Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 31 replies, 32 voices, and was last updated 18 years, 4 months ago by
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Here’s another American response. I’m sorry that you (and by your comments the rest of Canada) seem to dislike Americans. To my knowledge, American citizens have always considered Canadians close friends and good neighbors. We were particularly grateful to your nation during the Iran hostage crisis when your embassy assisted many Americans escape. I guess we were naive to think you felt the same way about your Southern neighbor. Perhaps you would rather we stupid Americans stay home and keep our dirty capitalist money out of your country. This goes for all other foreign countries who hate Americans but love the money we send to their countries. This country has accepted more people from all countries in the world than any other and many of these people do not even know much about the country in which they have chosen to live…let alone other countries they may visit.
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Name : Kathy26684, Gender : F, Age : 49, City : Rochester, State : IL, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,I live in Los Angeles, California. Everything north of San Francisco might as well be the frost-bitten Yukon to me! I go surfing in winter, what can I tell ya?
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Name : Dan31707, Gender : M, Race : Chicano, Religion : Pentecostal, Age : 23, City : Los Angeles, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Future Social Scientist, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,First of all, aren’t all tourists and foreign visitors ignorant of the place they’re visiting? I live in New York City, and I see tourists from all corners of the earth. I have to keep myself from laughing when I hear some of the innocently silly questions they ask about New York and the U.S. But guess what? I’m intelligent enough to not write them off as ignorant morons. You learn by asking questions. Of course, tourists could do a bit of study on the place they’re visiting, but according to your accounts, few apparently do. Similarly, neither do the tourists and immigrants who come to the U.S. As for American ignorance, the U.S. is bound to have more idiots than Canada because Canada has only 30 million people (most of whom live with a few hundred miles of the U.S. border) while the U.S. has almost 300 million. Oh yeah, and any American who passes him or herself off as anything but in an American when in a foreign country is a pitiful piece of crap. This is one of the greatest countries in the world, it may not be perfect, but we’re a hell of a lot better than the majority of the world’s nations. I’ve never heard of this so-called phenomenon you speak of but I hope I never see any American passing himself off as any other nationality when visiting a foreign country. My forefathers didn’t fight in two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf so Americans could commit such a shameless act. As for Americans coming to Canada wearing warm clothes in the summertime, well…the Arctic Circle runs through the northern part of your country and Canada shares the same latitude as such tropical paradises as Alaska, Siberia and Greenland. Wow, where in the world could “stupid Americans” ever get the idea that Canada might have a colder climate than their homeland? HMMMMMMMMMM…………. Hopefully when Americans leave your country they will be less ignorant of your country for having experienced it firsthand. And as for foreign countries giving us flack for being American, well, they sure don’t bitch about us when they’re receiving billions of dollars in foreign aid (that most of the recipient countries have no intention of paying back but we give it to them anyway), funded in full by the tax dollars snatched from millions of Americans’ paychecks. Thanks by the way, for providing us with a shining example of an ignorant Canadian.
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Name : Daniel, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Age : 24, City : Queens, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : Reporter, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,When they come to Egypt, Americans:
1. Are usually surprised that Egyptians are not black. Most Egyptians are not familiar with Afrocentrism, so they think it’s a bit funny.
2. Are a bit disappointed to find Egyptians take the subway to work rather than ride camels.
3. Insist that Africans, Martians and Atlantians built the great pyramid rather than ancient Egyptians.
Americans are generally much more ignorant than European tourists who come to Egypt. Yet they are really much nicer and more polite, cheerful and respectful of local culture (at least pre-9/11). I can give no reasons, but that’s how it feels.
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Name : Karim, Gender : M, Age : 23, City : Los Angeles, State : CA, Country : United States, Social class : Middle class,I don’t believe tourist ignorance is an American issue, its a global issue. I am from Puerto Rico, and on more than one occasion I have been asked questions like: how long does it take to drive there from Florida? are we American citizens? do we have green cards? The questions are endless and silly, and they are not all from Americans, some questions are even from Canadians.
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Name : Roxy, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Atheist, Age : 29, City : Atlanta, State : GA, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Hey I’ve got one for you, while on a cruise in the Carribean, Germans asked where we were from. Indiana……..no,never heard of it…..Uh, its near Chicago. ‘Oh,’ They replied, ‘Chicago…Al Capone, bang bang’ they nodded approvingly. .
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Name : Chris H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 44, City : kokomo, State : IN, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I live in Texas, and if I hear one more person ask me where all the horses are, I will scream! I think there are stereotypes for every place you go and that’s just something you’re going to have to deal with. I’ve talked with many foreign visitors, especially Europeans, who are amazed that you can’t drive across Texas in a day. Nope, you’re still stuck here. Imagine how long it would take on horseback, because most of them think we still use horses as a viable mode of transportation. As for the winter clothes thing, your hot weather might be very different from what’s considered hot in different areas of the United States. Right now it’s nearly 100 degrees at midnight where I live. I can tell you that when I have visited Northern states in the summer, I have taken long-sleeved shirts and cardigans. When your body is used to 100 degrees, even 70 can seem cold.
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Name : Fiona21798, Gender : F, Age : 31, City : Central, State : TX, Country : United States,If Afrocentrism is funny, Arabcentrism in Egypt and the rest of North Africa is jaw-droppingly ludicrous (read cultural hijack).
