I've been reading some other posts about how you can never hide that you're an American, no matter how your dressed or how little you say. Have any of us Americans been mistaken for a native--and not by another tourist? I travelled in Romania (Bucharest, Cluj, Sibiu) when I was in high school on school trip. Even in the midst of over 100 loud and obnoxious teenagers and chaperones, I was casually approached and spoken to at half a dozen times by Romanians who assumed I was the native tourguide. I guess my appearance (broad cheekbones, thick eyebrows and dark hair) made me "fit in" the country I was visiting. Yes, my blond female classmates were also approached regularly, but definitely not in the same way! Anyone else?

Hi <BR>On my most recent trip to Paris <BR>(less than a month ago) I was on two different occasions approached by a local person and asked for directions in <BR>French. This was the first time this happened to me, and it absolutely made my day. I speak some French and was able to help one person but not the other. <BR>I was sure my large totebag and comfortable rain shoes would be an American giveaway, but maybe I "passed". I don't at all mind being taken for an American nor even for a visitor, I was just thrilled to look like I might know where I was going.

sandy, <BR>Yup. I too think it's possible to "blend in." When I spent a year in Paris (a lifetime ago, alas), I was often asked for directions by French tourists (my daily bus stop happened to be in front of Les Invalides). And last year in Switzerland, I was asked directions while waiting for a grocery store to open in Villeneuve and while walking on a back street in Rivaz. <BR> <BR>s

Sandy: Differant thread: I am not terribly conspicuous, but my husband has been stopped 3 differant times, by German speaking tourists(we think they are German however)in Paris, Rome and Barcelona. He is the proverbial blond haired, blue eyed, pink skinned Northern European(Viking maybe?) looking man. I personally feel, that he looks Scots or Welsh(which is part of his ancestry), but who knows these days, yes? ;-) Judy

In Paris, I'm often approached by French, asking directions or what time is it or which metro goes to l'Opera. You should see the look on their faces when I answer in American-accented French (oddly enough, they believe what I tell them - they don't go looking for a "native").<BR>

We've been mistaken as natives quite a few times, but always in one of the same 3 cities, Paris (we both speak some French), Dublin or Edinburgh (I have really "I love Lucy" red hair and freckles, and my husband has black hair and we both have really fair skin, I think it has more to do with our faces then anything else. We always dress "urban casual" (dark colors, leather jackets etc) since we live in a big city and don't own fanny packs, or many brightly colored things anyway. We are very proud to be American and I don't mind in the least being a tourist, but I do take it as a very nice compliment to be asked directions or mistaken as a native.

Several times my friend and I have been stopped by people asking directions in the native language. They look like locals, as they weren't carrying the usual tourist backpack, bumbags or cameras and maps. The weird thing was that my friend and I were carrying cameras around our necks in most instances!

Ah - - the illustrious and elusive goal to be mistaken for a native! I feel like I come "close" sometimes in France - - perhaps not by natives who live in the particular place where I am - - but remember that there are many French-speaking foreigners in France - - Swiss, Belgians, Africans and so on - - and I have often been asked for directions, etc by "native French speakers" (but not French "residents"). This happens most often on train, bus or subway - - and the occasions that a conversation has ensued, I beam with pride when they did not expect that I am an American. (The most common is that I am asked if I am Canadian, though I think I know a French Canadian accent, and I don't think that I have one at all). <BR> <BR>In contrast, in Italy and in Spain I have been asked if I am German as much or more than if I am American. I think that my Italian and Spanish must sound "foreign" enough that they know I am from another non-Romance language speaking country (and maybe I "look" German, in physique, as much as anything). Yet, perhaps my speaking in those languages is not as "bad" as they might typically expect from an American - - lol! <BR> <BR>In Germany/Austria/CH/FL (and I think I speak German as well as I speak French), no one has ever mistaken me as a native.

People do mistake me for a native in Paris (and lots of North American cities I've visited, too). I think there are a few reasons for it: <BR> <BR>- my natural gait is confident, with my head up. I usually do my map-reading before departure, so I end up looking like I know where I'm going. <BR> <BR>- on my last trip, I was often alone. I think people expect tourists to be in pairs or groups. <BR> <BR>- my fashion strategy when travelling is pretty much "all-black, all the time." This blends in just about everywhere. (and also creates maximum mix-and-match potential!) <BR> <BR>- I have one of those big bike-courier-chic bags; it's my everyday bag at home, too, but when I'm travelling it hides touristy accoutrements like the camera. <BR> <BR>- and for Paris, in particular: my French is not bad. <BR> <BR>As others have said, I don't mind people knowing I'm a tourist--as long as they don't feel I'm an intrusive one. Nonetheless, it's flattering when people ask you for advice "from a local," especially if you're able to help them. <BR> <BR> - Quicksilver -

Almost everyday day while I was in Italy someone asked me if I was Argentine.

