Definitely not

but i don't wear an American flag (or Canadian flag to mislead) either.

I'm just a traveler and usually obvious when i open my mouth where i'm from.

About those flag-wearers - i'm not a flag waver at all and i always feel a certain animosity to those Canadians who only wear their flag it seems to say "heh i'not from the U.S."

Hide my nationality, no.

Be conscientious about coming across as a loud, obnoxious, arrogant American. No need to, as I'm not that way at home, but it irks me to see others acting that way.

There are certain settings when a bit of public decorum and mild manners would go a long way for many people.

Padraig - your teeth observation made me LOL. Maybe I should throw away my teeth bleaching toothpaste. :)

Kristina, you must be very unlucky. I travel all the time and rarely, if ever, encounter loud, obnoxious Americans who constantly bad mouth the locals. Might happen, but you must be getting my share of the negative action.

Speaking as one with American Teeth and probably American Hair, my answer is "no."

what is "American hair"?

If I "hid" my nationality I would deprive the world of seeing a well-dressed, well-spoken, well-mannered American, thus helping to perpetuate the image (right or wrong) of the reverse. So instead of hiding, I try to be a good ambassador for my country. The most important part of that is remembering that once you leave the US of A, you are a guest wherever you are.

Neither do I generally hide the fact that I'm gay, originally from Nebraska, a willing if non-fluent linguist and still a completely novice gourmand. Same reason, I want to let people see that gay is not necessarily what they've seen in the movies, that Nebraskan is not "hayseed" etc.

Some places in America I am slow to reveal that I'm from New York - some people are amazingly defensive and assume that NYers think they're better than everyone else. In fact, NYers ARE everyone else. In Europe almost anyone you meet will ask where in America you come from. When I say NY, they always seem to know someone who lives here or emigrated long ago. (Elderly Italian ladies and gentlemen will often just launch into a long tale of a cousin who came to NY or Chicago 50 years ago ... all in Italian, of course. But in the same way, native NYers will respond to learning I'm originally from Nebraska with "I know someone from Iowa ...", as if we all know each other out there. And when I visit back home someone I meet will invariably say, "My niece has moved to NY to intern on Wall Street," or the like.

I agree that occasionally the people you don't want to reveal yourselves to are others from your country when they are behaving like idiots. On the other hand, sometimes that's an opportunity to patch up bad odor they leave behind by being better-mannered versions of your national type.

National type? Well, there is such a thing, even if it often a misconception.

By the way, some of the best times I've had abroad have developed from meeting other Americans - just as at home, you choose your friends, and we have every right to avoid those we think we don't want to know better, when traveling it is extra wise to steer politely clear of those whose destination is obviously different from your own.

1. It's a waste of time. No one lacking language fluency can get away with it.

2. Nobody cares. Rude people are rude to everyone, even their countrymen.

Boy, that post of mine sounds peculiar.

I tinkn I like some of the shorter ones above better ...

'American Hair' is very big and bouffant. Very obviously styled and set. Probably coloured as well.

Kate Moss's wavy bedhead would be the antithesis of American hair!

Tomass - I liked your post. 8-)

tzarinna,
No I don't :-) Although I try to keep a little bit of a low profile, so as not to stand out so much to pick-pockets, I always tell anyone who asks that I'm an American.

Sandy

As far as all Americans having a general look, I disagree. Each region has it's own variances in dress and speech and obviously we are a mix of races and nationalities-- no "_____ Americans", please. American are Americans. Just like anywhere else, individuals are unique. The women in NYC don't even favor the same shades of nail polish as the women in Atlanta or Dallas or L.A., so how can there possibly be one "look" that encompasses all?

When traveling to wherever I do try to choose clothing appropriate to the planned activities, climate and local flavor. Do I bring jeans to Italy? Sure. I also buy jeans and fancier trousers there, too. Do I wear them with a T-shirt or shoes I'd wear to the gym? Of course not. I don't do that at home and wouldn't dress like that to visit friends, and when traveling that's essentially what we are doing. We mind our manners and act and dress in an appropriate manner out of respect and courtesy, as any guest should.

Nationality should have nothing to do with it. I'm sure I'm not alone in seeing my share of obnoxious Germans, pushy Japanese, rude French, and Britons and Americans alike who object to things being different.

