Post: #1

'White, fat, and they eat lots of hamburgers': International students reveal what they REALLY think about Americans in comical video

Quote:-Students from around the world were interviewed at Japan's Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University-Many agreed that Americans are 'bigger', wear loose clothing, and prefer to eat American food

- The interviewees also said that students from the US were louder and more confident than those from other countries

By Carly Stern For Dailymail.com

Published: 11:42 EST, 10 June 2015 | Updated: 07:53 EST, 11 June 2015

How easy is it to distinguish Americans from people from other countries while abroad? According to a handful of tell-tale signs noted by students from all over the world, it's a cinch.

YouTuber SW Yoon interviewed international students from a number of different countries at Japan’s Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, asking how they were able to pick out other students who were visiting from the USA.

The observations they shared ran the gamut from looks to behaviors to personality traits, with many taking the opportunity to poke fun at the country's popular culture and stereotypes.

What all of the international students interviewed could agree on was that, yes, there were ways to tell which of their fellow students were American.

While accent was a major factor, body size seemed to be just as important.

'White, fat,' says one young woman from Germany, laughing as she offered up her thoughts on American students. Her friend agrees, using slightly more politically correct terminology as she adds: 'Usually they have a bit more weight on their hips.'

'They eat a lot of hamburgers, so if you see like a person with McDonald's, he's probably American,' adds the first German girl, while her friend jokingly mimes stuffing her face. They note that even in Japan, where there is a wealth of new food for them to try, students from the US still enjoy eating at the American burger chain often.

A young Japanese man adds more suggestions of the typical American student's diet, saying: 'If they're eating pizza, American. If they're drinking a Coke, American.''

'[They're] often a bit overweight,' offers a tall blonde student from Sweden. He then laughs when his friend, bringing a fork from a take-out container to his mouth, adds: 'It's like they're always eating.'

While several other students from countries like Lithuania, England, and Japan confirm that the Americans they see tend to be 'plump', 'chubby', and 'fatty', not everyone interviewed thought 'big' was bad.

'I can see they have impressive muscular development,' said one young Japanese woman, while a female student from Estonia added that Americans have more muscular faces.

However, it's not just the size of the body that's a red flag - it's also the size of the clothes covering it up.

'They wear clothes real big,' says a young man from South Korea, while students from England, Italy, Norway, and Japan agree that clothes are an obvious indicator. One young man from from Sweden lists sweatpants and big t-shirts as American staples.

'The clothes they wear when they are sleeping, they usually wear it for school,' explains a young woman from Indonesia, who is nicely dressed up in a purple bow-topped blouse and a mauve head-scarf.

Her friend agrees: 'They wear what they like. They just don't care what people think about it.'

Not caring what people think, in general, seems to be a major theme for Americans abroad, according to the international students, some of whom added that they admire the laid-back attitude that they feel many Americans have.

'They usually smoke and put out their smoke wherever they want,' says a student from Uzbekistan.

'They think they own the world,' adds a man from Norway.

The interviewees also pointed to a seeming lack of the concept of 'inside voices' in their US-born classmates.

'When you hear someone who is shouting at someone, you can see he's American,' says one of the Uzbek students. Others from Sweden, Norway, and Honduras agree that 'loud' is a common USA descriptor.

Though many of the interviews indicated ways that Americans could improve their behavior while in other countries, not every stereotype that the international students shared was negative. In fact, many discussed American confidence and friendliness.

'They're really outgoing, I think, and very confident,' says a student from Costa Rica. He continues: 'I think they always want to play drinking games. They really wanna, you know, make sure everybody gets really wasted and make sure everybody takes a lot of shots.'

A Norwegian adds: 'Since I'm from Norway, we're not that noisy. We're not that open, maybe. We don't got to people and say: "Hey, what's up?"'

Two Japanese girls agree that American are funny, while an Indonesian student describes them as 'honest' and a Kenyan student calls them 'happy, jolly, all the time.'

That positive outlook sets Americans apart from many other western cultures, explains a young man from Japan: 'I guess they tend to be positive. They look, like, pretty satisfied with their lives. That's what makes them different from British people and Australian people.'

It looks like some of the Japanese women consider the Americans more masculine. I guess an in shape American with game can get a shit load of notches here of all races.

I found it pretty surprising when they said that the Americans were friendly, at my undergrad degree in London the Americans pretty much kept to themselves. I remember opening an American student once in the laundry room and she got really scared, like I was going to attack her. I never got that reaction from any other international female students.

I did grad school in the US, and since most people were American or from Asia, the student body broke up into various ethnic cliques who barely interacted.

Any RVF guys studied abroad? How did the locals react to you, and how did you react to them? I'm all about getting to know people from all over the world, I was the only student from the whole of Europe in my US grad school, so I couldn't form any cliques even if I wanted to.

