TLDR – What do Students Think of North Americans?

Filed as: TLDR // Responses: 170

Ok, so hopefully we won’t get any comments about us overgeneralizing, or painting Koreans in a bad light, or painting Westerners in a bad light, or us doing something that gets some hypersensitive person butthurt. This was a difficult question for us to answer, and we tried to do so with trepidation.

If you’re new to this segment of ours, every Thursday we answer the top rated question from our Google Moderator page. Last week we were asked about our funniest stories in South Korea. This week Pinkpancakes18 asked the top-rated question which was “What are some of the weirdest things your students think about america/canada?”

Now, this wasn’t an easy question to answer. We wish there was something like “oh they think all Canadians/Americans like chicken and watermelon” or something clearly inaccurately stereotyping. But it wasn’t that straightforward. There were just some cultural differences that lead to some misperceptions. Again, allow us to say that not all of our students think this way. The three points that we go over are just the common reactions we got from our students. And so, on with our list!

1) North Americans have lots of guns:
This is an easy one for us to dispel. Martina’s never even seen a gun before in her life. Simon, for all his gangstaisms, has only seen one before, but never actually held one. In fact, it was his father’s hunting rifle. Anyhow, we don’t know anyone else who has guns, either. We see guns all the time on TV, though, and in video games, but never in real life, and we think this is the case for a lot of people. Moving on…

2) North Americans are rich:
This is an easy for one as well. We sure ain’t rich! We’re not poor, either, but we’re not wealthy. We would get this reaction from our students whenever we showed them pictures of our homes back in Canada, which are by no means large. Martina’s parents live in a nice bungalow, but it’s…just a nice bungalow. You’d probably drive by it and be like “oh, that’s a nice bungalow.” The reactions we’d get from students, though, would be far more extreme. Like “WOW TEACHER YOU ARE SO RICH!” and lots of oohs and aahhs. We’re assuming their reactions are so strong not because Korean people love bungalows, but just because houses aren’t really common in the Seoul and surrounding area. People mostly live in apartments and officetels. We haven’t seen anyone with a house in Bucheon or in Seoul. Korea doesn’t really have a lot of land mass, and since the population density is so high here, there isn’t a lot of room to build houses everywhere, while in Canada there’s oodles and oodles of land, and a smaller population than South Korea.

3) North Americans are…floozier?
This one’s a bit more difficult to explain. Students have asked us if we kiss or hold hands on a first date, and, well, yeah, we sometimes do. And that’s amazing to our students. Then they watch stuff like Gossip Girl and think that we’re skanks. Oh boy.

Anyhow, what’s interesting about this is the difference in propriety. Hugging between sexes isn’t common in Korean culture, while we – as Canadians – don’t really have much wrong with hugging someone goodbye. But that’s a big deal here! On the other hand, Korean people of the same gender can hold hands when they walk together and it not mean anything, while to us, it would mean that they’re dating. Hmmm.

So that’s it for this week. Woohoo! We almost answered the Love Story question that keeps on making it almost to the top of the question list. We’re glad that we didn’t answer it yet. Three Thursdays from now, though, will be our 4 Year Wedding Anniversary, so maybe then it’ll be appropriate? :D On a side note, this was the first video we ever shot in our new apartment! Yay! What you saw is a bit of our kitchen, which is what we did for our last TL;DR, so we thought we’d keep it kinda consistent :D

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Aimee Nguyen

There’s barely any one who owns guns where I live but maybe I never cared to know? o_o
http://twitter.com/shojo_a shojo_a

I spent a year and a half in Tokyo, back in 2003, and it’s interesting to me that all of the stereotypes you guys mentioned are things I was told by my Japanese friends/students about Americans. (We keep our guns in our bedside drawers, apparently.) I also had a very, very awkward hugging experience with one of my Japanese friends, who decided she wanted to give me a hug after I talked about how much I missed the casual hugs I was used to doing with my American friend. So awkward!!Â
That’s interesting to hear about Koreans and hand-holding, because the only person in Japan that I ever held hands with was a Korean girl who lived in my dorm. Now I know why!Â
Paix4jamais

