I'm English but when I was about 16 my father was working in the Netherlands and I was going to an American international school in Den Haag. One of our neighbours was an American seargant stationed at an American base in the country and I went to school with his son. The seargant was a very nice guy and had been declared the American soldier of the year a couple of years earlier. One day, over lunch at his house he said he was taking his family to England for a holiday to see where he had been stationed some years earlier. When I asked him how he was going, he said he was going to drive. I asked him which ferry he was taking, Hook of Holland, Dunkirk, Calais? He looked at me with a queer expression and said "Oh no! I'm not taking a ferry! I'm driving!" After being stationed in the UK for four years he still did not realise it was an island!🤣
i met Americans who thought that you can take a train from Europe to the USA... so my expectations of the US school system are pretty low, but they still master it to make me wonder, how stupid a breathing person can be!
One Example more: Holiday in the USA, talking with a guy about cars. American guy proudly says, he drives a BMW. Me: nice i have a BMW too American guy: oh, really, never thought you have BMW in Germany too ....
I had an American colleague come over and we went to a BBQ at my parents place. His mouth dropped wide open when he saw almost all cars in their neighborhood were BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Porsche, Range Rovers and their next door neighbor with a Maserati. He thought that was a rich neighborhood full of bankers, finance people and doctors. Nope, just mostly retired people, teachers, factory workers, etc, there's a dentist on their street and he drives a 20 year old Volvo. The Maserati guy owns a kebab place. And my parents are retired apple farmers who only had about 15 hectares of land they worked, who had to retire at 55 when my dad got a massive coronary and subsequent triple bypass surgery (which would bankrupt most Americans). They both have Mercedes cars, an ML and a E270. I know the guy in my town driving a Dodge Ram probably paid more for that hunk of junk than my parents did for the best car they ever had and they always have driven Mercedes.
@@pikminologueraisin2139 It's because historically AMERICAN cars with their big gas eating engines and their huge size (too expensive AND sometimes too big for towns that still have roads from medieval times) just never sold that well and europeans walk a lot more than americans. -> THEIR cars don't sell well so ALL cars don't. Add the part where they forget that BMW, Mercedes, Audi... are all eurpean brands and you get a nation full of people who think europe has (practically) no cars (and thus barely any roads etc...).
American soldiers complaining that we have too many stairs in Europe. I was like: duuuude, you should be in your best shape. These stairs should be a piece of cake for you.
What is usually most irritating for non-Americans is the American perception of being exceptional, that everything American is better than how things are in the rest of the world and that American lives are for some reason more valuable then the lives of the non-Americans. When I hear the phrase “American lives” in the news, it makes my skin crawl.
It's mainly because they have alot of parallels with authoritarian practices to raise nationalism. Alot of them were introduced during both World Wars and the Cold War and were effective proporganda so they were kept.
Well, texting (even holding your phone) and driving is very illegal in Europe by now... But watch the Mr Bean late in morning traffic... It's exaggerated, of course, but I do remember how my dad could steer the wheel with his thigh while doing other things along the highway.
My dad is a cab driver in Brussels. He recounted this anecdote to me: once he was driving an american soldier. Chatting with my dad in the cab, he said he was being posted at the local ambassy for a while and made arrangements to import his personnal car from the US, a corvette, and looking forward to driving it everywhere and show of to belgian ladies. My dad stopped at a gas station and pointed at the signs with a smile "sir, in europe our gas prices are in liters, not gallons." The poor soldier had a breakdown as he realised how truely unaffordable it is to fuel his thirsty corvette over here. 😂
to be honest the US engines are way too big for a meager power ratio , in EU a 1.2 L petrol car would do the same as a 2 L if not more than an US car , and then the very poor fuel management the US engine have pfffff , its not about its expensive (which it is to be honest now with these prices) but especially with an US car youre doomed to put it mildly
@@tzumisi You can't compare a turbo engine to a naturally aspirated one, they have different characteristics. In some aspects a NA will be better, if not else, reliability, gas reaction, sound. The small turbo is also not necessarily more economic, there's been plenty of tiny turbo engines consuming 10L when you go on highway. Also, 3 cylinder engines, brrr the crap sound and vibration... and short lifespan...
Tell me you have no idea about European turbo cars without actually telling me, mate. I had a turbo 1.0 liter, 3 cylinder, Seat Ibiza FR. I make - on average - 250 kilometres per day. In a city, as a delivery guy. That little bugger asked for 4.5-5 litres per 100 kilometres, and I can assure you that I drive as I've stolen the car. For 150.000 kilometres there was not a single mechanical fault. And on the highway, as you are trying to lie to us about it:? Doing 125 ( 130 is the limit here ), cruise control on? 3.8 litres per 100. And it was a gas, not a diesel powered. Tell me what do you want more from a car on a daily basis ;) Oh - and please, tell me something realistic, not your fantasies about some bad ass cars you - and I mean you personally, won't be able to ever afford. @@bencze465
I am an Australian, of a certain vintage. Over the decades, no matter where I travel, be it in Australia or overseas, people approach me asking for directions to this place or that. I figure I must look like someone who belongs to the local location. Some years ago I was in the city of Vancouver in B.C. My family and I had only just arrived by car 2 hours before. It was my first time in Vancouver. My teenage son and I headed out by foot to a nearby convenience store to buy some food, when an American plated car pulled up along side of us. A middle-aged lady leaned out the passenger window and asked directions to such and such in a demanding tone. So I replied "You keep going for 2 blocks, then turn left, after one block it will just on your right". Without much of a thankyou the car sped off. I turned and looked at my son, who was looking at me wide eyed. "I thought you said you've never been to Vancouver before Dad, how do you know where that place is?" To which I replied 'I don't know where the place they want is, and by the time they find out that, we will be long gone'. My son couldn't wait to get back to our accommodation to tell his mother and brother.
Would it be possible, to say something like: Turn left at the next intersection, drive two blocks, turn left, turn left again, drive two block, and you should see something.
In the UK (and assume, the rest of Europe as the laws are fairly harmonised), if you pass your driving test in an auto, you have a restricted licence, which isn't really a badge of honour.
Same here in New Zealand, if you sit your test in an automatic your licence states you can only drive autos & must take a retest in a manual if you want to drive a manual.
If an American has an accident driving a manual car in Europe but passed their test in an auto in the US, what is the insurance situation? We all know insurance companies will use any excuse not to pay out.
I hate the self-righteousness of people from European countries who think manual transmission is God's gift to driving. There are pros and cons to manual/auto but overall, I much prefer auto. I just drove about 800km today and if I'd had to do that in a manual, it would have driven me insane.
Had an argue recently with an American (I´m German) about the Wrestler Gunther, who is an Austrian. The American said he didn´t like him so he should go back to Germany. As I told him Gunther is from Austria the American meant Austria is in Germany, like a State. I told him that I´m from Germany and that´s not true, Austria is a Neighbour State from Germany, like Kanada to the US. He said I got to get my Geography knowledge right. The last Time he looked at a Map there were no Neighbour State of Austria beside Germany. I bursted out laughing and left him alone. The stupidity and ignorance. 😂
I was in Thailand in the early 1990's and used to drink in a bar which was owned by a Canadian. I was in there late one night and a rare occurence happened an American wandered in, imagine the Joy on the owners face when a Fellow North American came in, when asked where he come from he said "Born and Raised in Seattle“ well Ken (the Canadian) said " we are practically neighbours, born and raised in Vancouver" imagine the look on Kens Face when The American said hed never heard of it! Im English and i knew it was only a few hours drive apart and on the American continent thats so close, but no The American insisted he wasnt Joking he'd never heard of Vancouver in the 30 years hed been alive!. Cue the rest of the bar falling off their stools laughing, Ken (the owner) rolling his eyes to the heavens and The American looking around blissfully unaware of anything 🤣😂🤣😂
And to top it off, there's a Vancouver, WA (Washington state). So not only did he not know the Vancouver in Canada, he didn't know the Vancouver in his own state.
Vancouver comes from a Dutch town called Coevorden. It means 'the place where the cows walked through the river. Vorde is the same as the englishe ending of many towns on river -ford. Probably one of the first settlers was named van Coevorden or came originally from that place in the Netherland.
