Would you pretend you're Canadian when you travel abroad?

[kittensaver]

Jul 1, 2013 18:51:44 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

Well, whenever I get around to heading to Europe or Australia or wherever else I plan on traveling, I'll let you know if I manage to come back in one piece.  Judging from the responses here, you're taking your life in your own hands whenever you leave America. 

Hey - you questioned why it was done (representing as something other than American), and you got the answer. You don't like the answer, but you got it.

And the reality is - you take your own life into your own hands every day no matter where you go. Safety is an illusion we create in our daily lives so we can function. America is no safer than most other places in the world. If you don't believe that, then you do indeed live in an insular world.

How many Europeans and Japanese get actively told by tour companies not to travel in certain places in America because they are not "safe"? And Americans live and work there every day of their lives . . .

[wvugurl26]

I've never pretended to be non American. Honestly when I was in Jamaica the most obnoxious people I noticed were from Montreal, downtown Montreal as they made a point of telling us. A lot of people were from the southern states though, they tend to be nicer than those from northern states.

Anything can happen anywhere but my job prohibits me from going to those places people mention as having the most problems. Federal government employees can be subject to a much different set of travel rules than your ordinary citizens. As I have to report ALL international travel and dealings at security clearance renewals, I'm not interested in breaking the rules.

[chiver78]

Montreal isn't Canada.....at least not real Canada. that whole province wants to not be Canadian anyway.

[chiver78]

Jul 1, 2013 18:59:43 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

Jul 1, 2013 18:52:04 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

would you go to a completely new place in the US by yourself, and try to be a tourist? there are places in this country where my opinions aren't welcome, as well as there are places in this country that Rush Limbaugh's opinion isn't at all welcome. if you're by yourself, you're on your own. what makes you think that a friendly foreign country is any different?

as I said before, you are naive in your judgment. I suggest you travel a bit, you will likely change your opinion.

I have traveled extensively within the U.S, and have never run into any problems.  All you have to do in a strange area is be low key and non confrontational.

again, that's what the people you are judging are trying to do. if you can't (or won't) see that, that's on you.

[simser]

I was dating a guy with a German passport who qualified to be an American citizen and he didn't want to be because he didn't want to trade in his passport. I'd rather have an EU passport any day of the week...

I don't pretend to be anything other than an American when I travel, but I also present myself as knowing very little world politics. For instance when traveling in Argentina I did not get in any Malvinas/ faulkland islands debates. And they tried! I learned from my Chinese friends to never mention that I believe Tibet (or Taiwan for that matter) should be free from mainland china. And, even though the US is pretty pro Israel? The rest of the world is not. If you hear some of the facts, you may not be anymore.

I've found it's not so much the people as the "our media presents it this way so this is the truth" attitude that most Americans have (even subconsciously) that is why people are anti American. Once they realize that I am saying "this is what I've learned but I'm sure I only know one side so I'm backing out of this discussion without saying one side is right and one side is wrong" is when I find that they don't care.

My best example of this is a simple question that everyone believes they know the answer to: how many continents are there?

[chiver78]

Jul 1, 2013 19:14:56 GMT -5 simser said:

And, even though the US is pretty pro Israel? The rest of the world is not. If you hear some of the facts, you may not be anymore.

I've found it's not so much the people as the "our media presents it this way so this is the truth" attitude that most Americans have (even subconsciously) that is why people are anti American. Once they realize that I am saying "this is what I've learned but I'm sure I only know one side so I'm backing out of this discussion without saying one side is right and one side is wrong" is when I find that they don't care.

My best example of this is a simple question that everyone believes they know the answer to: how many continents are there?

for the bold, I can't begin to tell you the arguments I've gotten into......gah!

for the rest, absolutely!!!!

[susanb]

I lived in Asia for a couple of years after college.  A couple of people I worked with/became friends with moved to South Korea.  When they moved there, it was considered a very safe place for an American.  Right after they moved there, a US military truck ran over a South Korean girl and killed her.  There were large protests in the street and open hostility towards Americans.  Due to the very solid reason of wanting to protect their own safety, my friends pretended to be Canadians.  One left South Korea right away, but she pretended to be a Canadian while moving.  Can't say that I blame them. 

