But i'm (insert nationality here)

[Kogo Shuko]

most American tourists here have been nice, a bit odd... but pretty nice, so the typical demanding ones ain't that typical really

but traveling as a tourist TO America, i've heard is a bit strange XD

i mean... being asked by an American, with a straight face, looking into your eyes, and meaning this completely honestly "do y'all got Internet in Norway?"

kinda makes ya scratch your head, and wonder if they learn anything about the world outside of the US at their schools.

I kid you not. I was once explaining to an American that we have milk in plastic bags (as well as plastic jugs and cartons) and even showed her pictures of it. She then proceeded to ask, "Do you keep it in the fridge?"

I had a nice reply, "No, I keep it outside in the snow bank, next to my igloo.

[One-Fang]

Here in NZ, if you work a stat you get 1.5 time plus a day off in lieu. So you get 2.5 total, really.

[Gurndigarn]

I don't know why you only seem to come in these two flavours. I guess there are more moderate ones, they just don't stand out. But yeah, Americans do seem to be either the 'typical tourist' type or just really great people, nothing in between.

It's because the moderates go to Canada, Mexico, Mediterranean cruises, or just stay within the US. I mean, they're moderate. They want vacation, but not too much.

[JustADude]

most American tourists here have been nice, a bit odd... but pretty nice, so the typical demanding ones ain't that typical really

but traveling as a tourist TO America, i've heard is a bit strange XD

i mean... being asked by an American, with a straight face, looking into your eyes, and meaning this completely honestly "do y'all got Internet in Norway?"

kinda makes ya scratch your head, and wonder if they learn anything about the world outside of the US at their schools.

I seem to be doing this a lot lately, but, Hemily, remember that the United States of America is very nearly 3x the size of the entire continent of Europe. We learn about other countries in school, but a good chunk of it falls out our ears the next day because it's just not relevant to our daily lives.

Yes, that was a damn stupid question, but cultural isolation is a fact of life when you're dealing with a country where you can drive for 1000 miles (1600km) and barely make it 1/3rd of the way across.

[Hemily]

I seem to be doing this a lot lately, but, Hemily, remember that the United States of America is very nearly 3x the size of the entire continent of Europe. We learn about other countries in school, but a good chunk of it falls out our ears the next day because it's just not relevant to our daily lives.

Yes, that was a damn stupid question, but cultural isolation is a fact of life when you're dealing with a country where you can drive for 1000 miles (1600km) and barely make it 1/3rd of the way across.

hehe, i doubt you'd ask about internet existing in europe though
i mean, even if ya don't know the capitals of each country in europe, you'd be able to figure out that the world wide web, actually is world wide

[JustADude]

hehe, i doubt you'd ask about internet existing in europe though
i mean, even if ya don't know the capitals of each country in europe, you'd be able to figure out that the world wide web, actually is world wide

Yep. Like I said, stupid question. It likely stemmed from that lack of cultural information, though. His first association with Newfoundland was probably the stereotypes associated with icebound rural areas, rather than the metropolitan zones... Similar, really, to how the first thing most people seem to think of when presented with the South Korea is small villages and jungle, completely forgetting downtown Seoul.

Because of that association, and a failure to filter it through logic before it reached his mouth, you got a totally moronic question.

[Antisocial_Worker]

hehe, i doubt you'd ask about internet existing in europe though
i mean, even if ya don't know the capitals of each country in europe, you'd be able to figure out that the world wide web, actually is world wide

You'd be surprised at the level of isolation between, and the ignorance of, even the different regions of the US.

I live in the South, which has an extremely bad reputation among the other parts of the nation. Did you think it was stupid for an American to have asked you if the internet was available in Norway? Try being asked, seriously asked, by a Bostonian if you have indoor plumbing down there in Appalachia. It was also fun for my mother, who speaks with a very noticeable Southern accent, to be treated like some kind of freak show exhibit when she visited California. Hearing her speak to my brother and her friend who came along with her, perfect strangers would butt in and try to get her to say something, anything, to them just so they could hear her accent.

Chatting online with people from the major cities of Canada, California, and the Northeast, I've had them dismiss me because as a Southerner, obviously I'm a huge supporter of a certain politician and his policies. This, despite the fact that I and many thousands of other Southerners actually believe this politician, who shall remain nameless, to be functionally retarded. One charming gentleman from Vancouver became indignant when I said that I loved where I lived and did not want to move there to Vancouver, and said that I was obviously too stupid for him to waste his time on me. They also don't believe me if I ever talk about how weird it can be around here, because obviously witches never dance around magnolia trees in front of City Hall in cities in the South. Maybe in San Francisco, but never in Dixie.

Anyway, point is, people in general are a race of insular idiots the world over who don't see or care about much of anything outside the circles they personally travel in. They don't know much about their own country, much less any other. But... it's the same in Norway, same in the US, same everywhere.

[marasbaras]

Try being asked, seriously asked, by a Bostonian if you have indoor plumbing down there in Appalachia.

Depending on the part of Appalachia, that's a reasonable question.

It was also fun for my mother, who speaks with a very noticeable Southern accent, to be treated like some kind of freak

Yes, there are rude people everywhere you go.