Easy, as a kiwi who first came across the first wave of Americans who immigrated to New Zealand in the 80s to the 90s, I found them to be loud, brash, and arrogant more in the top half of the North Island. They were buying up huge on properties around the areas, and you can hear them behind you at supermarket checkouts pissing and moaning about the level of service and long queues...meanwhile we kiwis are queuing up quietly and patiently. It's not the way you dress, but the way you speak, its so loud they make it known that "I'm American, I want to be served now!" Really? Different hemisphere, Different culture, get use to it.!! The Americans I've met since, that era are the genuine people. They are well travelled and they are the good ones, they know.
An American professor once told me: " If you speak three or more languages, you are highly educated. If you speak two languages, you are educated. If you only speak one language, you are an American." 😂 And if people don't understand you, just speak slower and louder 😂
Based on that Professor who said that to you.. Then I'm curious which category I fall under. Mainly due to the fact that I am low educated. More in the sense that theoretically I don't really propose much. I mean I speak and understand four languages in total. Two of which I speak and understand very well.. And I understand and speak the other two reasonably well. Serbian = My roots and how I was raised at home. Dutch = the country where I was born and grew up and went to school and still live and work. English + German = The languages Which I taught myself from an early age. Mainly because of / thanks too TV series, TV movies and things like that. Long before social media even existed. Although I must say that I have the most difficulty with the German language. Probably due to the fact that I don't speak German to anyone and/or don't have anyone to speak German with and I have hardly watched any German TV channels in the last few years.. And I already have a loud voice by nature. I try to pay attention to it as much as possible because I am aware of it. Perhaps due to the fact that I often talk passionately about things, I sometimes sound louder than I am really aware of it. A colleague at work who is even worse than me. Or whether he does it on purpose or not on purpose. I do not know. But he talks fast and loudly when he's caught up in the moment. Perhaps an exaggeration, but purely for comparison. While most people have only made one sentence, Has he already told an entire story.
I had a lecturer (UK uni, but with a lot of US students who came over for a year) who used to say you could always distinguish between British and American students - the Americans were always really enthusiastic about learning some British history, but couldn't write an essay to save their lives. The British students, if they bothered to turn up, were seemingly bored and half asleep, but could at least string two words together in a vaguely literate way.
French here. Last year I went one month to California (mainly San Diego, LA). Talking to people... regular question was : "have you ever been to America". My favourite answer was : "Yes. two times in France. This is my third time in America but first time in USA" Most of them didn't understand... I had to explain longest terrestrial border of France was shared with Brazil... and visited some french islands in Caribbeans too.
I like that - I'm German and we have have few small hamlets with farms around that have very common names. The father of a friends did service for the farms and it was quite common for him to say he was that day in Moscow, Athens, London and Rome. BTW that is very common in Germany - I know we have a few Amerika (America) In lower saxonia is one Amerika and just a mile away Russland (Russia) and there is a hamlet named California and not far away a hamlet Brasilien (Brazil). You can do a world tour in Germany without leaving the country .....
i got ask by Americans if i have every been in Europe... visiting a Caribbean island, i told them yes, because this island belongs to the Netherlands and is Europe! and the other thing is, i am German! but i got also ask if i ever been in a foreign country...ask in the USA, while visiting family in Philly! he didnt knew, that the USA is a foreign country, because he is living there!
I once read a story from somebody who worked at a car rental in austria. american woman rented a car. drove from vienna to budapest and somewhere else just in first gear. complained that the car was crap. the plastic hood on the motor was molten.
We had the same isue here ( Madeira Island Portugal ) couple of tourists got a new ( months old ) Renault Clio, drove for 20km and then called the rental saying the car was broken, mechanic went there, they never left 1st gear, completely destroyed the car's clutch.
@@robertheinrich2994 no, insurance doesnt cover it, what rentals do here is charge you a " deposit " around 1000€ + if you deliver the car in perfect shape you get the deposit back, if not......
I know someone who lives near to Dublin airport, one of her sons loves spending time in one of the plane spotting laybys on the road around the airport, mainly because he and his brother have bets as to whether a driver is from the US or elsewhere. Apparently most US tourists are easy to spot by their driving - kangaroo hopping is more like. Also apparently the local mechanics make an excellent living doing virtually nothing else but repairing/replacing clutches in the manual cars, sometimes they don't even make it out of the airport before destroying the clutch (still haven't worked out how they manage that but I know her sons find it hilarious, the eldest intends training as a mechanic specialising in clutch repairs, the local garage is always looking for workers.)
I've heard d the same about someone who drove from London to Newcastle in first. Another, no doubt, hypocriphul, story is about the US tourist who spent two days driving round the M25 not being able to find their way off and thinking they had arrived in Scotland.
I'm from Sweden, once I had my sailing yacht anchored in an Norwegian fjord and some Americans came up to my boat with some plastic jugs and asked me where they could fill drinking water. Behind them there was a glacier waterfall... 😳 The day before I had filled 300 liter of fresh water from that waterfall, it is probably the best tasting, most mineral rich, most clean water in the world... But when I suggested them that water they said they can't drink water that has touched the ground. So I told them about the village further in the fjord where they could get chlorinated leadpiped water, there they went...
Icelander here: I suspect you, a Swede, have a slight misconception about "glacial water" Where I live (Iceland), glacial water comes from actual glaciers emitting water that includes a lot of ground-up mud and rocks. The water is yellow and muddy and, while unpalatable, is not unhealthy to drink - it just contains excessive minerals. Most Norwegian water is simply pure rainwater trickling down a pristine rock-face, a "waterfall" you mistakenly call glacial, but is still of the quality that 'Muricans pay a premium for in bottles - what we Nordics simply call tap water...
@@Halli50 There are 1600 glaciers in Norway, Swedens largest one is named Stuorrajekna. And the meltwater from them are clear not like in your shitcountry.
in 1970 I lived in a small town in West Virginia, or rather outside the town and up the mountain road. We had our own water - a well and a pond 2o meters higher up than the house. We showed our water supply to some city folks, and they discovered that frogs swam in the pond. They did not want coffee!!
Five years ago World Athletics U20 Championships were held in Tampere, Finland. They didn't have any bottled water for the athletes. Instead they gave them reusable bottles to fill from taps all around the venue. Some athletes (even from USA) said that they had never tasted tap water and couldn't believe how clean and good it was. You can buy bottled water in Finland but it is not as good.
In Europe generally a restaurant tends to be further up market than a fast food joint. I was brought up to think that it wasn't a restaurant if it didn't serve alcohol. I would never under any circumstances call McDonald's a restaurant.
When my English cousin moved to America to be with his American wife, ( girlfriend at the time) she said they would go to a restaurant on his first night there. He put on a shirt and tie,pair of trousers and nice shoes. He said he was confused why the rest of the group, all Americans, were in shorts and t shirts. They took him to burger king 😂
Vincent: And you know what they call a... a... a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris? Jules: They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with cheese? Vincent: No man, they got the metric system. They wouldn't know what the f*** a Quarter Pounder is. Jules: Then what do they call it? Vincent: They call it a Royale with cheese. 🤣🤣🤣
@@Tsass0 Not just in the Engligh speaking world! Here, in France, they are frequented by youngsters or working people in a hurry to grab something fast and easy to eat at lunch time, or as a family outing with the kids once in a while, because it's fun to eat with your fingers. But then, the quality is something else than that in the USA. Ian reacted to this a little while ago: "Why McDonald's Is Better in Europe" - fern
I like to play dumb with Americans announcing their state as where they’re from. “Oh you’re from Idaho? That’s a city in Canada isn’t it?” And yes I’ve experienced exactly the same thing on (probably the same brand) tour bus in Scotland
I like to think that i know more U.S. geography than most U.S. citizens😊 And as soon as they cross the border, they are totally lost.😮 Fresh&Fit liked to ask their interviwees "Name three countries starting with M" or so and the answers were hilarious😂
If you are from Burgenland and usa person asks where you are from, just say you are from Burgenland, and if they ask where it is, just say everyone knows where Burgenland is.
Being spotted as American in Europe is not a problem at all. An European who goes to South America or Southeast Asia will immediately be recognized as an European. On the French Riviera it is easy to spot some Dutch, English, Germans for example. In the same way as French people in Spain, Portugal...etc. These are the behaviors that may cause concern regardless of the “tourist”. Kindness, politeness and open-mindedness are the key words. And this is clearly the case for the vast majority of tourists.
