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Once in a little town in Wyoming when we stepped up to pay for minature golf, the cowgirl on the other side of the counter said to us; "Are you from Canada?" I replied "nooooooooo, we are from Minnesooooota".....Uff da! soam people!
Location: Near Tours, France about 47°10'N 0°25'E
2,855 posts, read 5,240,816 times
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Depending of the country:
- In Asia (Japan, HongKong), people classify every "white" person as "westerner". I didn't felt that people there could make a real difference, just assuming I am European (probably because I didn't spoke English well).
- In Africa, I was seen immediatly as French, as it was in Senegal, where amost all white people are french.
- In northern Europe (UK, Netherland, Germany, Scandinavia) I have been usually thought to be Spanish or Italian, since in those countries many people don't realise that France is also (even if it is at least partly) a southern European country. As such, since I have a mediterranean look, many people didn't though I was french. Excepted in Sweden, where I had been immediadly recognised as french.
-In Spain, I am usually immediatly spotted as french as soon I speak. My strong french accent in Spanish is probably for something (I not speaking I pass quite well for a local). In Barcelona, many times people spoke to me directly in french instead of Spanish (the anti-castillan catalan pride maybe)
- In Italy I am usually seen as French also.
- In the US, many times it is "from a European country" without knowing wich one.
but most of the time people recognise well french accent, and as such guessed as french or sometimes I've been asked if I was french Canadian. Usually mistaken for being from an spanish-speaking country, included by hispanic themselves (people always talked to me in Spanish in Florida and California, before I spoke back to them with my strong french accent.
I used to live with a Croatian woman who for some reason thought I was Italian when I first met her (until I opened my mouth that is), my girlfriend and kids are black and when we go abroad nobody seems to know exactly where we are from instantly but it doesnt take long for them to realise we are all English, the thing is its nearly always people on the streets trying to entice us into their bars or trying to sell us something that will always ask 'where are you from' and they always ask in English so perhaps their initial thoughts are that we are British at least?
Location: Near Tours, France about 47°10'N 0°25'E
2,855 posts, read 5,240,816 times
Reputation: 1957
Quote:
Originally Posted by easthome
I used to live with a Croatian woman who for some reason thought I was Italian when I first met her (until I opened my mouth that is), my girlfriend and kids are black and when we go abroad nobody seems to know exactly where we are from instantly but it doesnt take long for them to realise we are all English, the thing is its nearly always people on the streets trying to entice us into their bars or trying to sell us something that will always ask 'where are you from' and they always ask in English so perhaps their initial thoughts are that we are British at least?
Maybe because English is used as a world common language. If I go in Japan, people will talk to me in English, that doesn't mean they think I'm British or American, it is just that English is the only western language they know.
Maybe because English is used as a world common language. If I go in Japan, people will talk to me in English, that doesn't mean they think I'm British or American, it is just that English is the only western language they know.
Jamaican, Dominican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, mixed(black/white)
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