Ugly Americans?
 

The term 'Ugly American' is bandied about a lot about how some Americans behave in Europe that locals find disconcerting.

I'd like to know if you've seen any cases of Ugly Americanism on your travels - things that would fall under that description.

A main thing to me are the Americans who just blurt out to a stranger 'Do you speak English" - often very loudly - yup Americans also have the reputation of being loud - rather than politely saying 'excuse me, do you speak English,' etc.

But for me one blatant case stands out in particular - last year when I was walking thru the Louvre courtyard a Yank comes up to me his hands waving like crazy - blurting out "Louvre, Louvre, Louvre" - frantically repeating the word.

Then he yells out "speak English, speak English?"

I was flummoxed about why he was so so animated and discombobulated - so I say "yes I'm an American I speak English - what do you want?"

"The Louvre - where is the Louvre he says, I need to find the Louvre"

I point to the glass pyramid entrance and say "there that is the entrance"

He calms down - and tells me he is only in Paris a few days on business and wanted to be sure to see the Louvre - turns out he was from a town only a few miles from where I live. Yeh it's a small world.

Well I really don't know his urgency at finding the Louvre and if I had been a Parisian this would have been a case of running into an Ugly American.

ANY STORIES OF UGLY AMERICANS BEHAVING LIKE THE STEREOTYPE UGLY AMERICANS?

Yes. Ask anyone who wants to visit the States and they'll raise their eyes to the skies and complain about the bureacracy of entering the US. The US requires a biometric passport, an on-line form called ESTAS that must be paid for by credit card before the flight, fingerprinting, eye scans and no one is quite sure what other obstacles may occur at US customs. I've seen people turned away at the flight counter because their valid passport wasn't valid for entering the US. Even travel agencies have a hard time keeping up with US entry requirements.

That's what truly makes America ugly (besides their gun politics) and keeps people from visiting the country.

Bet you didn't expect this post, Pal?

I hate threads like this. I see ugly tourists of every nationality. Americans are no better or worse these days. I think the stereotype is a holdover when few could travel. Now kids in HS and college begin their travel experiences.

Bet you didn't expect this post, Pal?>

No but fine - I'd like to solicit Europeans on this forum about their impressions of typical American tourists!

<I'd like to solicit Europeans on this forum about their impressions of typical American tourists!>

Oh so this is only for our friends posting from Europe to answer? You did not specify that requirement in your post.

Despite the fact I am a tourist, I do my best to avoid all tourists of all nationalities.

They're generally boring, haven't got a clue about where they are or why they're there, other than it's a tick in the box and they are thus a Destination Expert!

I spoke to an American woman at the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) in Phnom Penh last year.

She asked me where we were going to next. I said "Battambang". She said "Is that a Pagoda or something?"

Oh so this is only for our friends posting from Europe to answer? You did not specify that requirement in your post.>

No not at all - I just thought it would be fun to hear of rather hilarious things witnessed that give credence to the Ugly American syndrome - meant to be light hearted and in fun but I see that it may be taken differently as yestravel says.

I solicit any travelers witnessed over the top Ugly American incidents from anyone.

I don't predict a post about "Ugly Americans" is going to turn out light hearted and fun.

kleeblatt, several countries have strict and/or involved entry requirements. Try going to the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation, Israel, India, Brazil, to name a few with strict and/or involved entry requirements.

If you can't see the value of visiting a place beyond the effort to get there, then I guess you should just stay home.

Seriously Pal? Americans are no worse than most other nationalities as tourists, and a whole lot better than some (Chinese and Russian leap to mind).
Yes they can be loud, but so can the Dutch. Yes they tend to speak some strange version of English, very loudly, when asking for help - but then, so do the British.

Do they spit on the pavement? no. Do they jump queues? Not normally? Do they get paralytically drunk? Only occasionally. DO they carve their names into ancient monuments? No Do they stand on a toilet? No. So are they ugly? Hardly.
Most Americans I have ever met, on either side of teh Atlantic are open and friendly and curious and helpful.
TSA and Immigration officers excluded ;).

It would be nice not to have to jump through the hoops we do to visit the US, especially paying for ESTA, which effectively makes it a visa, even for so called visa-waiver countries. The prospect of standing for an hour in the queue for passport control, and then being treated as a criminal, after a ten hour flight is never pleasant, and enough to put many potential tourists off. It has put me of for a few years, but I'm biting the bullet and going again this year.

"That's what truly makes America ugly (besides their gun politics) and keeps people from visiting the country."

Yep, only about 67 million international travelers come to the U.S. (2012 stats) in a 12 month period. They're staying away in droves kleebatt.

As for the OPs question...sadly, over the years, I have seen it on more than one occasion, but Americans don't have the corner on bad behavior. There's a lot of jerks from every country. That said, in my numerous travels, bad behavior moments by tourists have (fortunately) been few and far between.

