Esterina

^^^ Pathetic but hilarious !


I will add to that list Israelis, I've heard everyone complaining about them in Kathmandu, and... well, I was among the complainers! They basically invaded Thamel (tourist quarter) and yelled every time something didn't fit their standards, which in a third world city means, they were yelling all day long ! They were the youth coming back from their compulsary military service, and as understandable that their needs for freedom was, it doesn't justify them being rude and condescending.

I won't repeat what they said, just imagine all swears possible, told off to the locals.

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lauren313

Ooh Mike, I'm kinda curious to know what people say about English travellers!

maracle

Israeli's are definitely a bit different than many travelers, makes me want to see what the culture is like in Israel. They definitely aren't shy to tell you what they want or what they don't like. I assume it's a bit like the French being blunt about politics...they do it like that at home too and it's perfectly normal and not meant to be rude.

I have hung out with Israelis several times and they know how to party!!!! One of my core rules for travel is now "never try to out-drink or out-dance an Israeli." Hehe.



As for the English, they seem fairly normal to me, I guess I'd say they are a bit obsessed with beer. Not that there is anything wrong with that!

Anyway I hate to generalize because obviously everyone is different...

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Esterina

Yes maybe, but when we travel, we are the foreigners and we should respect the locals and adapt to the culture. That's a general rule -whatever the country of origin, and I guess the purpose of this thread. Being called «f*****g idiot» is understood as an insult by Nepalis though...

As Mike pointed out, people complain about tourists from everywhere. The main problem is when one group outnumbers the other tourists, they usually feel too much "at home"...

As per Israelis, I've travelled myself with a few of them, solo or couple, and they were lovely.

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raoulduke

Americans are definitely easy targets for this sort of thing. Sure they can be loud and obnoxious occasionaly but they generally are friendly and mean well. The only (small) group of people who actually went out of there way to make me feel like shit were Australians.

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aliz

haha, i was just thinking that the people who hate australian travellers the most are other australians.. and I guess the Londoners probably get sick of us...

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maracle

If I ever manage to meet any of you I want to know if I'm a loud talker, since that is apparently the book on Americans

I guess I should chip in with the dumbest thing I've heard a tourist say...I was in a cafe in Cuzco, and this older couple sat down at a table near me. Definite tourists with the camera and the whole bit. My memory is fuzzy but they were either English or Australian. Anyway, the guy was trying to say yes to the waiter...by saying very slowly "yes....yyyeeeeessss" How does anyone spend 5 minutes in south america and not figure out how to say yes in spanish (or not know that just in general for that matter)?!

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expatben

Wanna story about English travelers? I was at Pearson airport in Toronto when I came across an English tourist-he was yelling at a security guard because he had the nerve to ask for his ticket before he could cross into another area. Eventually after yelling at him he did in fact show him his ticket.
I have met some cool English tourists but I have also heard of drunken yobs who take over what ever town they are in-and I think we all remember the problem of football hooliganism.

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raoulduke

A mate and I were at the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai, We were deciding what to drink and he asked the bartender what local beers they have. I had to quietly explain that Muslim countries aren't big on making beer.

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MeTurk

Lol.. It's just the done thing. All the Americans I've met have been sound and that includes the one's I met in America.

I can just imagine what the complaints about the Irish would be. I think we have a comical stereotype that people seem to like so we get away with it. We can be loud, drunken ejits and it's ok, "They're Irish"

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Skoey

We are all drunks.


Which is normally true :d

joe7f

^Actually a lot Polish girls won't even talk to American guys because they assume we're English. English guys apparently have quite the womanizing hellraising reputation in Eastern Europe with the rise in stag parties.

--Joey

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worldwidemike

Sorry I've been absent so long. But yes, the most common complaint I've heard about English travelers is that all they're interested in is getting pissed. Could be some magnificent castle just around the corner, but the only one they seem to make it to is the corner of the bar.

Stereotype, of course. I myself met two English guys in Syria and we had a magnificent time renting a car together and checking out some of the castles and other historical sights.

