How do you identify different nationalities abroad? (how much, home)
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Some people have an uncanny ability to "detect" what nationality a person is even before they open their mouth - or some tourists represent their country so well that their nation of origin can be identified without them speaking (or wearing a flag on their shirt). Let's begin with Americans:
> Americans have a unique way of dressing. T-shirts with funny sayings on them or really any logos or text and white sneakers are tell-tale signs of Americans. Some wear Bermuda shirts and the like, but this seems mostly the domain of older travelers, and probably a lot of non-Americans as well.
> Americans have a unique body type. Although there has been a visible increase in obesity in Europe over the last decade or two, Americans tend to be overweight and especially obese at a much greater rate than most nationalities, but the most obese do not travel abroad much in my experience. In fact, many Americans abroad - especially younger Americans - are in good to excellent shape. What distinguishes the men is a more "muscly" build in comparison to lanky young European males (especially Spaniards, French, and Italians), perhaps developed through exercising at gyms (weight training is very popular in the US), eating lots of beef, and not walking or biking as much as other nationalities. American women seem "thicker" than most women from countries that typically travel abroad, but then there's the Brits. Has anybody else noticed this?
So, what are the telltale signs of different nationalities abroad? Your nationality? Americans? French? I'd be interested in knowing.
Some people have an uncanny ability to "detect" what nationality a person is even before they open their mouth - or some tourists represent their country so well that their nation of origin can be identified without them speaking (or wearing a flag on their shirt). Let's begin with Americans:
> Americans have a unique way of dressing. T-shirts with funny sayings on them or really any logos or text and white sneakers are tell-tale signs of Americans. Some wear Bermuda shirts and the like, but this seems mostly the domain of older travelers, and probably a lot of non-Americans as well.
> Americans have a unique body type. Although there has been a visible increase in obesity in Europe over the last decade or two, Americans tend to be overweight and especially obese at a much greater rate than most nationalities, but the most obese do not travel abroad much in my experience. In fact, many Americans abroad - especially younger Americans - are in good to excellent shape. What distinguishes the men is a more "muscly" build in comparison to lanky young European males (especially Spaniards, French, and Italians)
Americans usually have tendency to be dressed more sporty and "comfy" comparably to Europeans on their trips abroad. I didn't see any particularly overweight American tourists, but they have tendency to be a louder crowd than Europeans. Also, I think that most of American men are simply larger in bones on average ( more husky built - and so are Russians by the way) comparably to many Europeans. Europeans often have a more slender build, even when they are as tall and muscular - I am speaking about Germans, Brits, Scandinavians, particularly the younger ones. So they have tendency to wear more fitting clothes, where Americans like to wear it on a roomy side.
I didn't find Italian tourists to be particularly "lanky," but rather more colorfully dressed comparably to the Northerners and when in group, they all talk to each other at once.
At the international conferences I attend for work I can easily spot the Americans, Swedes, Danes, and Finns. I can usually spot the Germans too.
Americans:
First the obvious - Americans are the only ones wearing sneakers to a suit. If you don't spot the shoes, you can identify the American male by how his attire goes from overly formal the first day of the conference to overly informal the last day of the conference.
Swedes:
Swedish males can be spotted by wearing "dressy" jeans with his sport jacket/suit jacket. However, it could also be a male from any of the other Nordic countries. My experience is that the dressy jeans is most commonly worn by Swedes though. If you spot a female dressed in something that resembles high couture (compared to suites from JC Penny or similar) you have most likely spotted a Scandinavian woman. If she is tall and is wearing a scarf, you can be 99% sure.
It's a bit tricky to differentiate between Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and Finnish women. If an brunette - probably Swedish or Norwegian. If blond and not wearing any purple - probably Swedish. If blond and wearing purple - Danish. If super-blond and porcelain skin - Finnish.
Finnish males:
The only ones I know that will wear jeans and a big and colorful fleece to a conference.