((H))

Let's turn this around and ask the OP.

Have you ever been an Ugly American?

I can tell you, my wife and I have never been an UA.

"The Arc de Triomphe is a famous monument in Paris that honours those who fought for France, in particular, during the Napoleonic Wars ...
...Beneath the Arc is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. Interred here on Armistice Day 1920,[14] it has the first eternal flame lit in Western and Eastern Europe since the Vestal Virgins' fire was extinguished in the fourth century.
... Quite incredibly, the eternal flame has only ever been extinguished once, which was back in the June of 1998 when a drunken fan of the Mexican national football team urinated on the flame, and he was subsequently arrested and charged with public intoxication."

<<Seriously Pal? Americans are no worse than most other nationalities as tourists, and a whole lot better than some (Chinese and Russian leap to mind).
Yes they can be loud, but so can the Dutch. Yes they tend to speak some strange version of English, very loudly, when asking for help - but then, so do the British.

Do they spit on the pavement? no. Do they jump queues? Not normally? Do they get paralytically drunk? Only occasionally. DO they carve their names into ancient monuments? No Do they stand on a toilet? No. So are they ugly? Hardly.
Most Americans I have ever met, on either side of teh Atlantic are open and friendly and curious and helpful.>>

Yup.

"Have you ever been an Ugly American?"

Sadly...yes, and it is even documented in my trip report (9th photo down from the top). I hope Italy has gotten over my momentary lapse in judgement and will allow me to return.

http://www.travelswithmaitaitom.com/...Vineyards.html

((H))

Sure - lots, like the gadflies who start silly threads just to be provocative . . . . :?

Oh, I can tell you hilarious stories about the clueless German and French tourists wandering around Philadelphia looking for the Liberty Bell.

Or I can tell you stories of the so-called French fashion cognoscenti showing up at 5* Manhattan restaurants in flip flops and dirty feet.

Stop calling Americans Yank.

You are from Detroit, not Hounslow.


Thin

My last trip to Hawaii I ended up in a hotel (unknowingly) that was also being used as a dorm for Danish college students. Now THAT was ugly!

This is a strange thread to have started.

"Yank" - I thought you were British upon reading that.

I've been traveling to Europe since 1971 and I can tell you that American's are not the only 'ugly' travelers. I don't want to start naming nationalities but there are certain ones that have no sense of personal space, cut lines in front of you without hesitation. In London I've seen some of the worst drunks that were not foreigners. There are loud, boisterous, obnoxious people in a lot of different countries.

Yes, but I am not going to feed the beast.

I tend to see the ugly American as a urban myth since I met over 100 Americans traveling in my country and a few more in 3 travels to the US and I've never found one ugly

Sure - lots, like the gadflies who start silly threads just to be provocative>

really was not my goal - I was looking for funny stories like I gave but I see that it was not a good idea and taken too seriously - my fault- and I agree the stereotype of an Ugly American could apply to many different nationalities.

<i><font color=#555555>"I can tell you stories of the so-called French fashion cognoscenti showing up at 5-star Manhattan restaurants in flip flops and dirty feet."</font></i>

And I won't even mention the godawful smell coming from their armpits. Some European models don't smell much better during Fashion Week.

PalenQ should be ashamed for starting an ugly thread like this. It's either a really slow news day, or someone needs to plan for a trip.

>>She asked me where we were going to next. I said "Battambang". She said "Is that a Pagoda or something?"<<

THAT is the best you can come up with?

Oh hell, I'll just throw in that the majority of tourists that annoy me in Europe are not Americans. That is all that I'm saying.

Yes, although this happened some years ago. We were in Paris going out to dinner and another american couple heard us talking and glommed onto use in the hotel. They seemed lost - so we agreed to have dinner with them. We were going to take th Metro - but they were scared (don't think they had ever been in a subway) so we agreed to take a taxi (not much for 4 people).

So we get in, greet the driver and give him the name of the restaurant (which any cabbie would know) and we started off. And it was obvios he at least under basic English - and for all I know was perfectly fluent.

So the idiot husband of the other couple starts warning me - in a VERY loud voice - that the driver will try to cheat us and we have to decide how much we will complain and what we will pay. I pointed out that the meter was running - and that was what we would pay, plus a modest tip. He starts going on and on about all Parisian cabbies are cheats, they will drive you around in circles (he wasn't) and then add all sorts of extras for no reason. I pointed out the card showing the rates and told him to just cal down.

So we get there and he starts to berate the driver - saying he's cheating us and we'll pay half the meter. My companion managed to herd off the idiot couple (with the wife saying don't let him fool you) while I apologized and paid the cabbie. The they didn't want to pay their half.

So we told them to find someone else to have dinner with and walked away.

It was MORTIFYING.