The problem is that as a tourist you're a target for pickpockets and scam artists. Tourists often carry a lot of cash and valuables and are distracted by the scenery and navigating through unknown streets. By looking like a local you're lowering your chances of getting robbed.
@@picobello99 Italian here, that's a really good advice... We've a fairly big problem with pickpocketing and scam artist in tourist locations. Americans are usually prime targets because they know very little about eu prices and customs around here. They also are very recognisable so it's easy to spot even in a croud... At least europeans sometimes blend in due to their look. I'm ashamed this is something people needs to pay attention to but while travelling in eu, do your own research regarding prices of food and souvenir, don't trust overly friendly people, don't buy stuff from random dudes on the street and if possibile always ask for directions to people in shops,coffee shops and pubs, even better if they work there or cops.
I’m a Brit and I’ve been driving Manual/stick shift cars all my life. My employer sent me to New York (Staten Island) for 6 months. I had never driven an automatic before. No problem, just follow the boss from the rental garage at Newark to the hotel. When you only learn and drive manual then an automatic is easy. How an earth US people drive stick shift here I’ll never understand. In the UK if you only learned automatic then your driving licence restricts you to automatics. As Brits we all know the usual stupid things we do on European holidays like saying words louder or adding an “O” to a word. However, if I’m in the USA and asked where I’m from because I have an accent and Welsh and I say Wales I get one of two replies “Which part of England is that”, or “My Aunty Mary is from Wales, do you know her?”. Look, Wales is not the biggest country but it’s the size of New Jersey ok! I have been known to say to an idiot “Which part of Canada are you from”. Unfortunately, when you meet a US tourist they show their ignorance in special ways. I was working in Amsterdam and at the Central station an elderly US lady was having a loud argument with the station café cashier. She wanted to pay in US$, the cashier said sorry we don’t take $, only Gilda’s, the lady was taken aback, everyone takes $, it’s the international currency! Should these people be allowed to leave the country?
my FIL tried to fool me, gave me the keys to his small pickup truck...with stick shift... you had to see his face, the moment i took off in it.... being German and only owned stick cars... i got ask by an American in Philly, how it is to live in a country with so many Nazis ....i told him, no problem, i am back home in Germany in 2 weeks!
I drove for a film studio and a music venue in Europe for thirty years. American #1 'Hey, it was so funny that Austrian guy using such a random American word as 'kaput!' American #2 'I think 'kaput' is German, dude. American #1 'They use American words in Germany as well!' 🤣😂🤣
That example is beautiful for two reasons. One, it's a perfectly comedic example of foolishness with a two-part punchline (not only thinking it's American, but then that they've borrowed it rather than the reverse). Two, it demonstrates that not every American is such a fool.
The "gene" percentage is so prevalent. I watched a cooking video from a Texan making koláče, and some girl in the commets was like "Yo, I'm Czech and love kolache..." So I asked her if she can speak Czech, and what are her favorite Czech dishes, and of course she couldn't speak Czech, and named like 4 Slovak dishes, and only one Czech. I think her great grand parents came to the US from Czechoslovakia or maybe even before that from Austria-Hungary.
A couple of decades ago when I worked in the port of Antwerp (Belgium) I went on board a ship moored in the lock and met an American passenger. When I told him the ship was moored in the biggest lock in the world (at that time), he said that was not possible. I asked why and his response was: "Because it's not possible that the biggest lock in the world is not in the States." And then there was the American lady when on tour of Europe asked a guide in Bruges when the themepark closed in the evening. For those who shouldn't know: Bruges is a city full of medieval buildings.
I've never been to Brügge before, but judging by my parents' holiday pictures, I don't see how she could've confused such a beautiful town with cheap themepark replica buildings! I'm baffled😂
I was born in 1985 in Brugge. Lived there and went to school there until november 1999. That must be a giant themepark then! 😂 Brugge is nice, but it's a nightmare to drive through in high traffic and many road works. Especially with a stick shift car. Sad part is nor me nor my mother know how to drive an automatic to this day. I did my driver's licence test in a manual car in Brugge, and so did my mother. We both assume that we will crash an automatic while trying to get out of the parking spot it sits in, because we don't know how sensitive the throttle on an automatic is. 😂
German here: Back in the Eighties (long long time ago) I used to live in London. One day I went to Trafalgar Square (can't remember why), where I saw a bunch of very loud people standing there directly at Nelson's column for making photos (back then with 'real' cameras,) and I thought 'Oh, Americans!' When I got nearer I noticed that they were Germans. I was soo embarrassed! It is not only the Americans!
As a German i do have to say myself germans also often do not behave appropiately as tourists. The common examples are probably the spanish balears or other famous party hot spots. But it is like most other counries, there will always be some idiots. However, i think it stands to reason that not only do Americans tend to have a much higher rate for these mishaps, but also tend to show a really unpleasant side of ignorance. While I have seen tourists from other coubtries in Europe, Asia or South America sometimes do something, because they did not know any better e.g. certains behavioral customs, most of them are really apolegetic once it has been revealed to them. I also have to clarify here, that of course people from other natiinalities including germans also can show this type of behaviour, i do feel like Americans more frequently act arrogantly ignorant. Like they know better and everyone else is weird.
I have spent a great deal of time over the years touring around the US and honestly have met some fantastic people, and made several life long friends. However, I used to live in a part of the UK where we saw a lot of American tourists and although most were great, there was what I would call this hard core group that lived up to the stereotypes. And for the record, I have not encountered this type while in America, only here as tourists. For example: I had an American nurse once comment that she was amazed at how well English people spoke American. I had a guy once exclaim, ‘wow you guys have apple pie!’ Another, ‘wow you guys have asphalt roads!’ Other things include, surprise that we have running water in out homes, electricity, internet, the list goes on. We've had Canadian, Australian, various European and Japanese tourist, but, I have only ever heard this type of comment coming from Americans, again just a small minority. So my advice would be, think before you make a stupid comment. Lol. But seriously though, Don’t criticizer the British National Health Service, we all know it has its issues but, criticizing it is a good way to experience it first hand. Nuff said! Don’t call castles or other historic landmarks quaint. Don’t complain constantly about the weather, especially if you are from Seattle, I’ve been there, it rains more than it does here. But honestly, most people are friendly and if you show an interest are happy to talk about their home towns etc. But remember, that some of these places are people's homes, not movie sets or theme parks. Oh and if visiting the UK, travel away from London, the country has a vast array of incredible places to visit.
