While the majority of tourists are some of the friendliest, most open, and curious people you’ll ever meet, unfortunately, a small but vocal minority can spoil everyone’s good reputation. When it comes to international travel, not everyone is as respectful to other cultures as the locals would like.
Redditor Bugginette asked people to share the weirdest things they’ve seen tourists do that would be considered disrespectful or inappropriate in their countries. In this case, Bugginette wanted to focus on American tourists. Have a read through some of the non-American locals’ stories below.
Keep in mind that is just a handful of people’s experiences with Americans, dear Pandas. This isn’t to say that all American tourists are uncultured or that visitors from other nations are complete angels. That’s absolutely not the case. So if you’re in the mood for some wholesome compliments about what Americans are doing great to balance things out, check out Bored Panda’s article right over here.
Meanwhile… let’s delve into the shadowy side of tourism and definitely how not to behave when on holiday abroad.
#1
Claiming that Ireland isn't "properly" Irish, and that the only way to experience "true", "traditional" Irish culture is to visit Boston.
Image credits: MellotronSymphony
#2
While interrailing on France a couple of American dudes were very loudly talking [badly] about other passengers (I got my fair share). Apparently they tought nobody could understand them.Shut them up by talking English to my friend.
Image credits: theswamphag
#3
In Australia, shook a koala out of a tree at a wildlife park
Image credits: Istealpotatoes
At the time of writing, Redditor Bugginette’s viral thread had gotten more than 29.3k upvotes and 74 awards in just 2 days. Some of the responses were completely astounding. It’s hard to believe that anyone could be so rude.
Most of what makes up tourist etiquette is pretty much common sense. Treat others like you’d like to be treated yourself. Behave like you’d want tourists visiting your hometown to behave. Be a decent human being because we’re all people. Don’t shake koalas out of trees. Don’t try to sneak into the Paris catacombs with a bone that you stole. Don’t immediately assume that you can pay everyone in US dollars. It’s fairly straightforward, no?
#4
Not exactly disrespectful or inappropriate, but certainly weird.I meet an American tourist that seemed very confused so I walked up to her and asked her if I could help. She told me yes and asked me how to get to the famous alps and cuckoo clock workshops.
….. I had to explain to her that she was in Sweden, not Switzerland.
Image credits: Red_Eight_Zero
#5
They did the nazi greeting in the middle of Berlin (Germany), not far from the jewish memorial
Image credits: Supergamery45
#6
I overheard the guy standing in front of me in the queue at mc D's having a meltdown:"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T ACCEPT AMERICAN DOLLARS THIS IS A MCDONALD'S!!!"
this was in Poland, Europe.
Image credits: YoungDiscord
Professor Christine Vogt, the Director of the Center for Sustainable Tourism at Arizona State University, explained to me that we should do our best to do background research about the local customs and language before embarking on any trip.
“More than likely that is what draws a person to visit a certain place. The more local knowledge a traveler has, the more a traveler can feel like a local and fit in," Professor Vogt told Bored Panda during an earlier in-depth interview about tourist etiquette.
#7
I once got told by an American tourist that I spoke English quite well.I'm English and this was in England.
Image credits: Are-Sole
#8
The best one I've heard was the American tourist complaining that they built Edinburgh castle so far from the train station.
Image credits: Are-Sole
#9
South African here; Americans tend to have this habbit where they will climb out of their vehicle in the middle of a game reserve, get attacked by a wild animal because they wanted to get closer or try to pet it, and then cry about it.I thought people that come from the country that has Grizzly bears and mountain lions would be a bit more cautious around wild animals.
Also, the shock they experience when they realise there are cities here and not everyone is living in mudhuts.
Image credits: AmarulaKilledMe
"Local customs can include how a traveler dresses, eats, uses a cell phone, etc. When a traveler is out in a community such as walking in a downtown area or eating in a restaurant, these local customs can come into play,” she explained what we should all take into account before going abroad, whether it’s for business or for pleasure.
“For example, in Buddhist countries, a woman who has not covered her shoulders or legs may not be allowed into temples or even a restaurant. Learn as many local customs as you can and a few key words to enhance your experience," the professor pointed out to Bored Panda.
