Cool! A series of articles about how Americans are perceived in other countries...beginning with the UK. http://travel.msn.com/Guides/article.aspx?cp-documentid=388354>1=10040 I dunno...I wonder if this article is anything more than another expression of America's obsession that we should be liked by everybody. rod:
yeah i just read it, there isnt much about how we actually perceive americans over here! still in my opinion theres no nicer tourist than an american!
thanx. I have a great regard for Brits, as well. but, i'll be honest...nothing causes me greater grief on a holiday in another country than being around a sterotypical american acting completely ignorant of local custom or even basic civility. These things make me cringe. Americans whining to everybody in the room that a local doesn't speak English. Americans at the bar shouting insults to the bartender. Americans complaining about the local cuisine. Reading that article, I am not surprised to see the comment about the American and the chips at McDonalds. I mean, if you are in a different country...even one with a similar language...one must learn that things are different there and differences are to be perceived as cultural experiences. Differences in themselves do not represent shortcomings or deficiencies. We should embrace cultural diversity abroad instead of camping out at McDonald's and Starbucks while on vacation.
I must say that when we travel outside the country the smiles are wider and the service friendlier when we say we are from Canada, not the USA. Well ... except when we travel to the USA ...
I've heard that before, and I believe it. Is it possible that one of the few reasons I have not experienced it as much for myself (and T), is that we don't appear to fit the racial mold? I mean... Americans--people in general--come in all shapes, sizes, colors, demeanors, beliefs, etc. But T is a naturalized citizen from Vietnam with a strong foreign accent, and I am a Tejano that easily gets mistaken for a "natural" from south of the Rio Grande. Would we experience things much differently if we were Anglo? Is race/ethnicity a factor as different nationalities form a first impression upon meeting "an American"?
I totally agree, Michael ... I've seen too many Americans being an embarassment to our country :evil:
Or camping within the confines of an all-inclusive hotel, seldom if ever leaving their walled domain other than when in the company of others of similar or same background. Abject isolationism is yet another wonderful trait that leads to a negative characterization of the culture - as is the fact that somehow, citizens of the subject country like to think of themselves as the only persons on the planet with the exclusive right to be called 'Americans'. Are Canadians and Mexicans not part of North America and therefore Americans as well? There's plenty more examples to be had, but I raise these two in support of the maxim "Judge not, lest ye be judged" - or perhaps the similar one about people who live in glass houses.
Can't call the collective citizens of the USA anything else. At least most of the rest of world have gotten just as lazy and refer to citizens of the USA as "Americans". Is it not uncommon to refer to residents of the big three countries on the continent as "North Americans"? Even citizens of Mexico use the term "norteamericano".
Can't, won't, or never really took the time to think about it? I've heard people from the US called numerous alternative names in closed quarters BTW, mostly unflattering - with the term Yanqui(s) probably being the least derrogatory. That's because they are a polite and patient people, perhaps (probably) stemming from their Spanish heritage.
