Drunken Irishmen, War-Lovers, and "Solamente Amor"

Earlier today I met my friend’s Irish exchange student. (Don’t get carried away, he’s only 12.) Anyway, my friend told me about a discussing they had on stereotypes, both American (US) and Irish.
Naturally, she shared what she thought were classic Irish stereotyping:
-Red hair and freckles
-Saying “Top of the Mornin’ to ya!”
-They drink a lot
-They fight amongst each other (fist fights, you know)
Then it was the young man’s turn, what were some of the American stereotypes?
-“You’re all fat”
-“You eat McDonalds like, everyday”
-“…fat”
-His version of “American accent” was a country accent…so I guess we’re all too country
-“You like wars and fighting”
-“You think you’re country is the best”

Well, I think all of those stereotypes are reasonable, but it doesn’t mean I want them to be true or believe them all to be true. However, I do believe that we must be doing something to be sending this message to other countries. But they’re just stereotypes…right?

On a personal level, I will say that I’m embarrassed that I’m not as aware of other countries as they are aware of the United States. This doesn’t mean that I think we’re “the best.” I’m pretty certain we’re far from it, but we don’t know what else is out there…so that’s probably why the idea persists.

I have only been out of the country once, and my first time was this last spring.
Nicaragua. (Insert several small hearts and cute emoticons.)
I learned that we probably shouldn't refer to our country simply as "America" because we aren't the ONLY Americans. There are Central Americans, South Americans, and Latin Americans. This excites me because I know that, if we choose to accept it, we could all be so much more. We all share much more in common than we realize. Maybe if we all share our cultures, we won't have to worry about the stereotypes because we'll all be trying to defy them.

Solamente amor!