[Deleted]

Actually Americans are hated a lot of places in the world. I've had suggestions that when I travel that I not appear American (& no way wear a uniform). That changed from a lot of years ago when we traveled in uniform.

[wvugurl26]

Jul 1, 2013 19:08:16 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Montreal isn't Canada.....at least not real Canada. that whole province wants to not be Canadian anyway.

Well I don't want them!

I'm sure some times it just goes badly. Most of the time I think if you are courteous and try to learn their culture, language, phrases, etc it will go a long way. The negative comments I hear are about people who travel and then expect the food, service, etc to be like the US. People who aren't willing to expand their horizons and learn something give us all a bad name. Stay home!!!

I have very limited experience abroad but I found everyone to be willing to share their culture and history and teach me something. All of my foreign born friends have been the same. My landlord was a tugboat captain during the Vietnam War and escaped to the Philippines. I've learned a lot from him and his family and friends. And there might be some things I won't try again but I've tried everything that has been offered to me.

[Tennesseer]

Jul 1, 2013 18:41:09 GMT -5 swamp said:

I have passed myself off as Canadian, but I was in Tennessee. When I told people when I was from NY, the immediately thought NYC and weren't very nice. If I told them I was Canadian, they were very nice. Whatever. 

And I would travel on a Canadian passport in sme of the less stable areas of the world if I could. 

I would have been nice to you but them I'm from Massachusetts. I am always happy to see visitors from the northeast.

[Shooby]

I am proud to be an American.

[Deleted]

Jul 1, 2013 21:30:38 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Jul 1, 2013 18:41:09 GMT -5 swamp said:

I have passed myself off as Canadian, but I was in Tennessee. When I told people when I was from NY, the immediately thought NYC and weren't very nice. If I told them I was Canadian, they were very nice. Whatever. 

And I would travel on a Canadian passport in sme of the less stable areas of the world if I could. 

I would have been nice to you but them I'm from Massachusetts. I am always happy to see visitors from the northeast.

 I would've been nice to you too Swamp. Come back!

[mmhmm]

Jul 1, 2013 18:51:44 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

Well, whenever I get around to heading to Europe or Australia or wherever else I plan on traveling, I'll let you know if I manage to come back in one piece.  Judging from the responses here, you're taking your life in your own hands whenever you leave America. 

Did you fail to read Athena's responses, Phoenix?

[kittensaver]

Jul 1, 2013 21:31:54 GMT -5 Shooby said:

I am proud to be an American.

I'm proud to be an American too. What does that have to do with being safe when you travel outside your home country?

[Shooby]

If I am not "safe" to be an American in some other country then that country can do Without My American dollars!

[bobosensei]

I recently learned that the con artists and junk peddlers in European tourist areas (you know people selling roses under the Eiffel Tower or knock off purses or iphones on every corner and bridge etc.) are more easily turned away when I respond to them in German than if I speak English.  Maybe there is the perception that the Germans mean what they say the first time around or maybe it is because these people do not understand German, but it works.

I don't go around pretending to be anything other than American, and believe me as a family living overseas due to the US military everyone knows we have a military connection when we say that we live in Germany.  It comes up more often than you think.  We have international driver's licenses from Germany so when we rent a car outside of Germany we have to provide our German address, but we are showing a US passport.  When we travel outside of Germany we have to explain why we can't use a vat form for things because we are not returning to the states.  We are typically asked about our vehicle when we provide license plate information for parking at hotels because it isn't a rental.

I have what I consider elementary German skills.  I can put together sentences in present and past tense, but my vocabulary is limited so I understand much more than I can speak.  I took French and Spanish in high school and college (10 years ago!) and found surprisingly that I can read and understand lot of Italian when we travel in Italy.  My French and Spanish skills are declining though, but I always refresh myself before I need to use it so that I remember the basics.  People appreciate the effort. 

[Deleted]

Living and traveling through Europe, I do not pretend to be something that I am not.  However, I do not announce that I am American.   I try to blend in, learn customs, learn languages, and mingle with the locals. I treat people with respect and I never debate politics or religion.  It has worked very well for me. 