#10
When I was in France a couple of American tourists tried to sneak out of the Paris Catacombs with a bone they had stolen.
Image credits: Quack_Candle
#11
Talk to me in slow, shouting English as if I don't understand. He was in western Canada, where everybody speaks English, and I'd already even said something in English to him.
Image credits: MizElaneous
#12
Any time I've seen interactions between Americans and the queens guard. Does make me laugh though when the guardsman yells at them or just plough through them when marching.Just leave the lads alone they have job to do and they are professional soldiers.
Image credits: roddz
Professor Vogt also went into detail about what historic sites can do to protect artifacts from tourists who want to steal themselves a souvenir or two. According to her, posting the penalties for stealing, setting up signs that discourage thieving, and using cameras to catch those who break the law are just some of the ways in which to control potential artifact-pilferers.
Something else that such sites can do is setting up a display of all the items that have been returned by thieving tourists over the years, showing that they’ve had a change of heart. According to Professor Vogt, the Petrified Forest National Park in Eastern Arizona has a display just like this one.
#13
My homewtown is famous for each year having a giant hay goat built in the middle of the city, and each year someone, illegally burns it down. It has become culture at this point to burn it down but if you are caught you still go down for arson.One american who was visiting this town heard of this phenomenon and the fact that it was burnt down each year. Same night he goes out and burns it down, is apprehended by police and becomes the first person since 1966 to be Sentenced for burning the goat. (2003)
#14
They made fun of our money and how it looked. They claimed they couldn't figure it out because it was so weird, so they threw a bunch of bills at my sister and asked her to figure it out and give them change.We're Canadian. The number is literally on the bill. We all spoke English. They gave my sister several hundred dollar bills. This was at an apple festival and the fries only cost $5. Wtf
Image credits: random-sht-writing
#15
Assuming that Amsterdam is our entire country.
Image credits: Kagir
#16
An American tourist orders a turkey dinner at a restaurant, and then flags down the server to let her know that the kitchen forgot the cranberry sauce. The server comes back with it in a small dish. After she finished her meal, someone at the table pointed out that she’d forgotten to use the cranberry sauce that she asked for. She says: “Oh, I don’t like cranberry sauce” So the person at the table follows up with “Then why did you ask the server to bring you some?!” Her answer: “Because it comes with the meal.”
Image credits: Axiah
#17
Iceland. We get a lot of tourism when there isn't a pandemic and about half are American. It's mostly just ignorance and the refusal to accept that things work differently here. Also, while most people here speak English to some degree there are a few tourists that are furious about it not being the default language in businesses that aren't even connected to tourism. God forbid we speak our own language at work.Oh and Northern Lights. There's a ton of people who seem to think we can just flick a switch and have the Northern Lights appear.
Image credits: IcyVeinz
#18
I live in Norway and 30 minutes from my house there is this mountain called Pulpit Rock. It is the biggest tourist attraction nearby. It is not the most difficult trail, but it is pretty steep, and every year (before covid) I would see American women struggling because they were wearing flip flops or high heels.#19
Calling black people African-American despite many having never visited the USA. It’s stupid. Black is not a racist term#20
I'm an American but I was visiting England and touring the Tower of London. There was a cannon behind a rope with a "Do not touch or climb" sign.This American woman lifted the rope and told her kid (maybe 7 years old) to go sit on the cannon so she could take a picture. The KID protested and said the sign said no... The woman said she didn't care, and ordered her kid to do it or she'd ground them.
#21
Not inappropriate, just moronic and facepalm worthy.Saw an American Karen scream at people in London (UK) at Britain for stealing America's place names.
Image credits: Bedlamcitylimit
#22
I'm French, I was chatting with an American women who was visiting (friend of a friend of a family member). At one point we start talking about the differences between our countries. She said "The USA is the only country in the world with true freedom". I thought she was joking but she was not. I told her "what do you mean? We are also free in France". She looked at me with a condescending smirk and said "Really?" like to make me admit something. I just nodded and left.#23
She asked me about the different churches in our city (we have quite a lot, some very old), which were the prettiest, etc, and asked me to point those on the map, and I obliged since she was polite. So far so good. Then she asked which one was my fave for sunday service. I said as respectfully as I could that I didn't, actually, go to church. Then she forcefully grabbed my arm, drew a cross sign on my brow, and told me she would pray for meLady, well, don't touch me, k?
