mistaken as an European
Aug 30th, 2003, 08:02 AM
#42
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It took several trips to the Caribbean for me to figure out why I was so often approached by Europeans while I was at the poolside bar.They would begin what appeared to be a friendly conversation and then I would admit that I did not speak their language.Then they would carry on in English.Finally last year while in StMaarten,when 2 guys spoke to me in what was surely Dutch,I again said I didnt speak the language.Then I sheepishly asked why they thought I was European....Oh,mahn...you KAHNT be amedikahn....you verring dah Speedo!"...oh, well.....all in a day's work, I guess....
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Aug 30th, 2003, 10:35 AM
#43
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I have been asked for directions while traveling. No mystery. I'm just the first person the lost person sees. When I'm lost at home I usually ask the closest person for directions regardless of how they're dressed.
Aug 30th, 2003, 11:11 AM
#44
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No one has ever mistaken me for a European, asking for directions and such, which is fortunate for all concerned because like Lisa Lubner's poor father, who was born without a spine, I was born without any internal compas (except, of course, my moral compas), but will nevertheless attempt to point the questioner in the right direction.
Perhaps the reason no one has mistaken me for European is my unerring fashion sense (I don't care what kind of pants I wear so long as there's elastic in the waste band).
More likely it's because my son in San Francisco has drilled me on the art of never making eye contact in the big city
Perhaps the reason no one has mistaken me for European is my unerring fashion sense (I don't care what kind of pants I wear so long as there's elastic in the waste band).
More likely it's because my son in San Francisco has drilled me on the art of never making eye contact in the big city
Aug 30th, 2003, 12:21 PM
#45
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vivaldi - too funny!
degas - you too. Nice comback to jacko. Sorry to disappoint. There are two of you Americans in speedos. You and my BIL. An avid scuba diver and a man who knows no inhibitions, he thought it would be practical to wear his speedo (as you know, commonly worn under a wetsuit for practical reasons) to lay in his pool in the privacy of his own back yard to avoid tan lines. Shortly, his wife looked out the front window in horror to find him standing in the driveway talking to a neighbor just as comfortable as if he were fully clothed! When he came in, she expressed her horror to which he calmly replied, "Well, bird was in it's nest." like what's the big deal?
I won't count my DH as a third since his incident was 15 years ago. I don't even remotely remember Speedos being en vogue in the U.S. but maybe it wasn't so unusual at the time. We recently looked back on videos of our kids that long ago only to gasp in horror (especially the teens) when we saw DH kicking a ball with my kids in the lakefront yard at my dad's house. He wasn't overweight or anything and looked o.k. but my mom said, "Me-maw (who was present in her old age) must have been mortified and wondered what in the world he was thinking!" LOL
degas - you too. Nice comback to jacko. Sorry to disappoint. There are two of you Americans in speedos. You and my BIL. An avid scuba diver and a man who knows no inhibitions, he thought it would be practical to wear his speedo (as you know, commonly worn under a wetsuit for practical reasons) to lay in his pool in the privacy of his own back yard to avoid tan lines. Shortly, his wife looked out the front window in horror to find him standing in the driveway talking to a neighbor just as comfortable as if he were fully clothed! When he came in, she expressed her horror to which he calmly replied, "Well, bird was in it's nest." like what's the big deal?
I won't count my DH as a third since his incident was 15 years ago. I don't even remotely remember Speedos being en vogue in the U.S. but maybe it wasn't so unusual at the time. We recently looked back on videos of our kids that long ago only to gasp in horror (especially the teens) when we saw DH kicking a ball with my kids in the lakefront yard at my dad's house. He wasn't overweight or anything and looked o.k. but my mom said, "Me-maw (who was present in her old age) must have been mortified and wondered what in the world he was thinking!" LOL
Aug 30th, 2003, 08:24 PM
#47
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It's probably because they simply though you were a local person, not strange at all.
There are probably over 100,000 Oriental people living in germany, who speak German, nothing strange.
Although quite an amusing thread it is also a little 'worrying' that it would seem strange that a liocal person might ask for directions in their own language, why not?
There are probably over 100,000 Oriental people living in germany, who speak German, nothing strange.
Although quite an amusing thread it is also a little 'worrying' that it would seem strange that a liocal person might ask for directions in their own language, why not?
Aug 31st, 2003, 03:51 AM
#48
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Just kidding, Marilyn, about the knife and fork with gelato! But I have, on several occasions, been told by Europeans that I use my knife and fork like an American. All I know is that it works for me - I haven't had a problem eating (unfortunately) in all these years!
Aug 31st, 2003, 10:32 AM
#50
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Nutella, I'm the sort of chameleon that picks up local culture quickly, almost without realizing it. I used to do a lot of trade shows around the US and found that within a day my intonation or accent was sliding into the local sound. In Atlanta I'd hear myself telling customers, "Y'all come back and see us now!" while in New York I'd be asking, "So, whaddya wanna do about placing this ordah?"
Spending a great deal of time in the UK, I began to hold my silverware in the European fashion, especially after my friend's 5-year-old daughter asked, "Daddy, why does she eat like that?" Now I do it on purpose when I'm traveling just to confuse the help.
But gelato...a subject dear to my heart...should never be so frozen as to require a knife or be able to be eaten with a fork. I'm so glad you were just kidding!
Spending a great deal of time in the UK, I began to hold my silverware in the European fashion, especially after my friend's 5-year-old daughter asked, "Daddy, why does she eat like that?" Now I do it on purpose when I'm traveling just to confuse the help.
But gelato...a subject dear to my heart...should never be so frozen as to require a knife or be able to be eaten with a fork. I'm so glad you were just kidding!
Sep 2nd, 2003, 03:46 PM
#51
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When I lived in Spain, I usually was mistaken for Spanish since I spoke the language with an Andalusian Spanish accent. Now, having lived in California for so long, it's closer to my grandfather's Cuban/Creole accent, so I'm usually taken for Argentinian or Chilean. I used to date a Brazilian, so my Portuguese is good-- bad vocabulary, native-like carioca accent (from the prep schools of Rio).... Brazilians think I'm from Mars.
Now my French is really bad, but thanks to that I get mistaken for Québecois whenever I speak to Canadians or the French!
Now my French is really bad, but thanks to that I get mistaken for Québecois whenever I speak to Canadians or the French!
Sep 2nd, 2003, 11:13 PM
#52
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We get stopped by people asking for directions almost everywhere we go in Europe. Dress or language never had anything to do with it--it's because we're usually walking the dog and the assumption seems to be that anyone with a dog must be local!
Sep 3rd, 2003, 05:01 AM
#53
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I've never been asked for directions because I'm almost always lost myself, but I think some travellers enjoy being mistaken for "locals" because they wish they could be living in whatever place they're visiting. They can then imagine that the person asking for directions probably envies them and will soon have to go back to whatever boring life awaits them when their trip is done, while the "local" can go on...eating gelato with a fork and knife...
Sep 3rd, 2003, 10:51 AM
#55
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Doesn't matter what country I'm in, I ALWAYS get asked for directions. I know it's just because I look safe, because I certainly make no effort to "blend in". I wear my Levis and running shoes whether I'm in Pennsylvania or Paris.