My father is Belgian, my mother is Dutch, my sister was born in France, I was born in Switserland and before I turned 16 I’d lived on three continents and was fluent in 4 languages at native speaker level. It was always easy to pick out American citizens, especially tourists. Here are a few examples: An American lady wondering why the castle of Chillon, which has foundations dating back to Roman times, had been built so close to the railway tracks. The tour guide’s face (she’d just explained about the Roman foundations) was priceless. We were taking friends out on that tour because they were visiting from Malaysia. They had a good laugh about it too. The new High School principal of our international school in Kuala Lumpur insisting on more ‘real food’ on the menu (burgers, fries, burritos…) in the school canteen and not understanding why (a) the budget increased and (b) these items didn’t sell well. Whilst a little less than 50% of the student body consisted of US citizens, the rest calendars from all over. The local dishes were cheaper and tastier. The American kids already got a lot of American food at home but would always quickly clue in on the possibility to save lunch money for other things whilst simultaneously being able to eat tasty foods. Teenagers are hungry creatures. I did a few stints as an assistant tour guide/translator on tours through Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. These included visiting temples, mosques etc. Tourists would be informed they needed to dress appropriately. That meant no shorts and no tank tops in sole cases and for the mosques, it also meant either bringing your own scarf or agreeing to use a head covering provided by the mosque for the ladies. We also had a stash and made sure those were washed, ironed, and wrapped in sealed packages to take care of any hygiene concerns. I lost count of the ladies in tank tops exclaiming “but I’m an AMERICAN!” For a short while I owned a 2nd hand BMW with automatic gear shift. Hated it. It was the crappiest, most impractical car I’d ever had. Made the mistake of telling one of my American friends I vastly preferred my previous car, a Fiat Punto with manual gear shift. “YOU DRIVE A STICK SHIFT??? And… but… a BEAMER!” He couldn’t wrap his mind around me preferring a manual car of any brand to a BMW, even after I’d explained the shifting was sluggish, the car guzzled gas and even the simplest yearly checkup was ridiculously expensive. A friend of mine came over from the States. We went for a walk around where I live (Belgian countryside). She was blown away most of us hang our laundry out to dry and don’t have air conditioning. Our windows tilt open at the top to air the house without having to fully open the windows. Almost every choir, dog training club, football (sorry: soccer) club, etc has a small bar and they serve alcohol. Members don’t go home immediately after practice or classes. You have a drink first and yes, legal drinking age for undistilled alcohol is 16. And no, those kids don’t all turn into raging alcoholics. Absolutely blew her mind. Me, quickly learning to pack up my drawing as an art student doing an assignment outside every time I spotted American tourists because so many of them simply wouldn’t believe I wasn’t a street artist and wouldn’t sell my work. I needed that grade. “Then why are you sitting out here, drawing that church?” Erm… because it’s for an assignment? Traveling to the States and being asked where I’m from. “Belgium.” - “Oh, that’s the capital of Brussels, right?” So close… Or: “Europe. Belgium.” - “Oh! I have a friend who is from (insert any other European city in another country). Her name is (insert name). Have you met her?” Americans complaining the average French, Italian, Spanish or Portuguese person doesn’t speak English or does so with an accent so thick you could cut slices off it for a week. Telling Spaniards they don’t speak “real” Spanish. Lost count of how many times I’ve seen that happen. Also when visiting the US: when learning where I’m from and often having to explain roughly where Belgium is: “My (insert ancestors several generations back) is from (insert a country several countries away). We’re practically cousins!” Being asked where Belgium is. Learning not to say “Where NATO headquarters is.” Because then, they think I have to pass security checks every time I go out to get groceries. I seriously got that question more than once. Truth be told, you’re right the US citizens I’ve met both outside and inside of the US are some of the most friendly people I’ve ever met. But at the same time, they’re very easy to pick out, often easier than people from other countries. And they seem to be a steady source of grins, giggles and facepalms.
@@user-py5zz7wq9f - True, but someone below the age of 16 drinking in public will raise eyebrows, and welfare services will potentially get involved it it happens repeatedly and the kid in question gets in trouble. If someone over the age of 16 knowingly buys alcohol for someone below 16 or buys distilled spirits for a kid below 18, they can be held accountable. It’s a thin and subtle line but it’s there.
"Where you from?" "Oh I live in Fort Wayne." "Excuse me?" "Oh you know." "Sorry? I'm afraid I don't know where this is." Shocked American face. Imagen the other way around: "Where are you from?" "I live not far from Rüsselsheim"
At a café-restaurant terrasse in Paris, 2 obviously American ladies sat at the table next to mine. They ignored the home-made "Today's Special" dish on the menu and opted for a cheese burger (home made so, admittedly, better than at McDonald's, but still ...). To wash it down, one of them ordered a ... cappuccino (???), and the other a beer, which, though sitting at a table, ignoring the glass that the waitress had brought her, she gulped down straight from the bottle ... I felt sorry for them ... Another way to spot them is when they want "to do" the Louvre Museum (the 2nd largest museum in the world, featuring some 35,000 art pieces on display) IN LESS THAN 3 HOURS!!! I find that plain offensive! I understand that Americans don't have many holidays (vacation) days, but then, why not limit their visits to one country at the time per year? How on Earth can they expect "to do" London, Paris, Athens, Madrid, Berlin, Venice, ... in less than a week??? Even in Europe (50 countries!), people plan: "this year, we'll go to Italy", or to Spain, or Prague, "next year, we'll go to Greece, ...", but we don't generally try to pack as many destinations as possible in a short period of time.
Europeans are fortunate to do one country trips, I am an Aussie and its horrendously expensive to go to Europe.. so for me it will probably be a once only.. so I absolutely WILL pack as much as I can in my three weeks. ..Paris, France, Netherlands, Berlin. and bits and pieces on the way...
I might suspect that many Americans that try to pack in as many places as they can within a week are doing so because there's a very real chance that they might not get to take another holiday next year, or any other year for a very long time, if ever.
Always reminds me of the Japanese tourists who visit half of Europe in a week. I once asked someone who told me that half the time during the tour you don't know which city or even which country you are in, because you are so driven by the tourist guides. You want to pack as much as possible into the few days, on the one hand the vacation is not cheap, on the other hand the Japanese don't like to take vacations that much, it feels like abandoning the company. That's more or less how it was explained to me, it's probably some kind of cultural thing. I also know Germans who seem to be married to their company, but the relationship seems to be even more extreme. You take pictures and you only notice a lot when looking through the pictures at home. Strange, like "oh, we were there too?"
@@Ace-Of-Spades--- I couldn't cope with that. I'm that person that spends an entire day browsing through a museum and still wonders what I missed seeing whilst there. It would take me months just to experience one relatively small country.
@@tukicat1399 You could watch many excellent travel videos on the Internet (Rick Steves' Europe is my favourite): that's much cheaper and more informative than zooming past on a skateboard through far too much to enjoy and ... no jet lag! Not to mention that you wouldn't get "value for money" ... Seriously, I understand the financial restraint too (which is why I've never been to Australia that I'd love to visit), and the distances but if and when I could "do" Australia - and New Zealand, I'll ensure that I have plenty of time. OnceI retired, maybe?
That story about asking where people are from and the Americans saying their state or city, I’ve had that discussion with someone in the YT comments, when this woman was asked by a European where she was from and when she replied, Arkansas, the response was, “I don’t know where that is.” The American called that response “stupid”, so I leapt to the European’s defence by explaining that not everyone knows all the states of America. I was promptly chastised for being stupid.
@@Nettsinthewoods did you know, some Americans believe the car been invented by Henry Ford, while everyone else on the planet knows its been Carl Benz...a German! dont forget, the guys who hit the moon been also Germans, its just an American disease to forget it all the time!
Americans have a tendency to refer to Europe as a nation and the countrys different states, and that annoys me a bit. Thats shows you don't even care what country you are in, it's just ''Europe''. The cultures and languages are so different depending in witch country you are in. For me as a swede it would be far more culturecrossing going to France or Poland comparing going to Canada or USA.
You must realize that most states in the US are big enough to be a European country. In theory USA can be considered similar to the EU. But EU is still separate countries.
@@ivar_oslo-hr3mc US are empty, in terms of population (330 M people in 9 M sq.km, and have no noticeable cultural differences between states, being only 1 country, unlike all the different European COUNTRIES. (Europe : 50 countries, 750 M people in 10 M sq.km). Nothing to compare, but US always want to do that stupid "contest", believing they're something special...but they're not (except on some very bad points).
1. Jaywalking is a thing in Poland (You can get a ticket from Police for it) 2. Backpacks and cargo shorts... well i live in a tourist town in Poland (Kraków) and i see a lot of people from other parts of EU with backpacks and cargo shorts.... I also used both when i was on vacation on the Polish seaside this year.... Also baseball caps...i use those a lot during summer time.... so i think its a gross overgeneralization. I think "Spotting the American" it's not about those things separately, but overall image that contains multiple things at one time (clothes, hairstyle, attitude etc)
The first story is hillarious. I live in Prague and Americans can be pretty annoying on public transport. Not only are Americans pretty loud in general, imo it's also partly the fact that they're not used to using public transport and aren't aware of the "rules". At least in Czechia and neighboring countries, you're expected to be quiet on trams and buses etc. and keep your voice down when talking with friends. Trying to talk to strangers on public transport would be perceived as extremely weird. And no wonder the locals look grumpy compared to the tourists. The Americans are on vacation in a new city, probably heading to brunch while we're on our way to work lol.
i went to Prague with my US in laws....they got surprised how i used the public transport so easy....without speaking a word Czech... why not, they use the same systems we use in Germany.... they thought only poor people use public transport! we are Europeans, we are not poor, because daddy thought i married his daughter for the green card...but we never left Europe and lived in the USA.... not even after he told me i can have a house, a car and a job at his company...i am European, i need our culture 24/7 and not Tacco´s 24/7
My big memory of an American couple was a few years ago. A 5 year old child I was counselling would talk about his fear of his Dad. I managed to convince the Dad to go to an anger management course. I agreed to go as his support person and spent every Wednesday evenings in my own time listening to Mums & Dads talk about frustration and rage and trauma. BUT… an American couple that attended with all of us Australians were sucking the oxygen out of the room over the first 5 or 6 night. They were loud AF, massively over shared, psychoanalysed themselves, talked about highly personal things about their partner, were dishonest about their motivations. It’s like they had no self awareness or respect for the other people and sharing the time equitably. They just talked and talked and talked. It was all about them. I could have learnt a lot that I could have taken back to help supporting families at work. Unfortunately, I was just cringing and withdrawing inside and wanting the evening to be over. It really turned me off Americans in a way I hadn’t felt before.
