To you International Ladies

[DirtyPlum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustDivine I think the thing about the Brits is that because so many ethnicities can be British....it's harder to spot a Brit abroad. I think if you say spot an "English" abroad rather than a Brit. Being British is a civic identity not a cultural/ethnic one. Think about Black British or Asian British....your first thought on seeing them wouldn't be that they are British

You could say the same for Americans! Dont they also have many ethnicities?
If you saw a Black American or Asian American, how could you spot whether they were American, Bristish, from Asia or Africa???

I dont think it really has anything to do with ethnicities. The OP asked if there were certain mannerisms that made American people stand out whilst abroad.

 

[Luceuk]

I don't get why Americans think we have bad teeth here. Where did they get that from?

 

[DirtyPlum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkylarV217 I don't want to be offensive Like all the other ladies responding lol

Hmm.. yeah some comments on here seem to be a bit OTT but as some others have said its important to understand other cultures and differences! It a great big old melting pot and thats what makes the world an interesting place! Sounds cheesy but its true IMO!

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkylarV217 ... It's the normally the teeth.

LOL..!
(although I think I have nice teeth)

 

[Karen_B]

I live in Sweden, and during the summertime we get our fair share of tourists from America - more so in the past when the dollar was stronger and the swedish crown was weaker. Most of them you don't really notice unless you walk past them and hear the accent, but some will be loud and quite rude... once, my husband and I were having dinner in a restaurant, and at the table beside us there was an American family that were talking extremely loud about their opinion on Swedes (and Italians, and Irish people...). The thing is, virtually everyone in Sweden has English because we start learning at the age of 10, don't dub movies or TV shows etc, so everyone could understand them. That was quite annoying. But of course, these people were in no way typical for the American tourist in Stockholm IMO. There are just a-holes in every country.

 

[florabundance]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DirtyPlum So what do ppl think of us Brits..? Can you spot us a mile off?

Even though, I was born and raised in London, when i'm abroad I can always always tell British (mainly English) people. Mainly from their deep shade of red lol and just in general they have a quality i can always recognise.

And although i said Americans are loud i'd just like to rephrase my comment - ALL cultures are loud compared to English people (can't speak for the other members of the UK, never been). They're lively, animated and they sound like they're arguing when they talk - which is something that, personally, I like cos it reminds me of my family.

 

[SkylarV217]

Hmm.. yeah some comments on here seem to be a bit OTT but as some others have said its important to understand other cultures and differences! It a great big old melting pot and thats what makes the world an interesting place! Sounds cheesy but its true IMO!

Afrer I read that again , I didn't mean to say other ladies were being offensive , I mean I wanted to be Tactful and not be offensive like the other ladies here



And i don't think they have bad teeth... I just don't think 90% of your population have braces like the people in our country. Go into any middle school in the state and just about every student will have braces. Then after you have your braces you have your teeth whitened .... And then i think it's one of those stereotype things as well... I'm not falling into the every Britt having buckteeth or anything like that , I may be completely wrong , But from what I've noticed is that even british people can have be happy with out having perfectly straight teeth, while in our culture it's almost expected that if you have any imperfection you have to get braces lol , Its something that parents do without even thinking about not doing it. I don't think you have bad teeth, just different .

 

[isa]

whenever im in the US, people can tell im not from around there. idk how they do it, like this girl saw me at a show once and we actually spoke weeks later and she was like 'i saw you im pretty sure, but knew you werent from around NJ because you look different than we do'
idk if thats true, but most americans do look different in a way. ofcourse we all look different but idk you can tell sometimes they arent from around here.
and americans can be loud, i know a fair few.

 

[CaseyKezerian]

Seriously, I tried not to get too offended. But people could have said things alot nicer. I mean obnoxious? Really? That's pretty rude. And yes most Americans are loud, everyone in my family is, but I don't think that makes us obnoxious.

 

[user79]

It's just cultural differences, no doubt if Europeans or Japenese people go to the States, they stick out too.

 

[Lissa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luceuk I don't get why Americans think we have bad teeth here. Where did they get that from?

Austin Powers!

 

[ginger9]

Canadian's do the socks with sandals too!!