Many Americans here do complain that they are hated and are targeted, but I can see why.  They complain about the food, the culture, refuse to learn the language, and barely leave the post.  They only mingle with other Americans and never with the locals.  I am American and I hate them too.  They ooze "ugly American" through every pore and I am embarrassed that they are from my country.

If you came to the village I live in and asked about the "Americans", the villagers would immediately know you were talking about me.  You had better only have good intentions towards me because the locals would run you out of town if you had bad intentions towards me and my family. When we are out and about in the village we are always greeted with hugs and kisses and treated as family.

[steph08]

I've traveled through several European countries (England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France, Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, etc.) as well as Costa Rica and never pretended to be anything other than American. That said, it really isn't a topic that comes up in conversation unless asked by a waitress/waiter at a restaurant or at a tourist site where some other English-speaking person asks me to take their picture, then we chat about where we're from and go on our merry ways. But I'm not a crazy in-your-face, pushy American. I try to learn a few words of the native language and be pretty unassuming when traveling anyway so haven't encountered any problems.  If I was going to some place that wasn't very friendly to Americans, I would probably be with a tour group anyway.

[Gardening Grandma]

I feel safer in many places internationally than in most American cities. Our crime rates are awful. The notion that it is dangerous to travel abroad seems to be held mostly by those who haven't travelled much.

Sure, I'm proud to be an American, but I respect the Italian who is proud to be Italian etc. My own impression is that Americans are generally liked as long as they don't behave obnoxiously..

[Shooby]

  Why would i want to go to a country that doesn't like Americans in the first place?  They seem to like you well enough to accept your cash.  No thanks.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I didn't pretend I was anything other than an American but I also didn't act like your stereotypical American tourist.

That, IMO, was what made a lot of difference when I was in Malayasia, especially when I compared the reaction I got to several people in my group who did act like a bunch of asshats.

Lots of people were delighted to find out I was American, they wanted to practice their geography/history with me.  They knew American geography better than I did!

I could apparently pass as Australian if I wanted to over there, I had quite a few people ask me if that was where I was from.  Including several Austrialian natives I talked to. 

[genericname]

Does anyone else find it ironic that to "be safe" in other countries, you must pretend you are NOT American, but when people either immigrate or visit the United States, Americans MUST accommodate them and respect their culture or be considered a bigot?

When I traveled in Europe back in the 90's, I never pretended to be anyone but myself. I never ran into a problem, but political correctness and anti-Americanism wasn't all the rage back then.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I only ran into two English women at the airport who hated my group for being American.  We were all together and th desk wanted to process us all together so a couple people had to cut but they were very polite about it and explained they were part of our group. The ladies spent the next ten minutes talking about what awful people Americans are.

Other than that everyone was quite friendly to me and I met people from all over the world.  Being polite and respectful goes a long way.

[pinkbow832]

If you actually fear for your physical safety and well being, it really doesn't matter if you're American, British, French, German, Canadian, etc- you have bigger problems than nationality.

[Deleted]

Jul 2, 2013 8:30:49 GMT -5 genericname said:

Does anyone else find it ironic that to "be safe" in other countries, you must pretend you are NOT American, but when people either immigrate or visit the United States, Americans MUST accommodate them and respect their culture or be considered a bigot?

When I traveled in Europe back in the 90's, I never pretended to be anyone but myself. I never ran into a problem, but political correctness and anti-Americanism wasn't all the rage back then.

No. I think the general unwillingness to treat other cultures with respect is what feeds anti American sentiment and can make it difficult / dangerous in SOME circumstances to admit to being American.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Other countries can be just as rude.  There was quite a lot of frustration expressed towards Japanese tourists while I was in Malayasia.  I don't blame anyone, they were obnoxious!

[973beachbum]

Jul 2, 2013 9:03:21 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Other countries can be just as rude.  There was quite a lot of frustration expressed towards Japanese tourists while I was in Malayasia.  I don't blame anyone, they were obnoxious!