Germans:
It's sort of hard to explain, but I can pick out German males from a crowd based on their posture and body language. It like they have an aura of arrogance surrounding them, even though they rarely are arrogant at all.
I can tell American by their countenance/ facial expression / spiritual aura (or rather lack thereof) before I decide based on actual physical features (though those can be a good clue too).
Americans tend to look nonchalant, unassuming and socially disconnected. In some of the worse cases - vacuous, self-absorbed but not self-aware.
Europeans have a more "connected to their social surroundings" expression which becomes increasingly pathological as you head from Western Europe to Eastern Europe/Balkans. In the Balkans people growup expecting all eyes will be on you (judging you!) wherever you go. So people there tend to be extremely self-conscious as well as highly aware of what everybody else does/says/looks like around them.
This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what you're looking at.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Americans emanate a feeling of general social disconnect. Cultural outsiders often mistake it for self-confidence.
At the international conferences I attend for work I can easily spot the Americans, Swedes, Danes, and Finns. I can usually spot the Germans too.
Swedes:
Swedish males can be spotted by wearing "dressy" jeans with his sport jacket/suit jacket. However, it could also be a male from any of the other Nordic countries. My experience is that the dressy jeans is most commonly worn by Swedes though. If you spot a female dressed in something that resembles high couture (compared to suites from JC Penny or similar) you have most likely spotted a Scandinavian woman. If she is tall and is wearing a scarf, you can be 99% sure.
It's a bit tricky to differentiate between Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and Finnish women. If an brunette - probably Swedish or Norwegian. If blond and not wearing any purple - probably Swedish. If blond and wearing purple - Danish. If super-blond and porcelain skin - Finnish.
Finnish males:
The only ones I know that will wear jeans and a big and colorful fleece to a conference.
and oh, I'm Swedish but live in the US.
I am Finnish. I would say that difference between average Swedish and Finnish female body is that Swedish girls has smaller **** and bigger hips (I am talking about clothing measuring on catalogs). Also their lips and hair are thicker. Nature is much more open and lightful and Swedish girls also smile more
Finnish are usually practical clothers. There is no sense to dress light and think about look when you step outside and there is freezing cold, windy and rainy day. People usually dress with a weather. It is comical when teenagers try to walk to school on snow with super high heels. On every step, heel goes deeper and deeper to snow and walking does not look so hot anymore.
Average Finnish look like one is lost, came from earlier century, is poor, shy, quiet, attitude is "I am sorry I exist", Finnish are invisible and grey people without manners or confidence.
This is not just from my mouth but opinions from other countries and from exchange students. I am also sad to say that Finnish people are not pretty. Average man and woman are equal ugly. Some women just look like a man who is wearing make up...
Edit: I am just checking if breast is allowed word when tit is not... Okay... smaller breasts...
I went to Finland as a young little pervert of 12 years old and I remember the girls being really hot. The finns I think have different facial features than most other nordics. They seem to have almost a slant to thier eyes.
In regards the OP, I do this all the time here because there are a lot of tourists here in Rio. I think it is a combination of body language, facial features, bone structure, clothes ect. I was at a party the other week and two guys walked into the room that I knew at first glance they were Italians. It was just a combination of things, their dress, mannerisms, haircut ect. There was just no way they were Brazilians even though there are a lot of people here who are Italian decendents.
Good observations about Americans and dressing.... but everyone who commented were a lot nicer than what I would have said: They dress with no class/taste and are often just sloppy. BUT the athletic shoes are usually a dead give-away (that is if you don't hear them first but ONLY if they are loud at home too, for as we all know, it depends upon where in the country you live as to whether or not you are loud). The t-shirts, too....sheesh. None of my Euorpean female friends have them; the men now are starting to due to wanting the Nike, Russel and other American name brands; but you will never see the shirts with rude or off colors sayings on them (well at least since I was last there in 2008!). AND another thing for men.... NO baseball hats esp. backwards, thank god!
