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But they will ask regularly why we are so dumb to have elected Bush II, Bush II x2, Trump, Trump x2. It is the second Q every Italian asks me after' "How are you?" #Italy

Almost never experienced any rudeness over the years for being American, either. But what I’m not used to are the condolences.

If I get anything at all, I get the exact opposite.

on the other hand, the attitude wasn't omnidirectional. seeing Chilean attitudes towards Peruvians made me realize "wait, people can be actually racist. like, in real life. how is that possible. don't they know that's Bad?"

I should qualify I was in a car with some friends, not like outside outside. I'm not much of a goblin

By 'very fluent' I mean she'd been studying French for 10 years. The others not quite as long.

They're projecting. They expect to be treated the way they would treat others.

IME US Travelers who complain about “anti Americanism” are always just jerks being jerks, getting called out for being jerks, and blaming it on their nationality. Even in PARIS I mostly only encountered polite helpfulness & my only French was badly saying “Je suis désolé, je ne parle pas français”

I've had general anti-foreigner sentiment aimed my way, but not specifically anti-American. Vast majority have been really friendly towards me.

Same with NYC. Tourists are generally surprised by how willingly New Yorkers help them navigate around the city.

In Quebec and France, I just say “Bonjour, je suis désolé, mais je ne parle pas français,” and it works every time

This absolutely does work in France. Just show the slightest bit of effort and everyone will try to help you out.

* 23% of Americans are already bilingual. 15% were born in another country. Americans are not all our worst stereotypes!

Co-signed. Of all the people I’ve talked to abroad, Americans aren’t even in the top 5 of worst visitors

I have. A Brit. In Ireland who was a fellow guest at a bed and breakfast. Total douche solely because I was American. Other than that, for the three years I lived in Europe, it was generally wonderful.

We really really are not

When I traveled abroad, everyone seemed excited to meet Americans.

The only time I felt like being rude to an American (but wasn't) was when I met one with "America First" cap. But at that point I felt he was rude first.

France no, Italy no, the UK, yes. Well, England. Well, London. Well, Mayfair. London was also the only place in Europe I witnessed street violence, and it was not from the people you would be led to expect from, shall we say, popular media, etc.

Currently traveling internationally for the first time in 3 years and I thought people might be rude about it but there's been no difference compared to the other times i've traveled lol

i just don’t want to talk about Donald Trump and every fucking person in the bar overseas sure does

As others have said, the switch from fascination with the US (“Nah, it’s not as great as you think”) to pity (“Sigh, it’s not even as great as you think”) has been a bit sobering, but the only two rabid anti-Americans I have ever met were both Swedish and very very drunk

Cabbie in New Zealand, December 2004, was simply baffled that we’d re-elect Bush. I felt the same. We commiserated.

People always got a good-natured chuckle at my goofy attempts at Québécois in Montreal, other than that they were stunningly friendly. The only “bad” experience (which really is just normal city shit) was a drunk homeless guy slurring slurs at us and we found it funny more than anything.

that is helpful! and it goes without saying that the vast majority of people in both cities were very nice about my barbarian tongue (maybe a slightly smaller majority in montreal)

Yeah. I speak enough for them to get really annoyed about me speaking it badly. Which is fair.

And go ahead and learn a few words and use them, don’t worry about embarrassing yourself, you’ll never see any of these people ever again.

Someone advised me a long time ago to say "Je vous empris" a lot, and I think it helps.

In most countries they'll give you credit for trying

have experienced this in mexico and spain lol

In Paris, we (🇨🇦) were generally treated as favoured children because we did our damn best with our grade school French. Meanwhile, my Canadienne friend gets sass because her perfect Quebecoise French sounds provincial.

This has always been my strategy. Looking sheepish, and making whatever pathetic attempt you can goes a long way. Also, if your interlocutor doesn't speak much English, be willing to communicate through hand gestures rather than becoming frustrated. It can become a kind of fun bonding experience.

... And they all knew I was an American before I opened my mouth because I wore a down jacket at the time & no Parisians were wearing down jackets. /2

In German this also helped me get along meeting new people in Austra, also not renowned for being overly warm and welcoming in general my coworkers admit.

