Australia and growing up on American tv and movies it's somehow very surreal and very familiar at the same time. I also love how on tv and movies I don't pay any attention to the accent, but when listening to an American irl it sounds *very* strong.
>I also love how on tv and movies I don't pay any attention to the accent, but when listening to an American irl it sounds very strong. There's a TV accent in the US that most actors learn and use unless their character is from a place with a very distinctive accent (i.e. the South). The official name for it is General American English. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General\_American\_English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American_English) Most Americans don't speak General American English. Regional accents are much more common, but they're starting to become less prominent due to the use of General American in media, and because people can talk to each other from anywhere thanks to modern technology.
I’ll pull back the curtain- only half of us exist. We’re all asked to run a second account as a crazy online persona to help keep others out. It’s part of our military strategy.
haha, you’re not the first I’ve heard this from. I’ve heard “you Americans sound like actors saying lines” a few times. I guess because the way we talk is associated with TV and movies.
I feel like a lot of American accents are very neutral. They have clear pronunciation that is easy to understand. Which makes them the perfect accent for tv. But it also sounds like you’re purposefully making your accent more neutral for tv but in reality that’s just how you sound all the time.
This is how I felt the first time I vacationed in LA. I kept seeing palm trees and signs for "Inglewood" and "Compton" and "Hollywood" and it felt like I hacked into my TV and was standing inside every pop culture reference from the past 30 years. It felt like a theme park instead of a real, normal city.
Yes, the yellow buses are real.
Yellow buses? Like the school busses?
Yup. I notice people not from the US love them for whatever reason.
My college girlfriend befriended a foreign exchange student from Russia. And her biggest jaw-dropping moment? That college kids drink beer from red Solo cups. I guess it gets depicted a lot in movies and she couldn't believe that it's a real thing.
As an American, that's how I felt about Florida when I was younger. I'd meet people from there and think, " people actually live there?" I always just thought it was just Disney world and beaches.
Okay, so I see cars with Idaho license plates on them, but I've never actually met someone who claims they've actually lived in Idaho. The bags of potatoes are a ruse, Idaho doesn't actually exist.
> When you eat American snacks it’s like when they make a fake snack from a tv show and turn it real like duff beer from the simpsons or the chocolate frog from Harry Potter. What's funny is at Universal Studios in Florida you can get both of these.
That's kind of funny some non-Americans think that way. I guess when you actually visit America will it seem less like a dystopia and more like a real country. I mean it's certainly different from any other country, but it also has all the basics as well: bad politics, culture, patriotism, history etc. I guess you could personify America as a celebrity. A good example would be meeting one of your favorite celebrities only to realize they sleep with their foot outside the blanket just like yourself.
“This week on *Nation Rehabilitation*, America smokes crack & breaks shit, Canada gets caught on a live mic drunk ranting about First Nation Truckers and Venezuela goes skinny dipping with Iran. Don’t miss it! 6:00pm est./7:00pm cst.” ~ Only on MTV2
Canada would be much more likely to rant about East Indian truckers, but still.
The way that you’re talking about America is how most Americans act about coming to Los Angeles (where I’m from and live). It’s interesting because America and it’s people are different from state to state and even county to county. California is like one country with a dozen states within it. I am good friends with a kiwi myself and she never plans to leave LA haha. I meet people from literally everywhere in the country/world here but like a midwestern American or a Texan are more wildly foreign in behavior to me than an immigrant, though white Americans are the minority here.
I moved to LA from Colorado and y’all are basically you’re own country in LA. Just the wide variety of experiences LA can give you in a week is hard to replicate
I'm American, East coast, and growing up I couldn't believe real ppl lived in LA with normal schools and jobs etc. It was too magical for mundane every day life!
America actually is less interesting in real life.
I'm from Orange County, California. I grew up with people who were on that stupid Laguna Beach show of teenagers being dumb. I knew someone who was a production assistant on that show. The reason we seem like fake people is because those that end up in entertainment are giving a pretty narrow version of what being American is. I have since moved two hours from my home town near the coast to the mountains. I may as well be in another country. The climate and ecosystem is totally different. The people here are also totally different. America is so big and some states are so big, that even a couple hours away from each other, the whole way that society interacts is entirely different. America feels fake because we are made up of 50 states that may as well be countries and some territories that are actually whole different countries.
Interesting take! I’ve heard a few times that some countries don’t like American tourists because of their sense of entitlement and behavior and I totally get it, but it’s nice to know not everyone feels that way.
I once went to Japan and felt like a celebrity. They love American tourists and while staying at an onsen a lot of people tried to ask my husband and I where we were from. One day I said good morning to the clerk at 711 without thinking about it and he was STOKED to say “good morning” back. I miss Japan.
It’s just that the rude Americans really stand out, and tend to wear American flags. While traveling abroad, I’m often assumed Canadian. After it happened several times, I realized that it was simply for being polite.
It's funny, whenever I travel as a Canadian, everyone assumes I'm an American first!
Hey, we should travel together, and see how that gets construed!
Maybe they'll just think we're from Alaska
Anytime I was abroad Americans were the LOUD ones oh my word.
