h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

OK... i am and American. and though i am not often happy with my country and all that it does i am proud to be one. I recently went out of the country and found that as soon as i opend my mouth i was treated as though i were an idiot. now i understand most americans ARE a bit on the foolish side, (i know i live with a few of them) i do not wish to have this last unpleasant experiance jade me on further travels around the world. so what i am asking is... what types of things to avoid doing, what ways i can make the relations more pleasant, and things that others have noticed "stupid americans" do that were funny (just to lighten it up a bit).

one good thing i heard... somewhere is "say your canadian, it helps"

If in the UK don't ask us if we know the Queen and Prince Charles, or if it rains everyday, and we don't wear bowler hats and carry umbrellas anymore.

Unfortunately some people see Dubbya and tar all americans with the same brush.

don't buy a camera with a big lens on it it will only get stolen

I'm sorry you had that experience - there's really no excuse for treating you like that.

I think the main tip I would give to any American visiting the UK (and this probably goes for other places too) is to speak at about 1/2 of your usual volume in public places. The British in particular are softly spoken compared to most Americans. I was on a train in London a few months ago, and a small group of American visitors were talking so loudly that the whole train could hear them. In public, talk at such a volume that the people you're talking to can hear you, but no-one else.

The second tip for anyone visiting anywhere is to do your homework about the place and its customs and learn a few words of the local language if you don't already speak it. A couple of friends of mine went to Canada and didn't realise that drinkers were expected to tip the barman - that virtually never happens in the UK. As a result, they got bad service everywhere they went and couldn't understand why. When I was in Thailand, I got much better service and more respect just for knowing how to greet people properly and to say a few words.

If you're interested in how Americans are perceived abroad, you might want to have a look at this international survey:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/flash/0,5860,1327656,00.html

Americans ask that?!

WOW

that must be one smelly brush with what W is full of....

Well I like Americans if you ever came to the UK I would treat you the same as any other human being.

That international survey of attitudes toward Americans is interesting, I think the Spanish writer from El Pais summed it up well:

QUOTE

Friday October 15, 2004

Over the past three years, to judge by these polls, the Bush administration has squandered a huge wealth of global goodwill towards America - a moral, political and social asset as necessary to managing the world as money or military power.

Rarely has an administration been as isolated as this one is after the situation it has created in Iraq.

In the end, however, whether it is Bush or Kerry who wins, the US will need some international help if it is to escape the quicksand it has fallen into through recklessnes, ideology and incompetence.

That wealth of sympathy was never so great as in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Yet three years later, mostly because of the war against Iraq, the perception of the US and of its administration among citizens in the countries included in the poll, from Japan to Mexico, lies at almost dangerous levels ...

END QUOTE

I think I'll keep my personal politics out of this, but just mention that more than 50% of Americans currently disapprove of the Bush administration (including me, and I live in Texas ... no, I don't have a horse ...)

There's one thing I would say - and it goes for some people from Britain and Ireland (and no doubt some people from every country) - Don't expect everything to be the same as it is back home.

The number of times I see people on holiday complaining because they can't get a certain foodstuff, or because there is a different way of doing things - it makes me want to smack them one to be honest!

If you want somewhere just like home, stay at home!

I lost a VERY good friend to that foolishness! i will leave it at that...



to those lost to others blindness

When and if I go away I try the local foods and don't bring food from home e.g. marmite