Well... I was in theoretical math (also not in US). We would be sometimes told by our profs that there is math and then there is this something that is being taught to everybody else, applied math included.

Applied math is essentially just learning the formulas to be able to solve real life problems. Not saying it is not useful. It is just something completely different from actually doing math research.

It is kind a like a difference between being a theoretical physicist and a mechanical engineer.