This is What They Think of Us

Background

I spent most of my 20s living outside the good ol’ U.S.A. I like to joke about how just before the re-election of George W. Bush I announced to America that, “it was either him or me.” Well, America made its choice and I left for Asia. Over the next seven years I lived, worked & travelled through East Asia, Central America, Europe, North Africa & South America.

Along the way I developed a habit of taking photos whenever I saw representations of America on signs or packaging. As a jaded American, it was funny to see how people outside the states essentially used Old Glory to vouch for their products - especially as most of them were unhealthy food.

In the late Naughties I put together a (now defunct) website called “This is What They Think of Us” as a way to show my friends & family back in the states how we were perceived by the world at large.

I thought I’d lost the majority of the photos when I let the domain (thisiswhattheythinkof.us) and hosting expire a few years back, but I was going through an old hard drive yesterday (July 4th - appropriate) and found copies of all the photos!

So without further ado, I present the revived:

This is What They Think of Us

**Paris, France:** Late night refuge for the world-weary yankee

**Glasgow, Scotland:** Like the sign says, "Sam's yer man"

**Glasgow, Scotland:** Taste of America Pizza

**Bariloche, Argentina:** Make you car smell like America...and vanilla.

**Valparaiso, Chile:** Nuts covered in sugar

**Buenos Aires, Argentina:** Liberty Van

**Buenos Aires, Argentina:** Dry cleaner

**Buenos Aires, Argentina:** Can't get more American than blue jeans

**Buenos Aires, Argentina:** American Deli

**Beppu, Japan:** Late night fried chicken at a Japanese gas station

**Bungotakada, Japan:** The naughtiest bar in the village

**Kyushu Island, Japan:** Not quite on topic, but there is a town in Japan called Usa (oo-sah)

**Glasgow, Scotland:** "Sloppy Hot American" - they named a sandwich after me <3.

**Brussels, Belgium:** "Choc'" must be French for "little chocolate donuts"

**Andorra:** Pyrenees Jeans - not sure about the apostrophe

**Barcelona, Spain:** Magic America porno shop (sorry for the blurriness - not a place where I wanted to stand a take photos for too long).

**Barcelona, Spain:** Gimme some of that old fashioned American Doner Kebab

**Barcelona, Spain:** Nothing more American than pro wrestling

**Bologna, Italy:** Evidently Magic America is a chain - which makes it even more American

**Liechtenstein:** Uncle Sam's kid went into the bread business

**Liechtenstein:** Cheese made specifically for American toast...since we normally put cheese on our toast.

**San Marino:** Oh thank God, we've found a proper bar.

**Liechtenstein:** This place is 80 miles from Italy, but chose to use America to sell pizza

**Munich, Germany:** In a country famous for tubular meat, Mr. Hot Dog is American.

**Glasgow, Scotland:** In America, we like our hot dogs in brine.

**Glasgow, Scotland:** My teeth (and my soul) would hurt every time I walked by this shop

**Glasgow, Scotland:** When the stripper takes this off, I hope she doesn't let it hit the ground.

**Glasgow, Scotland:** The funny thing is that this was probably made in China.

**Reykjavík, Iceland:** Personally, I like the spherical field of stars

**Reykjavík, Iceland:** Code for "we serve shitty beer"

**Reykjavík, Iceland:** Nobody knows what "ranch" is, so they just call it "American"

**Airdrie, Scotland:** More Yankee burgers and Doner

**Glasgow, Scotland:** Truer words have never been written

**Madrid, Spain:** This is how I image people see me while abroad. He had also been using that balloon as a phallus just before I took the photo.

**Blackpool, England:** Get you some American food at the English seaside

**Blackpool, England:** Not so sure about the eagle with the Union Jack.

**Glasgow, Scotland:** A store for discount products from the U.S., France & Scotland - also, it has a dirty word in it (snicker)

**Ljubljana, Slovenia:** Sign for a kitchen store - let's just slap a flag on it.

**Ljubljana, Slovenia:** To be honest, if I was selling cowboy boots, I'd use Old Glory too

**Glasgow, Scotland:** Again, code for "not the good mustard"

**Glasgow, Scotland:** "Real American style, real American taste."

**Glasgow, Scotland:** American flag background with the words "British Chicken" in bold

**Glasgow, Scotland:** Salted cashews I could understand, "sambal prawn rolls", however, I do not

**Glasgow, Scotland:** I'm pretty sure baguettes are French

**Amsterdam, The Netherlands:** The "Mad American" french fry sauce is the best

**Copenhagen, Denmark:** Amerikansk Gryte literally means "American Pot"

**Somewhere in Norway:** For when you're driving in rural Norway and need that fix of freedom burger

**Somewhere in northern Finland:** Finally, some ranch!

**Glasgow, Scotland:** I'll have one of each, please

**Salta, Argentina:** The Chopper of Liberty

**Montevideo, Uruguay:** Barney and Barbie fill the Super USA section

**Colonia, Uruguay:** Chinese-made pliers backed by Old Glory