Post: #2

"Mostly fat" - says the chubby dark haired girl with a double chin.

Post: #3

Stereotypical Asian girls love masculine white men. Adorable.

Post: #4

Those giggling Japanese girls....yum.

Overall, no one said anything overly negative. I think that's simply the power of American exceptionalism.

Post: #5

1:07, Japanese girl on right.

That is why I love Japanese girls.

Post: #6

America, fuck yeah!

Post: #7

Notice the polarity between the different nations:

The Germans, Scandis, Brits and Aussies tend to talk about how Americans are fat, loud and obnoxious. Because this is what the 'typical American tourist' that visits those countries is seen as.

The Indians, Japanese, Estonians, Chinese and Africans talk about how they view Americans as confident, strong and ambitious. Your basic bitch from SoCal who is only concerned with upping her Instagram presence doesn't tend to travel to those places.

They all agree Americans dress like shit... that's fair... we need to work on that.

Post: #8

I had a big smile watching this and it's all true.

Especially the fashion part.

RIslander nailed it !

Post: #9

(06-11-2015 01:39 PM)RIslander Wrote:  Notice the polarity between the different nations:

The Germans, Scandis, Brits and Aussies tend to talk about how Americans are fat, loud and obnoxious. Because this is what the 'typical American tourist' that visits those countries is seen as.

Well, that and the fact that Europeans always want to portray Americans as ignorant (particularly of other cultures).

Notice the German girls' comments about McDonald's.

According to them, McDonald's restaurants exist around the world just to give Americans a place to eat. Ignore the fact that the places are filled with natives and there aren't nearly enough Americans around to sustain the business.

They also act like Americans are the only people to eat food from their own country while traveling. You think those girls don't eat sausage or drink imported beers while living in Japan?

Not to mention the guy who can't even stop eating long enough to be interviewed about how much Americans eat.

Post: #10

(06-11-2015 02:09 PM)Enigma Wrote:  Notice the German girls' comments about McDonald's.

According to them, McDonald's restaurants exist around the world just to give Americans a place to eat. Ignore the fact that the places are filled with natives and there aren't nearly enough Americans around to sustain the business.

They also act like Americans are the only people to eat food from their own country while traveling. You think those girls don't eat sausage or drink imported beers while living in Japan?

McDonalds is huge in France

Quote:There are now more than 1,200 locations, including ones at the Louvre and Sorbonne, two on the Champs-Elysee, and all up and down the French Riviera. It has the most locations per capita in Europe and the fourth-highest rate in the world.

McDonalds wouldn't get that big in France if it was only Americans eating it.

(06-11-2015 01:39 PM)RIslander Wrote:  Notice the polarity between the different nations:

The Germans, Scandis, Brits and Aussies tend to talk about how Americans are fat, loud and obnoxious. Because this is what the 'typical American tourist' that visits those countries is seen as.

The Indians, Japanese, Estonians, Chinese and Africans talk about how they view Americans as confident, strong and ambitious. Your basic bitch from SoCal who is only concerned with upping her Instagram presence doesn't tend to travel to those places.

They all agree Americans dress like shit... that's fair... we need to work on that.

First world western Europeans tend not pedestalize Americans. They’re either neutral or look upon them with disdain and/or negativity.

Indians, Japanese, Estonians, Chinese and Africans etc. do tend to pedestalize Americans, I think because their lifestyles are so different due to wealth and/or culture to the average American. Americans are glamorous to them. I remember talking to Japanese guy in Tokyo last year, who had lived in the US for a few years. He said the biggest shock that he had was that Americans were so fat, because in Japan everybody is thin, and in American movies/TV most people are also thin!

A lot of Americans know Americans dress like shit, I’ve come across Americans who play the “Gay or European” game whenever they’re trying to guess the background of a well-dressed guy in Los Angeles. They automatically assume Americans dress like shit.

Post: #11

(06-11-2015 02:10 PM)WalterBlack Wrote:  McDonalds is huge in France

Quote:There are now more than 1,200 locations, including ones at the Louvre and Sorbonne, two on the Champs-Elysee, and all up and down the French Riviera. It has the most locations per capita in Europe and the fourth-highest rate in the world.

McDonalds wouldn't get that big in France if it was only Americans eating it.

Yeah... that was my point.

They said you can tell Americans because they're always eating McDonald's, which doesn't make any sense considering any McDonald's abroad likely has significantly more non-Americans than Americans.

Post: #12

Americans eat other fast food too, Mc Donalds ist just the big brand and synonym for fast food in general.
America has not a good reputation in Europe. Either because of the politics or of the behaviour of the tourists. Mostly a mix of both. Also in Germany there are strong anti american voices. Cut out the politics - Bush really destroyed your image. Its the attitude some americans carry. Why nobody speaks english? America is so much better, america is the best and all this stuff. It just need one american to talk stuff like that to label 8 others bad. And those people are out there, they even spread their stuff at youtube.