This, despite the fact that I and many thousands of other Southerners actually believe this politician, who shall remain nameless, to be functionally retarded.

See! This proves their point. You give him too much credit.

They also don't believe me if I ever talk about how weird it can be around here

I believe you. Deliverance was a documentary!

[Antisocial_Worker]

Depending on the part of Appalachia, that's a reasonable question...

Not this part of Appalachia. Should you be in need of a four-star hotel or hanker to visit a palace or castle, this particular part of Appalachia is here for you.

I believe you. Deliverance was a documentary!

Asheville is not Deliverance weird. It's more... "Laurell K. Hamilton" weird.

[draftermatt]

Ah good, another thread about culture that turns into American bashing. Ahh.

Anyway, working in the construction industry I get all kinds of nationalities to work around. A lot of Contractors/Developers we work with are Jewish, so they are shut down for Yom Kippur, and Rash Hashana. Consequently, the company I work for is shut down for Christmas week.

Recently I had a job that we showed up to work at and there was no one there. Why? Well 1 guy was on vacation in Florida, the other observing a Greek holiday.

Not to mention the Asian guys. Now some of them get put off when we take some holidays off.

The only guys I feel bad for are our laborers. Most of them are Guatemalan, and they don't get to take off any of their holidays without using a vacation day. But most don't seem to mind it, since they do live (legally) in the US.

And dumb tourists? We get them too here in the states. Ever try watching someone eat a steamed crab that never has before? Yeah. My aunt watched people use the mallet to crack the shell then pull out what they could. They were eating lung, etc. All the stuff you're not supposed to be eating.

[donruss]

Maybe I am oversensitive but all the American bashing here is really offensive. How did we go from the OP and someone NOT from America not getting that it is a national holiday for the United States to Americans are just rude, stupid, lazy, have no respect for others holidays and cultures, etc. We have our fair share of idiots here but so does everyone else.

[Dorath]

Maybe I am oversensitive but all the American bashing here is really offensive. How did we go from the OP and someone NOT from America not getting that it is a national holiday for the United States to Americans are just rude, stupid, lazy, have no respect for others holidays and cultures, etc. We have our fair share of idiots here but so does everyone else.

There's no shortage of Americans that find Americans loud, obnoxious brutes. For a country as large and technologically advanced, we're rather behind on too many issues.

[Spiffy McMoron]

Maybe I am oversensitive but all the American bashing here is really offensive.

Let's not turn this thread into an attack on one country. I think that it hasn't been that bad so far, but let's not get it to that point yet.

That being said, there are tourists that will always be jerks. My sister used to work at a souviner store in Banff that sold (hideously over-priced) Native trinkets and knick-knacks. I distinctly remember her phoning home and complaining about a group of tourists that spoke very little English, were very rude, and tried to pay for everything in American $100 bills. NOT her best day at work, I'd say.

[redmountaingoldfish]

Try being asked, seriously asked, by a Bostonian if you have indoor plumbing down there in Appalachia.

I can top that - I was once asked, in rapid succession by two different people, if my state had electricity or cars.

For the record we do have electricity and cars. We in fact have nuclear power plants and car factories here.

[Pagan]

I mean don't get me wrong here. I realize not everyone in the country will celebrate the holiday, but yeesh.

One year, close to the 4th, I had some sassenach just being an absolute asshole. After a while, I finally asked him, "So, what are you doing for the 4th!". I just couldn't help it.

On a somewhat related note, if any of you American fellows want to drop by this side of the pond, keep in mind that our Blowing Stuff Up and Barbecue Day is ten days after yours.

Ah, yes, 14 juillet 1789. When the citizens of Paris stormed the Bastille and released all seven of the prisoners! (Yes, yes, I know they were actually looking to get their hands on the cache of arms there, but the other way is just funnier!)

As for the American thing... I used to see a lot of Americans. I lived right on the border, so we'd get a lot in at Tim Hortons. And I always found them to be the most rude people.

As Primer said, that's in Canada. Different laws apply in the US.

I kid you not. I was once explaining to an American that we have milk in plastic bags (as well as plastic jugs and cartons) and even showed her pictures of it. She then proceeded to ask, "Do you keep it in the fridge?"

I had a nice reply, "No, I keep it outside in the snow bank, next to my igloo.

And you don't see that as antagonistic? That was a legit question. We don't have milk like that in US and she was curious about it. Since when is asking a question out of genuine curiosity being sucky? Was there something about the way she asked?

I seem to be doing this a lot lately, but, Hemily, remember that the United States of America is very nearly 3x the size of the entire continent of Europe.

Our tour guide in the UK was just flabbergasted when she found out that the whole of Scotland could fit in New Mexico and have room left over! She just had no concept of how big the states in the western US are.

Try being asked, seriously asked, by a Bostonian if you have indoor plumbing down there in Appalachia.

There's some people that still think that there are teepees lined up along the (unpaved) roads out here. Of course, there's never been teepees here, this is pueblo country.

are shut down for Yom Kippur, and Rash Hashana.

It actually Rosh Hashanah, but your typo made me giggle. (Heh, I'm not Jewish, but I was born on Rosh Hashanah!)