European view of U.S.
Out of context: Reply #38
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- rafalski0
I defended Americans in a gazillion conversations with people who never went there. The problem often lies in the expectation of them being like Europeans.
If you go to China, cultural differences don't surprise you, they're what you go there for in the first place. In the US you expect the culture to be European-like. Wrong. Despite coming from Europe in large part, they're different. It's a different culture on another hemisphere, that's how you need to approach them.Americans seem somewhat mass-produced*. They can be both lazy and meticulous at work at the same time. Usually way much brighter than they're seen, they just focus on different areas/values. They read more books than a lot of Europeans and are trained to have their lifes organized.
A good example of the latter are the perfect teeth most of them seem to have. I knew some laid-back Americans living in Europe, their places were always tidy, no matter how hard they tried. Tidier than German expats' places.
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*they are mass produced