About the German girls drinking german beer and eating sausage abroad. Kind of funny. Most beer that they sell abroad is not a good one compare to the local beers. And those girls probatily vegetarian, their interest in sausage is from an other taste. Also even if you want to get german sausage abroad, its either extreme expensive while exported or just a cheap fake version.
Beside that those german girls probably have a Korean Drama fetish.

Post: #13

WB Japanese girl with grey top at 1:12. Nice rack.

Post: #14

(06-11-2015 02:37 PM)Galahad Wrote:  Americans eat other fast food too, Mc Donalds ist just the big brand and synonym for fast food in general.

Every country eats fast food, whether it's from an actual restaurant or a street cart.

Quote:America has not a good reputation in Europe. Either because of the politics or of the behaviour of the tourists. Mostly a mix of both. Also in Germany there are strong anti american voices. Cut out the politics - Bush really destroyed your image. Its the attitude some americans carry. Why nobody speaks english? America is so much better, america is the best and all this stuff. It just need one american to talk stuff like that to label 8 others bad. And those people are out there, they even spread their stuff at youtube.

And a lot of people still hold a negative stereotype about Germans. Hitler really destroyed your image.

The point is that Europeans are always trying to portray themselves as worldly, while the rest of the world (particularly Americans) are so ignorant of other cultures, when in actuality Europeans have the same biases and contradictions as anyone else.

They just happen to live on a continent of small countries and lax travel restrictions, as opposed to Americans who can travel thousands of miles and still be in the same country.

Quote:About the German girls drinking german beer and eating sausage abroad. Kind of funny. Most beer that they sell abroad is not a good one compare to the local beers. And those girls probatily vegetarian, their interest in sausage is from an other taste. Also even if you want to get german sausage abroad, its either extreme expensive while exported or just a cheap fake version.
Beside that those german girls probably have a Korean Drama fetish.

Their comment was that Americans eat McDonald's/hamburgers even when in Japan.

My point is that all people gravitate towards their native cuisine. Yes, those girls might not literally eat "sausage", as I was only using that as a stereotypically German food. But there is zero chance they only eat Japanese food and drink Japanese alcohol their entire time living in Japan, and the same goes for everyone else in that video.

But it's another opportunity to portray Americans as ignorant and arrogant because they eat a hamburger in another country.

Post: #15

At the end this video is about what people think about X. So its stereotypical. And some stereotypes have either a true source or there because of the media.
Well and its always the Americans that mention the war hehe

I mean ever country try to shine and the others all in the dark behind. Its a human flavour. Video is made for clicks not as a documentary or information source. You could ask them to proof their points but most people prefer to stick to their simple world view.
Its just a video. Better be fat and dress shitty then be a nazi. So you guys shouldn't complain lol

Post: #16

Quote:The interviewees also pointed to a seeming lack of the concept of 'inside voices' in their US-born classmates.

'When you hear someone who is shouting at someone, you can see he's American,' says one of the Uzbek students. Others from Sweden, Norway, and Honduras agree that 'loud' is a common USA descriptor.

As an American, I have to agree with them on this one, we have no concept of the "inside voice" at all. We are loud as fuck.

Post: #17

My opinion, as American, of German tourists are as follows:

Men: I have befriended more Germans, ages 25-35 in my travels than any other nationality. They are courteous, well spoken and friendly and speak multiple languages. They know how to have a good time and they have respectable game.

Women: Well, Lets just say there's a reason why I've met so many German guys abroad!

Post: #18

(06-11-2015 03:31 PM)Galahad Wrote:  At the end this video is about what people think about X. So its stereotypical. And some stereotypes have either a true source or there because of the media.
Well and its always the Americans that mention the war hehe

I mean ever country try to shine and the others all in the dark behind. Its a human flavour. Video is made for clicks not as a documentary or information source. You could ask them to proof their points but most people prefer to stick to their simple world view.
Its just a video. Better be fat and dress shitty then be a nazi. So you guys shouldn't complain lol

No, I agree. I'm not really trying to "defend" Americans, as I know they can (often) be fat, ignorant, poorly dressed, etc.

I'm just pointing out that people from other countries often have the same ignorance and biases about other cultures that Americans are accused of.

Post: #19

(06-11-2015 03:43 PM)RIslander Wrote:  My opinion, as American, of German tourists are as follows:

Men: I have befriended more Germans, ages 25-35 in my travels than any other nationality. They are courteous, well spoken and friendly and speak multiple languages. They know how to have a good time and they have respectable game.

Women: Well, Lets just say there's a reason why I've met so many German guys abroad!