You overheard one single couple and it changed your view of ALL americans? lol. That`s like eating a bad kebab and saying "kebab is shite" The ones that visit Norway are generally pretty nice, maybe because they`re mostly older and well established people since coming here and staying for any period of times is expensive AF, so the scrubs don`t come here 😂
@@afrog2666 Nooooooo… I live on th edge of the desert, lots of tourists that come through. Lots of American’s talking loudly trying to get attention and being rude in the fast food places. The British are the best, polite and funny and interested in everything and not just themselves. The American family sucking up all the time in a group therapy setting was my last straw though.
@@afrog2666 That's because the Americans that have actually heard of Norway and are educated and worldly enough to want to go there know better than to behave like that.
Icelanders who drive a LOT off-road on snowy, icy roads practically insist on automatics since they give more control at low speeds. It is much easier to avoid wheelspin with an autobox.
@@gustavmeyrink_2.0 lol False. The control on a clutch is far superior to an auto shift. Anyone that has actually driven one, knows this as factual truth.
I live in Oslo, Norway, and one time when I was walking near the docks, I overheard some Americans asking each other, loudly I might add; “Is that Denmark over there?” then they pointed towards a small island in the fjord. So, from then on, that island is Denmark in my books.
Oh my word - great job IWrocker🤣I am a German native married to a Minnesotan and I lived more than a decade in the US - different states - Minnesota, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, then a few years in Qatar and now we are back in Germany. Rest assured Americans are not the only dumb nuts when they travel. Me thinks a certain percentage of every and any culture on this beautiful planet of ours does their very best to cement clichés about their point of origin. While living in the US I was repeatedly asked how Hitler is doing health wise, for example. In Qatar, trying to surprise my husband with a Burger King meal after a challenging day, the Filipino working there figured out that I am from Germany because I talked to my daughter on the phone while standing in line. He then greeted me with a perfect "Hitler Gruss", standing at attention, clicking his heels together, raising his hand, and bellowing "Heil Hitler" - I was mortified. The "Hitler Gruss" is punishable by law in Germany. Turns out Hitler is a revered authoritarian figure in the Philippines. So, I had to tell this poor guy to never EVER great a German tourist like this ever again. In addition, I think baseball cap and cargo shorts are way better then sandals and socks - it is so embarrassing to me but if you see a guy wearing socks AND sandals you will find him without a shadow of a doubt to be a German.
Two stories that happened to me 1/ Although I am French, I am in Italy 4 months a year. This summer in Syracuse a lady stands in my way and asks me in American "where is the port" speaking very poor English, it takes me 2 seconds to understand what she wants from me, but before I think about my answer she talks to me again, quite annoyed ... so I answer her in French "Désolé je ne parle pas Anglais !", a man who was behind her told me in more standard English and speaking softly to excuse his wife, who is afraid because they are lost [it's true that in Syracuse at nightfall, you see the corpses of killed tourists littering the streets...). I explain the way to him, but it's too complicated, so I tell him to follow me and I accompanied them ; On the way I made them look up, which they didn't, and they were able to admire some architectural wonders. When we left the gentleman thanked me and when he showed me his little boy he said "I've decided, he's going to learn French". They didn't have an internet connection and didn't buy an Italian SIM card, strange. 2/ In Toulouse (my city) a man approaches me, greets me with a "hello, I'm American, I'm looking for a typical restaurant to eat", it was 5 p.m., I answer him that he won't find any, and that only bad hamburger food, döner kebab, or sandwiches are available. He insists but I tell him that at this time the French don't eat, and that no typical restaurant will be open, but that he can go to a tea room to taste pastry. I tell him that I can set one up for him; as we walk, we pass in front of the town hall and I call the building "Capitole" to him, "it's not a good imitation," he says, "how?" "yes in Washington it's not like that". "I have the greatest difficulty in making him understand that the façade of the one in Toulouse was built in 1750, before the creation of the city of Washington!
Americans will say "My grandmother is from Ireland, or Germany "or whatever then say: "I'm a quarter French, Irish" Well, maybe your grandmother is from Ireland, or France but what about her parents? if they are from another country then you are certainly not 'quarter' anything. So stop with the all the ancestral "I'm part..." horseshit'.
Always funny Americans and their work culture. Indeed they work a lot of hours but just work not efficient ( for example Europeans work less hours but still are able to produce more and better.)
That is so correct ,I worked for an usa company in Netherlands and we did more quality work in less hours than our counterparts in San Francisco, but we also got paid more
Literally just came back from work, commuting by bus in Warsaw, and there was a REALLY loud American. She was just happily asking her friend about how many stops to their destination and stuff, but boy she made sure everybody in the bus know! The funny thing is - I'm pretty sure she wasn't aware of that (It's just that here you don't talk to people while in the bus and definitely not in the full voice)
An American Ambassador to Denmark, during Trump of course: Carla Sands (I think a former actress in an American Sitcom), claimed that the reason why so many Danes used bikes, was because we couldn't afford a car! Normally an Ambassador to Denmark receives a Danish Order, when they leave, but Carla Sands became an exception!
Ambassadors are supposed to be educated, and aware about the country they work in ! Apparently, this is not necessary for US ambassadors : maybe they just have to "buy" this job...
Some Americans think they are more important than locals and should be treated accordingly. You got some people like that in every nation but Americans seem generally to think they are exceptional. Silly example, we are in Thailand on an island and the hills are steep and dense jungle. An American says he is going to hike to the top of the hill. We look ar him confused, clearly no way anybody is getting through that undergrowth. 30 minutes later he comes back sweaty and scratched. He says he couldn’t make it but gives himself an A for effort, We think it is silly to even try but he was proud and wanted recognition to havé tried.
US people always congratulate their kids for nothing, so when they're grown ups, they're always proud of what they do, even if it's stupid, or totally a fail. And, very often, it is... "king-kids" education leads to : no value and no respect. A nation of childish and selfish dummies...
Live In South Yorkshire, England. In my late teens early 20s I worked in a small restaurant mostly waiting tables. During late spring to early autumn we'd get lots of groups of American tourists passing through & 9/10 times they were always Very friendly, Polite & tipped very well which was always a nice bonus. Some would seem confused by our reaction of surprise to a large tip & some were more surprised that we were paid properly (well national minimum wage but still better than a lot of food service workers in the US get paid)
If you ever travel abroad you don't have "not to look like an American". You don't also have to adapt to the local fashion style. You're from USA and there is nothing bad about it, just respect the locals and their customs, remember that it's mainly you who needs to help the locals understand you (if you don't speak the local language) and everything will be great. You'll find the locals more receptive to you and you'll enjoy your stay much more.
but to ask someone, born in the 60s, why he didnt fought against Hitler? in Southern France is kind of irritating... even to my French host, he tried to explain to her, that i am German and to young to have been fighting in WW2... i am not sure, she knew that the French fought on the allied side, too!
3:00 The US passangers claiming europeans drive stick-shift because we are too poor to afford automatic cars would have been even funnier here in Germany: practically every Taxi around here is a freakin Mercedes limousine ! XD 8:00 California ? So They're from NORTH GERMANY ? (No joke, there's literally a town called "Kalifornien" (german for California) in north Germany. Supposedly because the founder named it after a piece of driftwood with the name "California" on it! ..it is quite close to Brasilien (Brazil... another north German town, same story behind it :)
One video clip I saw in another channel that I found really showed American hypocrisy was a 2 Americans sitting at a cafe listening to a couple (I am guessing from Indonesia as we could only just hear them) saying 'Why can't everyone visiting America learn American (?) so we can understand them?' which cuts to an American (by the drawl I am guess from the southern states) couple visiting Italy (the Vatican was in the background) saying 'Why can't Europeans learn to speak English so they can understand us?' while trying to get directions.
