Well, I think there are 3 basic way of percieving any foreign land.
1) You know nothing about it, so in your mind it is immediately referenced as a black void of nothingness.
2) You know only what people tell you, so it becomes what they describe. This is the majority of American perspectives, because we have a large influence over the masses with media. I think this the largest group in the world, only being rivaled by certain european nations. With a large amount of media on individuals who essentially know nothing about a certain place, a large bias is made and generalizations ensue. This isn't saying American's are dumb per se, as the amount of potential bigotry is lying in a large amount of the people on earth; the only difference is that Americans have a very easy access to media.
3) You know very much about a subject, and you can see the place for it's dirence heritage, history and influence on the rest of the world.
Frankly, as far as Canada goes, I reside in #2. I know a little from French class, but besides little factoids, I only know about skating, some creepy snow man, and a whole bunch of british guys. That's about it. Oh, and those elite comedians.