Americans too, tend to look like mixed breeds esp. in the face. We do not have certain features that are predominent still in many different cultures like high cheekbones of the Balkan women (Well Serbia and Croatia that I have noticed). .
The body shape that I have seen in Balkan women is that they tend to be more lithe almost masculine, and not hourglass like most American women. German and women are stockier and I agree with Riipa that Swedish women have bigger hips than breasts, and I can say that both influences can definitely be seen here in the states due to all the immigration here. We do tend to be more muscular if we are not obese as we have been "gym rats" for a lot longer than most Western European countries, and like others, I have noticed that the majority of the men are not muscular at all.
As for me, from all the countries I have been in, to me the most telling is the scarf for both men and women, but women not just in winter. And they tend to look good in it as I think their necks are a bit longer than us American women! I know when I try to wear one, it does not always look the same. I also do notice the shoes. Hardly anyone wears athletic shoes 24/7. Now I have seen more men wear them and now teens, but hardly any women. I am always amazed how much they walk in high heels!! I also noticed that in fall and winter, the jeans go inside the boots for many women, but they can do that more as they tend to be thinner than their American counterparts. And even though I think German and Nordic women dress with taste, the Serb women (at least those in Belgrade) tend to dress what I call "porn chic" even when they go to work!
Oh and one other thing, for the most part, I found the bigger cities a lot quieter than American ones. No loud talking or no music blaring...only horns every now and then!
I can tell American by their countenance/ facial expression / spiritual aura (or rather lack thereof) before I decide based on actual physical features (though those can be a good clue too).
Americans tend to look nonchalant, unassuming and socially disconnected. In some of the worse cases - vacuous, self-absorbed but not self-aware.
Europeans have a more "connected to their social surroundings" expression which becomes increasingly pathological as you head from Western Europe to Eastern Europe/Balkans. In the Balkans people growup expecting all eyes will be on you (judging you!) wherever you go. So people there tend to be extremely self-conscious as well as highly aware of what everybody else does/says/looks like around them.
This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what you're looking at.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Americans emanate a feeling of general social disconnect. Cultural outsiders often mistake it for self-confidence.
Interesting comment about the Balkans, and I agree with you about being "judged" esp. the women, and that is partly why I think they "dress to kill" even when going to work! But I am not too sure what you mean by the expression becoming "pathological" as from what I can tell, their facial expressions hardly change as they walk and look at you. I know several times, though, when in Serbia/Croatia many would talk to me as I smiled at them, for they told me that they knew I couldn't have been Serbian/Croatian due to that as well as not looking like one, of course! When I would tell my Serbian friends about all the people I met that way, they could not believe it as smiling at strangers is not done there.
Theoretically Americans have all kinds of faces, but the vast majority of tourists from the US are still the white Midwestern type. American men run around like bloated schoolboys and women often have that odd auntie look. And many Americans have those little bags around their waists, like saying, look at me, I am a tourist, come and rob me, I deserve it
Generally speaking, I think clothes usually tell a lot as most people don't buy new clothes just because they go on vacation.
I have been living abroad for years now, but I still can't get used to the local dress code. I hate those Portuguese caps, I dislike shirts, I dislike sunglasses, I dislike gel in the hair, I dislike mustaches and beards in general, etc. To locals I probably look like a permanent tourist.
Nor do I talk loud or when someone else is already speaking. And when I do speak, I keep my hands still and keep a distance from other people. I guess it is almost impossible to change such things, no matter where you go.
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Also, I think that most of American men are simply larger in bones on average ( more husky built - and so are Russians by the way) comparably to many Europeans. Europeans often have a more slender build, even when they are as tall and muscular - I am speaking about Germans, Brits, Scandinavians, particularly the younger ones. So they have tendency to wear more fitting clothes, where Americans like to wear it on a roomy side.
