<story><title>Living outside America</title><url>http://ryancarson.com/post/26296475079/living-outside-of-america</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>sneak</author><text>I think there&apos;s something to the not being born there that helps.  #1 was a huge revelation to me (I&apos;d like to think I&apos;m observant and well-informed), and continues to be so to Americans I&apos;ve had the opportunity to tour-guide for.&lt;p&gt;I&apos;m really curious where it comes from.  Perhaps because of the ubiquity of American mass-media?  Every European knows the New York skyline and what &quot;NYPD&quot; and &quot;FBI&quot; mean.&lt;p&gt;How many Americans can spot the difference between Hong Kong and Seoul, or know what &quot;BKA&quot; stands for?</text></item><item><author>pg</author><text>I&apos;ve been able to do the first 3 without leaving (perhaps because I wasn&apos;t born here), and number 4 doesn&apos;t seem so certain.&lt;p&gt;What I noticed about living outside America when I did it later as an adult was that it made it clearer what was distinctive about the US.&lt;p&gt;Many of the distinctive things I noticed could be summed up by describing America as a young culture.  Americans have the optimism and energy of youth, but they&apos;re also comparatively unsophisticated.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ashishgandhi</author><text>&amp;#62; How many Americans can spot the difference between Hong Kong and Seoul, or know what &quot;BKA&quot; stands for?&lt;p&gt;That only means American culture is more exported than others in many forms like movies, TV shows, etc. People like to watch American shows, American that, American this, etc. If Honk Kong and Seoul were able to export their culture as effectively you&apos;ll know about them too. A lot of people know about Paris and Cannes in the US. Doesn&apos;t mean they are &quot;well educated&quot; or anything. Nor the other way around.</text></comment>
<story><title>Living outside America</title><url>http://ryancarson.com/post/26296475079/living-outside-of-america</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>sneak</author><text>I think there&apos;s something to the not being born there that helps.  #1 was a huge revelation to me (I&apos;d like to think I&apos;m observant and well-informed), and continues to be so to Americans I&apos;ve had the opportunity to tour-guide for.&lt;p&gt;I&apos;m really curious where it comes from.  Perhaps because of the ubiquity of American mass-media?  Every European knows the New York skyline and what &quot;NYPD&quot; and &quot;FBI&quot; mean.&lt;p&gt;How many Americans can spot the difference between Hong Kong and Seoul, or know what &quot;BKA&quot; stands for?</text></item><item><author>pg</author><text>I&apos;ve been able to do the first 3 without leaving (perhaps because I wasn&apos;t born here), and number 4 doesn&apos;t seem so certain.&lt;p&gt;What I noticed about living outside America when I did it later as an adult was that it made it clearer what was distinctive about the US.&lt;p&gt;Many of the distinctive things I noticed could be summed up by describing America as a young culture.  Americans have the optimism and energy of youth, but they&apos;re also comparatively unsophisticated.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>jwilliams</author><text>I think there is a lot more subtlety to #1.&lt;p&gt;I&apos;m Australian, and despite numerous cultural shifts, when you graduate the natural place to go is Europe. The thing young Aus/NZ people do is backpack around Europe.&lt;p&gt;When I was growing up, I knew a lot about the US from Mass Media, but it was pretty shallow. I saw the US as a mono-culture. When I finally visited the states that&apos;s what shocked me most - it&apos;s a diverse, complex place. In many ways more so than Europe.&lt;p&gt;I have my doubts about #4 too.</text></comment>