#24
Im from South Asia, and from a country infamous for its war against terrorism. Since we have won it and the country has been safe for quite a few years, we have started seeing tourists return to our country. The people here are very generous and hospitable. They know about the bad name the war brought to the country, and everyone, regardless of how much they have, is trying to do what they can to improve the image. Based on this, it is very common to see street vendors/ restaurant owners refusing to receive payment for their food from tourists. They claim that “you are our guests. And we never take payments from guests” which I believe is a very sweet and kind gesture since these people dont have much and are struggling to break even most of the time.However, since the past year or two, this thing has become really famous due to youtube, and a lot of foreign vloggers are abusing it. They often go to street vendors and dont even offer paying. More so, it is as if instead of going to popular restaurant which they could easily afford, they basically go to these vendors specifically so they shouldnt have to pay. Now that is okay and acceptable to some extent, but following this with the intention to abuse it is something that doesn’t settle well with me. Like i said, the street vendors are mostly struggling financially, and while many of the foreign vloggers are getting paid well, its as if they’re looting these low income people. I know part of this might seem inconsistent and what not. Like maybe the people can just stop offering them free food, but this has been part of our culture and tradition for generations, and it takes quite a while to abandon traditions. Anyway, my two cents is that sure, enjoy the hospitality. We do it out of love and it reflects how we really are. But please dont abuse it. Also, if someone does good to you, please pay it forward. Maybe by tipping someone well or something? Such a thing would be really nice:)
#25
Come in to my house with their shoes. (RUSSIA)
Image credits: Bebebewke
#26
When I came down from the Fuji summit after a 8 hour climb and 4 hour descent with 3 layers of clothing to protect myself from the weather, an American with a selfie stick, in t-shirt and shorts asked me where mount Fuji was. I told him we are on mount Fuji, it's a big mountain/vulcano. "But where is the summit" I pointed to the summit and told him it's about 8 hours that way. This guy thought he could just come in with his selfie stick, grab a few quick selfies on the summit and return to Tokyo lol.#27
The guy got pretty angry that my English sucked when asking me for directions, I mean yeah It can be frustrating but Im taking the time to help you wtf dude.He said I lived in Canada so I was supposed to speak it flawlessly like dude I spoke French my entire life but I’m doing my best over here to communicate sorry for the accent.
Image credits: Nexso1640
#28
I’m a Brit who was in Rome on a food tour. There was a pair of women form Chicago (I know because they told us 20 times) and one of them would interrupt the tour guide at every opportunity to tell him Chicago invented pizza and how the pizza here wasn’t as good because “real pizza is deep dish”, while the other woman agreed. It was a 4 hour tour and they mentioned it every 20 mins at least. The pizzeria stop on the tour was unbearable.#29
Not disrespectful but kinda funny, Bruges in Belgium is a nicely preserved town with many medieval elements. Apparently a lot of American tourists ask the locals “when does this theme park close?”
Image credits: rubenvdheuv
#30
German here. Never go to visit any concentration camp museum without understanding that in less than 10 minutes your blood will start to boil because of how disrespectful tourists can be. It's unbelievable.#31
I was working a bar in Scotland. There was a woman one night with her daughter and she refused to pay with anything other than American cash. It was a super uncomfortable situation, me trying to explain how stupid it all was, her daughter (who I think was living in Scotland) was trying to calm her down and trying to pay but the mother kept pulling the her hand away from the card machine saying “you people love our money, our money is more important than yours”. She kicked on for a solid 5 to 10 minutes, her daughter ended up paying and leaving. Then she had a go at me for embarrassing her daughter and she even left a review on trip advisor explaining the situation, she explained it perfectly literally wrote herself as the bag guy in the review. F**king mind boggling how delusional this bird was.#32
Me, a german, meeting a middle aged US couple while travelling through spain. Upon hearing that I am from germany the asked me how I managed to flee the country because there is a big ass wall keepin' the germs in. That was in 2004.#33
An American exchange student who complained to me in anger that book stores in Germany have so many books in German. I mean, it's not unusual here for every book store to even have a small section of books in other languages including English so it's not like she never got to buy a book here, she could read...#34
When I was in Egypt, an American tourist crossed the rope and tried to collect sand/soil under an ancient monument in Cairo. The guard quickly made him release it and followed him for a further few minutes lol.#35
Not disrespectful but weird as hell.I was sitting in McDonalds with a friend during our lunch break and a random American lady came up to us and asked if she could take a photo. We kind of just said yes out of confusion tbh
So somewhere in America there’s a random woman with a picture of me and my friend eating in McDonalds with our school uniform on.
