THE Ugly American...

They always say other countries hate Americans. Is this true? does it depend which country you go to. any stories on bad or good experiences with foreigners and americans. any tips on how to get on their good side and not look like a stupid american. if so post here.


I'm interested to see what gets posted!

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Three things you need to make them know you know:

1. Africa is a continent, not a country.
2. The US did not win the Battle of Britain.
3. The language is English or American English. Not American.

Not that I'm trying to sound like a dick, but these are the three things that seem to infatuate Brits.

Also, people seem to appreciate the role of 'slightly confused, but generally nice tourist guy'. Do that.

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Don't get smart with us, Oni-91. We kick your British asses in World War II and we can do it again /typical American.

Yeah, Ben Affleck won the war single-handed. It's true! I saw the documentary!

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...mmm...

-Don't say sentences as pie said
-Don't fell superior just for being american

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What you CAN do is point at people and say "Your version of Fear Factor is shit." This is especially true of Brits and Belgians.

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4. Know the meaning of "infatuate".

Perhaps you meant "infuriate"?

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The most heated battles between British and American people I've ever seen start with people going back and forth in youtube comments flaming each other over which verision of The Office is better.

I always get those two muddled...as for the Office Youtube comment battle, I'd say the US has it. Other fun arguments in this manner include Fun House (UK, IMO), Whose Line Is It Anyway? (tied, IMO) and Deal Or No Deal (IMO, UK).

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The American Weakest Link SUCKED. First they had the lady, and she was cool, but then they brought on this dude to replace her and I was like 'whaaaat'.

And now all the repeats they show have that guy on them. Luckily, I can watch BBCA and they actually show the cool lady.

That "you are the weakest link, goodbye" lady was awesome. But the best gameshow host ever is still Regis Philbin though.

Speaking of which, thats one show I think is better in the US. Well, until they brought the lady on and shortened it to a half hour...

Anne Robinson was great, yeah. The brilliant thing was that nobody expected her to be so..evil. She really took us all by surprise and it worked so well (especially because no quiz show was done like that before).

Our version of Russian Roulette tried to do that, and failed. Really badly.

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i've been to a fair share of counties(military benefits FTW) and i have to say, i've never been treated badly based on the fact that i'm american. anyway, some things to do in general to get them to treat you like gold:

1. learn a few sentences in their language. the fact that i can say "hi, how are you today, sorry but do you speak english?" in french and german(as well as english, obviously) helped me quite a bit.

2. learn their customs. for example, in germany its considered rude to share a plate when you go out to eat. also, when you're done, you're done. no doggie bags.

3. don't be an uptight snob. this works for everyone, not just other countries. another thing...

4. being american doesnt make you superior. stop that. me and my friends arent in iraq and afghanistan so you can be an elitist prick to people from other countries, and people like you make the rest of us look bad.

5. ask them about their country, customs, and things like local food/drinks, and stuff to do in the area. one example i can think of, while i was in france, i was in a restaurant with some friends and for my drink i asked the guy what kinds of wine he had that i couldnt just go to the commisary on base and pick up, i wanted to try something local. they like that kind of thing, it shows you dont have the "i'm an american, my stuff is superior. give me a coke and a cheese burger and go away" mentality.

6. when in amsterdam, dont ask where the red light district is at noon. i can guess why the dont like it, but i dont know the actual reason.

7. dont beat the scores on their SN machines. i beat Al's .59 score on one of the SN machines in london and some guy flipped out about me taking a score. passing PSMO, paranoia respect, and max300(SMMM) heavy doubles in one set also wasnt too big in their opinion. they may have thought i was trying to show off or something though, i was just trying to play some stuff i hadnt played in a while.

there are other things to do that get you treated good, but those came off the top of my head. just dont be a jack ass, stereotypical american and they wont mind you being there.

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well some americans:
-think Canada is "America Junior". When we are a independent country.
-thought Canadians lived in igloos
-take too much pride in their counry (yes i know it's good to take pride but to an extent)

their are nice people in the US, i'm just referring to people who think that way

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Wow I wonder who flipped out about #7... I've never seen anyone do that on all the times I've been Troc.

My family always strays 'off the beaten track' when it comes to where to eat and what to do. Even in Florida, whilst the tourists usually went in the resorts to eat, we looked around and ate in Ponderosa/T.G.I.F., etc. (On that note, American steaks are awesome. I've been trying to find anywhere round here that goes larger than 12oz, and it's not happening.) Also, if you're on holiday, travel guides about the location are a godsend. They can help you find the best places to eat, customs, basic phrases, etc. It worked for me a lot around the Greek islands.

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YOU DON'T!?!?!?

lol jk

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dont think this is helping with the image...

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