At 10:39 2-6-01 -0400, John Giorgis wrote:
> >Anyway, cultural differences are not an excuse for being loudmouthed when
> >you're a tourist from an other country. When you visit an other country
> >(either as a tourist or on business) you are a guest in an other people's
> >country; it's nothing more than common decency to behave yourself according
> >to their customs.
>
>Sure, if the American tourists debarked the plane and were handed a book on
>Dutch customs, that would be one thing. But if they simply go to another
>country, and continue to act in ways that they would consider perfectly
>civilized in America, and nobody politely informs them of the difference in
>custom, then that is another thing.
You know, John, that's why there are people who write books about other
countries -- so you can read about those countries' customs before you go
there. If you can afford to spend hundreds of dollars on a plane ticket,
and hundreds more when you reach your holiday destination, surely you can
afford $15 or so to buy a good book about your destination... Sonja and I
did that on all three of our trips abroad (Thailand, London, Paris), and
they turned out to be very useful.
Tip #1: buy the guides published by Lonely Planet -- very good value-for-money.
Tip #2: spend a few dollars more, and also buy Lonely Planet's "Phrase
Book" for the country you're going to. It teaches you the basics of the
local language; you won't learn to speak it fluently, but you'd be
surprised to see how much people will do for you if you know some basic
phrases like "good morning", "hello" and "thank you" in the local language.
Tip #3: keep those books in your hand luggage; chances are they'll come in
handy as soon as you get off the plane. Example: the LP's guide for
Thailand even mentions which bus lines you can take to get from Bangkok
Int'l Airport to downtown -- which turned out to be vital information
because the people who were supposed to pick us up at the airport weren't
there.
Jeroen
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