#36
Lectured me for 3 hours on a train on why Australia needed to stop free healthcare.3 hours is a very long time to listen to that.
#37
Not buy their round. In a pub in Ireland. When the pub round system had been explained to them. And they had happily taken drinks from everyone. And when it was their round, and everyone had empty glasses. and it was Mentioned that "Think it's your round.." and they responded " I think I'm good now thanks" Mortified for bringing them with me!! (and yes I bought the round for everyone else on their behalf.)#38
India. Subway has seats designed for ladies. American guy in his twenties totally refused to move and let the ladies who were standing, sit. He was requested by everyone for like 5 minutes.#39
I saw an American father (with young kids in tow) explain to an elderly Japanese man why they just had to drop the bomb on Hiroshima, no way around it...At the Peace Museum.
In Hiroshima.
#40
My friend described a trip to an English tourist spot, one of many places said to be Arthur’s Camelot. It required a climb up the picturesque hill to a quiet, tree-filled spot. Nothing of the castle to be seen of course, but everybody gazed out over the surrounding land, contemplating the magic of the ancient myth. Finally arrives the chubby, puffing American who glances about with irritation, then loudly says in that familiar accent: “Where’s the goddam castle?”#41
I live in new zealand and we have our special kind of churches called maraes. You are not allowed to wear shoes in them. One day i was in the marae and i saw this middle aged woman walk in with her shoes on. I walked over to her and politely asked her to leave her shoes at the door and i kid you not this is what she said “what is this some kind of savage church?” the men immediately kicked her out#42
I was in a museum in the UK a few weeks ago when social distancing and other precautions were still in effect and an American family were touching everything, shouting, not wearing facemasks, letting their kids run rampant, kept coming into our social space and barging past us. Basically obnoxious as f.#43
I was in Rome and a lady was confused why the confectionery stand man wouldn't take her dollars
Image credits: am_i-lost
#44
I had dinner with an American in China. He asked for water in English, and the waiter didn’t understand. He spoke up and repeated himself in a patronisingly slow voice, and again the waiter, not being able to speak English, didn’t understand. I asked for the water in Chinese and the waiter left. The American then said “it’s so infuriating here sometimes”.There are many things that can be annoying and inconvenient in China, but simply expecting people to understand your language is unreasonable as f**k.
#45
I was in a tour group in Tajikistan and we were inside a locals house who had invited us in for tea and he was telling us about his family and how many children they have etc. The only American in the group piped up and asked ‘what contraception does your wife use, does she use herbs or something?’….Everyone was just aghast and he politely avoided the question, then there was a long awkward silence. And so the she asked AGAIN! At that point another tour member interjected and said ‘ok, I think it’s time for us to leave, thanks for having us’
Image credits: frankiestree
#46
I have seen a very drunk American tourist in his is 20's explaining to a Viet bartender in Viet Nam how his American grandfather freed Viet Nam of communists.
Image credits: oyloff
#47
“Why are you all not in Kilts? Oh I’m Scottish my great great great great grandfather was from Scotland and his dad was a clan chieftain.”99% of us Scots don’t care, some will humour, others will outright call out on that bulls**t.