I have a friend who periodically has to spend time working in the US. He speaks perfect RP English for work - saves confusion with his accent in a job where accuracy/being easily understood is vital - but somehow manages to ''forget'' how to speak it at all when he is out in public in the US, he finds the condescending comments about Europeans who can't speak English rather amusing (he is Welsh incidentally). I admit it annoys me when we get people visiting here (Ireland) and they try to tell us how we should pronounce certain Irish words, based entirely on the fact that their z times great grandparent moved to the US back in the 1700s/1800s and this is how they pronounced the words (totally ignoring the fact that they actually have NO IDEA how they pronounced the words back then anyway) and that they say them incorrectly in Ireland. I've a US friend who has given up trying to tell them they're wrong, she just walks away now and ignores them.
I used to enjoy teasing some of my American colleagues by telling them there was no such thing as American English, only British English and mistakes. 😊
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 who said germans has no humor. ( i am from NL ) but hey, dutchies are usely clueless either , that was when i was in australia, alice springs. she wanted to visit Uluru, in one day i told her, is about the distance from app the hague to paris... with one gasstation. at the crossing
Regarding loud Americans. I have noticed that Americans have a larger ‘personal space’ so they raise their voices to be heard over the distance between individuals. Brits and other Europeans tend to stand closer together and to the side so they don’t need to yell at each other. Just my observation.
One of my worst experiences with an 'American' was in Bangkok. It cost 7 baht (20 US cents) to take a ferry across the river to a temple that was founded in the mid 1600s. We were waiting in line for the ferry, and half-way through, this guy found out that the 20c ticket that he paid for would only take him across the river, rather than the entire length it, and he became furious and demanded a refund. It took all of my willpower to refrain from interfering.
ya that does sound abit petty, tho with a large population like that you gonna have pretty good competion on the market. but ye they need to learn too relax once in a while.
@lillibitjohnson7293 embarrassment wasn't a concern of his. Nor was the language barrier. Everyone at that dock is there to go across the river, but he whined about being ripped off and wouldn't leave until they gave him his 7 baht back, acting like he got scammed somehow. Still boils my blood lol
I don't know what was his side of the story, but sometimes I am annoyed if it looks like I'm being ripped off by dishonest people, it's not about the money, it's about selling something else they say they sell. So while I know it's fun to stay in the queue of bashing americans, the anecdote is fine, but may or may not be complete.
Years ago I was in the Royal Navy. A number of us were detailed to liase and support US Sailors from the visiting USS Nimitz while they took in the sights. 4 of us were accompanying a bus tour that took in parts of the New Forest (a very large national park) in the South of England. The young lady guide was explaining the history, telling them how William the Conqueror established it in 1079 as a Royal Hunting Park. One of the loudest USAnians stated "1079 and you call it "new"". The guide's rejoinder of "You should see the Old Forest, but foreigners are not allowed there" supplied us with a great deal of amusement over the rest of the day as these guys definitely wanted to see The Old Forest and nagged us constantly about it. Some outrageous tales were invented and believed. Good times!
I am Spanish, when I was young we used to say that automatic cars were for disabled people, or for the elderly. When I tried an automatic car, I have never gone back to a manual car. I have visited the United States twice and I have found that most Americans have a very limited knowledge of the world. My second time there, I wasted no time explaining that Cancun was a bit far from Spain. However, living in Galicia, it is also very tiring to explain to many European tourists that it rains a lot here, even in summer, and it is very funny to see British tourists getting off cruise ships to visit Santiago, wearing sandals with socks, a T-shirt and shorts in the middle of winter or to see Central European tourists, including Germans from the interior, discover the reason why there is always parking space on the ramps of the small fishing ports, the tide rises and falls.
$1000 fine for texting in a car here in Western Australia! My wife and went to a movie in Southern Germany back in the 90s and the movie theatre was full of US Army personnel. All the way through the movie, people shouted responses to the movie as if it was an interactive experience! Added to that, the quantities of food eaten by the movie goers were massive and consumed with an almost equal volume of the responses! Love ur work, iwrocker, keep it up!
Only £200 in the UK but you get 6 points. That means you lose your licence if you're within the 1st 2years of passing and have to retest. If you're over 2years and get 12points within 3years you get a 6month driving ban and may have to retest. If you offend again within 3years the ban length doubles each time.
Backwards baseball caps are a dead giveaway. I had a couple of US visitors a few years ago. They were very confused about the fact that they'd come from winter and it was summer here in Australia. "So,,," one of them asked, thinking deeply, "you have christmas in the middle of the year, right?" I was in Ireland a couple of months ago. I was at a railway station when an American walked up to a railway employee and asked what that language was above English on the signs. She rolled her eyes and said "Gaelic". I think that, unless they've researched it, most of us from outside the US have no idea what jaywalking is. It's a uniquely US concept. And congrats on knowing how to pronounce "Porsche". 🙂
Jaywalking exists in Belgium too : if you are closer than 20m to a pedestrian (zebra) crossing you have to you use it. Otherwise you can be fined for jaywalking.
20 years ago, a friend of mine went to study in the USA (he got tuition) and when he was there he drove a BMW M3 We are all in wonder "where did you get the money for such a car" (well, he is a student) He started laughing he says, I went to buy a car, and when I got there, a BMW M3 was very cheap for 20% of the regular price I look at the car "he says" and I ask what's the matter, why is it so cheap? the seller is desperate, they can't sell it because it has a manual transmission And so he bought a brand new BMW M3 for nothing
yes american work culture is shocking to us. If i was to be offered a contract in the US no matter the money involved i would rather work washing dishes in Europe
Where are you from? Boston! Ah! I've been to Boston several times, nice little town and the church is a landmark! I do like hiking in the midlands and especially Lincolnshire. :D
General rule of thumb regarding travelling and being a habitual hat wearer, whenever you are outside of the USA, if you are male, remove your hat upon entering any building - be it a restaurant, someone's home, a shop, office, any structure with walls and a roof overhead. The world varies widely, but the trick is, no one is going to be offended by a man taking off his hat upon entering a building, but in many cultures, people will be offended if you don't. It's different for women, but if a woman is wearing a traditionally men's hat, such as a cowboy hat or baseball cap, the same applies to her as for men. However, if she is wearing a scarf, a women's fashion hat, or other feminine headwear, she can usually wear it indoors in most places and it may be considered rude to ask her to remove it. Religious headwear, and what can and can't be worn inside religious buildings, is an exception to this. If in doubt always ask before entering.
I was touring around Scandinavia some years ago on a bus tour. It had it's usual mix of Poms, us Aussies and Mericans. Guess who were the loudest, and guess who would say something along the lines of "back in the US, we would do it this way". Eventually they settled down and things went more smoothly, they were quite friendly so all went well eventually.
@@bedri1Brits - Pom or Pommy is Australian slang for people from Britain. It comes, so I'm given to understand, from Pomegranate (I'm assuming pronounced more like 'Pomegrant' for this explanation to work) as rhyming slang for 'immigrant.'
Poms is actually spelled pohms, standing for prisoner of her majesty, as Great Britain at one time exported a number of her convicts to Australia.@TheHookahSmokingCaterpillar
@@TheHookahSmokingCaterpillar any idea if there is any other country who call the brit some kind of food? if the Aussy call them Poms for Pomegranate and french call them Rosbeef, surely other would have done it too? X3
A fun story: There is an american military base on south Spain, located near the strait of gibraltar called "La base de Rota". Initially, soldiers were sent as a kind of "punishment" destination back in the 90's. In the USA, the military was kind of confused because a lot of americans were asking for a permanent destination on this military base and initially it made no sense. What was happening is that on that time 2k-3k monthly earnings in spain before the euro € was a fortune. They were rich, and they had a way of living you can't even imagine in the US for low rank soldiers. As far as I know, nowadays it's not what it has been before, but it's not an easy destination because everyone knows that it's no longer a punishment but a luxury destination.
It always gets me why Americans say “Paris France, or London England or Rome Italy”. Most people know where they are. It also amuses me how Americans are so proud of their “freedom” but to a casual observer, Americans have way more restrictions than other countries. 😂
They DO have a Paris, London and Rome in the USA. And because most Americans are used to stating their city/state, and even rarely travel outside the USA, they say Paris France, London UK and Rome Italy.
