Well, judging by some of the comments from my overseas friends, they think that all Americans are rich, white, spoiled, uneducated, uncultured, gun-toting, SUV-driving Bible-thumpers who support Bush and live in the suburbs.
And of course, while there probably *are* Americans like that (Bob help us), it discounts the wonderful variety of people and cultures in this country. So I spend my time trying to re-educate my pals.
It's especially funny considering I grew up in Massachusetts, where we're strongly Democrats, and there's an almost silly large number of universities, museums, historical homes, symphony halls, art houses, and other meccas of academics and culture, considering we're a pretty small state in terms of population and size.
As for Massachusetts misconceptions specifically, the one that comes to mind is more of an *omission*... namely that nobody knows that anything other than Boston and Cape Cod exist. It was always fun trying to tell people that, no, my hometown of Pittsfield was not near Boston, and was in fact clear on the other side of the state, three hours in a car away.
Oh, and they think we all have the Bostonian slang and accent, too (although, admittedly, I have been known to be fond of using "wicked" when the occasion applies).
Peace & Luv, Liz