#48
There was a story about some americans coming to My country to go skiing - this is Denmark, we have a [lots] of hills, but not a single mountain - add to that, that they came in the summer, no place in Denmark has year around snow#49
While working at Maccas I overheard an American tourist tell his family that they were going to eat some good food, not foreign garbage while they were waiting in line to order ?♀️(For the non Aussie folk, maccas is McDonald's)
#50
Im English sitting in an English train station one day on my way to work. On the bench to my left sit two massively obese American women in flowery dresses loudly talking about how old and s***ty our train stations look.On my right sits an young Asian guy who gets up and walks toward the Americas to put something in the bin. When he's close to them one of them shouts
HER: 'you ain't Chinese are you?',
HIM: '..oh no I'm a Korean student miss'
HER: 'which part?'
HIM: 'South Korea miss'
HER: 'good, those North Koreans are crazy, we should bomb them!'
He just went and quietly sat back down as the women went on to rant about how Asian countries are all aweful and America should somthing about it.
Just general rude, loud, ignorant behaviour.
#51
I’m a Greek-American (ie dual citizen) visiting Greece. An American woman in the acropolis museum tried to touch the marbles when a staff member told her she couldn’t. She replied “you know in Spain they let you touch the Roman statues!!”Good for Spain. This is Greece, we don’t have much anymore besides our history and a few nice islands. Unless the government sells those too.
#52
Moaning about not being able to use dollars in an English petrol station, then whingeing that it shouldn't be raining cuz it's summer. Silly man.#53
Not so much inappropriate, just [friggin] dumb. “Where are all the kangaroos bouncing down the streets”[Idiot]! They live in the bush, not the [friggin] CBD
#54
I was at a lavender farm in the South of France a few years ago. Two coach loads of American tourists pull up, they all got out on the standard "you won't get long enough to really see this place" type tour. One lady very proudly states she is an expert on lavender and that this place was "cute but it's all fake, the lavender isn't the right colour". There were bees and other insects all over it, the whole farm smelled amazing and there was a harvest taking place! It was very real#55
In Canada some stores will accept American cash as payment, but by law have to still give Canadian change.I worked in a city that got a lot of American tourists, and it was crazy how often someone would get really frustrated with us for not giving them American change. I had someone even accuse me of lying about it being the law. To what end lady?
#56
Where are the kangaroos?Sir, you are in austria. Not Australia.
#57
Not offensive or inappropriate, but I really want to talk about itOnce in the airport, coming back to Australia in where I’m from in the middle of summer, I saw a dad and his 2 children, all 3 of them wearing full winter coats. The dad said to the both of them “try to stay warm, it’s going to be cold outside”
#58
saw a family of tourists fishing out a small lake.i mean hundreds of fish.
they werent even going to eat any of them just tossed them on the grass and left them for the flies.
i memtioned to the father that this was illegal and i was leavindg to reprt it to the warden. he got mad..
this was 30 years ago before cell phones . if it happed today i`d had have a fish and game warden there in 10 minutes.
oh and btw the lake is barren now. no fish.
#59
Those tourists who rent a car just to drive at 100 Km/h in the left lane on the Autobahn. And when you speak to them about it they tell you every speed above that would be just ridiculous.#60
An obese American yelling at passer byes how we are awful people living in a hell hole. I mean, probably most would agree with him, but its one thing ranting as a local and completely other to do it as a guest, especially American. I could hear him a long way after I passed him, until he abruptly stop screaming in the middle of a sentence. I hope he had an epiphany and changed his views on Serbia.#61
I was told "You are very bright for a Mexican". Not only was that slightly racist but, I am also Spanish. .#62
I was at Disneyland in Japan and there was an American tourist standing behind us during the fireworks and castle show. He lit up a cigarette in the middle of the crowd where children were, and then loudly complained that because Winnie the Pooh was singing in Japanese that was “f up” and “ruined Pooh forever”. I also saw him punch a toddlers balloon because it was in his way.#63
Bragging. We met some Americans in line for the aquarium and they starting talking about how they had the best ever camera and showing all the functions. They kept pushing buttons and a message appeared, "are you sure you want to delete all pictures" we said you better say no, but it was too late. They lost all their pictures from their 3 month around the world trip and somehow got angry at us.#64
Indian here. My office was hosting two American and one British ladies and I had to take them sightseeing. We were a British colony up until 1947 and have tonnes of British buildings as our historical heritage (that period was awful but the buildings are nice).Well, for some reason the American ladies thought it would be a good idea to talk to me about how the British were awful to us during the colonization period in front of the nice British lady. I was uncomfortable talking about that, the British lady seemed uncomfortable but the American ladies kept make what they thought were funny comments about how the British lady's country was awful to my country despite my million efforts to change the subject.
