John D. Giorgis wrote:
<Jeroen?>
>>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.
First off, I can't imagine most people *not* buying a guidebook before
visiting another country. *I* did (and lost it in a hostel down in Franz
Josef, worse luck), and I read it, too, which I sometimes wonder if
others have.
Second, people- and I still say Americans in particular- *don't* act in a
way that would be considered civilized in *any* country; that's the
problem. They seem to believe that since they're in a different country
they can be complete jerks. I once heard an American couple, while
sitting in a Kiwi resturant, having a very loud conversation about how
"quaint" and "backwards" these folks were, and how they didn't have any
"real" cities, and all their silly little quirks like using metric and
driving on the wrong side of the road. A couple of the students I was
around during orientation tried to sneak into the Maori marae to take
pictures even though we'd been expressly told it was forbidden. That kind
of thing is, well, disrespectful. To say the least. And I doubt it would
be considered good behaviour *anywhere*.
To be fair, it seems to be a tourist trait more than an American trait.
But I had someone say to me yesterday, "I would have thought all
Americans were loud and annoying if I hadn't met you" and people
routinely assume I am either a) Canadian or b) Dutch (why Dutch? I don't
know. Because I'm blonde or something?) and express considerable
incredulity when I say I am an American- usually because I'm too "nice".
Kat Feete
---------------
"Now we've got a truth to die for!"
"No. Men should die for lies. But the truth is too precious
to die for."
--Terry Pratchett