We get a large number of tourists and probably half are from pretty far away.  We get huge amounts of French Canadians and most of the rest are from Eastern Europe.  I have only heard a French Canadian speak English once and he was really desperate for help so his family would stop screaming at him.  If the descriptions of "ugly americans" was said without the name Americans in it I would assume they were talking about Canadians.  

the only thing that should be added about the Canadian tourists is that they drive 20 miles below the speed limits.   Which completely confuses me because I have been to Canada and everyone there was driving way over the speed limit.

Most tourists are needy.  It is hard when the person doesn't speak the language or has things they can't eat but can't explain it properly.  They don't know where anything is or what it should cost.  People get a little terse when they are upset and I'm sure it does come across as mean or rude.  But that said I have met some of the nicest people from all over the world and have never once felt that they were surprised that people here were nice.    

[sheilaincali]

When we've traveled overseas we try to be as low key as possible.  DH, DS and I are generally really low key people.  We don't wear blue jeans and flip flops to tour museums.   We eat local and avoid anything with the words "Hard Rock" in the name or that start as "Mc".  Yes I have seen McDonald's in Germany, Austria, Prague, and Amsterdam.  Only one we ate at was at the Frankfurt Airport because our 3 year old son was hungry and it was the easy, fast option. 

There are so many negative stereotypes of American tourists and I've seen people doing every one of them.  We usually go out of our way to avoid the other Americans that we run in to when we travel.  At the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany we politely asked if we could take the tour with one of the non-American groups.  They were perfectly fine with it.  Gave us English headphones so we could follow along and did the tour with I believe a group of Italians.  Our tour guide didn't realize until the very end that we didn't speak Italian.  He asked me a question and I apologize and said I didn't speak Italian.  Besides- the "English" tour had a very long wait time because there were so many.  We were able to join the other tour immediately with no wait. 

As for claiming to be Canadian.  I have no problem with that.  Hell, half the people I run into in Minnesota think I have a Canadian accent even after being born and raised in MN. 

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

People were pretty understanding when I was having trouble grasping something. I found most people very interested in practicing their English with me if I made it clear I didn't understand them.  Or we'd figure out how to communicate non-verbally.
 
It's when other people started very loudly and slowly talking English that people got pissed with them.  Way to play into stereotypes people. 

You also don't make faces and say "EWWW" when someone offers you or you see something unfamilar. I was so embarassed to be a part of my group when we toured that local market.  You could feel after awhile we weren't welcome there.

I was so angry/shocked at the behavior of some people in our group.  You're a guest in another country, start acting like it.  You can go back to being an asshat when you get home.

Their behavior isn't unique to Americans though, all countries have their fair share of rude tourists.
 

[HoneyBBQ]

Jul 1, 2013 18:43:45 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

If a place is so dangerous and hostile to Americans that you're worried about being outright attacked, kidnapped, or worse, then why would you even risk going there pretending not to be American?  And I doubt such a place is going to be much friendlier to any other westerners.

I have traveled extensively within the U.S, and have never run into any problems. All you have to do in a strange area is be low key and non confrontational.

Honestly, this is a really limited scope. I'm trying to say this tactfully, but Australia, the US, and Canada are extremely safe, and your viewpoint seems to be extremely limited considering you haven't been to very many places. This isn't just walking through a bad part of town. There are groups of people that prey on tourists (in ALL countries!) and especially on Americans because we tend to be louder, dumber, and richer than European and Canadian counterparts.  

Backpack through Columbia, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina etc - beautiful amazing countries. Amazing food, countryside, culture, etc. Well worth visiting and enjoying and the people are friendly and great- however, there are a few unsavory sects that hide in the shadows. Why would you want to "advertise" that you are from America, potentially putting a target on your back? Americans are also sometimes not well versed in subtleties and bribes that take place in other countries and react indignantly to extortion, when you really should just quietly pay your $5 and move on with your life.

That said, I always travel extremely low key with no valuables other than my camera and my passport. I am a smart traveler and have been all over the world and the worst thing that happened to me was that someone stole my umbrella in Ecuador. I have been extremely lucky, but I also consider myself an extremely smart traveler.

Just my 2c.