My point was simply that no nationality, in all likelihood, is immune from complaints about them by other tourists or locals. Then again, I think most of us agree with that anyway, and I'm just babbling...again....!

worldwidemike

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pinknic38

Well I've got a few new ones in my recent travels, one being my favorite "idiot" story abroad. I would have to impersonate it to really get you all to understand my staring at this man in abject horror, but I will try to explain it.

So I'm in this little coffee shop in Munich. You know coffee shops have pastries in the glass showcases with the glass top? Well I'm behind this man who is an American, quite obviously from Arkansas or somewhere in that general area cos he leans on the glass, does this tapping thing with his hands on the glass as he's looking around about to order, and says, "well, guten tag and all that..." He went on to order but I was so hung up on the way he said "guten tag"... Just like it looks, plus extreme HILLBILLY accent... "guu-ten tahhg"

I was too stunned to say anything or react for awhile but on the subway back to the hostel I burst out laughing about it.

Gotta give ol boy props for attempting German I guess haha. The girl waiting on him just had this "are you serious?" look on her face.

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ChasinJason1313

Location: A pub on the ring of Kerry in Ireland, March 2003, 3 days after the start of the Iraq war.

Tour bus lets off at this pub that I and my family are having lunch at and these sterotypical American tourists unload into this pub, loud as hell and everything. Jackass number 1 who is wearing a denim, sleveless jacket and cowboy hat shouts three tables away to another guy, "Hey! You think they got any freedom fries in this place?"

I wanted to slap him and turn in my passport right there, jeez.

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indierock05

I have moved to Australia and have found out that the sound of a full on American accent tortures me. Not a pretty thing.

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mish99

I think the funniest thing for me...coming from South Africa...is people asking me if I live in mud huts and have pet lions. Truly amazing I must say!!!

I was in a pub the other day and this guy found out I was from South Africa, and he asked me if my parents were black.....I happen to be white.....haha.

Sometimes its good to 'play along' and make up stories about how poor Timmy got eated by a lion on the way to school becuase he couldnt get over the fence. And make up a tribal name. I get a good laugh out of this!!!! But I do eventually say im talking crap and people get upset.

simply_angelic

Haha that's like this guy who did the same program as me except he was in a different group. Apparently when he arrived in Jo'berg...JOBERG he was shocked that there weren't lions roaming the streets and ellies everywhere, lol.

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I had a Dutch girl ask me why everyone in the United States worships cheerleaders and why they play such a prominent role in our society. I could only answer "Because...they are AWESOME!"

Edit: My father suggested later that I tell her that George Bush's cheerleading background in college was a crucial tipping point in the 2000 election since Al Gore had no real life cheerleading experience.

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toby c

Well, this could get kind of long, the jackass tourist, being my best friend, i have a fair amount to say. We went to Rome with a few other people, had made plans about a year before, stayed for ten days, slept in a convent most of the time right by the piazza navona.
flew out of philly and hit the duty free shop first, i got some toblerone, he got a bottle of bombay blue sapphire. we get to rome, first night we decide to go to a little outdoor cafe to get food and overcome jet lag.
we split up for a brief amount of time, he drinks a quarter of the bottle and runs into some gypsies. finds his way to us, i have to order him some food. food comes and eventually he just passes out of his chair onto the street right in front of some wandering minstrels. some others of our group go to help him, i want nothing to do with the situation so strike up a conversation with some elderlies at a neighboring table. eventually he starts swinging at our friends and knocks some chairs over.
i get up go restrain him and walk away. im taking him back to the convent and he starts grabbing at peoples purses on the way, not doing anything, but making them feel like theyre getting pick-pocketed. and im just going down the street explaining to everyone in loose italian how he's very drunk and something about gypsies and scuzi and all that jazz.
a few days later he finishes the bottle in the middle of the night, relieves himself on some one elses bags, and then proceeds to spoon some other person in the room, ultimately causing us to get him on a plane the next day. very upsetting to be in another country and have to babysit half the time, although i had my fair share of drink, im not saying im a saint, yet i could keep my composure.
the "hidden information" was that a few weeks before we left we found out that his mom had terminal brain cancer, but she still wanted us to go, he got back to see her, but she was gone by the time i got back, so i suppose it was for the best.