It IS a dark part of our history but bringing that up and keeping at it was rude and in bad taste.
Thankfully, the British lady did not get offended or I would've had to face the consequences of offending a guest.
#65
I'm an American, but I saw this airhead American who was constantly trying to touch priceless museum specimens. They were marked No Tocar. The guards kept stopping her, but she seemed confused because she spoke no Spanish.We were deep into Mexico City. You should learn at least enough to read No Tocar.
#66
Not inappropriate but asshole-ish and weirdGuy records me and friends shooing the herds of cows who were [pooping] in the middle of road (occasionally happen) in a car while yelling “YOOOOO” and recording. Dude starts commenting and slapping the cows passing by, spook one and some of them starts to speed up a little bit, made me and my friends in slight danger of getting ram by a cow. Dude passed by us and then record our face while saying something that mad my friend mad, and then proceed to squash the [poop] while he was passing by. Met him at the restaurant too, he ate the bananas leaves that’s served for the purpose of plating the Nasi Lemak, until he was halfway done and the uncle next table told him that’s not for eating. He laughed and spit it all on the plate instead of the tissue.
He also walked in the middle of the town without a shirt and literally threw stuff at the monkeys on the eletric line, which made them scrambled inside the forest and some went to the primary school (which is infront of the forest). He was the main topic of that week gossips
#67
My parents owned a motel when I was younger. An American women stay for a night and she set the fire alarm off. She took an electric wall kettle (jug) off its heating element, put it on the stove, turned it on and gone to the bathroom. Completely destroyed the kettle and stove from what I remember.#68
Screeching, "Oh ma gawd do that again!! Say something Scaaaattish!!" (Scottish) at 8 year old me and a friend during a school trip to an art gallery. Really caught us off guard and my friend just managed to mumble, "what do you want me to say?" And they howled with laughter.#69
I used to work in a high end restaurant. Five or six course meals are the standard. So people take their time to eat, chat and enjoy the evening for at least two to three hours. It is normal to have half an hour in between meals. If we would serve faster the guest would complain about the food being served to fast.Anyway, this table of mostly local people plus one American woman being very loud with a thic, i guess, New York accent was complaining after three minutes after every course where her food was. First i explained the above. The rest of the table was also getting a bit awkward about her behavior. She kept complianing though. Telling how incredable dissapointed she was. I kept explaining that the food we serve is freshly made, it takes time to prepare. And that the whole idea is to enjoy the evening in with the people you are. She just would get concept and react with so much disbelieve. Lady you are abroad, if you want to stuff your face with food in under five minutes go to a fastfood chainbor even better stay at home.
#70
Probably only weird but when on a flight back to the UK from the US, the American lady sat next to me, started asking questions about England about 40 minutes before landing and not just like any “local recommendations” but really basic stuff like what currency do we use. It seemed like she had got on the plane knowing absolutely nothing about the UK, which blew my mind. Not just from a “haven’t you planned your trip?” POV but having the confidence to do that. She seemed to think it was a small place and everything she wanted to see would be in front of her hotel. She was very polite and lovely about it in a naive way though.#71
"Where are you from" "IM FROM DENVER COLORADO BUDDY WHERE YOU FROM" (always loud and shouting, never state America) "I'm from Torbay in Devon" "HEY BUDDY I HAVENT GOT A [friggin] CLUE WHERE THAT IS"You can always spot Americans when you travel. Or should I say hear them first. Met some lovely ones, but some who need to grasp that people outside of America aren't going to know every state and city in USA.
#72
I live in a beach tourist town in Australia. Have had numerous Americans I've encountered act like they own a patch of beach because where they're staying is adjacent to the beach.#73
I've been waiting tables during tourist seasons for about 4 years in Croatia, I've met many people, some good, some bad, but the Americans are by far the worst. The Poles come, eat, laugh, drink, pay, the French and Brits drink, laugh, but dont tip so well, the Italians are annoying but they have demands that are reasonable.However when white Americans come, they just ruin everything. They ask for food that we dont have on menu, like pizza or fast food stuff like nuggets, they try to flirt with our waitresses even when told to stop, many leave without paying, and they always, for some reason, want to split the bill.
