What American's think of Ireland!

I have lived in the States and generally I have found the typical "Gringo" to be woefully ignorant of any nation outside their borders.

It is not just Ireland though, many of them think my adopted land, Venezuela is part of Mexico by the way they act and the questions they ask. I loved it when my wife was sitting choking on the spicy Gringo cooking and some Gringo was asking me why we used hot peppers, (We do not!!).

hmm, as an american allow me to say that i know that leprechauns aren't real, and im sorry that anyone has had to witness this stupidity.
i will be honest with you though.. i am ignorant of other countries.. ive only been to canada once, and when i think of ireland the traditional thought of green fields, cottages, and cliffs come to mind, but please, i will not insult u and say that i think all of ireland is like this (though at this point i wonder if any of ireland is still like this since u have all this 'new' technology;)) i mean, i have seen pics of dublin.
also, i wasn't aware that people still spoke irish in ireland, anyway, i think u still do unless if its a cultural thing of urs, thought this b/c some of u wrote in irish. ive heard some irish in songs before, tis a pretty language i think. which makes me think.. i just love ur irish accents, they're so very pretty.
i came to this site b/c i wanted to learn more bout irish music.. unfortunately when i was listening to an irish station on line all i was hearing was american stuff like blink and christina.. so i came here to find out what is really playing over there, and the suggestions have been great, u have lots of talent .
i do wish that in america there was more international things so we wouldn't be as ignorant, or arrogant.. luckily theres the internet so i can learn bout other countries.
anyway, im kinda curious, what do u think of exactly when u think of americans.. and what is it to be 'americanized'..
oh yea, i was once told that we make a much greater deal about st.patricks day than u do over there and that u barely celebrate it.. is that true?
must say, thanks for sharing the funny stories and i have said something stupid, im sorry.. just trying to learn more bout my nationality
have a pleasant day
~beth

Canada isn't part of the USA?

Originally posted by mada999
Was over in the states for the summer and I guy that was workin' with us asked us if we had the internet in Ireland!!??

To be fair to the poor guy ... the Internet may technically be in Ireland, but it's still sh*te for most areas. Until we can get 3Mbps connections to our house for ~50/month (like you can in the US and Canada) and not have to wait 4-6 weeks to get it connected, we'll have to be at least slightly humble in that area....

Oh wait, this isn't the board for complaining about broadband connections

I think perhaps most of the "questions" tourists asked you about leprechauns were just piss takes. Come on now, I'm an American and NOBODY I know thinks they are real. A lot of people have a very dry sense of humor and it can be taken the wrong way.
I know a lot of Americans are ignorant of other cultures and live up to the stereotypes given us as a whole. But stereotypes are dangerous and work both ways. I know the stereotype of the Irish is that you all love to drink and fight. Is that true with some? Of course. Is it true of all? No, of course not.
I was is Ireland on holiday last year and the two things I remarked to all my friends about was First- that the country is so beautiful. And second-that everyone was so friendly. I had a wonderful time and already have my tickets for another trip over next month. Now after reading this I have begun to wonder if i was mistaken and what I took as friendliness was just well disquised contempt.

Come on now... that's letting people off a bit easy. Yes, you may have to pay for college in the US, but we do as well in Canada and relative to income levels, it's far more expensive at home. For the most part, though, we somehow manage to come out of high school/university with an understanding that there are other countries in the world besides our own and a vague idea of where they are

I also said that it depends on what the child wants to learn. I happen to know that Canada and Mexico are not part of the US. I know many facts and history points about many different places. I did pay attention in History class while other slept!
If asked my favorite thing taught in history it would have to be that of Uruguay. The fight for independance and the struggle between the two old political parties and then to still find their way to democracy! Anywho!!!!! Just to point out that I didn't mean that comment about us having to pay for college to mean that people that don't go to college don't have a vauge idea about other places...I ment it as a statement to show that we pay for it here. Although in places with the lottery many can get their college paid for if they made good grades in highschool...in Georgia its called the "Hope Fund" I think..It all depends on the state in which you live and so forth! BLAH BLAH BLAH...I'm beginning to bore myself!

My latest run-in with geography issues was a girl working at Target in Florida who thought that Canada was actually part of the US. Sigh.

Hehehehe...the poor girl. I hope her parents have plenty of money and she marries into money cause I fear the poor girl may not make it further than a Target!


~DR~:rolleyes:

I concur with The Son Of Battles...

Don't read too much into the comments either, because as far as I'm concerned, this is just a 'friendly poke in the ribs' kind of thread.


Anyway, more about America!
I ate one of those Hershey bars not so long ago, and man, it was foul!
Tasted like sawdust and cooking chocolate!

