NorthShore

Rich, americans are not the only ones in europe that can act like idiots, misbehave or be overly demanding.


I think Kate got it right.

mamc

One way to tell American tourists is that they stand in line in an orderly way rather than breaking into the line.

miguelgcuadra

Message: Maybe miguel means that he "does not count" as one of the Americans judged to be "so obvious" when traveling in Europe (and especially in Latin America, perhaps?)

You are correct that is what i meant.. I am very proud to be an American and of this country..but i look very mediterranean, dark features. Grandparents were from the south of Spain

I see so many posting about what to wear..i wear same clothes whereever i go, change according to season.

Bitter

I would assert that, although negative things (loudness, weight, etc.) do play a roll, those factors are often raised out of cynicism and ridicule and may be applied equally to other nationalities. I think two factors are key: Clothing and language. Obviously, lack of fluency and/or accent is a giveaway. But even before a conversation starts, clothing usually can identify you, if not from the US, then from some foreign local. Visitors to the US are similarly identified (maybe not by country but that they are "foreigners&quot. A third importnat factor is location. If you are at a tourist attraction, you are likely (although not necessarily) a tourist and if, for example, you are on the Rue Cler and not recognized as a local, odds are probably that you are from the US.

rach

Brightly colored clothing (Europeans tend to dress in subdued colors) and WHITE TENNIS SHOES...just look around!

Intrepid1

Well, if nothing else, your post provided yet another opportunity for some posters on the board to trot out all of THEIR sterotypes of what Americans are, can be, should be, shouldn't be, etc.

Whereas WHITE "tennis shoes" may, or may not, mark someone as "American" I can assure you that athletic footwear, in general, does not. These types of shoes are worn by countless Europeans, albeit many are younger. Anyone who has been to Europe within the last couple of years would tell you this unless they were too busy making sure they were "fitting in" and didn't notice.

I do agree that footwear in general may be a marker and in some cases the quality and cut of the clothing.

RufusTFirefly

Most tourists to most countries don't speak the language of the countries they visit no matter where they come from.

WillTravel

I was going to disagree with Rufus, but then I realized there's a reason that in my local area I see so many Japanese together on tours, and Germans together on tours, and so forth. There's probably a fair chance these tourists do not speak English well enough to feel comfortable on their own, although there are many individual tourists who do get by.

RufusTFirefly

Americans rate pretty well.

So says the Mirror...

BRITS are the rudest, worst behaved and least adventurous holidaymakers in the world - and Germans the best.

Tourist offices placed us at the bottom of 24 countries, a survey said yesterday.

In contrast those sunbed bandits from Germany ranked highest for behaviour and their attempts to speak the local language. Dermot Halpin, boss of online travel service Expedia which conducted the survey, said: "Much as it pains me to say it, the Germans deserve the best sunbeds.

"British holidaymakers are some of the most widely travelled in the world. But that doesn't mean we're good at it." Expedia questioned tourist offices in 17 popular destinations worldwide. Britons were worst for rudeness, followed by Russians and Canadians.

They were also worst for their behaviour, learning the language and enthusiasm to try local delicacies.

Next on the bottom of the list were the Israelis, Irish and Indians.

At the top, the Germans were followed by Americans, Japanese, Italians and French.

m_kingdom2

Everything about them.

It's a similar notion to the idea that the "lower classes have a dreadful smell about them".

miguelgcuadra

All these psots should take care of the famous question and so many get blasted for asking.
"What do I wear"?

SeaUrchin

Sitting across from me on my last Lufthansa flight home from Frankfort was a handsome young man with a USA emblazoned sweatshirt, USA on his baseball cap, baggy jeans and big white tennis shoes. I thought to myself, he wore that to visit Germany?

Then come to find out he was a German going to visit the USA for the first time. Ya just never know.

rex

<<Americans are: cheerful, impatient, brave, prone to being sloppy, clean, hard to please, loyal, hard working, out spoken, loud, kind, prone to wearing bright clothes and baseball hats, known to save friends and allies from defeat, rich, often pick up the tab for disasters, drink too much coke, not afraid to go it alone.... .

They might not be your first choice to take to a fancy ball, but real good folks to have around when things get rough.>>

Okay, this description of Americans tells me more about your political outlook than hundreds of postings on that "politicalcompass" thread.

Moreover - - you are so "right on" with this, that I would assert that we can establish your political assessment of America in the world as "ground zero" on both the x- and y- axis - - and any deviations positive or negative of this are pish-tosh, irrelevant and a waste of bandwidth.

My hat's off to ya...

easytraveler

More subtle clues as to who's American and who's not:

Americans, when seated, tend to wrap their legs around chair legs

Americans change fork hands after they cut their meat - most other folks cut the meat with the right hand and convey food to mouth with the fork in the left

Americans are very law-abiding when driving, including not using the horn very much

Americans dress more informally (altho this is beginning to change)

I personally don't believe Americans have a corner on yelling and rudeness - the rudest, shoviest tourists I met with Japanese in Singapore, the loudest screamer were Italians in China ... und so weiter.

miguel: 90% of the original inhabitants of the Americas don't exist any more. The rest of us are all not "truly" American.

themanfromnantucket

Quite simple. The wads of cash we bring to Europe makes us stick out like a sore thumb. Without it, Europe would be Canada with a couple of trendy cities rich in history.

Please define a true American as well. I have a feeling you havn't the slightest clue what you are talking about.

StCirq

In the past couple of years I've noticed a new way of possibly identifying Americans - they walk around with massive bottles of mineral water, as if there was imminent danger of expiring from thirst in Europe.

m_kingdom2

"Americans dress more informally (altho (sic.) this is beginning to change)"


That's rubbish, Europeans dress very informally, but many do it with more style and flair. Also, they tend to be thinner, more svelte, and more cultured. Of course I am generalising here.

Giselle

miguel, I think you got some good answers. I'd add getting confused with money. Another one is smiling -- say, on the street -- or talking in the subway where locals do not. As Sheila said, the jeans. (She tends more to brevity than I do.). By that I take to mean, we buy our clothes in American stores; Europeans buy theirs in European stores and they just aren't exactly the same. On top of that, there is often a style difference. It's that way anywhere I've been, in Mexico, for example.

SeaUrchin

St Cirq, that is so funny and true. It is a habit so many of us have now days, in fact we sort of panic when we don't have our water bottles.

WillTravel

If I see a middle-aged couple walking down the street holding hands, I have a pretty good idea they are tourists. Usually I can tell that I'm right, based on the paraphenelia they are carrying. I can't tell for sure if they are American, though.