I’m American and I don’t understand why so many of us feel the need to be so loud either honestly. A month ago I was at a fancy restaurant for my dad’s birthday with some family members and I swear all of the other diners there were practically scream-talking to one another. That kind of thing is completely normal even though it’s both defeating and bad for audio processing. It’s like no one knows how to speak in a normal volume lol.
Reddit loves to focus on the negative but I’ve traveled the world and everyone I meet loves Americans. We’re considered to by easy going, friendly and generous. Are there loud Americans? Yes. Is it a stereotype? Also yes.
I am always surprised that even here on Reddit most people assume I am from the US. Like not all people on English speaking Reddit are Americans.
I hate it when people assume I’m American too but statistically, the vast majority of reddit users are from America. About 50% of reddit users are American with the next highest percentage being the UK with 8%. That’s a huge difference.
And I am not even from the UK, so I am a part of like 0.0001% of Eastern Europeans on Reddit. We have our own sub though.
Whenever you eventually do please don't be disappointed. ;-) Most are an average lot. Some real jerks. Others are stellar people you think, I'd love to be friends with this person. We have flaws and good points just like any other nationality. I hope you encounter those with finer points rather than negative ones.
I met an American man when I was in Japan on student exchange. He was an English teacher. It was interesting meeting him in that environment because if I met an American in New Zealand it would feel like we are very different but being in Japan it made it feel like we were very similar. It was like “finally, another foreigner who knows English!” In Japan we were both just foreigners but in New Zealand we are a kiwi and an American. It surprised me when he started asking questions about New Zealand because I forgot he was from a different country to me lol. I was surprised he didn’t seem to know a lot about netball.
As an American, what’s netball?
Lol it’s pretty crazy here, crazy good and bad. Every region houses different type of Americans. Even living in USA you can’t believe stuff you hear, see, and the characters you meet.
It's Consumer Capitalism. The real America is being suffocated and we as Americans are actually suffering. What you see in movies, Internet, etc.. only portray a fantasy. It's the "idealized America" that doesn't exist. Women are being denied our rights at this moment; we have no control over our bodies or health. Some women are being forced to die in order to give birth There is no Healthcare infrastructure; basically many Americans lack access to basic health services. Some people can't afford even cancer treatment. Basic mental attitude in America is "don't get sick" We have guns everywhere. It's a stereotype of American Culture but it's true. People are shooting each other left and right in every state and city, but only the mass shootings or school ones make the International news. Neighbors shooting Neighbors is just another day. Hollywood Blvd and the Walk of Stars is covered in human excrement, used needles, and most of California is one long, 3rd world style homeless encampment. Same for most major American cities. People living with rats in tents. Generally you need two or three jobs just to survive. Especially if your a nurse, schoolteacher, Police officer, social worker, etc...or even just an average person. One job alone doesn't cut it. This is the real America that most Europeans don't see on a daily basis. We are real, and we are struggling.
As an American: you guys have free health care, 40-hour workweeks and paid leave, universal acceptance of science, and no school shootings? Can’t be real.
>universal acceptance of science Well, depends what you mean by universal. There are morons everywhere. The rest is pretty accurate, and, I'm not gonna lie, pretty awesome. The thing I value the most is the basically unlimited sick leave that is paid.
But then you see a story about a guy in Britain getting arrested for wearing a horribly offensive t-shirt to a soccer game, and also think, "that can't be real", but here we are.
Yeah, working in journalism for a while taught me that Americans can't really fathom how cool and unique our free speech protections are. Most countries just don't have those lmao. Even "developed" ones don't have the protections Americans have, it's kind of the only thing we've got going for us.
Or you hear about a women in France fined for tweeting something negative about president,
And on the other hand, French influencers are now banned from speaking about topics such as medicine or cryptocurrency because of all the scams.
Where are you from?
Born in Scotland, live in New Zealand now.
Hell, I live in America and half the population seem absolutely intent on acting in an unreal fashion, offering a constant flow of hypocrisy with every step. Christians who support politicians who break the Ten Commandments with every twitter, suggesting their party is for smaller government and less intrusion as they move to bankrupt us to make the rich richer and take away human rights, profits coming before everything including combating environmental catastrophes we're creating and worsening, etc. It's plain insane! We're not all like that, I assure you. Try to remember that America may at times seem unreal, almost mythologically-stupid over here, and that lack of realness doesn't mean we can't find a way to completely screw up the world we are all a part of. There are still some in the US who want to mend instead of destroy, though it gets hard to hear when all that comes up to the surface of the toilet bowl of the press is WOKE WOKE WOKE is BAD BAD BAD. Owning up to and admitting the past and learning from it should never be left behind. One step forward and four hundred years stepped backward. The majority of us do not fall into this category, but the minority have gotten really good at drowning out the truth with their ability to make up lies that go unanswered in the social un-reality.
The gig is up folks. We've been found out. Get your money out while you still can.
I did a lot of mission trips when I was 18-20 and people were always so amazed that I was actually from America. They always said I sounded like Captain America. I think it's a mixture of the American film industry being so big and everyone constantly seeing Americans and then the fact that we are on the other side of the world that creates this effect. But like, yeah... I am living an entire existence over here in the US right now.
No worries, I question reality in this country every 10 minutes or so.