In general I can tell Americans by the amount of things they bring when they travel. In that they usually carry a lot of stuff or purchase a lot of things. I think American's are known to be consumers. I just got back from a week in Bermuda and the taxi cab driver told me they love American tourist because they spend a lot when they go over.

Other than the accent, another give away is that American's are quite direct and not at all timid or shy. I can only speak from my experience but they are a lot more direct than Canadians and when I do go to the US I have been asked to to speak louder and I don't get that back at home.

Overall I don't have a dislike for American's abroad. There's been specific negative incidences but I don't let that be a guide to American tourists in general.

 

[jbid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissa Austin Powers!

lmao!

 

[foxykita143]

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Originally Posted by JustDivine Getting to know another country is important before forming opinions about it, because a lack of knowledge can lead to unfounded judgments or opinions. Your post is a case in point. Britain= England, Wales, Scotland. UK= England, Wales, Scotland, Northen Ireland So I'm a bit confused when you talk about Irish, Scottish and British

You could say the same thing when referring to Americans, and I could say I was confused when someone said something about "Americans" because there are many different types as well. Do you mean Southerners, Midwesteners? Anyway, when I said Irish, Scottish and British, I was referrring to people who told me they were from Ireland, Scotland, and Britain. From what I knew,the people from Ireland were Irish, the people from Scotland were Scottish, and the people from Britain were English. I thought being British and from England was similar to me being referred to as an American and from the United States, I didn't know Britain included so many countries, which was my mistake and I apologize. The only reason I said it like that is because thats what I was told, and I did think that each country differed from the next, I didn't want to just lump them all into a whole because in that case, I would have just said Europe just as some people just say America. I guess I didn't realize that's how it works over there but that doesn't have much to do with my opinions, but thank you so much for clearing that up, thats good to know for future reference so I wont offend anyone

. I think thats the way some people feel about people saying they dont like Americans, because we are divided by states just as you are divided by countries, and we refer to different chunks of states as regions. We have Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and the West, and even the names of these groups differ depending on who your speaking too. Here's a little example of how the regions are (but I will let you know, the regions are called different names here but its the same thing):About the USA > Travel > The Regions of the United States So we get upset too when we are just lumped into one big group of "loud, obnoxious Americans" so I didn't want to be rude and lump you all into a group as "so and so Europeans".

 

[captodometer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DirtyPlum You could say the same for Americans! Dont they also have many ethnicities? If you saw a Black American or Asian American, how could you spot whether they were American, Bristish, from Asia or Africa??? I dont think it really has anything to do with ethnicities. The OP asked if there were certain mannerisms that made American people stand out whilst abroad.

I politely beg to differ. I think my ethnicity is one of the reasons most people think I'm not American. I don't think a lot of the world realizes that 25-30% of the people living in the United States aren't Caucasian. I think when many people think "American woman" they visualize Britney Spears or Paris Hilton instead. And if they think of a WOC at all, it's probably a music video hoochy and not Condoleeza Rice. And many of those same people also realize that the sun never set on the British Empire until the late 20th century. So when my non-hoochy Black scientist self shows up speaking English, I automatically get defaulted to being from one of the Commonwealth countries instead of the US

I think most tourists, regardless of nationality, stand out because they are strangers in a strange land.

Someone else asked if the British stick out. To me, they do. I can usually easily differentiate between the Scots and the English. I probably end up lumping the North Irish and the Irish together, even though it's two separate countries. And to the Welsh: I apologize, as I probably misclassify you as English most of the time. The accent is what does it for me. I can normally sort Kiwis from Aussies also. I can only pick out Americans who are from the deep South and New York City/Philly/Boston; the rest I could easily misidentify as Canadian.

Japanese tourists stick out in the United States simply because there aren't very many Asians living in the country. They are not nearly as obvious here in New Zealand.

German tourists must stick out to some extent also: for me it's the accents and the socks with Birkenstocks. There was actually a Simpsons episode that spoofed German backpackers: Homer went bankrupt because of something that Bart did, and had to turn the house into a backpackers' hostel to earn money. It was hysterically funny

Someone else mentioned that material wealth makes Americans stand out; ITA. America is the richest country in the recorded history of the world: the average American is much more affluent than the average citizen of other developed countries.

