My experience with Americans here in México has been one of extreme arrogance and ill-mannered. Many feel nothing here seems to be the equal of anything in the US and theyaren’t bashful in expressing it. They are constantly comparing everything to themselves or their country which can get quite tiresome.
Also many seem to hold a sense of entitlement.
That’s alright. I grew up in central Indiana and right now I live in central Illinois (although I consider the Chicago suburbs my home), and I’ve never met anyone who would dream of eating squirrel either, even though they’re so prevalent.
I’ve heard some Europeans say this, but with the underlying meaning being that Americans are superficial and that our friendliness is fake. I’ve never felt like that, though. I agree more with what you and SeaDog said.
I sort of question this. As George Mikes says in this book How To Be Inimitable, in their salad days, when the British went abroad they tended to congregate in places were other British went. The main drag along the waterfron at Nice is Promenade des Anglais because in winter (I think it was) Nice was a British city. Sure, those who had the means to go to a public university like Cambridge or Oxford got a superb education. But I’m not sure the average bloke knows much more than the average guy in the US.
As to the French, well, they don’t particulary care to know about others and what they do know they don’t like.
In the late 1960’s my niece went to Luxemboug on a student exchange program. There was an uncle who had been in the US in the early 1920’s. That gave him vast knowledge of America and he was always willing to share.
When I was in Germany post-WWII I discovered that the only things the average German knew about Americans were that they wore green clothes and big boots, rode around in jeeps and trucks and were well fed. Oh yes, and the kids knew that they passed out candy and zigaretten.
Move to any rural place close to or in the Appalachians (Pennsylvania, in my case). Squirrel isn’t exactly on the menu here, but I have met a handful of people who do eat them. A coworker of mine told me that when he saw a squirrel in his yard he’d pull out the shotgun and BAM! – dinner.
Why not?
“Why is there oil down the front of your pants?”
You might see it as arrogance and being ill-mannered, but could it be that they’re a little bit homesick? Isn’t that human nature? People compare their old job, old school, different neighborhoods all the time? Sometimes people are just trying to find things to talk about that might be interesting. Maybe things **are ** different from what they’re used to and just telling you about it. They might be crazy enough that they think others might be interested in hearing about differences betwen countries and aren’t comparing things at all.
A sense of entitlement in what way? Can you give an example?
For the most part Americans are very welcoming to most people from other countries. I can sit on a bench at the mall and see people from just about everywhere. I’ve been to a lot of countries, and rarely see that on the scale that you do here. We’re far from perfect but some of it might be cultural differences. I think we’re judged a lot by our politics and we have no more control of that than any other country does.
It is, and you’re right. IMO the difference is that US citizens tend to be way more vocal about this, often in front of the locals, while citizens of other countries tend to internalize it, or chat quietly about it with their peers.
If you say so. IME people from other countries are just as likely to do that as Americans. My SIL tells me all the time how they do things in Russia, and I’m interested to hear it.
I seldom think of of Americans. I hear you’re really fat. Don’t know if it’s true. The only Americans I meet seem to be in kinda tall and muscular and also self assured. American women have a reputation as being the absolute worst in the world. I don’t know how you landed such a fine reputation. The American girls you meet in Europe are often fun and pretty and (hope it won’t insult you too much) really easy. I love it the way Americans don’t seem to understand or don’t care about all the small unwritten rules to do with class and status. Americans seem very polite (compared to Danes, which are probably the most impolite people on Earth). They also seem to smile a lot, which makes some people uneasy. Old Americans have a very bad fashion sense. Very very bad. American English doesn’t sound very nice.
Does she tell you it’s better in Russia, though. That said, now I think about it, I am guilty of vocalizing the differences with the UK when I was living in Ireland, and not always in a complimentary. And it irritated Irish people, I know. So perhaps what I said is partly bullshit… but also perhaps it’s down to vocal tone/volume, or demeanour. I have seen it many, many times from Americans while backpacking round the world, but perhaps it’s my fallacy of composition that causes it to grate.
