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Older American tourists also seem really friendly and talkative...the young ones tend to be more like other nations. They also always seem to be from some small little town in the Midwest or something lol.
In fact their open and cheerfully unaffected friendliness is quite refreshing compared to the British reserve.
A french person pointed that out to me once. He said that I'm unusually upbeat and that it's not something he was used to...I don't know how the french typically present themselves though, so I can't judge.
When I lived in Ireland (I'm also American), I noticed a lot of obnoxious, overly loud voices from the American tourists. It just seemed so obvious to me when there was another American around because I could hear every word spoken.
Once I was in a quiet romantic restaurant with my husband and sure enough, an American was blabbing on his phone during his meal...doing business in his "outdoor voice". On another occasion, I was in my local supermarket and some young American guys were trying to find an item and I could hear them on the other side of the store with their "Dude" this, or "Dude" that. Another occasion I could hear some tourists announcing on a street corner with some other tourists they just met (I lived in a touristy town) how they just "HAD to visit Kinsale because how it was so much cuter and quaint than this one" (as if it was built solely an amusement park for them)
Now that I'm back in America, it still drives me nuts having to hear every conversation on full volume. Such loudmouths! It was/is always such a stark contrast from the Irish who tend to be subtle and less overt when speaking.
My wife and I travel to Europe every once in a while, we usually dress fairly nice and are respectful of the cultures of the nations that we visit and we even attempt to speak the language.
I see by some of the responses on this thread that I needn't do any of this anymore since the natives are only going to see what they want anyway.
I am from Canada and believe it or not I did not have any preconceived notions about Americans before I actually met them.
I had of course seen plenty of stuff about the U.S. on TV and in movies. This led me to conclude that that country had generous quantities of both good and bad stuff and people. Basically, it was like any other place, including the place where I lived.
When I finally did get around to meeting Americans I found that they were, well.... "themselves".
I realize I should be more specific here, so on the whole I should say I found them to be somewhat naive about the wider world outside the U.S., and the different customs that you can encounter. Though they were not openly hostile to "differences" either, just dumbfounded by them.
They tend to be very knowledgeable about their own country's culture, and often expect people in other countries to know all about U.S. culture as well. Perhaps this is because when abroad they do see a lot of American stuff around, so they assume everyone there knows everything about U.S. culture, when the knowledge is often quite superfical and partial. So they feel free to drop some reference to Saturday Night Live sketch to a waiter in Berlin who speaks English perfectly, but he's never even heard of the show.
Also, Americans to me have always seemed to be talkative, friendly, direct and straight shooters with their opinions. They are also not cheap when travelling.
They often have a particular way of dressing that most of the world seems to identify as "typical American" (addressed elsewhere on this thread). Of course, many people in other countries dress this way as well, and not all Americans do, but stereotypes are not about exceptions to the rule, are they?
With all due respect Acajack but, as a Canadian, I don't think that you are in any position to talk.
What is 'sloppy' to Europeans? I've met many European tourists here and they wear practical things like T-shirts, singlets, shorts.etc and comfortable, walking shoes. Being a tourist isn't about looking good, it's about what's wearing what's practical for your trip and suitable for what you plan to do...you're bound to be doing a lot of walking so a good set of comfortable, practical walking shoes is essential: I don't think you should even take a pair of heels along with you in your suit-case unless you have a big night out or whatever.
This is exactly the American attitude, and many Europeans look askance at it. Shorts don't look good on people who are overweight, for example. I've been asked by Europeans why well-to-do American tourists don't dress well. One can dress well and still be comfortable, they say. But that could be a generational thing. Nowadays, I've heard Europeans wear American-style outdoor wear: hiking shorts and American-brand recreational wear, as you mentioned, so it could be changing. Someone would take heels if they expect to occasionally go to a concert or a nice restaurant.
When I was backpacking through Europe and staying at youth hostels, everyone wore jeans. What I couldn't figure out is how the staff checking people in knew I was the one American in the group. We all had similar backpacks, all wore the same jeans and shirts, but the staff were able to pick me out of the crowd. I've asked Europeans about that, and they say you just know an American, there's just something about them. Go figure. I've read it's a body-language thing.
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 06-06-2012 at 01:36 PM..
When I was backpacking through Europe and staying at youth hostels, everyone wore jeans. What I couldn't figure out is how the staff checking people in knew I was the one American in the group. We all had similar backpacks, all wore the same jeans and shirts, but the staff were able to pick me out of the crowd. I've asked Europeans about that, and they say you just know an American, there's just something about them. Go figure. I've read it's a body-language thing.
I wondered the same thing when I was in South America. People always knew we were American and no one could explain how. But after being there for some time I was able to pick out the Americans in a crowd and I have no idea how. Americans just have a certain "swag" about them that really stands out.
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