I encountered a group of tourists earlier this week and immediately thought about this thread. It was some kind of organized tour, and the participants were obviously all American. There were about 30 of them, with 3 guides who were obviously Kiwis. They were incredibly loud: you could hear them coming from a block away. They were obliviously walking down the sidewalk 5 wide so nobody would be able to walk past in the opposite direction without bumping into them. And they were decked out in name brands from head to toe: Columbia, Nike, Adidas, etc. Think I saw a couple of Gucci and Doone & Burke handbags also. Almost everyone in the group had an Ipod. And everybody had 3-4 large, stuffed to capacity bags to boot: I moved here from the US and I didn't bring this much stuff! And these people were clearly only here on vacation. This level of material acquisition just isn't possible for the average Kiwi; people would turn around and stare as the tour group walked past. Not only the native Kiwis, but all the Asian and Commonwealth students too: I live in a university town, so everyone is quite used to seeing foreigners. These tourists couldn't have been more obviously American if they had it tattooed across their foreheads!

I don't think that most American travelers are intentionally trying to be rude. You have to realize that the United States is larger than most of Europe combined, if you exclude Siberia. Most Americans, other than those living right on the borders with Canada and Mexico, haven't had the opportunity to interact with people who aren't American. So they just kind of assume that whatever is acceptable in the US is acceptable elsewhere, even if it isn't. So do try to cut them a little bit of slack; many of them are quite worth getting to know

 

[florabundance]

Quote:

Originally Posted by captodometer I politely beg to differ. I think my ethnicity is one of the reasons most people think I'm not American. I don't think a lot of the world realizes that 25-30% of the people living in the United States aren't Caucasian. I think when many people think "American woman" they visualize Britney Spears or Paris Hilton instead. And if they think of a WOC at all, it's probably a music video hoochy and not Condoleeza Rice. And many of those same people also realize that the sun never set on the British Empire until the late 20th century. So when my non-hoochy Black scientist self shows up speaking English, I automatically get defaulted to being from one of the Commonwealth countries instead of the US I think most tourists, regardless of nationality, stand out because they are strangers in a strange land. Someone else asked if the British stick out. To me, they do. I can usually easily differentiate between the Scots and the English. I probably end up lumping the North Irish and the Irish together, even though it's two separate countries. And to the Welsh: I apologize, as I probably misclassify you as English most of the time. The accent is what does it for me. I can normally sort Kiwis from Aussies also. I can only pick out Americans who are from the deep South and New York City/Philly/Boston; the rest I could easily misidentify as Canadian. Japanese tourists stick out in the United States simply because there aren't very many Asians living in the country. They are not nearly as obvious here in New Zealand. German tourists must stick out to some extent also: for me it's the accents and the socks with Birkenstocks. There was actually a Simpsons episode that spoofed German backpackers: Homer went bankrupt because of something that Bart did, and had to turn the house into a backpackers' hostel to earn money. It was hysterically funny Someone else mentioned that material wealth makes Americans stand out; ITA. America is the richest country in the recorded history of the world: the average American is much more affluent than the average citizen of other developed countries. I encountered a group of tourists earlier this week and immediately thought about this thread. It was some kind of organized tour, and the participants were obviously all American. There were about 30 of them, with 3 guides who were obviously Kiwis. They were incredibly loud: you could hear them coming from a block away. They were obliviously walking down the sidewalk 5 wide so nobody would be able to walk past in the opposite direction without bumping into them. And they were decked out in name brands from head to toe: Columbia, Nike, Adidas, etc. Think I saw a couple of Gucci and Doone & Burke handbags also. Almost everyone in the group had an Ipod. And everybody had 3-4 large, stuffed to capacity bags to boot: I moved here from the US and I didn't bring this much stuff! And these people were clearly only here on vacation. This level of material acquisition just isn't possible for the average Kiwi; people would turn around and stare as the tour group walked pass. Not only the native Kiwis, but all the Asian and Commonwealth students too: I live in a university town, so everyone is quite used to seeing foreigners. These tourists couldn't have been more obviously American if they had it tattooed across their foreheads! I don't think that most American travelers are intentionally trying to be rude. You have to realize that the United States is larger than most of Europe combined, if you exclude Siberia. Most Americans, other than those living right on the borders with Canada and Mexico, haven't had the opportunity to interact with people who aren't American. So they just kind of assume that whatever is acceptable in the US is acceptable elsewhere, even if it isn't. So do try to cut them a little bit of slack; many of them are quite worth getting to know

