Episode 121 - American Customs The Rest Of The World Thinks Are Weird

[JulyDiaz 2797]

Though they often seem to be lacking in self-awareness, Americans are well-acquainted with their own stereotypes. Yes, we get it; we're loud, we're brash, we're fat, we love NASCAR and think everyone should speak gosh darn American. These stereotypes in a way are almost self-imposed. We see 'Team America' and we assume that sardonic parody of patriotism is how the rest of the world views us, but that's not always the case.

 

There are tons of stereotypes about Americans we have no idea about because they're things that are so normal to us we don't even notice them. Take cheese, for example. We LOVE cheese, and sure, other countries love it too, but to an Easterner, cheese is a gross, spongy, smelly alien substance. We know our political system is definitely on the wacky side of things, but do we even comprehend how our election looks to the rest of the world, nervously praying Donald Trump doesn't get the nuclear codes?

 

On this episode, we're joined by a few foreigners to talk about all the weird things we do as Americans, but have no idea about. Cracked editor-in-chief Jack O'Brien is joined by Japanese comedian Aiko Tanaka and British comedian Katia Kvinge to talk about our weird food culture and our even weirder dating culture. Later, Jack is joined by Cracked editor and resident Canadian Mark Hill to talk about why American technology lags far behind along with our politics.

 

Footnotes:

 

6 Ways US Elections Look Insane To Non-US Citizens: http://goo.gl/sBRH9L

 

18 Simple Ways Other Countries Are Just Better Than America: http://goo.gl/n8DdqW

 

19 Ways Americans Don't Realize Life In America Isn't Normal: http://goo.gl/LtRu9k

 

Deep inside us all behind our political leanings, our moral codes and our private biases, there is a cause so colossally stupid, we surprise ourselves with how much we care. Whether it's toilet paper position, fedoras on men or Oxford commas, we each harbor a preference so powerful we can't help but proselytize to the world. Guest host Soren Bowie will be joined by Cody Johnston, Michael Swaim and comedian Annie Lederman to discuss the most trivial things we will argue about until the day we die. This next LIVE episode of The Cracked Podcast will be on Saturday, May 14th at 7pm at the UCB Sunset Theatre in Los Angeles. Tickets are $5 and on sale here: https://goo.gl/znDZRH

[deadlyfox 1]

I can't wait to listen to the podcast, I honestly hope it's better than the last. That's not snarky or sarcastic, I do want to love this podcast again.

My hope, you mention the fact that other countries don't exactly share our super sensitive PC obsession. I'm kind of expecting you to skip that one, even though the comments from non american viewers on your "super racist ads" video kind of showcases it. Probably not though, because that might interfere with the idea that america is super racist and sexist and hateful and the rest of the world is either awesome or just innocently ignorant.

 

 

EDIT: Oh gosh, I stand corrected, what a great podcast. Jack has such an amazingly diverse collection of women to talk about how dog like men are. Such a fascinating outside look at our american culture.

Men are dogs. We cry too much. We are obsessed with masculinity. Yeah, wow, never heard any of that before, so glad you brought in people from other cultures to say what we would certainly never here (let alone constantly hear) from american women. So glad I listened to this instead of just drinking bleach and watching the view.

[omondieu 7]

Canadian here.

 

We don't have a huge variety of Kit Kat, but we occasionally get some variety flavour-wise. We currently have mint/chocolate and cookies and cream varieties. We've also got dark, caramel, and white versions. About ten years ago, we had banana, orange, strawberry, vanilla, and peanut butter ones, too.

 

You can also find some Japanese Kit Kats here depending on where you are, and if you know where to look. I live just outside Toronto, and green tea Kit Kat is a constant staple at pretty much any Asian grocery store. Some of the other flavours I've seen/tried here include pumpkin, sweet potato, pancake (so good), red bean, citrus mix, wasabi (also so good), roasted tea, cheesecake, rum raisin, chili, melon, chili/passion fruit, hazelnut, taro, sake, and apple pie.

 

There are regional differences within Canada, though. They aren't as pronounced as they are in the U.S, but they're there. In the Greater Toronto Area, Vancouver, and in Montreal, there are underground subways, as well as light rail transit, buses, and streetcars. The outdoor pool I grew up with wasn't unusual. I've not been to Vancouver, but as far as I know, the atmosphere is sort of a mix of L.A. and Seattle. It's laid back and temperate. Alberta/Saskatchewan/Manitoba are much more toned down versions of middle America. They tend to be more conservative and less diverse culturally. Those are also our prairie provinces. That's "cowboy nation". There's also a very strong Indigenous/First Nations population in the west. Also, there's a big Eastern European influence because a lot of Eastern Europeans went to settle the west at the turn of the last century. I'm of Ukrainian descent on both sides, but I only recently learned that there's actually a "Canadian" dialect of Ukrainian which originated in the prairies. Ontario is the province everyone hates because of Toronto, which is like New York Lite. We Torontonians don't generally have much of a personality of our own, because we just kinda look at other global metropolises and try to do what they do. But I'm generalizing too, because Ontario is huge. The southern tip of Ontario is really the part everyone hates. Quebec, because of its francophone population and French influence, is the most distinct in terms of having its own culture. There are celebrities and TV shows which are huge in Quebec, but totally unknown in other parts of Canada. The Maritimes aren't very cosmopolitan. Their culture is very much connected to being close to the ocean, and being far removed from the big cities. Then you've got the northern territories, which are very characterized by the large Inuit population.

 

There are so many other things I could mention. But Canadians, despite what Americans think, don't really have a distinct culture of their own. We're a multicultural country. The atmosphere up here tends to emphasize recognizing where you came from and preserving your cultural traditions (without being a douche about it), whereas America is very much about "being American" and assimilating.

[deadlyfox 1]

Wow, that was a really interesting read. Kind of an interesting look at the contrast between our two countries, even though they are bordering each other you managed to note some interesting similarities and differences. Too bad this podcast couldn't do that, even with two guests from countries that should be quite different from our own.

Maybe because your post wasn't being punctuated with Jack going "yeah but what do you think of boys? They're icky right?"

 

Yeah I know, broken record. Jesus, he even tried to push his own cultural "everyone is the same" stuff when the Japanese woman tried describing how she was amused by crying men.

"Oh my god that's so mean"

Or you know, maybe that was one of those cultural differences you acted like you wanted to learn about. Maybe the idea of masculinity being bad is more of an American thing. Nope, why would anyone want to dig deeper into that?