# Being an American in the UK on a visit stinks **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 2, 2015, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997 "2015-03-02T08:04:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/61 "2015-03-03T01:20:17Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Now I finally understand all of the Americans who pretend to be Canadian when traveling abroad. It gets depressing constantly having to apologize for all the crappy things America has done and dealing with all the head shakes and rolling eyes every time my local friend would introduce me as his friend from Texas. I’m sending my wife over this summer on a whirlwind amusement park tour but luckily she’ll be with other Americans much stranger than she is. I figure the average Brit will hardly notice her. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/62 "2015-03-03T03:03:14Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I can’t put a gun rack on my Rascal? ☹ If you can get your doctor to say it’s medically necessary, you might be able to! ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/63 "2015-03-03T03:34:56Z")
In all my trips to the UK, I’ve only had to deal with two classic louts on the subject. One was a know-it-all, who was going on about the U.S. in Central America. I just asked him why he seemed so surprised because didn’t he understand that we learned our dominating ways from our British forefathers? The other one was just plain easy to humor (or humour) as he was a conspiracy theorist. I just asked him about other rumors. ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/64 "2015-03-03T03:41:31Z")
I was in Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, and London last month. Not once in over three weeks did I experience anti-American prejudice. If anything, our American accents were received favorably. The only thing that caused minor problems was using American credit cards without chips. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/65 "2015-03-03T04:14:02Z")
> [@Trom](#): > > The only thing that caused minor problems was using American credit cards without chips. That’s a pain, isn’t. I keep getting told “they’re coming” by my credit institutions but they’ve been saying it for a couple of years now. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/66 "2015-03-03T04:22:08Z")
One of my replacement credit cards came with a chip recently. Sadly, I don’t know the PIN to it because I never had to memorize the dang thing. And getting your PIN from your bank and setting it to something you know actually requires going through the mail, which I hate having to use. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/67 "2015-03-03T05:11:19Z")
When we visited the UK, the people were just lovely. Several people went out of their way to tell us about local spots we wouldn’t have known about otherwise. I was sure they would be sick of explaining to tourists for the zillionth time but everyone was really nice. Practically the first thing we did when starting a day in London was to get mixed up about which road to walk (from our starting point, Southwark) to get to the Tower. We were at a giant intersection and couldn’t tell which of 2 roads to take, so we asked a man walking by on his way to work. He honestly looked like a TV actor playing a City banker. We just wanted him to point to the right road, but he walked with us for 20+ minutes, telling us neat stuff about the area. It did take him a while to grasp the fact that we were planning to _walk_–I think he thought Americans only ever drove–so that was pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/68 "2015-03-03T07:33:39Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Hold on. By who? It’s surely not by anyone who has actually spent any time there? They lecture each other and then blame us for it. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/69 "2015-03-03T11:26:05Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > Practically the first thing we did when starting a day in London was to get mixed up about which road to walk (from our starting point, Southwark) to get to the Tower. We were at a giant intersection and couldn’t tell which of 2 roads to take, so we asked a man walking by on his way to work. He honestly looked like a TV actor playing a City banker. We just wanted him to point to the right road, but he walked with us for 20+ minutes, telling us neat stuff about the area. It did take him a while to grasp the fact that we were planning to _walk_–I think he thought Americans only ever drove–so that was pretty funny. Disclaimer: I live in London, but I’m not British. I was taking the Tube home one evening a few years ago when I saw a gentleman standing in front of the map at a station where several lines meet (might have been Kings Cross; not sure), looking utterly baffled. I couldn’t leave someone who looked quite as sad as that man, so I asked where he wanted to go (at which point he revealed himself to be American), pointed him in the right direction, and wished him well. The last thing he said to me, just before leaving was “Thank you so much; if this was America, we’d have just jumped in a car and driven there and it would have been much simpler!” I nodded politely, but secretly I was thinking “You’ve never driven in London, have you, sir? Simple isn’t exactly the word for it.” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/70 "2015-03-03T14:13:37Z")