Whatever about American stupidity, you lot certainly don't know how to make good chocolate.

Originally posted by bizmark
i once sent a american family all the way to dublin when they where just looking for a building 2 miles away.....GREAT FUN!

ROFL STUPID IDIOTS

god dont get me started on americans

some americans are fine but the others have gotten that way because the crappy way they are brought up

i was talking to an american who thought that we didnt have supermarkets here
i was talking to another one who believed in leprechauns

their was a show that asked the average american where england was on an atlas 43% got it right

Originally posted by Lump
To be honest, look at the size of america, and the size of Ireland. How much do you know about countries smaller then Ireland, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Liechtenstein, Maldives etc etc, Should I go on? Look at the films that are made about Ireland. What are people supposed to think?

yes that is true alot of people dont know alot about barbados other than that its a holiday resort, im sure lots of people dont know about the troubles in burma or the whole story behind kashmir (bigger world situations) alot of people know nothing about ireland, but americans seem to have a bigger collective stupidity than the rest of the world

i have dealt with lots of american tourists i find most of them to be nieve and arogant. they are so proud of their "great nation". yet their patriotism for the land of the free and the home of the brave doesnt mean anything to anyone who dont live there

the statement on films made about ireland. films made about ireland usually depict ireland in older times + People have forgotten to use good aulde common sence. were right beside england and in the european union and we still all go round in horses and carts?????

your teachers sure teach you lot heaps!!

and i suppose you all think cuba is full of commie scum aswell

Originally posted by DriftingRain
One being that even most middle class americans can't even pay for their children to attend college. YES we pay for it ourselves over here..Its not given away!

im sorry but is it our fault that our government put education before nukes??
most americans are uneducated because of a rediculous education system that teaches them nothing

look at the texas TAKS exams what a useless bunch of papers that arent worth anything an exam that asks 10 yr olds questions we ask 6 yr olds questions

your saying but america is soooo big its not that big it only has around 250 million people in it count up how many live in europe im pretty sure its a bit more than 250 million and all of these speak different languages, have different cultures and different ideas.

we all still learn alot about world history

your saying ireland is soooo small? ireland was surpressed for hundreds of years by one of the biggest empires in the world - britain. the irish populated alot of america during the famine we have a fairly large literary and musical history.

Originally posted by ll=llannah
every country tends to teach history with a bias. it's not only us and that is such a huge generalization I don't even know where to begin.

yes countries historys do tend to be taught with bias but i have watched how americans put across things on fox news and the like they do it with arogance and joke about serious issues and they try to scare their viewers with trivial matters like bee stings will kill you. news in any propper country tells the news like it is and doesnt give any opinion on the matter they leave that to talk shows

Originally posted by Paddy20
I am one of the worried, as I truly do not believe America is heading down the right road. It is much too Capitalist, intolerent, egotistical, militarised and invasive.

I consider it to be the most dangerous country in the world, and the one most likely to unleash the final nuclear holocaust.

Americas recent war mongering and wars. Has certainly not helped me sleep peacefully at night. Uncertainity is a dangerous commodity.

A sad state of affairs for the human race !

P. :ninja:

well said man.... well said.

Originally posted by CuLT
From my brief few months in the states, I would be one of those people who thinks it is how it is in the films. I saw very little to contradict the film stereotypes.
I was in Illinois, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Indiana, Tenessee & Wisconsin.

I saw and heard stereotypical truck drivers, heard people laugh when my mother said "thanks a million", I saw perfect jocks and their perfect girlfriends at baseball games with their cold empty smiles, queried attendants in electronic stores to be met with a blank expression as their minds caved in, listened to "god bless america" music all day every day, watched with horror as i realized how much my cousins had been americanised after only 3 years in the country, and then the shame as I discovered my aunt no longer understood 'slagging'.
America is the only country I've ever been to where I can honestly say I felt utterly alone in a crowd, and truly far from home. Hollow shells surrounded me.

America would be great, but for the Americans.

There are exceptions obviously, I would not like any americans I know from boards to feel insulted, as I hold them in no less esteem than my irish peers.
I'm also led to believe that the places I went to can't be compared to the rest of America.
But it was such a desolate, dream-shattering journey for me, I left the country feeling very bitter, and very happy to return to a place where america was a warm ideal.

also a great statement:)

saying that all americans are dumb is stupid saying that the majority of americans are dumb is more like it

i dont dislike americans for being stupid. its your government that makes you that way, its your education system that makes you that way, its your media that scaring the **** out of you makin you that way, and lack of a propper history that makes you want to put your imprint on the world no matter how devastating it is.