Sir you sound like this kind of American that should be responsible for the image.
20 year old girl with a K-Drama or Manga fetish shouldn't be your choice in moste cases hehe

(06-11-2015 03:48 PM)Enigma Wrote:  No, I agree. I'm not really trying to "defend" Americans, as I know they can (often) be fat, ignorant, poorly dressed, etc.

I'm just pointing out that people from other countries often have the same ignorance and biases about other cultures that Americans are accused of.

Thats true because in basic, people are all the same. Human behaviour is not that different, just shows up in other light because of different culture and social development.

Post: #20

The entire united kingdom can't call Americans fat when they are fat.. Neither can Germany, it's fill of fat asses to.

Europe loves fast food just as much as Americans.
Hell, I've seen lines of people at McDonald's in Korea.. And Koreans seem to love Popeye's

Scandinavians can't talk about Americans being loud or liking to drink.
Because they are damn near a group of mute people that only talk when they are plastered drunk.

Americans would label most countries rude and not very fun because we are talkative and outgoing.

I always think these videos are stupid.
At some point they are trying to make America look bad.
But at the same time.. Everyone looks up to America.

I studied abroad multiple times and been to multiple countries.
There are Europeans, Asians, south Americans, Africans that are just as ignorant as how Americans are stereotyped.

It's actually really funny to me..
We like to say stuff like " if a man did the same thing he would be... "

If this video was reversed and Americans were telling what we thought of other countries, we would be label stupid, ignorant and uncultured.

Post: #21

(06-11-2015 05:37 PM)Sourcecode Wrote:  The entire united kingdom can't call Americans fat when they are fat.. Neither can Germany, it's fill of fat asses to.

Europe loves fast food just as much as Americans.
Hell, I've seen lines of people at McDonald's in Korea.. And Koreans seem to love Popeye's

The level of fatness of American far outstrips most other nations. You don’t see many 400lb women in Europe, but they’re not rare in the US. If we could get charts of average weight above healthy weight then the US would be up there.

I once went to a job fair for international students in Orland, attended by international students from universities all over the US. I asked a lot of people about how the Americans and the other international students treated them. The answers were nearly always the same - the Americans are nice, but the Koreans are very unfriendly, they stick to themselves.

I went to grad school in the US and I’ve come across people from all over the world over the years. In my experience the FOB Korean male students were the most insular people I’ve ever come across. They didn’t even want to interact with Korean-Americans, let alone anybody else.

Post: #22

(06-11-2015 12:58 PM)WalterBlack Wrote:  [ I remember opening an American student once in the laundry room and she got really scared, like I was going to attack her. I never got that reaction from any other international female students.

Many American females overseas are afraid to talk to strangers. American exchange students are are probably the best America has to offer. Let those same foreign students come to America and meet the average local. I think their opinion of Americans would drop a couple of points. They'd really be shocked how fat and stupid the average American is!

Post: #23

They should separate foreigners into two categories.

Tourist and living abroad.

You will never, ever see an American tourist outside of London or select areas of the UK. I am pretty sure this goes for most tourists to any country.

I came across three Americans in my time at University and they are definitely nowhere near their tourist ilk.

You'd need three categories for Brits abroad however. Tourist, living abroad and troll. Majority of them are utter shitheads or whinging cry babies.

Post: #24

(06-11-2015 07:07 PM)Foolsgo1d Wrote:  They should separate foreigners into two categories.

Tourist and living abroad.

You will never, ever see an American tourist outside of London or select areas of the UK. I am pretty sure this goes for most tourists to any country.

I came across three Americans in my time at University and they are definitely nowhere near their tourist ilk.

You'd need three categories for Brits abroad however. Tourist, living abroad and troll. Majority of them are utter shitheads or whinging cry babies.

Theres actually three categories:

Tourist - Your definition is spot on
Expat - Yup you covered that
Traveler - Respectful Americans who live in the USA but travel without being loud, khaki short/flip flop wearing shitheads who take the time to open foreigners in foreign lands with their native tongue.

If you can find a respectful female American abroad in any context I'll buy you a round of beers because she is an elusive creature.

Post: #25

Yea.
Pretty much.
Good: macho, confident, big, sociable, happy.

Bad: fat, loud, full of ourselves

These stereotypes seem to go hand in hand. And have been around for a long time, as Yes Minister's depiction of an American Vice President showed (Large and gregarious Texan).

But as people have pointed out there were a few "glass houses" moments. Like the chubby girl calling us fat, or the guy chowing down the whole time.

And, while it is true Bush destroyed our image... the whole world (really Europe) wanted us to elect Obama so we'll call it a wash when it comes to who has worse judgement.

Also, SOMETHING UNNOTICED!
They think of White Americans almost exclusively.