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Actually the more I read these threads, the more I think a lot of people don't know much about the U.S. at all
Just how incredibly varied it is. When I lived in NYC, I felt like I could easily be in one of any 50 countries, just by getting on the subway and ending up in 'Little Odessa' or Greenpoint (all Polish), or parts of Queens that were all Indian or all Korean or all a mix of Korean or Taiwanese. Every nationality on earth had large swaths of neighborhoods where most of the stores were from their origins.
There are so many places you can be in the U.S., that none of the stereotypes of America exists for absolutely everyone living there. New Orleans or Philadelphia or Miami or New York City or San Francisco or etc.
When I hear people say 'Australia' is nothing like stereotypical America. You could also say that 'California' is nothing like stereotypical America. Large land masses engulfing populations much larger than Australia are nothing like 'stereotypical America' either.
The Great Lakes region of 40-50 million people with 'eh' and 'pop' in the language...and a ton of Swedish and Scandinavians and Finns over in Minnesota...and Polish throughout Chicago. Is that 'stereotypical America'? No, it's not, but it's a very large region of people.
Sadly, when people from abroad stereotype Americans, they usually assume some very generic generic 360 million + people all assuming to be anglo-saxon protestant with british origins, white faces, eating burgers.
I agree with some of this, although I do find that in general North Americans tend to greatly overplay how much ethnic neighbourhoods in their cities "feel just like" being in "foreign country X".
This is perhaps not so true when you are talking about a few of the very large, recently-implanted immigrant groups. But when it comes to most long-established groups, well... there is nowhere in the U.S. or Canada that "feels" like Italy, Portugal, Germany, Poland, Norway, etc.
Generally speaking, North America offers what might be described as the Disney "It's a Small Word" pastiche of global diversity. There is some uniqueness and variety and "spice" added to a local region's mix by its people's diverse origins, but never can it be described as being in a truly "foreign" place. Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with this. North America is what it is: Norwegian-American, Franco-American, Italian-Canadian, etc.
I would think that as an American apparently living in Japan all of this would be patently obvious to you.
Would you like somebody to explain to you the difference between "speaks English less than very well" and "does not speak English at all"?
There are very few people in Brownsville who cannot speak and understand very basic English. Most are actually offended if an Anglo tries to speak to them in Spanish, because they enthusiastically want to become more proficient in English, and welcome the opportunity to practice.
Can't speak for others but when I brought up Laredo and Brownsville I didn't mean to say that they were just like Mexico and irredentist with respect to the U.S. My observations as a second-language (actually third - English is my second) speaker of Spanish in these areas are the same as yours: most locals don't want to indulge my willingness to practise my Spanish with them and insist on using English.
But without being totally "non-American", areas such as these, because of the overwhelming presence of Hispanics and their language, are probably among the most different (from the mainstream) places in the country. Much moreso than New Orleans, which in spite of its particularities is not entirely dissimilar to many, many other locales elsewhere in the U.S., especially in the South.
Canada= Britain in Healthcare, Political system, and demographics (OZ the same)
Though Canada's political system is based on the British Westminster model, Canada has moved closer to the U.S. model since the early 1980s with the new Constitution and Charter of Rights.
All of this gave the courts (especially the Supreme Court of Canada) a far greater role in Canadian politics, in particular in overruling laws democratically passed by parliaments (federal and provincial) alleged in court challenges as being contrary to the Constitution or the Charter.
Though Canada's political system is based on the British Westminster model, Canada has moved closer to the U.S. model since the early 1980s with the new Constitution and Charter of Rights.
All of this gave the courts (especially the Supreme Court of Canada) a far greater role in Canadian politics, in particular in overruling laws democratically passed by parliaments (federal and provincial) alleged in court challenges as being contrary to the Constitution or the Charter.
It seems that Canada is becoming more and more like the US, sadly. Especially with the economy -- it's becoming more and more capitalistic. I hope Canada retains its distinctiveness . . . it's a great country the way it is, and it doesn't need to become just like the States.
A positive sign is the rise of the NDP in Canada right now. The conservatives have gained power in part because the "left" vote is split into 2 (or 3 including Greens, though still not a major player), while the right now just has one major party. Otoh, the Liberals were becoming too centrist and too similar to the the former center-right party (or too much like US Democrats). Thankfully Canada isn't a solid 2 party country in the way the US is, so people who are fed up with the Liberals can, and are, voting for another party, mainly the NDP. The separatist movement may be losing steam in Quebec now as well, so the NDP is gaining votes from those who would have voted for a left-leaning Quebec-specific party in the past.
Australia - Supports all the US wars, spread out, has more of a conservative element than most other British Commonwealth nations.
Canada - Because it's close, many differences though and almost considered not listing it.
Ireland - Many Americans have Irish ancestry, they have a similar division between rich and poor, the Church is declining but I think they still tend to come out more religious than Canada or Australia.
Marshall Islands - In free association with the US and makes commemorative American coins.
Palau - In free association with the US, once a trust territory, and supports the US in embargoing Cuba. (Both Palau and Marshall are UN members and considered independent nations)
Australia - Supports all the US wars, spread out, has more of a conservative element than most other British Commonwealth nations.
Canada - Because it's close, many differences though and almost considered not listing it.
Ireland - Many Americans have Irish ancestry, they have a similar division between rich and poor, the Church is declining but I think they still tend to come out more religious than Canada or Australia.
Marshall Islands - In free association with the US and makes commemorative American coins.
Palau - In free association with the US, once a trust territory, and supports the US in embargoing Cuba. (Both Palau and Marshall are UN members and considered independent nations)
I livei in Australia and I dont think it has an more of an conservative element than most other Commonwealth nations. The US has an more conservative element than Australia of course. But Australia is more strignet in dealing with illegal immigrants than the US, however religion is not so important for as much Australians as Amercans generally are.
At the Iraqi invasion even though the rulling party supported it, the opposition part was against it. In the US generallly the democrats supported it
Maybe replace it, in a weird way, with the Philippines then. They were ruled by America for many years and have retained some American cultural influences. (Basketball is quite popular in the Philippines from what I can tell, for example)
Or possibly Belize as many affluent Americans seem to have guest homes there and I believe English is the main language.
I don't why some people say Germany, it's not because many American are of German ancestry that USA it's like Germany. The majority of German American speak English and they don't know much about Germany. The best answer would be to say an English-speaking country or a country similar legally to the U.S.
Obviously the other anglophone nations are going to score highest on this list, but for non-anglophone countries, Germany definitely tops the list, in my opinion. After all, the Anglophone nations's closest cousins are the Germanic nations.
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