Everything I know about the USA I learned from Simpsons and Buffy the vampire slayer. What are the biggest misconceptions I'm likely to have?

I'm aware of how culturally dominant the US is, but it isn't something that I think about often. As for the jokes about France; it's just like any other country that has a stereotype. Look at how people view the US with the obligatory fat, ignorant, bible pushing 'MURICANS. Although we are allies, we still crack jokes about others culture or stereotypes. It keeps things light and it's all in good fun because people poke fun at us back.

As for misconceptions: * No culture * Bad drivers * All fat and only eat fast food * Gun crazy and like our freedom so we carry guns everywhere * Relaxed gun laws (go into walmart and buy an AR15) * etc Answers: *Although our culture isn't defined as one nation, people celebrate things based off of what their ancestors did. My family originally came from Ulm on my father's side, and Norwegian on my mother's side (never learned about which town). We are a Lutheran family who for Easter and Christmas get together and eat traditional dishes passed down from our great grandparents. Lefse, Lutefisk, etc.
*Bad drivers, we have our share just like any nation. *We're not all fat and according to BMI we're close to England in numbers of fat people but get more flack for it simply because we are American. *I own two firearms, one is a .22 rifle for target practice, and the other is a 12 gauge shotgun that I use for hunting deer. They are both locked and put away with the ammunition in a hidden area on the other end of the house (out if the reach of children). Although there are a lot of guns per individual here, most of the time it's due to people like me having 2+ guns. * Although I can go into a store and buy a firearm, most states have more sensible laws than others (the ones you hear about in the news). I live in Minnesota which is the north most state (center of the USA), you can read about it's gun laws here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_Minnesota

/r/usa Thread