I love your posts! You're so knowledgeable, i'm jealous.
sorry lol off topic

 

[JustDivine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by captodometer I politely beg to differ. I think my ethnicity is one of the reasons most people think I'm not American. I don't think a lot of the world realizes that 25-30% of the people living in the United States aren't Caucasian. I think when many people think "American woman" they visualize Britney Spears or Paris Hilton instead. And if they think of a WOC at all, it's probably a music video hoochy and not Condoleeza Rice. And many of those same people also realize that the sun never set on the British Empire until the late 20th century. So when my non-hoochy Black scientist self shows up speaking English, I automatically get defaulted to being from one of the Commonwealth countries instead of the US Someone else asked if the British stick out. To me, they do. I can usually easily differentiate between the Scots and the English. I probably end up lumping the North Irish and the Irish together, even though it's two separate countries. And to the Welsh: I apologize, as I probably misclassify you as English most of the time. The accent is what does it for me. I can normally sort Kiwis from Aussies also. I can only pick out Americans who are from the deep South and New York City/Philly/Boston; the rest I could easily misidentify as Canadian. Someone else mentioned that material wealth makes Americans stand out; ITA. America is the richest country in the recorded history of the world: the average American is much more affluent than the average citizen of other developed countries.

Thank you so much! You said evertyhing I wanted to say though more politely than I could have!

Ethnicity has a lot to do with it....but I won't write an essay

About the average American being richer than the average citizen of oter developed countries: I wouldn't agree, especially as the dollar is not the strongest currency around.

 

[aimee]

well i cant or couldnt
unless you start to talk haha
anyway i like americans

 

[aimee]

oh im swiss by the way haha

 

[BarrelOfDonkeys]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DirtyPlum So what do ppl think of us Brits..? Can you spot us a mile off?

Sometimes, yeah. Some people you can just tell by looking at them that they're from the UK. I don't know what it is, they just have this very British-y look, like Tom from McFly, the girl who played Emily on Friends, Nigel Lythgoe and Carly from cycle 3 of Britain's Next Top Model.

 

[DirtyPlum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by captodometer I politely beg to differ. I think my ethnicity is one of the reasons most people think I'm not American. I don't think a lot of the world realizes that 25-30% of the people living in the United States aren't Caucasian. I think when many people think "American woman" they visualize Britney Spears or Paris Hilton instead. And if they think of a WOC at all, it's probably a music video hoochy and not Condoleeza Rice. And many of those same people also realize that the sun never set on the British Empire until the late 20th century. So when my non-hoochy Black scientist self shows up speaking English, I automatically get defaulted to being from one of the Commonwealth countries instead of the US

I do agree to a certain degree. As a British Asian, I cant speak for your experience in America or as a Black woman and the unfortunate stereotypes you mentioned. But I feel that if you were to put an American asian girl and Bristish asian girl in front of me, I wouldn’t be able to tell what their nationalities are. Based on what they were wearing, however I might be able to, and of course if they spoke it would give it away. If you throw an Indian national into the mix, I could tell her apart… by her mannerisms, clothes, speech etc. Just not by their ethnicities.

I guess your experiences as a Black woman differs and I can totally see your point

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustDivine I think if you say spot an "English" abroad rather than a Brit.

I have been abroad and spotted Brits from a mile off… I could tell this young guy was Bristish because of his 'funky bad boy' walk (lol, do u what I mean?!), his clothes, and the two women also had a certain air about them and a different walk from the nationals. Ok maybe they werent 'English' (i.e. white) but they were Brits (asian)!

Not here to p*ss anyone off, jst providing my thoughts!