lisa

..i was recently in paris with an british friend.. we went to the eiffel tower to enjoy the view. i noticed a group of 4 "twenty something" americans on the tram with us..when we got off the tram one american woman immediately went to the edge of the tower and screamed (in a voice slightly below a screech) "VIVE LA FRANCE!! AMERICANS KICK ASS!!"..i was horrified. my british friend just stared at her.
the question is... has anyone encountered out european cousins behaving that way here?

elaine

lisa, there have been many threads on this forum concerning bad behavior in general and of Americans (of which I also am one) in particular
Bad behavior is universal, just think of headlines about how crowds behave at football or rugby matches. I do think that we Americans, ON AVERAGE, tend to be louder than the average European, but the thing about averages is that they don't necessarily predict the behavior of a particular individual which is why generalizations and stereotypes are unfair.
I can't say that I've observed any European tourists being as "loud" here in the states,and I would have been as horrifed as you were at the Eiffel Tower.

Ann

Unfortunately with a country as large as the US there will always be some obnoxious behavior along the way. That is not to say it is acceptable by most people. I have been to Europe 3 times and fortunately have not encountered that type of individual. However, there are other types of displays that have intruded on the pleasure of the moment.
While taking a bateaux mouche down the Seine one night there was a Spainard that smoked cigars and was totally oblivious that everyone around him was choking on the smoke.
Then there was the shrieking by some Japanese on top of Chamonix because it was probably about 10 degrees and they wore open towed sandals and no jackets to the top and were so cold they were "squealing" with discomfort and pushing to get inside.
I have to admit for all our trips, most travelers and tourists were responsible and pleasant, but occasionally there are the exceptions. We just, hopefully, cannot judge a whole nation by the actions of a few!

Joe

Elaine - when have you EVER seen a headline about crowd behaviour at a rugby match? Strange to relate, rugby fans are among the best behaved sports fans in the world!

Joe

Betsey Ross

That juvenile behavior annoys me when it occurs anywhere other than a sports venue, no matter whether in the US or overseas. But least she was celebrating both countries and not denigrating her host country.

However, based on what I experienced at the Eiffel Tower, I'd like to say that between loudness and quiet mob-mentality aggression, I'll take a moment of exuberance anytime. While waiting for the elevator on the 3rd level as the tower was closing, we were subject to elbowing, shoving, and pushing that was downright dangerous near those open girders -- and they were none of them American. The worst was a Scandanavian women, but there were Germans, Italians, and French bent on cramming forward and everyone else be dammed. It was the one time in 2 months of pleasant travel when I genuinely feared for my safety and had dark, nasty thoughts about European manners.

elaine

I don't pay much attention when it comes to many sporting events, so if I named the wrong sport I truly apologize and am glad to hear that there has never been bad behavior at a rugby match.
As someone else recently said, "no need to get snippy."

xxxx

It will embarrased me too, but I take exhuberance any day over those Japanese tourists who seem not to get the concept of waiting in line.

Doug Weller

The Brits have a terrible reputation in many parts of Europe for drunken hooliganism, so don't feel too bad!

Doug

xxx

Various cultures seem to have certain cultural "styles" of rudeness. Some Americans may be louder and more uninformed about the host country than most. Some Italians may cut ahead or totally ignore the unwritten etiquette of lines which they simply don't recognize. Too too many Germans shove, step on toes, jostle or walk in front of people taking pictures, etc., without ever saying "excuse me", "scusi", "pardon" or anything else that might be construed as an apology. Many Greeks smoke no matter how much the people inches away from them hate it and will even plop down at your lunch table to be "nice" to the foreigner and smoke right in your face. Some of this -- the smoking, cutting in line, etc.-- is so "normal" in the particular culture that it's not even considered rude, except by those of a different culture. Other behaviors, e.g., the shoving, stepping on toes, walking in front of cameras, while they don't cause as much discomfort to the "victim," are actually much worse behavior by any decent person's standards, and are true rudeness, not just cultural differences, though certain cultures exhibit this type of obnoxiousness more than others.

washingtonian

Yup, I see Europeans acting that way all the time. Spaniards on the metro mocking commuters (I understand enough to get the gist), Brits walking on the mall stinking drunk, and let's not even get started with Germans and their antics at the security check at the Pentagon. The worst tourists by far are Aussies, though. Absolutely no comportment.

