When I’ve been abroad before, I’ve heard people from other countries take cheap shots and make rude comments about Americans…even though they’ve never been to the U.S. before.
But that’s what myths and stereotypes are all about: they somehow find a home in the head of a collective population and people believe them.
But we’re gonna try to change that today, at least a little bit.
AskReddit users discussed common myths about their countries that aren’t true.
Let’s take a look.
1. All false.
“Everyone plays soccer and knows how to dance samba.
There are monkeys in the streets.
The capital is Rio de Janeiro.”
2. There’s some middle ground.
“People think British people are either stiff upper lip public schoolboys or cockney brick layers/football hooligans.
There’s a whole world of people in between! Some of us don’t even like football.
One of my friends DOESN’T EVEN DRINK TEA! Not sure why she’s my friend to be honest…”
3. From France.
“French here.
That we don’t shower. We do, guys, we’re not in the 1700s anymore. Also that French women don’t shave.
I mean, there are some that don’t, but this has more to do with their personal choices and a general trend of having more and more women that don’t shave around the world than their Frenchness.
We do eat frogs and snails though.”
4. Come on, people!
“Not exactly myth but decent amount of ppl still think that Czechoslovakia still exists.
We split apart in 1993…
We are Czech Republic, not Czechoslovakia anymore.”
5. Educate yourself.
“Singaporean here.
No, we’re not part of China. We’re not even in the same region. Yes, the population is 60% ethnically Chinese, but that doesn’t make us part of China any more than it makes the USA part of Britain. As a matter of fact, there’s a problem of racism against mainlander Chinese, since locals tend not to see them as “true” Singaporeans.
This is exacerbated by the fact that lots of mainlander Chinese are pretty pro-China (human rights violations and all), while the local Chinese don’t like China and the CCP very much. We’re closer culturally to Taiwan.
It is not illegal to be naked inside your own home. You can be starkers while bathing or f**king if you like. You just cannot use “I am in my own home” as a defense against streaking or showing everyone your rude bits. 90% of the population live in government apartments and we don’t need pervs flashing their dongs through their windows.
Incidentally, this law came about because pervs were flashing their dongs through their windows. Singapore used to have a big flasher problem back in the 80s – times were weird.
It is not illegal to chew gum, only to import/sell it or bring it onto the trains. This is because d**kheads used to literally gum up the train doors and make everyone late for work. The government put up with it for a few months and then said f**k it, no more gum for everyone, this is why we can’t have nice things.
The government doesn’t fine people for every little offense anymore. They used to, but enforcement has become lenient in the last two decades. Sadly, this means there’s a ton of litter where the streets used to be pristine. Still, you might not want to litter or spit right in front of a police officer.”
6. Sounds kinda nice…
“The image most people outside of Europe have of Austria.
Do you really think that we are always wearing Lederhosen and Dirndl?
That we all are living in the Alps and that we yodel from one mountain-hill to another to stay in touch with our neighbours?”
7. Overall, a nice place.
“That Sweden is a socialist paradise.
It’s neither socialist, nor a paradise (though it is a nice country to live in except for the weather).”
8. Are you a vampire?
“I live in Canada but born and raised in Romania.
I’d say 80% of the time when I meet someone new, I get asked about vampires being real.
Men try to flirt with me by saying : “are you going to drink my blood?””
9. Dealing with history.
“Germany – That WII is a huge taboo topic and everybody just pretends it didn’t happen.
I’ve had multiple US exchange students here in Germany ask me, if I knew about Hitler and the Nazi regime, and apparently they expected me to go “Huh, what? No, please educate me about my own history.”
Apparently this stems from a misunderstanding about not being allowed to do a Nazi salute in Germany – which has a completely different reason.”
10. BS.
“That everyone in Japan works crazy hours and never has enough time or energy for things they want to do.
People on average work longer hours than mainland Europe sure, but work less hours than the US, so that’s BS.”
11. Not accurate.
“I live in South Africa.
Many people still believe we have wild animals roaming around and s**t, and people living in huts, etc.
That does happen in certain parts of Africa but I live in the suburbs of Cape Town. We have better internet than some first world countries.”
12. Russia.
“I feel like Russia is commonly hated especially lately (not that there are no reasons for that huh).
I have a strong feeling that people simultaneously think that Russia is a dangerous sh**hole and that we all love and support Putin and his government. Both of those things are not true.
Well, some parts of Russia are poor and I myself have friends from different places who have only 10-15k roubles monthly to spend ($150-200).
At the same time, even though I am pretty privileged being born and raised in Moscow in an upper middle class family, have a flat that I don’t need to pay rent/loan for (my husband’s family got it for free during the USSR period).
My very first job ever pays me enough money to spend on anything I want except for big purchases like a new iPhone or a car; I have a degree (not for free but for reasonable money ($2500 a year)); and last year our free healthcare literally saved my life (yeah I know, taxes, I pay them, nbd).
Small quality of life things we have: I haven’t used any cash in years, everything can be paid via Apple/Google/Samsung Pay, even in the smallest shops. Our delivery services are on point, I can order any groceries I want via an app and they will deliver them in 7-15 minutes.
Moscow is covered in car-sharing cars and, even though we don’t have our own car, we don’t need it because parking prices are high and car-sharing cars are literally on every corner here.
Another QoL thing I forgot to mention: we have our own tech ecosystem made by Yandex that almost everybody here uses – it consists of a virtual assistant with a home pod, one subscription for music, movies and other bonuses, food delivery service, taxi aggregator, car-sharing service, etc, and everything with a cash back. They also develop autopilot electric cars.
About Putin: none of my friends support him. Most of the young people here want to emigrate to not have anything in common with him.
Most important part: Russia is full of culture. Literature, language, music, nature, food, people, their stories – it’s all amazing and deserves some love.”
What myths about your country do a lot of people believe but are just not accurate?
Talk to us in the comments.
Please and thank you!