Oh, I dunno. Trips are much simpler when your car is left in a mangled heap by the bus that merges without warning. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/71 "2015-03-03T14:38:13Z")
> [@Dervorin](#): > > I nodded politely, but secretly I was thinking “You’ve never driven in London, have you, sir? Simple isn’t exactly the word for it.” We did wind up having to drive in London once because of…unexpected stuff you don’t want to hear about…and it was terrifying. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/72 "2015-03-03T15:19:00Z")
I’ve not yet been to London, but I didn’t encounter any outward hostility on our recent trip to Paris— possibly in part because I made a special effort not to be the ugly American, to speak French, etc. I did meet one waiter who expressed relief that I was American because he hated the English, however, and a Lebanese restauranteur who was nice enough to us but so rude to a large table of Chinese tourists that they left without ordering anything. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/73 "2015-03-03T15:37:45Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > We did wind up having to drive in London once because of…unexpected stuff you don’t want to hear about…and it was terrifying. I once needed to move house from south to north london, and somehow instead of getting on to the M25 (the motorway that circles london), I ended up driving right through central london in my hired van (it was pre-sat nav and congestion charge days). God that was an ordeal. It was probably about an hour before I found somewhere I could stop and check my map, let alone how long to find my way out. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/74 "2015-03-03T15:57:20Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Thanks for all the kind words. I did enjoy my visit over all and will just have to grow a thicker skin. I’m used to teasing once you get to know someone, but in Britain it seems to start right out of the gate so I need to get used to that. And it was only a few of all the people anyway. You should have just told them when you were still waiting for their apology for Jihad John. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/75 "2015-03-03T16:53:29Z")
When asked if we were Americans, we replied ‘No, we’re from California.’ ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/76 "2015-03-03T17:20:20Z")
I’m from New York, we make fun of Texans.😃 I was on the Isle of Man a few years ago and had some delightful times in tiny pubs and on the train. Being teased by an elderly docent touring castle Roun, he turned and asked us if we were “colonials.” Every now and again during the tour he would deadpan an american translation for what might have been a British phrase or slang. One of the best tours I ever had. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/77 "2015-03-03T17:53:02Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > One of my replacement credit cards came with a chip recently. Sadly, I don’t know the PIN to it because I never had to memorize the dang thing. And getting your PIN from your bank and setting it to something you know actually requires going through the mail, which I hate having to use. The good (?) news is what you have is probably a chip & signature card, not a chip & pin card. The pin that one normally associates with a US credit card is wholly unrelated to the pin used with a chip & pin card. So getting your pin from your credit card company doesn’t add anything to your chip card experience. Anywhere that takes a chip card can accept your chip & signature card, but you’ll have to sign the slip or the screen after the card is inserted. The biggest exception to this being many unattended pay points like self-serve gas, vending machines and the like often can’t do the chip & signature card, only chip & pin. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/78 "2015-03-03T17:55:49Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > When asked if we were Americans, we replied ‘No, we’re from California.’ Although I’ve never been asked if I was American while in the UK or Europe, I have been asked where I am from. California is always my answer. I’ve had nothing but positive responses. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/79 "2015-03-05T01:21:11Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Although I’ve never been asked if I was American while in the UK or Europe, I have been asked where I am from. California is always my answer. I’ve had nothing but positive responses. I kept being asked if I was Canadian because I don’t sound like I’m from the U.S. I’ve gotten this from US southerners as well. I’m from Minnesota, and not the northern part. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997/80 "2015-03-05T03:15:39Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Although I’ve never been asked if I was American while in the UK or Europe, I have been asked where I am from. California is always my answer. I’ve had nothing but positive responses. We got, ‘😕 Isn’t California in the United States?’ We said, 'Well, yes. But California is different. 😛 ’ > [@carnut](#): > > I kept being asked if I was Canadian because I don’t sound like I’m from the U.S. I’ve gotten this from US southerners as well. I’m from Minnesota, and not the northern part. I get that as well. I’ve been told I don’t speak very loudly. By coworkers. So I must be very quiet to Europeans. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-an-american-in-the-uk-on-a-visit-stinks/713997.md?page=5)