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Laughing good naturedly ..... may I add I so agree!
Quote:
Originally Posted by macmeal
Your ability to communicate in English, and your spelling, sentence structure, and grammar, are far superior to that of many Americans. Also, you seem to have just a BIT more humility, and less willingness to brag, than the "average" American.....and you're WAY more tactful, as well....(at least, that's my opinion)..
Precisely. I'm a Swede, and I would NEVER EVER call myself a European. You constantly hear that "There is no 'general American', because the US is so big and diverse". But then there's always an adding "But we're not like the prissy Europeans".
I'm sorry, but the US is ONE country. If one cannot lump all Americans together, who are ALL of the SAME people, then how can someone lump all Europeans together when Europe consists of 47 countries? There is so much more diversity in Europe than in the US, so why do Americans keep insisting on calling us Europeans as if we were of the same people?
If the OP wants to talk about rudeness in Italy, please do so. Don't lump all of us living on the European continent together as if we were one people. We're not. Differences between Italian culture and for example Swedish or Dutch or British etc is ocean deep- just because something happened in Italy it does not even remotely mean that the same will happen in another European country.
Just as if I went to Argentina and found people to do something, I wouldn't expect Americans do the same, or even ask if it is the same in the US.
Europe is not a country. European is not a people. In every European country there are often many different people, hence the trouble in for example former Yugoslavia and Northern Ireland. Please don't lump us all together as if one experience in one country would apply to all countries. Please.
I agree Sweden. I lived in Germany for two years and they would never call themselves "Europeans." They always considered themselves "Germans."
Unless you've visited Europe extensively, there are a lot of misconceptions out there.
BTW, the continent of Europe is one of my favorite places in the entire world. I could live just about anywhere in Europe and be perfectly content; it is an AWESOME place.
I've lived in Europe 3 times (currently living here), Japan and Korea; I also travel extensively in SE Asia.
The most rude people I find in my living and traveling experiences have been Americans; usually with unruly kids.
If someone is acting out in inappropriate ways, I usually think they're American, I'm almost always right.
My brother took a trip over to Italy recently and was amazed at how rude the people were. He said that he and his wife were walking down the street in Venice just minding their own business and trying to enjoy the sights and folks would walk between them while they were holding hands. They would bump right into them and just be plain rude to them in general.
So much for the ugly American. Can anyone say if this was just a unique experience or is all of Europe like this now?
Ignorance is not knowing that Europe is a continent not a country! Different cultures, different customs, different languages.
Eh... France is bad (got spit on by a gypsy for refusing to give her money), but every other country I've been in have been more than pleasant. For me, it seems the more rural and off the beaten path you go, the better you are treated. (Spent 4 days in an area of greece in which we were the only americans, all the other tourists were germans and albanians, and it was the best time i've had in my life)
Eh, all of France is bad because a low life spit on you. Omg!
Ignorance is not knowing that Europe is a continent not a country! Different cultures, different customs, different languages.
Same currency, same aversion to bathing, same sissy track shoes, same affinity for totalitarianism, same contempt for America -- which saved their bacon twice. It balances out.
I'd equate American ignorance of Europe with European ignorance of America.
The perception of "rudeness" is perhaps a cultural misunderstanding. Most Americans have a relatively large "personal space" extending at least a foot in all directions.
European personal space is more like three to six inches. Italian personal space is particularly non-existent, and can extend deeply into another's.
This is exactly it and this is the kind of thing that gives American's bad raps. I've had this kind of discussion with American friends many, many times. Just because they don't do things "our" way does not make them rude. It is a totally different culture with totally different traditions. There are many things that we do that are considered rude in other cultures.
I can't someone called the french rude because they don't serve ketchup or they didn't know what french fries were! I mean, come on!
I live in Europe and travel almost every weekend, I've yet to have a bad experience anywhere (except with RyanAir losing my luggage on the way to Rome a few weeks ago).
We get what we give.
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