That’s a great hack. I have been berated in Quebec for having a French name and not speaking fluent French.

[Me, smiling, nodding] “ummmm ¿Dónde está la biblioteca?”

A friend of sister is french and the people in montreal insisted on only speaking to her in english.

(Source: have lived in Montreal for eight years)

3/3 I got full marks; turns out she's English, married my daughter and has converted to Judaism. Funny old world.

I’ve had people ask me carefully about Trump, but not in a way that seems hostile and only after a fairly long casual conversation.

Yes, Americans who stick to tourist beats are more likely to be insufferable. But I always hear that Germans and Israelis are worse tourists than Americans.

Agreed. What I've noticed in the last year is that even foreigners who follow US news closely have heard little about grassroots anti-fascist activism in the US, and are pleased to hear about it. They've heard about "No Kings" as a tactic directed toward elections, but not about direct action.

Yeah. I once got a, "We're not terribly fond of your president," (W, not Trump) from someone I'd been speaking to in a cafe, but I just said I wasn't fond of him either. In my experience, most people understand that not everyone is the same, politically or culturally or in terms of etiquette.

I met a lovely American couple at a rooftop pool in a hotel in London. They were apologetic for being American. We said not to worry, but they were about to go travelling across Europe. I suggested they pretend to be Canadian because we really can’t tell the difference! Sad they were so worried.

Back during the Bush years, I used to get a lot of people asking me to explain wtf is wrong with us, but it was more genuine curiosity rather than hostility bc they took for granted that I was anti-war.

We recently traveled to Liverpool and outside of no one knowing how to walk on crowded sidewalks (worldwide problem), every single person we interacted with was so fucking nice to us.

Yeah, I don't assume any random Russian is pro-Putin, and if they are my yelling at them isn't going to change their mind anyhow.

Second this. In general the only times I’ve really seen Americans getting upset about “rudeness” when travelling has been when they expect the same manners and norms as back home or don’t understanding local behaviour and cultural expectations. Which is a them problem, not an all of you problem.

Yep. Same as I have never had an issue being British despite travelling at the height of "British tourists are hooligans!!!!" - because you can tell from across the room who acts like that.

when i lived in stockholm i would pretend like i didn't speak english around American tourists😂

That's probably at the heart of most conservatives' reactions to visiting a Big City. Can be a super confusing experience even in the same country if you don't know how to get around, where to eat, etc... but as you say, a little curiosity goes a long way!

Quite possibly. I feel uncomfortable in places where the cultural rules are unfamiliar. I react by being overly shy and reluctant to ask for anything. This is not limited to international travel.

as an European I am a bit at a loss at what to say when someone from the United States starts apologizing profusely about their country and/or home state. Have encountered the ”I'm from Texas but not like *that* a few times”

I’ve just moved to Ireland and had a bus driver incredulously ask me why I would leave a great country like the US to come to a crummy one like Ireland. He could not comprehend why I disagreed with both assessments

Yes, my least favorite encounter was years ago with an Italian waiter thrilled to death the US had invaded Iraq.

often more positive than I feel about it

I have found a sense of sympathy that things are so crazy.

Yeah, my non American *friends* are far more likely to hassle me than strangers. I was in Paris during the Charlottesville tiki march and I was treated with sympathy and maybe even gentleness by folks I talked to.

Not sure you know this but the Cotswolds are vastly over-represented in the settings of cozy mysteries meaning it’s super likely American tourists there are the kind of people (like me) who READ cozy mysteries 😂

There was this American tiktoker, living in France, who would make videos about how the French hated Americans. She seemed like a shitty person, and that's most likely the reason why she was treated poorly.

Nerds read Zinn www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMbY...

Also, a lot is luck. The other day, I was vacuuming, and this German guy and his young daughter just walk by like 2 meters from my window, having hiked across my canyon, climbed over my (barbed) fence, up my ravine and right past my house. I offered them drinks & a chat. But some would be angry.

I’m forever grateful to the Germans, who are the only nationality to be louder than a group of Americans.