But I must admit I have also seen ugly Japanese (pushing everyone else out of the way in terror of being left behind by their tour leader) and even Irish nuns (ditto - in Rome).

I think fear just overtakes these people and they forget how to behave. The difference is that americans do tend to be louder.

The OP never answered whether he has ever been an Ugly American???

"The term 'Ugly American' is bandied about a lot..."

A lot? What troglodyte hasn't traveled enough by now that they are still fussing over "Ugly American"?

IMO, this is a term that people drag out whenever a travel site feels when an American wants to stare at his belly button. I'm sure it's a technique used by belly button starers throughout the world.

Most of us know that it's just plain silly.

Enough already.

I saw this pair in Cinque Terre, and one leans over to her companion, and uses these precise words: "RICK says, that..."

UGH!, nytraveler. I would have been beside myself. Good for you for dispensing of the boors. Would have done the same.

Jeez. I'm not exactly an Adonis but I have had several successful trips to Europe, Mexico and South America.

Ha! i know plenty of Southerners who think Northeasterners, as a rule, are Ugly Americans (loud, pushy, boorish, etc.).

As noted above, there are idiots from every country, more from some. On the other hand what determines who is a boor, is how one reacts to the situation. Indignation and disgust are obvious and easy, aplomb and equanimity are learned.

Do you know what an Ugly American is?

He's a fictional character in a 1950s novel by Amnerican writers Burdick and Lederer, and a 1960s Hollywood film, who distinguishes himself from his loud, arrogant (and more cosmetically obsessed) compatriots in an imaginary SE Asian state by calmly, self-effacingly and constructively working with the impoverished local population to help them better themselves.

The stereotype American louts PalQ is trying to ferret out are, in fact, the Cosmetically Correct Americans. It's the ugly one, the authors imply, who knows how to behave.

I've only ever heard the Ugly American term used by Americans - and clearly only by Americans with limited knowledge of their own culture.

Although Flanner is correct, like many words and phrases they evolve to have to second and third meanings.

To answer Flanner, the term was used more readily when Americans first start traveling en masse abroad especially to Europe. As they saw the bad behavior of other national groups who were not as self-conscious, usage waned.

Of course, Palenq intention was that of a child making a funny phone call. "Is Mr. Blackhead there?"

I'll second what tuscanlifeedit says. I have the luxury to spend whole afternoons in Vienna's cafes people watching, and I agree that "ugly" comes in many nationalities. ;)

As a corollary, perhaps, I encounter my share of "ugly" American ex-pats, those friends and acquaintances who refuse to learn even the basics of the local language (German, as is the case.) Their rationales? "Vienna is an international city. Everyone should speak English;" or, "Why bother? I'm only going to be here three or four years;" and, my favorite, "Well, I had my appendix removed soon after we arrived, and I figured that if I could get through that I don't really need to learn the language."

Generally there are three types of ex-pat groups, business people, retirees, and those seeking an adventure somewhere else. In the company for which I worked becoming posted overseas was like having herpes, once you always got it, you always got it. These were hardened business people whose mission was business not learning a culture or learning a language. It was astonishing how little they learned about the countries in which they lives, but they were assigned as masters of the universe not as cultural attaches.

OK then, in the spirit that the OP said was his original intention (light-hearted humour), I was sitting on the steps to Sacre Coeur a few years ago, and overheard two young American ladies discussing where to head next. "I've heard about this place in Germany called Neuschwanstein?" said one. "What's there?" asked the other. "Well, I read there's a fabulous castle there," replied the first "Apparently it's based on the one at Disneyland."

I must add that they were not loud nor in any way obnoxious, just two young ladies having a quiet discussion - but it did put a smile on my face!

IMDonehere, even if one is not part of the diplomatic corps there is a certain amount of cultural diplomacy involved in everyday living in a foreign country, even for hardened businessmen and "masters of the universe." Refusing to go beyond, "Sprechen Sie English?" or just expecting everyone to speak English is shameful.

Ugly is everywhere and from every country. There will always be idiots. I'm sure I've done stupid things....people probably think I'm an "ugly American" when I am actually Canadian (born and raised, but live in America).

My worst scene I witnessed was actually on a cruise ship. We were seated at the dinner table with a couple from Israel and a couple from Texas. I was talking away with the couple from Israel, asking about their culture, city, etc. The woman from Texas loudly interrupts and says "I was in Israel last year and they had a circumcision in the hotel. Can you believe that? There are better places to have a circumcision." She didn't stop there. She then proceeded to say that she disagreed with circumcision and with countries that made it a law.

I just couldn't. I was mortified. This dragged on for at least 10 minutes. And, of course, in stereotypical Texas fashion, she was basically shouting. The Israeli couple was very gracious in explaining that this was part of their culture. We requested to be moved the next night.

My husband is the typical ugly American stereotype and he isn't shy about it. I just walk behind and apologize :)