I don’t homesickness has anything to do with it and it’s not just comparing but outright criticism. They act as if we should do everything the way it is done in the US.
[QUOTE=Caridwen]
A sense of entitlement in what way? Can you give an example?
[QUOTE]
This is too often overheard:
“Why the hell don’t these people learn English? We come down here to spend our money and the least they could do is learn to speak our language”
That is a classic, I have heard the same complaint about visiting Mexico, I usually just roll my eyes and nod knowingly. Don’t you love the “Ugly American”?
Terrible of your countrymen not to learn English, we are too busy being the last superpower to bother with learning other languages or even make a decent attempt at teaching them. 
Jim
Rune, there are more overweight people in the U.S. than Denmark, that’s true.
But you have to understand we have people that live here from many countries so it’s not a fair comparison.
U.S. population - 295,734,134 vs 5,432,335 Denmark
If you pick a state the size of Denmark I doubt if there’s much of a difference.
I bet people from Austria, Italy, Norway, Korea, Switzerland and Japan think Danes are fat. You have more overweight people in your country than they do.
If Rune were being sincere, I think he’d mean there is a higher proportion of overweight people than other countries - though Scotland, I believe, has the highest rate of obesity in the world* at the moment - but I suspect Rune, who I believe is a Yankophile, is being sarcastic.
I don’t know what “we have people that live here from many countries so it’s not a fair comparison” means - we also have widescale immigration in Europe.
*Though only in terms of BMI threshold, not the degree of obesity.
Jim, I definitely understand that!!
But he/she lives in Mexico. I was wondering what made her say that about the people she encountered. If she’s talking about tourists, I’m embarrased myself when I overhear other tourists. Horrible! Sometimes it’s just people in excited vacation mode.
I was wonder if CBEscapee dealt with people in say a business setting and how they were different and what they did to give that bad impression.
Lots of the complaints are justified. But sometimes we do get a bad rap. We try to be understanding of other cultures (re: Taxi thread in GD). I don’t think some countries deal with issues like this so much and aren’t really tolerant of other cultures because they don’t experience it so much.
I see what you mean jjim, thanks.
There are many things that she prefers about Russia (how people do things, food, etc.) but OTOH she’s not too unhappy about not living there right now, except of course for her concern about her parents, etc. She would prefer living in Europe to here, but she also loves her current city here and keeps telling me to come and visit and about all the great stuff we’ll do there.
So, yes, she sometimes tells me how things are done better in Russia. Sometimes not. Who cares? I’m sure they do do some things better in Russia. (Yesterday we were discussing nicknames; she doesn’t like the way we all shorten our names to one syllable. From a Russian, that’s natural, since they like to lengthen everything out and make names all poetic. We aren’t very poetic. Also she thinks Igor is a nery nice name and is rather irritated that she couldn’t name her son that, because of lame American movies. Also, pretty understandable!)
Well, it left a lasting impression, you know? It makes me roll MY eyes when I see annoying smug Europeans go on about how they aren’t violent and can’t understand why Americans are so barbaric. Right, because no European power ever slaughtered ten million innocent people within living memory. Oh wait…
Not to mention, as I recall from looking around my surroundings earlier today, I live in the Balkans. I don’t have to think back too far to remember a time when Europeans in my neck of the woods were burying their neighbors in mass graves.
No one’s got a monopoly on being assholes. Alas. Because if they did, we could put them all on some island somewhere and let them duke it out amongst themselves.
Caridwen, it’s been over thirty years since I’ve spent any time in Denmark, but the Danes were really good at getting lots of exercise. They thought nothing of walking two miles into town, shopping, and then walking two miles home. I think this is much more common in Europe. The United States should have more sidewalks!
Also, when I was in Denmark, even older people, including those with cars, often rode bicycles. Of course, this may have changed over the years.