"America is a large, friendly dog in a very small room," observed British historian Arnold J. Toynbee. "Every time it wags its tail, it knocks over a chair."
And Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca said, "The only things that the United States has given to the world are skyscrapers, jazz, and cocktails."
Opinions of America are like bellybuttons — everybody's got one.
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As part of Project Xpat — an exploration by NPR — we asked Americans living abroad to tell us in 10 words or less how they would answer the 10-word question: What Do People In Your Host Country Think Of America?
Here are some of the responses:
![](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8c31886/2147483647/strip/true/crop/518x232+0+0/resize/880x394!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2013%2F12%2F17%2Fandrea_eagleman_newzealand_custom-f4bf6dbbe7982895c5586b242bae0e11588a74e7.jpg)
"Has a limited worldview and is absolutely crazy about guns." — Andrea Eagleman, 33, New Zealand
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"Americans: violent, no culture; but you: humble, kind and different." — Chantal Mpezo, 27, South Korea
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![](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/cf8bd23/2147483647/strip/true/crop/666x283+0+0/resize/880x374!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2013%2F12%2F17%2Fyasmine-qureshi_custom-ee0ce77500a6c76f4e10683591df19af4597b5b0.jpg)
"America, the land of optimism, excess, economic and political decline." — Yasmine Qureshi, 28, England
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![](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b08c18e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/904x358+0+0/resize/880x348!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2013%2F12%2F17%2Fbrianblakely_custom-413d32266b3ee57624aae8f6155b139077fcfaf5.png)
"Most find America delightful. Tourism dollars help quite a lot." — Brian Blakely, 30, Morocco
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![](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c920c53/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2299x873+0+0/resize/880x334!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2013%2F12%2F17%2Frenee-baker_custom-d3452733466387702a68d72e8e39ceb7df758be6.jpg)
"Fashion labels, excess money, beauty, USA means beautiful country." — Renee Baker, 37, China
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![](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/82cf2eb/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4100x1030+0+0/resize/880x221!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2013%2F12%2F17%2Fthomasmosley_custom-854896274dc4666889da14971fceef60c0fe12b0.jpg)
"Full of contradictions: confusingly progressive yet behind the times." — Thomas Mosley, 25, Spain
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![](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8253f28/2147483647/strip/true/crop/960x277+0+0/resize/880x254!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2013%2F12%2F17%2Fholly-nicole-nwangwa_custom-09f049ee0073e65add628632dcdc5d1895c6a549.jpg)
"A place to gasp at, but not to go to." — Holly-Nicole Nwangwa, 23, Japan
**
![](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/12eff6a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2904x958+0+0/resize/880x290!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2013%2F12%2F17%2Fcarly-erickson_custom-4a63a2ae8b107e0f2fdec208cf2ba7e8115ef43f.jpg)
"Americans are very patriotic and all have guns." — Carly Erickson, 25, Italy
**
![](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/228aa04/2147483647/strip/true/crop/465x120+0+0/resize/880x227!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2013%2F12%2F16%2Ftowyvaughn_custom-650fe9f3a6c5765850974a60778706cfe46b46c1.png)
"Americans are aggressive, paranoid gun-hoarders who don't want social health care." — Towy Vaughn, 38, China
**
![](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/efa3dfb/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2055x567+0+0/resize/880x243!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2013%2F12%2F17%2Fbrenna-bethancourt_custom-b257e20b36b71672c56baf9192fc46a231e174e6.jpg)
"Cheap iPhones, rap music and better movies exist in America." — Brenna Bethancourt, 28, Russia
**
![](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/85a5d87/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1452x592+0+0/resize/880x359!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2013%2F12%2F16%2Fundefined_custom-51bec1786ad0f2931da7edf4f9149ae2b9b96c58.jpg)
"Gun-loving but fun-loving; hard working but spoiled and fat." — Anastasia Primbas, 47, Hungary
**
The Protojournalist: Experimental storytelling for the LURVers – Listeners, Users, Readers, Viewers – of NPR. @NPRtpj
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