But this one guy, this degenerate, comes into the restourant, starts yelling at all of us that he can't eat, asks us "WHY IS IT SO LOUD?" and says we have to do something about it. This [friggin] guy couldn't eat because the church bell was too loud for him, and wanted us, waiters and cooks, to ask the guy ringing the church bell to stop so the American can eat. My coleague and me chased him out, told him never to come back.
F**k that guy.
#74
I was in the American War Museum in Vietnam, really incredible of place which shows the history of the American Vietnam war, there's victims of agent orange on the top floor which was so upsetting to see.There was an American chap going around the museum with a t-shirt with an American flag and loads of guns on it and right in the middle with big bold writing Freedom the American Way.
I know people are Patriotic but there's a time and place, I thought it was pretty vile tbh.
#75
Not queuing and cutting to the front (Brit)#76
This just happened yesterday. We were in a park, where there is also a museum with a big staircase. And on the wall of the staircase there were some plaquettes commemorating the architects of the building. Their name, when they lived and a few words about them are written on them. So I think it is pretty clear what those are, even if they are in a foreign language. And next to those there are some wreaths. Just as a sign of respect and also decoration.Now onto what happened. Some tourists went there, one girl grabbed a wreath (that was attached to the wall) put it on her head like a tiara or something and started taking pictures of herself. I had to go there and tell them that this is not the purpose they are to be used for
#77
Never seen it, but if you refer to Dylan Thomas/Roald Dahl/Catherine Zeta-Jones/Shirley Bassey or any other Welsh born person as English, you will get jeered at and put straight. Also, while we appreciate attempts to at least say the odd Welsh word in conversation (it's a tough language) don't mock us outright or demand that people speak English in a way that makes you look like a dick. Just say, 'I'm sorry, I don't speak Welsh, I'm not from here'. We will switch to English. You're more likely to find language barriers in rural areas which are traditionally Welsh speaking, but as long as you are polite, you'll be fine. Do not make sheep shagging jokes in a pub unless you want your drink poured over your head.#78
I grew up in an island of Greece, which we have the biggest American base in mediterenian, one time there was an American aircarrier in the big port, and they where letting the soldiers out to take some air, from one point I get it they needed to take some fresh air and be on land etc, but they where getting drunk yelling thinking they own the world and breaking stuff. Long story short some soliders where in a local fast food place, owned by the Greek version of Redneck. As they where drunk and eating they started yelling F Greece America number one etc. The locals didn't take it very well and they ending beating them to the point that they needed hospitalisation and ambulances to take them. It was pretty much everywhere in the local news back them.Similar stories happen every time that an aircarrier comes to the island.
#79
Someone proudly stating they are scottish despite their family having lived in America for 300 years and being unable to pronounce Edinburgh.#80
I’m British but was travelling in Czechoslovakia in the 90’s. We saw a McDonald’s and decided to grab a bite. There was a really long queue in there, and at the front was a huge American guy. He fitted the stereotype perfectly, very fat and round and extremely loud. On the counter in front of him was literally the largest McDonald’s bag I have ever seen, even to this day, and he was shouting at the intimidated looking young lady behind the counter “where’s my god damn barbecue sauce? I want my god damn barbecue sauce! Just gimme the barbecue sauce!” and wouldn’t move, even with the long line of us behind him!#81
Repeat themselves over and over more slowly and more loudly each time. No b***h, it's not we're thick or hard of hearing. We speak a different language, here.#82
See them scream and say "i'm going to sue you". New Zealand has ACC so you basically can't sue for accidents as it's covered.#83
Worked in a suburban sandwich store in Australia with prices listed. US tourist lady asks “are those prices in US Dollars?”#84
In general, just being very loud.Without realising they are annoying the entire pub / restaurant / whatever, speaking at a volume that is a clear 10 - 20 dB louder than any other sound in the establishment.
Really annoys the s**t out of everybody I know, but it's note rude 'enough' to tell people off for, so the Americans will never know..
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