"America is a large, friendly dog in a very small room," observed British historian Arnold J. Toynbee. "Every time it wags its tail, it knocks over a chair."
And Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca said, "The only things that the United States has given to the world are skyscrapers, jazz, and cocktails."
Opinions of America are like bellybuttons — everybody's got one.
**
As part of Project Xpat — an exploration by NPR — we asked Americans living abroad to tell us in 10 words or less how they would answer the 10-word question: What Do People In Your Host Country Think Of America?
Here are some of the responses:
"Has a limited worldview and is absolutely crazy about guns." — Andrea Eagleman, 33, New Zealand
**
"Americans: violent, no culture; but you: humble, kind and different." — Chantal Mpezo, 27, South Korea
**
"America, the land of optimism, excess, economic and political decline." — Yasmine Qureshi, 28, England
**
"Most find America delightful. Tourism dollars help quite a lot." — Brian Blakely, 30, Morocco
**
"Fashion labels, excess money, beauty, USA means beautiful country." — Renee Baker, 37, China
**
"Full of contradictions: confusingly progressive yet behind the times." — Thomas Mosley, 25, Spain
**
"A place to gasp at, but not to go to." — Holly-Nicole Nwangwa, 23, Japan
**
"Americans are very patriotic and all have guns." — Carly Erickson, 25, Italy
**
"Americans are aggressive, paranoid gun-hoarders who don't want social health care." — Towy Vaughn, 38, China
**
"Cheap iPhones, rap music and better movies exist in America." — Brenna Bethancourt, 28, Russia
**
"Gun-loving but fun-loving; hard working but spoiled and fat." — Anastasia Primbas, 47, Hungary
**
The Protojournalist: Experimental storytelling for the LURVers – Listeners, Users, Readers, Viewers – of NPR. @NPRtpj
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDIxMDkyNjUxMDE0NDY1Njg1NzRiOTRiYQ000))