Your welcome on our campus will be definitely a lot warmer if you don't start it by trying to waltz into the main hall during exams, right enough.

said my stentorian american stepfather

I’m guessing the Americans that claim to be treated poorly in non-American countries are probably the loud obnoxious ones that demand everyone speak English to them.

Yeah, pretty much. But America has nothing on Greece when it comes to farewells, it gets downright competitive at shops and even with delivery drivers who can say the most farewells

Homophobic-chicken’s “My pleasure” policy… 🤮🤮🤮

its not always insincere. its partly just the culture, we're pretty friendly people for the most part. when i was a server i liked shooting the shit with cool tables, it made the day go by faster

A line that should never be uttered by a customer. Its original application makes sense. What’s the best selling item on a menu. Not an excuse for outlandish behavior or expectations.

those people are definitely not from the northeast, ha

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoric Americans visiting Nordic countries: "Every sales clerk and barista hates me." (source: it's me, I'm the guy)

He didn’t seem very receptive to my suggestion that higher wages and less dependence on arbitrary and fickle charity from patrons might lead to staff being *genuinely happier* and more enthusiastic, and not the insincere version displayed by folks desperate for money.

Oh absolutely, yes.

maybe! I think culture clashes can be difficult in lots of directions: I live in a city that gets a lot of national and international tourism, and my heart goes out to all the workers who have to manage very different expectations every day “why didn’t you check on me” vs. “why did you bother me?”

the idea is more that you’re showing respect by making an effort

it really is tho, if you like to be treated more as a fellow human and less as yet another tourist you can do the most touristy things and still make clear that you appreciate where you are instead of just taking pictures to show at home, so to speak

Hey, let's not besmirch the fine band, "Rancid".

It’s all people who unironically believe “they hate us ‘cause they ain’t us” and go looking for conflict.

ha ha, met a guy like that who was living in Nicaragua. Brief encounter, but seemed like a possibly worst guy type of guy. Some sort of born-again Christian with unsubtly racist attitudes against the locals, complaining about how everyone is unfriendly and tries to stiff him.

There are plenty of ugly American travelers who deserve the poor treatment. I saw a few of them during my Denmark trip last week.

In my travels, I have seen Americans behave rudely and ultimately get that treatement returned (usually after attempts to tolerate).

Every American i have known who traveled and said people were rude to them for being American were at minimum upper middle class, white, and Republicans Several of whom were individually nice to me but it paints a picture

Knew a guy who demanded to know where "normal food" was in A'dam, got upset in Germany when the town had no McDonalds & "did I expect him to eat at a bratworst tent?" (DIDN'T like it when I excitedly asked where the bratworst tent was) & said Dutch doctors "don't know when to prescribe antibiotics".

Restaurants in much of Europe also tend to have less doting waiters than in the US. Americans get pissy when their order isn't taken and food isn't out in 30 minutes, but it's because the staff expects folks to hang out for 2 hours and relax not because you're an American

Indeed. In the vast majority of instances, I suspect it has more to do with them being exceptionally rude or unpleasant, rather than because they happen to come from the United States.

Oh 100%. In my experience most Europeans like Americans as individuals. So you really gotta be a jerk to change that.

That’s a reasonable assumption.

There are obvious exceptions to this, but America is big enough for our worst tourists to be able to travel mostly domestically, and you’re already probably a little bit better just by being the kind of person who wants to go to Europe over Disney World. This is not the case with the United Kingdom.

Eh you’d be surprised in my experience (but I’m pretty small which I think throws some people off?)

Same in Greece

While I've definitely been on the wrong end of a lot of generic anti-EE prejudice (of that 0 was specific anti-Russian sentiment, I haven't even had that from Ukrainians), the worst I've gotten as an American is a French dude commenting that I "didn't act like an American" during the Iraq war.

Yeah here in Oz you will absolutely be subjected to a little affectionate mockery when we know you’re American, but nothing mean. And trash-talking TFG will pretty quickly get us onside. But there’s a difference between being American, and giving off American Tourist Vibes. IYKYK

I'm American and have always been treated well abroad. Of course I keep my mouth shut and talk quietly everywhere and try to pretend I'm Canadian, so maybe that helps...