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ORIGINAL: FelineFae

Americans.

In Korea, one could hardly sleep for all the drunken US soldiers playing paintball in the ally-ways.

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ORIGINAL: geilematz

I grew up and live in a European tourist resort so I have seen tourists all my life...
so ... my personal favourites of course:
1) the Japanese ... always in huge crowds always smiling always making photos ... usually they seem to be on one of these "Europe in 7 days" trips so indeed it's Munich sightseeing bus at 9 for 1 hour, out - getting fed and to the loo within 95 minutes to get the plane to Rome at 12.38 to see the Colosseum, eat a pizza, catch the plane to Madrid where they sleep to leave next day for Paris, not to forget London in the afternoon ... no wonder they make pics to remember what they saw and where and stay together all the time not to get lost...
2) the USAmericans - sticking out like a sore thumb (always delighted when recognised as Americans but never wondering why that is so easy ...) - often travelling in pairs (middle-aged) - mostly displaying signs of a cultural shock (ooooooo how pictoresque those natives are ... it looks so civilised in some way but also sooooo different from the US of A ... do u think they sterilize door knobs here???? - never seen food like that do u think it is real food, I mean, despite people eat it here, replied by hubby "lack of proper processing to get a decent burger from it" ...oooooo look at these tiny cars ... know what I mean?). No one on earth nowadays wears tartan trousers (male) and 50s style streamline sunglasses (female) but American tourists in Europe ... does someone specially recommend these as some kind of travel kit????
3) the rude behaviour when drunk competition ... I guess at the moment a draw between the English (yes English not British) and the Germans - all male travel groups in their 20s/early 30s favourite battleground Mallorca - but easily to be avoided except u happen to book a hotel near some of the favourite watering holes of one of the 2 nations ...
they never dare to behave like that at home and that's the point probably ... (oh I forgot: no longer exclusively male behaviour, ask the natives of Cork or Dublin about the effect of hen night tour packages offered by British travel agencies ..)
4) backpackers of all nations united ... usually very sweet people and friendly and nice and a pleasure to talk to ... and if one meets someone who is really interested in where he or she is right now and you/me/the native and you offer something like:"maybe this afternoon I could show you something really interesting which is not in the usual travel guide books" you get the reply "thanks but have to catch the next train to xyz ..."
5) Swedes and Finns on baltic ferries ... no need to explain any more if once encountered ... to quote Douglas Adams: "mostly harmless"
6) the Dutch in their mobile homes ... always on the lookout to get red balloons of water (called tomatoes in NL) and bricks of yellow cardboard (called cheese in NL) in every food store in Europe ...

all in all tolerable except when a busload of tourists storms your home garden to peek through ur living room windows and see how the natives live ... Africans and Asians must have felt that way when the first European tourists got there ...


P.S.: not to forget: a hearty welcome to the nouveau-riche Russians and the young dynamic westernized Chinese - spending money like there's no tomorrow (making them very popular with waiters, less so with waitresses ...) ... the Russian barbies popularising fur coats again the closer to extinction the better - wearing them in Rome in August is an idea nobody else could get ...
It looks as if Russians/Ukrainians and Turks are opening another ugly tourist competition these last few years - visiting tourists of one nation treating the visited natives of the other like the lowest form of crap on Earth ... works both ways of course

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my Grandfather said to me, AGES ago, and I have since found it to be true: " learn how to say AT LEAST: please, thank you, and hello in the language of whatever country you visit... it makes all KINDS of difference in how you are perceived.. and the more you learn the better off you will be"

He was absolutely right... I've had the same wise lesson of mine

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I spent two extended visits in Amsterdam a few years back and tried really hard to use the language. But whenever I did, the Dutch people (even my friends that I stayed with)

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"As a finishing touch, God created the Dutch!"

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ORIGINAL: geilematz
3) the rude behaviour when drunk competition ... I guess at the moment a draw between the English (yes English not British) and the Germans - all male travel groups in their 20s/early 30s favourite battleground Mallorca - but easily to be avoided except u happen to book a hotel near some of the favourite watering holes of one of the 2 nations ...
they never dare to behave like that at home and that's the point probably ...

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ORIGINAL: sunshinemiss

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ORIGINAL: FelineFae

Americans.

In Korea, one could hardly sleep for all the drunken US soldiers playing paintball in the ally-ways.

You shoulda gotten out of Itaewon! I can't stand going up there for that very reason.

***********************

So.... let's see - to my eye there are 2 parts here - entertaining and irritating.

Entertaining - I'm going to say the Japanese. It's like "KILL THE EIFFEL TOWER". They don't EXPERIENCE the place they are at. It's all about the photos. I've seen them all over the world and can spot them in a second.

Irritating - sorry, but the USA. Very demanding. They want what they want exactly how they want it immediately. A friend of a friend came to So. America, and I agreed to take her around to the mercado (where they sell all manner of things - food, souvenirs, clothes, etc.). I had to walk away from her because she was being so condescending and nasty. She came up to me and (to her credit) asked, "Am I being an ugly American?" I told her yes and that I needed to disassociate myself from her so that her attitude / behavior didn't bite ME in the ass the next week when I went to the same place to buy things I needed to buy. She stopped being nasty right away.

We are so individual, believing we deserve everything as we want it that we lose sight of the culture we are in. I've learned a lot by watching tourists... mostly how NOT to behave.

best,
sunshine

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ORIGINAL: MaxsBoy

As a former New Yorker, I have to say Japan or Germany.  Neither seem to have much concept of traffic flow on crowded sidewalks/subways.

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ORIGINAL: rulemylife

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ORIGINAL: MaxsBoy

As a former New Yorker, I have to say Japan or Germany.  Neither seem to have much concept of traffic flow on crowded sidewalks/subways.

Speaking of traffic flow, ask anyone from Florida how scary it is when you see a license plate from Ontario or Quebec.

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ORIGINAL: Charnegui

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"As a finishing touch, God created the Dutch!"

Oh? You mean it was not? Really?

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ORIGINAL: windchymes
Next time I visit, I'll just have to hang out with you....I think I'd have a much more fun time! Ja???

Ich vil stroopwaffels en kipperling! Lekker!!!!

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ORIGINAL: windchymes
This is interesting. I spent two extended visits in Amsterdam a few years back and tried really hard to use the language. But whenever I did, the Dutch people (even my friends that I stayed with) would either roll their eyes or mock me, saying the Dutch phrase back to me while exaggerating my mispronounciation instead of trying to help me. Then they would just use their heavily-accented English. One girl said, 'I wish they would just use English, we do speak it, you know!'

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ORIGINAL: GreedyTop

awaress.. it is my personal opinion that you are a twat to the Nth degree.

yes, I will get a gold letter for this, and at this point, I have restrained myself enough and LONG enough that I'll take it, and happily.  You come across as an arrognat, ethnocentric idiot, and the fact that you have not GOTTEN that from the numerous replies to your hateful posts just says to me that you are a hopeless narcissist.