It's always a nice little thrill to be mistaken for a local, but I'm proud to be what I am and I'm not trying to hide it.

RM67,

>>'American Hair' is very big and bouffant. Very obviously styled and set. Probably coloured as well.>>

Hmmmm...I always assumed I looked American, but I guess not according to your description, as my hair is not "big and bouffant", "obviously styled", or "colored." :-) In fact, I blow it dry, don't tease it, and it's my natural color -- brown with lots of grey in it.

Sandy

Male "American hair" is obviously woven.

LOL Sandy - I'm not saying that's what I think Americans look like - I'm saying that's what people usually mean when they use the term 'American Hair'. Bit like all the quips about British teeth - some of us do have nice white straight ones 8-)

American Hair: hair that has been highlighted and blown dry? That's what I was claiming as mine.

(And held back with a headband. I don't know if that is particularly American, but I haven't seen it in many other places on grown women. I don't go out without one.)

Don't forget, bouffant is a French word. (And was a French style before it was American.)

I don't know if there is American hair - around here we think there is "Connecticut Hair" - blonde, straight, with a headband; "Jersey hair" - multiple colors, none original; Island hair (as in Long Island) - large and agressive.

They each probably describe about 1/5 or less of the female populace of any place, but the image sticks. Oh, and I see "midwestern" hair often on the streets of NY. Generally long and blonde, with some kind of bangs. Usually on the heads of 75% of the girls or young women in a tour group, it signifies a high school choir, a church group, a theater tour. From someplace west of Pennsylvania. They wear it the same way, with the same clothes, if they make a trip to Europe. In NY they are all carrying knockoff handbags purchased on the street in Chinatown. In Rome they are stressing about the lack of real Diet Coke, but otherwise having a nice time.
I can't deny it, they are "my people", God love 'em. But somewhere in the group are two girls and one or two boys who have a different quality. Their great goal is to be mistaken for being on their own and not with the group. These are my people, too.

OK, OK, I went out and walking down the street I came up with this:

I don't pretend I'm a different nationality, but I wish some people would.

It should be said that any of us who remark that we sometimes find the behavior, dress, volume or hair of our countrymen just AWFUL and not AWESOME feel that way at home, too! But since we have Britney and Paris and Tom Arnold and American Pie and Jackass on TV and in the movies promoting our land not always at its best, for all the world to see, we must hitch up our wagons and take a different message to the world.

By the way, have you all seen Bread and Tulips? (Pane e Tulipani) That begins with a group of Italian tourists in Italy. The kids as preoccupied with music and cameras as any kids, the husbands obsessed with their cell phones and business. It's already a universal image.

Thomas, I hurt myself laughing at your very apt description of Long Island Hair...

The cliche Dallas hair is long and heavily highlighted and commonly includes extensions if not naturally thick. That, not poufy or bouffant, is the current "big hair".

Mine is plenty thick but stands up on it's own and as a brunette I don't qualify. Curiously, I had several compliments on it in Italy. (My hairdresser is Brazilian)

Can't we all chip in to send the likes of Britney and Paris et al to some deserted island? or revoke their citizenship for bad behavior?

This question has raised an amazing number of responses, considering what I personally think of the idea of hiding one's true nationality (unless, of course, you are in Iraq and don't want to be shot). I just go with the flow when I travel, I always dress whatever way I wish, and I try my best to speak the local language - certainly not as fluently as St Cirq.

In France I was mistaken once as a Belgian. In Austria I was taken for Swedish. In the former Yugoslavia I was actually perceived as a native from Moscow, where my college Russian was probably more characteristic. In Italy I was taken for Italian, more perhaps because of my darker skin and a mustache than because of my language skills. In the UK, they knew me right away to be from the southern U.S. In other places in France, the waiters generally believed me to be French, though some natives in the smaller villages seemed rather quizzical when I spoke. In Iran, where I had the pleasure of living for a couple of years just before the Ayatollah threw everyone out, I enjoyed reading the Farsi newspapers (slowly, because my Farsi wasn't very good) and yet the Iranians never, ever thought me to be Iranian even if I never spoke a word.

In all those situations, I never tried to hide my true nationality. Yet there were times during the deposing of the Shah that I would have wanted to be taken for a native Iranian -- especially when death notes were slipped under the door of my apartment or when I visited some government buildings.