@@peterkeijsers489 The problem is that for the rest of the WORLD, we say Paris, or London - it would be prudent just to say "Paris, Texas" when you know it's a US only
lol Because America is Huge., In America we have 30 towns named Rome, 12 London's, no less than 20 Paris's...Pretty much every State has a City/Town named after the residents Motherland. The entirety of Europe is the same size as One of our 50 states. This is why we always need narrow down the location. I can not speak on the Freedom thing as I have not experienced anything aside from American freedoms, Mexican Corruption and Canadian weakness. . I can't complain though seeing as how this Nation allowed me to go from a homeless 15 year old orphan to a debt free landlord that retired at 35. I have been able to travel 4500 miles round trip... without ever having to show a passport, My papers of origin or so much as a International license. Not sure how others feel about it but I am more free than anyone I know at home or abroad. I can be this free anywhere that allows it now.
Don't forget horse back riding. Not sure what else they do with them, but the rest of us either go horse riding or just riding. I would love to know why it has to be explicitly stated that they are riding on the horses back.
I am German and I was travelling to Japan a few month ago with 3 friends. One evening we went to the Skytree in Tokyo and were amazed by the view on the city.... when we suddenly heard a gorup of very loud tourists. We turned around and saw 3 guys and 2 girls with US flag themed outfits. The japanese people around them tried to avoid that group as much as possible - those 5 claimed more space than a group of 30 Japanese XD Then our group went to the lift to go to the upper platform and avoid those noisy Americans only to have them join the lift last second and after the door closed, one of them yelled "WALL OF DEATH". The atmosphere became so weird and we hoped, that the Japanese people don't think we are part of them.
I was on the tube in London last year and it was a very peaceful, quiet and respectful journey where no one bothered other passengers and we were all enjoying this normal quiet moment before getting to our destination. Then 3 americans got on the train and they all had these huge backpacks which they kept on their backs bumping into everyone. over here people take rucksacks off whilst on the tube putting them on the floor, its basic manors. Then they started speaking to each other and other people. they were SOOO loud. Why do they need to shout like that!!!!! I remember one of them said, why is everyone so grumpy around here whilst wearing beach shorts, a ridiculous tall baseball cap and a silly shirt whilst everyone else was in a suit for work lol. litterally the whole carriage shook their heads and tutted lol. We weren't grumpy, we were just not bothering other passengers and enjoying some peace which is what trains and coaches are like here, namely peaceful! On the underground in New york I saw people actually speaking on phones and some were even playing music!!!! It was such a shock to me, I guess some countries just dont seem to care about civility and maners in public places.
Manual car...your battery is dead...np...just give it a little movement, put in second gear and fire it up with key on pos 2...car will start. Not possible with any automatic transmission car ever!
The thing about naming your state or town is not because only Americans do it, its because only Americans do it outside of their own country. A German inside of Germany would reply Im from Brandenburg/Bavaria/Saxony/berlin/Munich etc when saying where they are from. It would be dumb to say Im from Germany because that much is obvious to the one asking. However a German outside of Germany would not expect someone to know the geography and town placement, so they would just say Germany and only elaborate further if someone asks. Would you know where someone from the county of "Badajoz" was from without already knowing Spain? I wouldn't, so that person would just say he/she is from Spain.
I often try to use the American ignorance to pull their fingers annoy them. If someone says they are from Birmingham (AL) I say “you don’t sound British”, or of they say they are from let’s say Los Angeles I say “where is that? Spain?”, just to let them believe I’ve never heard of the place. 😉
I lived in Germany for 13 years. My friends and I would have fun playing a game we called spot the American. Regarding transmissions manual transmissions used to be more fuel efficient than automatics, but that has changed. Automatics are now more fuel efficient.
"Regarding transmissions manual transmissions used to be more fuel efficient than automatics, but that has changed. Automatics are now more fuel efficient." Nope, manuals are still more efficiant. What you are calling an "automatic" will be a manual that has a computer changing gear for you, rather than an inefficient torque converter automatic.
Another things I've heard American say so often. 'If it wasn't because of us (young people even) you'd be talking German' claiming they were the only ones liberating us in WW2. Fact is, it's not just Americans, the area I live in wasn't liberated by Americans (US) at all. And many of us speak German anyway. Or another thing 'you live in a small country, nothing ever came from there'. I'm Dutch, half of the stuff Americans are working with on a daily basis came from here, lol.
Russia defeated german army, and liberated Europe (it cost them 27 M lives). USA arrived at the end, just to get the laurels of victory. USA lost 300.000 soldiers in WW2. It's a lot, of course, but nothing comparable to the 27 Millions russians killed... Concerning the language : USA kept the language of their english colonizers, even after the french army/navy defeated the english, and by that, "gave" to USA their independance. They ignore that crucial fact ! So USA should keep their big mouths shut, and learn their true history. Sorry, but you must know that USA never won any war. "Bigger is just...er...bigger" : nothing else...
When an American tells me I would be speaking German weren't it for the US' involvement in the war, I like to remind them that I live in Provence, which was not occupied and was "liberated" by free French forces. Also like Searover said, weren't it for the French General Lafayette and his troops, they would still belong to the British crown, I love the expression on their face when I remind them of that too ^^
Regarding what to wear to avoid looking like tourists, I think the following applies to almost all European countries: if it's hot, simply a T-Shirt, jeans, comfortable shoes or sneakers, a wallet with your bank cards and documents and your cell phone. If it's cold, swap your T-Shirt for a warm sweater, wear a warm jacket and perhaps a wool hat and scarf. Ladies typically also wear a shoulder bag. As simple as that! Another thing is that, as a rule, locals don't carry cameras or video cameras everywhere !
It is not the basecap or the cargoshorts. It's the appearance at all. If you want to don't look like an American tourist, then the best way is, to go to a clothing store and buy some things there after asking an employee there. The thing with manual shifting is / was because of the 3 gear atomatics. They consumed more fuel and were slower in acceleration than stick shift. So, when you wanted to drive a little more sporty, you had to buy stickshift. And in Germany with Autobahn this was a real deal.
Yep, I was living in China for quite a few years, and I remember noticing a guy walking towards me, maybe 110 yards away. I thought, 'He's American,' just because of his body language
A baseballcap and cargoshorts w. sneakers is basically my outfit april-september and I'm Swedish. I don't usually wear a t-shirt, though, but a regular shirt with rolled up sleeves. I prefer a "gubbkeps" - Peaky Blinders style cap when I get one that is not too warm in summer and the shorts can be more hiking shorts. Extra pockets important.
My answer to your dress code question. I myself am Austrian, I live in the greater Vienna area and work and move around a lot in Vienna. I wear cargo pants, both long and short, because they are practical. You can store everything important, such as keys, wallet, glasses case, cell phone, cap (relatively) safely without needing another bag. You also usually see me with a backpack when I'm on the way to/from work (for shopping on the way home), on the way to/from a concert (for merch) or when we go hiking. The only time I leave my backpack at home is when we go for a stroll. So don't worry about that, many locals also wear these typical American things. 😉
Ah yes. I just love when people say "I'm from PT, AZ" I'm like, ah... must be Murican. Then they are annoyed, when I say: Murica I guess, no idea where those 2 letter places are in there.
Oh yes, this! If they say the state we might have heard of it and know where it is, but if they say the 2 letter shortening then I have no idea what you are talking about
My wife is from Iquitos, a city in the Peruvian Amazon, once two Americans which we accidentaly meet inLima asked her if people in Iquitos really live in nthe trees, my wife without hesitation said, well yes, but we use elevators now
😂❤Well, maybe the US is not sending their best people...in Finland, Helsinki, every summer these huge Cruise Ships arrives with thousands of Americans...and when those fleet of interstate "busses" are wobbling everywhere, so that you can hear them miiles away,,,those people are representing "Americans" to regular joe Finnish people. Sad, but true😮😂❤
Hi Ian !!! I just have to share this observations I did during my years working on Cruiseships (as an engineer) . I worked on 5 Star ++ ships, so quite an extensive all inclusive service level for the passengers. In each passenger cabin there was a safe, clearly marked as such too with instructions on how to use it clearly posted on it and in the cabin. For each new cruise with the new batch of passengers, there were always like 20-30 cabins that these safes had to be changed in, because the passengers thought they were microwaveowens where they could heat the McDonalds/Burger King or whatever fastfood they prefered when they got back onboard after a trip on land.....🤣And yes, these passengers were in 99% of the cases from the US of A. 🙂 Hope you and your family have all had an awsome Xmas!! Greeting from Norway
@@mnp3713 I'm not American ( I'm from Norway), the pax were ( at least 99% of those bringing fast food onboard a 5 star cruise ship which offered truly top class food 24/7, for no extra cost) 😃
As for the loudness: I've been on Discord calls with predominantly Americans and on calls with predominantly Europeans. There is a stark difference. With Americans, everyone was talking at once, more or less. The only way to make yourself heard was to shout over everyone else. With Europeans, on the other hand, everyone waits for a gap to speak. People will actually stop talking if someone interrupts them, but the Americans tend to just continue on. It's bizarre. This has been my experience with multiple such groups. I'm not saying they're all like this, but it's certainly a theme.
