First of all, regarding clothing…I live in Las Vegas and American, European and Asian tourists all dress like they have never owned a full-length mirror in their life. Maybe there is some sort of “tourist” mentality when packing…“Gee, I have never worn that. Let’s try it when we go on holiday!”
I was born and raised in Illinois, and the entire time I was in Europe, no one assumed I was American…actually, I got a lot of people thinking I was from Holland.
My German friends keep constant contact and, preaching to the choir, they always want to know how soon Bush will be ousted. So - even though they hate Bush and the current political bent, they are fully aware that I, like most Americans they personally have met while they were here visiting, are not war-mongering, plaid pants wearing, flag waving Americans.
The main thing I noticed about fellow Americans visiting Europe while I lived there is how LOUD they talked. I never noticed it before I lived over there.
If you are an American who has never been to Europe, imagine every asshole you have ever seen screaming into a cell phone at a restaurant; now imagine them walking down a European street.
I think you are on dodgy ground with your phrase ‘Average everyday European’.
We do have quite a few countries here, with far more languages for starters. The climate, cuisine, sport and culture varies tremendously. There will be far wider variations between European countries than between US states for example.
Here are some stereotypes of both sides of the pond:
UK: One country, made up of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Cunningly get 4 entries into the World Cup of Soccer and Rugby (although that Irish rugby team includes Eire.)
It rains a lot, so we talk about the weather incessantly.
We queue politely.
Our policeman are unarmed.
We have two thousand years of history.
The Netherlands: (Hi Coldfire!) They are all tall and speak 5 languages.
Cuisine solid, plus excellent infusion from East Indies.
Relaxed on drugs (I mean legally, but of course once you’ve had a few puffs…). There are only a couple of windmills, but loads of dikes.
Bicycle heaven (flat and law-abiding). Public transport clean and punctual.
New Yorkers: (New Yorkers - so good they named it twice!)
There are many crimes, but they get solved by the end of the hour. Actually that’s 48 minutes, because of all the incessant adverts.
Taxi drivers are foreign and don’t know their way.
Full of skyscrapers (cue Gershwin music), and budding artistes.
Massive choice of food.
Central Park unsafe after dark.
Kansas: rolling plains with regular tornadoes.
Slow pace of living.
Er … that’s it.
I think this is absolutely true: “We’re on vacation! Lets buy some clothes more suitable for the beach, preferably extremely unflattering, and walk around a bustling cosmopolitan city wondering why we’re paying double prices for everything”. I’d say that the Americans, Brits and Germans are the worst offenders, and they do tend to stand out in places where people generally dress well. Obviously not all tourists do this; some people manage to dress for comfort and still look like normal people.
As long as we’re on the subject of names, can I point out that Éire = Ireland, it’s just the same word in a different language. The British habit of using it as though it referred only to the 26 counties is extremely irritating.
That’s a good point, and it reminds me that things might be different for me, too. I live in Chicago, which is a very diverse, and quite liberal, city.
It can’t be that irritating, because I have heard Irish people use ‘Éire’ in reference to the republic, not the whole of Ireland. Conversely, I haven’t heard or read too many British people under the age of about sixty use the the word. It just sounds very old-fashioned.
Anyway, wasn’t it used once in the Irish constitution to mean just the 26 counties? Seems a bit much, then, to criticise foreigners for using it in that sense.
Until a 1998/9 ammendment connected to the Good Friday Agreement, the Irish constituion stated that: “The national territory consists of the whole island of Ireland, its islands and the territorial seas”.
Apologies, you’re right, ‘Éire’ replaced ‘Irish Free State’. But in 1948, the Republic of Ireland Act made the descriptive name of the state “The Republic of Ireland”, while retainling Éire as the constituional name. The following year an act was passed in Westminster recognising this new name. (Largely cribbed from http://www.portaljuice.com/eire.html )
As a footnote, my passpote consistently uses Éire/Éirinn/Éireann/Éireannach in the Irish text, and Ireland/Irish in the English.
Not really - it’s just another one of my bug-bears. It is becoming pretty normal in England too (for shame). Quite a lot of people think that me not wearing one is a sign that I intend to get up to no good. Which, rather tragically, it isn’t.
I just don’t like it. I don’t like jewellery on men. It’s wrong.
It’s either effeminate - Earings, neckchains etc or…
Chavvy - Sovereign rings, pinky rings, earings in BOTH ears (FFS).
However one advantage of a wedding ring is that it does deter those terribly keen American dorises. Apart from the uberkeen ones anyway.
And - Good man Calm Kiwi (Is there any other kind of kiwi?) for backing me up on “american hair”
While we are on the subject of holiday dress sense , why the obsession for Brits wearing replica football shirts of their favourite teams ? It is even worse when father , mother and all the kids all wear this same kit. Get a life you people .
Agreed. Football shirts aren’t particularly flattering on fit men in their early twenties - so why fat blokes in their 40s think they look good is another matter.
As regards the kids - have you ever tried to tell a 10 year old that he can’t wear his football top? There’s tears before bedtime. Trust me on this.
Just confirming this: in 9 years of living here (the anniversary of my arrival coincides with the Rose of Tralee every year), I have never once heard an Irish person refer to the country as ‘Éire’. My native-Irish-speaking wife finds it mystifying that this is in use, and I just asked her how she would refer to the country in Irish language conversation: she’d use ‘Éireann’.
In defense of the British people who use the word, I think that most of them are trying to be culturally sensitive. And it does say it on the stamps and coins, which only adds to the confusion.
The thing is though, if the stamps and coins said “Ireland”, nobody would take this to mean that the six counties aren’t part of Ireland. There is a recognition that “Ireland” can refer both to the state and to the island, but in Britain there is no such recognition that “Éire” does as well. That is the crux of the issue.
