European Woman Living In U.S. Reveals Worst Things Americans Have Asked Her

A video of a European student in the U.S. highlighting questions that show Americans "not having a clue" about some parts of Europe has gone viral on TikTok.

The clip was posted by @tovasabel and has had over 883,000 views since it was first shared on January 27. The footage shows a woman looking into a camera saying "Top three worst things Americans have asked me as a European living and going to school in the U.S."

The woman goes on to reveal the top three questions, the first being "do you speak European?," with Americans "seriously thinking Europe is a country."

The second "worst" question is "do you guys have pizza over there?," she said, with Americans "clearly not having a clue that modern pizza originally is from Europe—Italy."

Noting that she is from Sweden, the woman said the third question she gets asked is about "how we pronounce, not say, Sweden in Swedish." Explaining that the Swedish word for the country of Sweden is different from the country's English name, the woman noted that Americans "could not wrap their head around countries having names in other languages."

Contrary to what some might believe about Americans' apparent lack of knowledge about other countries due to having not traveled abroad, most Americans have been out of the country at least once, according to a June 2021 Pew Research Center survey.

The survey found that 71 percent of U.S. adults have traveled internationally at some point in their lives, while around a quarter (27 percent) have not.

The degree to which Americans have traveled varies widely, with 19 percent reported to have been to only one foreign country, while 12 percent have been to two countries, 15 percent to three or four, and 14 percent have traveled to five to nine countries. Only 11 percent of Americans were reported to have been to 10 or more countries, according to the survey.

The survey found that income also plays a key role in who travels and how much, with the highest earners being "significantly more likely" to have visited multiple countries.

'I Still Choose to Go to School and Live Here'

The European student in the latest viral clip noted: "I hope I didn't offend anyone. This has actually happened, but I still choose to go to school and live here."

TikTokers could relate to the questions highlighted in the latest viral clip, with several sharing their own anecdotes.

Jenny | outdoor & lifestyle wrote: "The worst for me was 'do you guys have trees and internet in Europe??'"

Josefin Maestripieri said "I'm Swedish too. I was asked what state Sweden is in..." and sumgirl noted "Just tell them you call it 'Switzerland' in Swedish lol."

"I was asked if Belgium was in France...," recalled @niloulach, while aobh said "i got asked if we got tv's or water in Belgium."

Michel wrote: "I'm from the Netherlands.. which is the capital city of Copenhagen right? Asked by my US coworker who graduated from Princeton."

Yvette Olivetti said: "I'm Dutch and I got asked once in NYC if Holland was the capital of Denmark??"

OG.Maz noted: "I'm Italian and I got asked MANY times if my father is in the mafia."

"I'm from Austria. They always think I'm from Australia and ask me about surfing and kangaroos," said kate's, while fournaanjeremy noted "I'm from Norway and I was non-jokingly asked by a group of adult women if I lived in an igloo."

Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.

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