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Name : Manolo, Gender : M, Religion : Catholic, Age : 29, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States,My friend (who is American) did a lot of traveling in Europe this summer and was amazed and amused by the rudeness and ignorance on several occasions by fellow American tourists. She told me of one time, she was in Paris waiting to board a bus for some other city in France. (Don’t remember where). She was waiting behind a couple obviously American girls who were speaking loudly and s l o w l y and rudely in English to the clerk there who either didn’t speak English or wasn’t letting on if did. They kept telling the guy..we want to go to P A R IS! WE WANT TO GO TO PAIR-IS! At which point my friend tapped them on the shoulder and said, um, you are IN Paris! To which they responded…’oh’. And then she helped them figure out what they needed to do next, spoke a little French to the people in the station to help them get pointed on their way. I don’t think Americans are any worse /more ignorant tourists than those from other places that come here. But, I wouldn’t be suprised if some of us are louder and a bit ruder than people are used to.
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Name : Mary-Z21951, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 34, City : Detroit, State : MI, Country : United States, Occupation : technology, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I’ve got two: one that I experienced myself and one that I’ll include from a friend. 1) The first one I experienced while living in Amsterdam. I had agreed to meet a friend of a friend and walk him around the city one day. This was a guy in his early forties, a fairly wealthy and supposedly well-educated professional. He came out of the hotel wearing an overcoat, with sweatpants, a t-shirt, white socks, and Tevas underneath, carrying a video camera through Dam square and chasing the pigeons. Since he was a cigar fan, I showed him a famous cigar store on the Damstraat. You could look through the window and see different varieties of cigars, each with a price next to the box or individual item. When he went inside, his first question to the guy behind the counter (who spoke good English) was whether the prices were in dollars or Dutch guiders. Hello! 2) A close friend used to work for Canadian customs in British Columbia, and they kept a notebook called ‘Pearls of Wisdom’ with all of the funny American tourist stories. One that comes to mind right off the bat: an American guy with his whole family piled up in the station wagon asked my friend, when crossing the border into Canada, where he could get a good deal on ‘totem pole seeds.’ He was serious.
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Name : Henri, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Buddhist, Age : 30, City : Atlanta, State : GA, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Editor, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,alas, why do some people always insist that american tourists are stupid? maybe because those people are too stupid to realize that ignorance abounds everywhere… although… i have had some fun pretending to be a tourist in the U.S. i went to disneyland with 2 friends a month or two ago (and no, it’s 30 miles, not 5 minutes from my house) and while in line for a ride, we donned obviously fake british accents and started talking to each other. why? we’re young, on a whim, and it was funny. some really stupid people in line next to us were really interested and started asking us questions about living in england. we were trying to explain the school system and being in forms, but the guy didn’t get it. he kept asking, ‘how come you don’t have four grades in high school? you need to have four!’. he was also pretty taken in by our staple food of fish and chips, ahahaaa. it’s just fun messing with people who don’t know better. sounds mean, but everyone else around us were trying really hard not to laugh. i’m asian, so sometimes really ignorant people (a bit harder to find around los angeles with the cultural melting pot) will talk to me rather loudly or talk in front of me as if i don’t understand. then i put on a really annoying fake chinese accent and play along for a while, gradually folding their faulty logic and conversation back on themselves, until i eventually lapse into normal speech and apologize for breaking their stereotype. yes, it’s cruel, and probably setting a negative image… but it’s oh so fun!
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Name : AZ, Gender : F, Race : Asian, Age : 18, City : Pomona, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : college student, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class,Reading this was so funny. Maybe you should advise your friend to think before saying anything in front of people 😉
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Name : Niku, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 26, City : tampere, State : NA, Country : Finland,I am from Bulgaria and a couple of years ago one of my friends from high school participated in an excahnge program with a New York high school. She was supposed to spend a semester in NYC and then the American kid had to spend a semester in Sofia. One of the first thing she got asked when she arrived in the US was if we had electricity at home. When she said, ‘Yes, of course we do.’, the kid asked, ‘Oh really? For how many hours a day?’
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Name : Diana, Gender : F, Age : 20, City : Sofia, State : NA, Country : Bulgaria,I lived in the Niagara region for twenty years before leaving for college, and I was a half-hour away from the N.Y. State border. I have never seen any Americans arrive with skis on their cars in the summer, nor have I experienced any of the other stereotypical questions that EVERYONE in Canada seems to have been asked. I think these tales are just ways of making ourselves feel superior to Americans, or make fun of the ‘igorance’ they have about Canada. Just because people don’t know everything about the places they visit doesn’t make them stupid. that’s why you travel, to learn about and see places you’ve never been to. Honestly, the only reasons Canadians know so much about America is because of all the American TV they watch.
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Name : A-Selvig, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 21, City : Toronto, ON, State : NA, Country : Canada, Occupation : TV, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower class,It does work both ways though… I told a work colleague about a trip to Montana, and he said ‘Oh, yeah, that’s where the prison is.’ Eh? I said. ‘You know…. Montana Bay.’ He thought the state of Montana was the same as Guantanemo Bay! Sheesh!
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Name : Carol, Gender : Female, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 24, City : Berkshire, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom, Social class : Middle class,
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