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This kind of self-absorbed behavior is why I don't donate money to "youth mission trips". Seems a lot of them just go on these trips to take selfies with the local people and post them on social media. It's appalling. You want money for your mission trip? Pay your own way, I'm not going to help. You aren't a great person because you went to another country and talked to people who live there and took photos and/or did some work over there (such as painting a church) which took business away from a poor local family who could have used that money. Same thing goes for kids who want to do study-abroad programs and want others to help them finance it. Let's face it a lot of that's about showing off and/or college kids think they can party and get away with things in other countries. I'll never pay for my kids to go abroad on their own unless they fully understand they must obey the rules and laws in the countries they go to, and respect the people who live there.
Yes, charitable organizations should hire local people to do building improvements, and pay them the money. (This was also the problem with the U.S. Army flying in American contractors to rebuild Iraq, rather than pay Iraqi experts who already knew the facilities being repaired and were unemployed).
Not only that, but the small kids in orphanages who the American teens bond with, can be really traumatized and disappointed by the warm attention shown them, which lasts a few days until their new American friends suddenly go home. And later mission groups sometimes will repaint the same walls repeatedly a different color than the group before. Orphanage managers will sometimes bring in additional nearby kids who are not orphans, to make a bigger impression.
When X marks a spot of an historic event, it is an open invitation to selfies. The shooting of JFK took place before the living memory of 90% of all tourists, and is unfair to expect everyome to ascribe the same gravity to something that has no meaning to them.
In the Louisiana state capitol, you can see the bullet holes in the wall from the shooting of Huey P. Long. Are you politically astute enough to know how you ought to feel about that when making your selfie?
If it had no meaning for you, why would you want a picture of it? For that matter, if it has meaning to you, why would you plop yourself in front of it for a photo op like it's a cut-rate tourist attraction? Nothing says "this is beautiful/something important happened here" like "check out my duck-face!" I've had people complain that "you're never in your photos!" I tell them, "You already know what I look like, and I'm not improving the view." I take pictures of beautiful/interesting/unusual things... nothing would ever be gained by me being in the photo (I too already know what I look like, more's the pity, and if I want to take pictures of me I can do so at home for free), nor do I feel the need to be in it as if people won't believe I was really there if I'm not plastered in front of that temple/landscape/performance/whatever.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lieqiang
Since we're picking on the Chinese....
There is a McDonald's up the street that has some outdoor seating, but it's rarely available because Chinese tourists tend to take most of them. They aren't customers of McDonald's, in fact they often have food from another place that they'll sit and eat at the McDonald's tables. The only interaction they have with the place is going inside to use the restroom, and of course a tendency to leave trash everywhere.
Thais are by nature non-confrontational, so the workers aren't going to say anything to the loud Chinese people filling up their tables. Twice in the past six months they have put stickers on the tables saying in Chinese that tables are for customers only, but the Chinese tourists will either ignore it or peel them off.
This picture is a perfect example, that is one group that was walking together, and they managed to spread out enough to essentially block anyone who's actually a McDonald's customer from sitting outside.
Ah, Chinese tourists-- for once there's someone to hate worse than the Americans! LOL. My friend often thought a good way to start a good conversation when on vacation was to talk with the locals about the Chinese tourists-- quickly turned into complaining sessions, haha.
That photo, however, is also where I would simply share a table. "May I sit? Thanks." I wouldn't leave them a choice, really. Haven't been to China so I'm not sure about there, but it's accepted other places I've been in Asia where everyone understands that seating space is limited, customers are many, and just because you're at the same table with someone doesn't mean you have to interact so it's not as uncomfortable as it would be in the U.S. where you'd feel the need to, at the very least, greet the other people sitting there if not have a conversation because you'd feel awkward and "rude" if you didn't.
Tourists behaving stupidly? I recently hiked down to the "Giant's Causeway" on the coast of Northern Ireland. This is a famous and popular geologic formation of many thousands of Basalt volcanic rocks (sort of resembling 1-foot / 30 cm. wide tree stumps - or stepping-stones, and all roughly hexagonal in shape) all piled up on the coastal beach.
It was raining, breezy, and very slippery, but this was the time our tour bus had scheduled.
2 girls just ahead of me (possibly Americans) thought they alone, would climb way to the very top precipice of the tall rock pile, where they had nothing to hold onto. Afterwards as I reached the top of the trail head again, I saw a local ambulance arrive, and rescue workers running down to the rocks.
Last edited by slowlane3; 02-08-2019 at 08:55 PM..
[quote=NoMoreSnowForMe;54203954]Just an aside about Chinese people around Silicon Valley, since it was brought up - I have found that Chinese women, especially, will walk straight towards me and expect me to move out of their way. This could be just walking along busy streets or in a grocery store with carts.
The average chinese woman weighs , maybe, 100lbs? I weigh about 210.
Saw this guy yesterday teaching junior how to respect rules when visiting a foreign country. It's taking stupid to a new level when feeding pigeons with your kid right in front of a giant 10 meters across sign admonishing tourists to stop feeding the pigeons.
In case wondering = Russian sounding accent.
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