Valuable advice to most Americans - Page 7

Best time to water your lawn is just before sunrise.

I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize on behalf of all Americans for not knowing every particular European nuance when we go an visit your country. The fact is, we simply don't have time to concern ourselves with it, because we work for a living (yes, even those who are born rich). The whole Protestant work ethic thing has not QUITE dissapeared from our culture yet. That being said, it would still do anyone good to read some Emily Post, not that it would matter, being American is cause to be the recipient of rebuke no matter what one does.

It's more the projected arrogance when you expect a French waiter to understand your questions asked in English. Is it really that difficult to learn how to say "je voudrais" and then point at something on the menu?

I found Europeans to be very understanding that I did not have anywhere near a perfect command of their language. I spoke no German, but in just learning a few words for things like "please", "thank you", "excuse me", and even a few numbers, the people were as friendly as could be. I speak a decent amount of French, and my experience there was equally pleasant. In fact, the only outright disdain for Americans I ever experienced in Europe came from a rude Brit.

And before you ask, yes I do think it is silly and even arrogant of people who immigrate to our country yet find it a hassle to learn our language. America is actually fairly unique in this regard - most European nations are far more assimilationist than America when it comes to immigration.

Why do Europeans have such stereotypes of American tourists? Because they are predominantly accurate. I could not believe how easy the Americans were to spot once I was there - baseball caps, jean shorts, fanny packs. I thought that was something movies like Eurotrip played on just for the comic value, but it really happens. Surely it cannot hurt to read a little about the culture you are about to visit prior to heading there.

I take vacations to take a break from my otherwise very busy and hectic life. I don't feel like doing more work in the form of studying some language just to go on vacation somewhere. Learning a few useful words is one thing, and not that big of a problem, but I don't feel like learning a whole other language just to vacation somewhere.

Maybe Europeans, who generally work a lot less than Americans, just don't realize how busy we are and how important it is to us to relax on our vacations. Maybe they think all those dollars grow on trees over here.

Considering that tourism is one of France's largest industries, you would think that being able to understand English would be an important skill for a French waiter to learn, at least in a large city, but up until very recently, that hasn't been the case.

Everyone has heard stories about American tourists, but they are enriching the economies of the countries they visit, and should be appreciated for that.

...and so that would make the yanks, who came from there and who took over the natives etc etc, what exactly...?

I like the way the title of this thread is "Valuable advice to most Americans."

In America, 'fanny' means 'butt' or 'ass'. In England, 'fanny' means 'pussy'.

I prefer the term "front bottom".

and in the UK 'fag' means cigarette, in the US 'homosexual'...

i'm gonna drag me a fag while sitting on my fanny.

Where would your European economy be without all of these loaded misbehaved Americanos visiting?