Wendy, did you meant Argentinian? <BR> <BR>Yeah, when in NYC I often get confused with a New Yorker because of my uncanny ability to spot bullshitters.

No, I meant Argentine.

While living in St. Petersburg I was often mistaken as an Estonian. Apparently, I looked like the prototypical Estonian, and my Russian had an Estonian accent. Go figure.

When I first started traveling to Europe and beyond, I could have been the poster child for "typical American tourist" what with the Nike tennis shoes, fanny belt, Bulls t-shirt (in the good ol' days of Michael Jordan and friends!) and toting way too much luggage. Thankfully, I've learned some lessons (and just enough Italian and French to get by) from seasoned travelers along the journey and now everyone assumes I'm Italian (particularly Naples for some reason).

It never became routine, but I found that after I'd lived there for awhile, the gestures and movements came to me, I had stopped wearing American clothes that I just knew didn't fit in with the society that I had acculturated myself to. And like one other guy here, I have some of the French features except that I'm 6'1", but that isn't all that rare, either. <BR>It was never a goal, but I would get a chuckle when it rarely happened because the other person would be startled when 20 or 30 sec after first contact he realized his error. <BR>The bottom line is that without knowing it or trying to imitate it, over time you unconsciously reorient on how to dress, how to act, how to eat, and we even got totally comfortable with the French habit of using the bathroom that is closest, nevermind what the sign says.

Only once have I been mistaken for a native, in a German market on Saturday morning, perhaps because I had learned (the hard way) that you don't pick your own flowers/vegetables/whatever, but rather, allow the vendor to do so for you. I asked for some flowers from a stall and the vendor began talking with me in German that was way over my head (esp. in dialect). When I said as much, she then acknowledged me as being American and said, "But you must be of German ancestry." Since my family came to America in the 1600s, I thought that was a bit of a stretch, but she insisted that she could tell from my face that I was of German descent. Hmmm. But it did give me a feeling of connection to my long-departed ancestors, and believe it or not, I've since run into relatives from another branch of the family tree and we do resemble each other... and we've learned that certain forenames are "traditional" in both branches over generations. So don't pooh-pooh even tenuous connections to the old sod....

What a great thread! Not so long ago I just posted that we are immediately recognized, but then my grey-haired, Paul-Newmanish husband never is. I often leave him waiting for me while I wander in a shop, but when I return someone--Greek, Danish, who knows--has started up a conversation in their native language. And despite my protestations of "looking American," we have been approached many times from French people needing directions. I remember distinctly one very old woman at a Metro transfer point whom I had to walk to her platform and two teenagers who also needed help. (Of course, there was a time--my first--in Boston when I had to explain to a Bostonian which stop on the T she needed to use to go to Legal Seafood.) Maybe, as Quicksilver says, the trick is to look like you know what you're doing. (It also helps, I'm sure, that we look totally harmless.)

PS. My husband always wears jeans. <BR> <BR>Plus, (re ancestry) in Sete we visited the Georges Brassens "museum" (very nice, I might add), and despite my assuring the man at the entrance that I was not French, he insisted that I must be "d'origine francaise." (What a nice compliment, although I expect it arose because he rarely saw Americans who speak French.)

While living in Germany, I was often mistaken for a native as I bought my clothes in German Markets and spoke German with the local dialect as well as other dialects. I had many evenings where I was able to drink bier all evening and never paid for a single drink as there were bets made on whether I was German or not. One experiance that I had was during Fashing I was on a streetcar with a couple of German friends still in my AF uniform. Some other German youths asked me where I got the costume and would not believe that I was a American serviceman. After I showed them my ID they still insisted that I must have been born in Germany. <BR>

All 4 of my grandparents are from southern Italy, so you could say I have typical "Mediterranean" looks. As a result, I have been mistaken for native in Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Turkey. This comes in very handy in countries where touts are approaching to sell you something. Just one word of greeting (e.g. merhaba in Turkish) has stopped many in their tracks. (2 words, however, and I'm in big trouble). <BR> <BR>As an aside, I traveled with an Italian tour group to Egypt during the NATO bombing of Iraq in late 1998. Even though there was anti-American demonstrations in Cairo, the Egyptians could never tell that my very American Italian accent was not native, so I was able to "pass" as Italian the entire time. (Which made me feel much safer).