Annie

I was reading the autobiography of Tony Adams. (plays football for Arsenal and formerly England). He describes going on holiday in Florida, and was going on and on about the bad behavior of Americans. In the very next paragraph, he talked about how, after a night of drinking, he dropped his shorts in the lobby of his hotel.

I guess it's all about perspective.

Ed

That's individual behavior you're describing in your shouting ALL CAPS headline. There's nothing American about it. All Americans do that ... in fact few would, of any age.

Not all Britons are soccer thugs.

Not all Italians (well, maybe almost all) will push you under bus wheels trying to get on the bus.

Not all Arabs want to blow up American skyscrapers.

Tone down the blaring headlines, and learn to distinguish individual behavior for what it is ... individual behavior, whether American or otherwise.

Ed

Ed

And while I'm at it ...

For gosh sakes, Americans, get over this notion that
1) we have to apologize for every one of the few jerks out of our 250,000,000 residents, and,
2) all Europeans despise us. Just ain't true.

Raise chin, move on.

Ed

annoyed tho' tried not to be

Apparently Ed had something he wanted to say regardless of what everyone else had been saying before him. Maybe he hadn't noticed that the last few posts pointed out that certain stereotypical varieties of rudeness tend to be common in certain countries, or to put it another way, there are various ethnic flavors of rudeness. Why, I wonder, does he feel it necessary to deny the negative steereotypes of all EXCEPT the Italians? (He's the same person who says in the "shallow question" post that we Americans have been interbreeding here for 400 years. Well, for the most part, not the ones whose ancestors came from Italy.) And isn't it odd that he's so hung up on silly things like the use of capital letters. Do Europeans care about such nonsense I wonder? I finally understand why there are occsional snide remarks about Ed. He deserves it, after all.

Capo

More so than her loudness, I have to shake my head at her "AMERICANS KICK ASS" comment. I'm not saying that Europeans (or Asians, Africans, etc.) don't have strong feelings about their countries -- because I'm sure they do -- but it sure seems to me that, when it comes to arrogance, Americans are right up there at, or near, the top.

Angel

"I'm afraid of Americans." Bowie was right, a slice of Americana can be quite intimidating. Personally though, I've found that American travellers have achieved a healthy balance in nation pride. To most travellers (experienced or not) arrogance is a humiliation and disrespectful.. I've rarely been let down by any of the USAers that I've met. Thanks for all the drinks America!!!

aphra

My worst encounter went beyond rude to outright frightening. I was alone in the basement of Christiansborg Castle, where you can walk among the ruins of the original Copenhagen structure built by Biship Absalon in the 12th century. A handful of German high-school aged students came toward me in that low-lit, low-ceilinged maze of a place, goose-stepping, throwing their hands up in Nazi salutes and shouting at me in German; the only word I could distinguish was "Vietnam". I'm still grateful to the Canadian woman, herself a high school teacher, who offered her support and sympathy at the only terrible experience of a 17-day trip.

As for "Americans"--guess what many folks here in our hemisphere dislike most about us? Our adoption of the name "American" as if we were the only ones here. When abroad, I make a point of referring to this country as "the States." As for what I call myself--well, when people ask, I say I'm from New York!

lisa

i am repling to my own post!!(yes i claim responsibility for it)..i want to clarify that i am american myself..i have been blessed to be able to travel overseas quite a bit...but,when that planes touches down on american soil..i am often not prepared for the shock i get..we (americans) tend to be louder,poorly dressed,more demanding, think ours is always "bigger and better"..and have the nerve to scream it from the eiffel tower!!
if this is how some of us behave when we go to visit... maybe we should just stay home.

elvira

To add another layer to this: have any of you ever called any of your 'own' on their bad behavior? If you are American, and see an American acting badly (berating a waiter, talking too loud in a church, etc.), have you ever asked them to stop it? If you have, what was the reaction? I'm just wondering if 'community policing' works.

Paloma

Elvira: Tried it once, got a Jar-Jar Binks "how WOOD!" response from the one misbehaving.