My dad used to actually take out his gun when my sister brought home a new boyfriend and he’d be all, “See this nice bullet,” and he would let the boyfriend hold it and that boyfriend would always look like he was going to pee his pants. haha

jazzyfish

Haha… My dad says he’s going to bring out his gun if I try to bring anyone home w/me… except… he doesn’t have bullets in. That’s a good thing, right?

http://twitter.com/onceatraveler Turner Wright

Easy on the Texan stereotypes :P But I suppose they do permeate the world:Â http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXJ-oAq2XZg
Anonymous

goooooooooooooooooooooooooooood information!!! actually when I met one girl at first, we were just normal friend but when we leave after having a meal. she hugged me I was embarrased however I was happy and I’m gonna followe the rule of western!! haha
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001897899219 Vicky Garcia

LOL, Nice! I’m a Texan but I’ve never seen a gun in real-life before xD I’m from the city tho :O
But yeah, the skinship thing is hilarious. I showed my sister Boys Over Flowers and there was one scene where Jun Pyo hugs Jan Di in slow motion from behind and there was sad/violin music playing in the backgroundÂ as if it wereÂ a big romantic scene or whatever. I turn to look at my sister and she was like, “Uh…I don’t get it.” xD

http://www.eatyourkimchi.com Simon and Martina

Ha! Â I know that scene, and had the exact same reaction! Â Actually, no: I burst out laughing as well :D

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=49008353 Jp Cortes

I live 45 minutes from El Paso ,TX and I have seen a lot of people with guns…My best friend and I always joked about her father taking his gun to kill the guys she used to date.Â We even convinced our best friend Jesus that if her father saw him with us he was going to be a dead man jajajajajaja now he knows we were joking but he almost pee himself when one time we went to pick Noe up from her parents house and her dad was there looking at him with a “who is this punk” face jajajajajjajaja.
http://twitter.com/djy7 tiffany

About #3, a lot of people from Asia believe North Americans and Americans do act the same way as the characters do in the media. Went I went on vacation in Asia, the couples from some countries displayed a lot of public affection for each other.. a bit too much (to the point where you just want to scream, “get a room!”). When I asked some of my relatives about it (the ones living there), they said that the younger couples do whatever they do in public because they want to be “Americanized”, or they will say, “This is how people do it in America, so what is wrong with us doing it, too?” If only they knew that there is a limit to public affection and how annoying (and perhaps disturbing) it can be when you go a bit too far!

http://www.facebook.com/people/Audrey-Koopman/579491716 Audrey Koopman

Its not just Asia either. One of Spanish teachers was talking about how she lived in Mexico (I think) for a year, and when she first got down there she had people asking her if life in the US was really like it is in ‘American Pie’ haha.
http://saerilee.tumblr.com SaeRi

I do think that’s true; when you see complaints about an idol being too sexy or something, a lot of times, America gets pulled into it, about the idols becoming “too American”.

The truth is that…people in France (or just Paris, from my experience), are like this a lot more…in the subways, on the streets, in restaurants, stores, whatever–couples just make-out. Like PASSIONATE I AM EATING YOUR FACE make-out. But people are just like eh, whatever, when they seem these couples, while it makes foreigners somewhat uncomfortable. Like honestly, I have never see so much public make-out sessions EVER.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=841673543 Ashley Boyett

My grandmother is Korean and she’s huge on the skinship thing. I think she believes you’ll be forever labeled as a slut if you come in contact with the opposite sex…I find it quite hilarious at times. Especially when she gives people the stink-eye for holding hands in walmart.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Kristyne-Fajardo/100001050636774 Kristyne Fajardo

XDD lol you used the music from You’re beautiful XDDD But I get what they mean.. XD Just like on your other vid. how people think the Korean boys are girl.. It is kinda similar.. sorta XD
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000199694114 Savannah Somers

lol a lot of people in Washington and Oregon own guns because there’s forests to hunt in! :DÂ