And then there is Discord lag so if one person is talking, others want to say something and wait for a gap but then two start talking at the same time as they both assume everybody is finished and then stop abruptly as they interrupted the other person 😅
US people have more respect for things like cars, than to humans and animals. That's why US have the highest (mass) murders rate in the world, and the worst healthcare system too.
Backpacks are not typical American, but backpacks with a Canadian flag are VERY American. Everybody in Europe knows that it is an American tourist hiding that they are American 😂
Back in the 60s here in the UK I recall seeing a TV series staring Lucille Ball. My mother found it hysterical but I couldn't stand it. EVERYBODY on that show constantly shouted. Maybe they were worried that the microphones wouldn't pick up their voice properly. I gather this was also a popular show in America. I believe this show was, single handedly, responsible for promoting the habbit of shouting. It then got passed on through the generations to the point that now, every American shouts all the time. It's just force of habbit.
Everything in America is loud. Take a short look at their TV programs -everything is hyper saturated, shouty, bombastic. Food: everything needs to be the largest, the hottest, the coldest, you get my drift. It's pure hysteria.
I hate to do this but.... there is one American lady who comes into the cafe I go to regularly and.... you can hear her half way down the street. Inside the cafe she is so loud she's louder than the music in the background. All americans are not like this but it is one way of spotting some. Sorry Ian lol
it should be cultural, even Americans will probably claim that New Yorkers or Texans are louder than the average American, I at least know that in my country (Portugal) we also have some regional tendencies to be louder than in other places Christmas Eve was already 2~3 days ago (depending on where you are from) and my hears are still ringing from the noise of 40 Northern Portuguese people talking during dinner growing up I was also unconsciously a loud speaker, now I try to tone it down quite a bit and just have no patience for unnecessary noisy
@@armandorodrigues144 oh well Texas is the asperger's capital of the galaxy. I have never seen a more obnoxious, narcissistc, psychopathic culture in my life. What is your actual point? "Some people in Portugal are quite loud so you are wrong?" What is your point here?
its more funny, if you are a European in an South American airplane and you can separate the different nations of the people in the airplane by their volume of their Spanish!!
As a Pole, I only wear a baseball cap in the summer on hot days because it protects me from the sun. As for the backpack, in Europe no one walks around the city with a backpack every day, going to a cafe, for example, because it makes you sweat even more in the summer. Of course, sometimes I leave the house with a small backpack (not a tourist one) for shopping, but this is in autumn or winter when I want to keep my hands free.
On a more positive note: I have over the years actually worked with a number of Americans here in Sweden (expats as they call themselves), and despite the old joke about Americans only knowing one language and barely that, they were actually very good at speaking Swedish, albeit with a strong accent.
@@9LiveEmpire some of them are awful too : it depends on the reason WHY they're expats. If they "fled" from US stupidity, they might be quite good persons, born in the wrong place, but who tried to find a better one. These persons are not "lost for humanity", and may learn how to become "real humans". (subtle reference to the excellent swedish series : i'm a genius ! 🤣).
I love the run down of clothing, cargo shorts, baseball caps etc, it reminds me of National Lampoon's European Vacation when Beverley D'Angelo, Chevy Chase and kids are in Italy and decide to buy clothes to blend in. Made themselves even more visible. I was at a hire car firm in Spain, "Yes I can drive a stick, I'm American". This was shouted to the lady behind the counter, obviously if you raise your voice, they will understand. When we went outside to get our own car, the grinding noises, car jumping forward after being started in gear with no clutch depressed was painful to hear, like finger nails on a blackboard.
That was Vienna in a nutshell. Apart from the fact that we usually don't tell them 😁 Although since I live in a district where many US expats are living, I have torn many a new one when they were talking smack about locals and the contents of their shopping carts, thinking no one would understand them 👿
@@Hartmut-oo5ts that's my point. American's were even using Census details out of Georgia to prove Voter Fraud in Georgia. If they themselves don't know which Georgia is Georgia, then would we care about their state?
@@mathewpoole3589 Why not? I love to flabbergast them. I once met a guy from Burnaby BC. He couldn´t believe that i was able to locate it in Vancouver (metro district IIRC)... 😂
My husband and I (from Switzerland) went to Tuscany in Italy a few years back. We both speak 5 languages including Italian. We had dinner in a stunning medieval town outside on the terrace. Two tables over was a large group of Americans, talking really loudly and laughing in an ear-shattering way. They would also only address the two male waiters in English, just raising their voices even louder when they feared a misunderstanding. They came across as rouse and patronising. Since my husband and I conversed in German, the staff didn’t realise that we understood Italian rather well. So, for the whole evening, these two waiters were complaining, joking and bitching about the Americans like there was no tomorrow. It might have been one of the most entertaining evenings we’ve had, because the waiters didn’t sugarcoat anything. Speaking several languages makes eavesdropping so much fun. We count ourselves very lucky having been brought up in a country with four official languages.
We can always tell if a customer entering our store is an American because 90% of the time they will trip over the front door step. It's become an internal running joke. From Ireland
About the manual: I did an exchange program in 1990/91 with the US ( I´m from Germany). We went to the US in 1990 (all 15 at that time). I went back 3 years later ( when we were 18) and met up with these guys again. Out of our group of 10 back then there was 1 girl(!) who was able to drive a stick! She used to have an old Subaru from her granddad... But only barfooted or with socks only.
Australian, getting old, raised in the outback. I learned to drive manual, had never even seen the inside of an automatic until my mid-20's when I was asked by a friend to drive her car home for her. I actually had to ask someone to explain to me how to drive this contraption that appeared to have some sort of gear stick, but didn't have a clutch! 🤣 I'm living proof that it can go both ways.
I sat in JFK Airport, on my way back to South Africa after a trip to the US in 1997. Waiting at the gate, a long row of young American girls were talking about their trip to South Africa. It was rather interesting, and I was listening all ears, looking straight ahead of me, smiling. It was general chit chat about the normal things, lions and wildlife everywhere and so, until one girl said "I wonder what they eat in South Africa?". Another girl, from way down the row proclaimed, "probably nuts and berries!" Giggles galore from me. I bet they were surprised when they landed at OR Tambo in Johannesburg and saw a great big sprawling city as they drove out to where ever they were going. That being said, I absolutely love Americans in general. They are some of the best people you will ever meet. Friendly, outgoing, welcoming, a bit loud, but South Africans can be loud too. I really enjoy my trips to America, the small towns are the best.
Of course it makes sense to say "I'm from Chicago" if someone asks you at a gas station inside the USA, with a car with US plates and all. If I get asked here where I'm from, I wouldn't reply "From Germany" - that would look rather silly. But in a different country that would be more senseable.
No one will judge you for carrying a backpack or wearing sneakers in Germany. Style wise, we are the European Americans 😉 My recommendation: don‘t overthink it. All around the world, even in countries like Italy or Spain, people will always prefer a nice guy with backpack and in sneakers over an a…ole in leather shoes and matching belt.
A backpack is useful, and can be discrete, unlike a stupid T-shirt with huge US flag on it (the top of bad taste and arrogance). If I were from US, I would never claim it when abroad : it can ruin your vacancy (but alas, US people don't understand that, being brainwashed from kindergarten to ... death). The bigger the US flag on the T-shirt is, the more narrow-minded the guy in the T-shirt is.
