RM67,
Thanks for the clarification....that's funny :-)

Sandy

This is a topic that’s been talked about many many times here. There are two camps, the “I am what I am” and the “I like to blend”, and they never really come together.

I am Canadian, not American. Just like an Irishman/Scotsman would probably be somewhat irritated to be mistaken for a Brit, I'd rather be clear on my nationality. Two different countries, two different cultures, proud to be me.

I've found that in some foreign countries people have trouble distinguishing between Yanks and Canucks. Canada, I believe, has a decent reputation internationally, and if some little flag will get someone recognized and perhaps get treated a little better than an anonymous english speaker, don't see the problem.

That being said....I don’t wear a flag anywhere when I travel. I don’t want to be blatantly seen as a tourist. I wear no “logo” clothes, don’t have a fanny pack or camera bag. I have my guidebook in my pocket, my camera in the other. When someone sees me, just a person walking down the street. Does it work? I was in Paris few months ago, people were asking me for directions. But at some restaurants, wait staff would start by addressing me in English (I’m fluently bilingual). So, hit and miss. Why do I do it…partly with the idea that I'd like to see how life is like for people who live there. Maybe locals do get treated better (I would hope so) I'm saving to buy a place in France, so it's partly to decide if that's a good dream or a pie in the sky.

I was in Africa a couple of years ago. Forget about blending in. We were in some areas where we were the only non-natives that we saw for days on end. Now that's different.

My next trip is to Turkey, with apossibility of going to Egypt or Palestine. I'll need to think about how or whether to show my nationality.

Um, aren't (Northern) Ireland and Scotland (and Wales, for that matter) inhabited by Brits? None of the above appreciate being called "English" - but isn't "British" okay? I thought I had it under control, and now you say...
---------------------------------
"...if some little flag will get someone recognized and perhaps get treated a little better than an anonymous english speaker..." - actually, it will likely identify them as Yanks trying to coattail on the Canuck reputation (deserved, in my estimation) for being the more civilized of the two.

As an Irish person, I am frequently mistaken for English, and it doesn't irritate or annoy me at all. It's a mistake that is made without malice and (for the most part, anyway) there is nothing wrong about being English. One can be mistaken for worse things. No, I'm not foolish enough to say what.

I do like to set the record straight, because being Irish is part of my identity, but I don't make an issue of it.

Do I try to hide my Nationality? This is good question because after all these years living abroad ,I developed a foreign look.
Here in the US I look very much European and at atimes I feel like playing a guessing game.

Many people asks me If I am German,French, British, the list is long and eventually someone it the jackpot and guessed it right and say Italian, which I am.

However, when I go back to Italy everyone take me for An American.

Talk about confusion..:)

It should have been HIT, not it..

We never try to hide our nationality but we do try to dress respectfully. In conservative countries, we leave the shorts at home. We don't wear t-shirts to sit-down restaurants and we take careful note of any dress restrictions for visiting religious sites.

I don't try to hide my being American. But I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't flattered the times I've been mistaken for European (in Europe and in Egypt). Let's face it, I'm one of those American Europhiles who stereotypes his countrymen as crass and frumpy. Europeans have a certain style and sophistication we lack, non?

I have lied about being an American one time in Prague when a stranger at our hotel seemed too interested in our nationalities. So I said "English" which was true of one of us. (Even eleven years ago, we Americans saw ourselves as particularly alluring targets of violence.) And recently, in Zurich, at an internet cafe filled with "certain nationalities", I wished that the proprieter hadn't expected me to announce to the whole place that I was calling the United States.

I am sorry, but this whole discussion is about some groups (nationalities) feeling inferior/superior to others, is it not? This whole line of thinking...no matter which way, disturbs me greatly...I think looking down or up at others because of superiority or inferiority is sad. Let's face it. All nationalities have their good traits and bad, correct?

"All nationalities have their good traits and bad, correct?"

<i>Ganz recht! Sieg heil!</i>

As someone who speaks several languages fluently I am nevertheless surprised to hear several native English speakers on this board claim to speak a foreign language, or even two, 'without an accent'. I would like to hear a sample to judge for myself.

Harzer

Well, harzer, I speak French without a French accent. Come to think of it, I speak English without an English accent.

Is that the most cogent argument you could come up with, Robespierre?

I thought it was pretty succinct. What do <u>you</u> think would be an appropriate response to someone who prejudges people based on where they come from?

Powhatan &quot;looked American&quot;. - The rest of us are transplants! :0)

I have been mistaken for British and German in Italy. I correct them politely and say, &quot;No, I'm American&quot;. I may not agree with our president, but I'm proud to be Amerian and won't deny it.

Sorry for he confusion If my first post is read again,the reason for the flag bag was because I was attending the olympics in Italy and showing my support.

Harzer is right. There is a difference
between being fluent and speaking without
an accent.The former may take several years, the latter often a lifetime.

I am enjoying this immensely. And I do think there is something to American hair and teeth. It seems to me that Americans are the most sprayed and orthodoniaed (new word) people in the world! Not that my husband has either, but he always wears golf attire on vacations no matter WHERE we are and sticks out like a sore thumb all over Europe! No wonder he was a mark for pickpockets~ I just travel trying to fit in and not call attention to myself. I am there to see the sights, not be one!

&quot;Europeans have a certain style and sophistication we lack, non?&quot;

Wealthy, well-educated Europeans with wide experience of the world have a certain style and sophistication, yes. Sometimes. You can find vast quantities of uncouth, thuggish, loutish lumpenproles in any European country if you know where to look. If you're a tourist, though, you probably won't see them. There's a reason for this.