[PhoenixAzul]

Having lived abroad for the last couple of years, I've gotten so many stereotypes from so many people.

-"You're American? You're not fat!" or "You're awfully thin for an American" which makes me laugh, as I'm a size 12, a pretty average (even big) size for an American.

- That Americans are dumb. Um...no. I'm studying at one of the top universities in your country, shouldn't that tell you something?

- I must love George Bush (I was living abroad when his image really took a dive). Definitely not. I've never been a republican, and I'm passionately anti-war.

- I hate all food that isn't deep fried and bland. What? Seriously? I'll try just about anything and I love spicy food.

- Evangelical pro-life christian (what my best friend in Scotland called "Happy Clappy Christian") . Nope, sorry, Roman Catholic.

- That we all live on the coast, or live in NYC or LA. There is a serious misunderstanding of the regions and enormity of the United States. I got "do you live in a beach house?" all the time. This is mostly because a lot of EU countries get American soap operas and bad MTV docudramas (the Hills).

- American colleges are really easy and that anyone can go to college. Now, this is partially true if you look at the difference in admission requirements and placement system in the UK...not every student can go to University and university placements are really coveted because there are far fewer universities than there are in the US. In the US, most students can go to some form of higher ed, but the variety of options/degrees/accreditation is much wider. It is pretty insulting because I worked plenty hard for my BA, thank you.