10 things you never say in a foreign country

[Rarediamonds & Gold]

10) You people smell funny, what is wrong, y'all never heard of showers before.

9) That is about the dumbest custom I have ever heard of...

8) Hey you, get a real motorcycle. Harley Davidson would be ashamed if they would have sen you riding that there moped.

7) I think you need to consider professional dentistry

6) Ya know, convicts and weirdoes originally settled this country

5) Hey, is this sacred burial ground that I am walking on?

4) If they cleaned this place up, they would get more tourism...

3) Over in America, this is considered a wussy sport

2) Is it safe to drink the water? (If you have to ask, then it's not)

And the number one thing you never say in a foreign country is...

1) you may consider it to be a delicacy, but where I am from, it just ain't right to eat peppered turtles and worms.

[Adbulmalick]

American are great at saying those things; more so, when they are travelling abroad. No wonder - they are stigmatized as "The Ugly Americans."!

[kam297]

also dont say 'chinpokomon' in japan

[Shirin]

I don't think somehow that those are the right sort of things to be saying even in your own country, somehow.
I used to spend summers accompanying American high school students around Italy and I often foung myself indignant and hysterical by turns... Bars here don't usually put ice into drinks, and they tend to be small by American standards... thus when these people wold ask for ice in their coke the would get one or two cubes in a glass ... and they'd often get upset -- you call that ICE??? they'd say --- and the barman would say, you want ICE or you want COKE? shaking his head. But it's not just the things people say, it's how you dress and act that gives foreigners a bad name. Italians are pretty tolerant though!

[johnd]

I know one thing, If I go to Pakistan, I am not saying Assalama-Allakum. Minimum three years of jail, and more..
Or if I say Kalima, Done.... History... Gone forever.

[Elmo with headphones]

I agree with Shirin.

I'll tell ya one thing, Americans (not wanting to sound biased)are very ignorant people. They have all these assumptions about other places, and are certain they're absoultely right in their regards. You might wanna watch the "I am.." commercials and it's not just catchy phrases, its mostly true.

Right then, Windsor Ontario is just across the border from Detroit. JUST across a bridge. A few Americans tourists came from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Windsor and were shocked to find 'no snow and beavers'. I was shocked they were asking us such questions, they had hardly driven a few hours! What was most shocking was it was June!! Talk about ignorance. As if the moment they step into Canada, you'll have snow and igloos and what not.

I've seen Americans sewing the Canadian badge onto their backpacks while trekking in England. What's that all about?

[Elmo with headphones]

Actually I doubt they were originally from Michigan cuz they had a southern twang in their accent. Prolly from Georgia or some-other. Grand rapids was their last US stop. But it they could figure out there was 'no snow' in mihigan, how could there be frost just a few more hours north in ontario.

[outlaw]

Dear Shirin, Italy is notorious for its small portions of food and beverages in restaurants. When I moved to Canada from States after spending considerable time, I noticed the same thing that jumbo sized soda isn't jumbo enough according to American standards and seldomly it has enough ice in it.
Same principle implies in broader ramifications. For instance, Americans build 100,000 seat stadiums for even their college football teams. Unimaginable task in any other country.

[This message has been edited by outlaw (edited May 08, 2000).]

[outlaw]

Elmo, you sound so biased . I think Canada is an accession to the US and is going through a phase of serious identity crisis. There's no such thing as Canadian culture. Therefore, Joe Canadian commercial is such a big hit.

[Elmo with headphones]

outlaw, that was precisely why I typed in brackets -at the risk of sounding biased-. I have nothing 'against' Americans, why should I. But I've come across some really negative examples of them displaying their lack of knowledge of countries other than their own. Prolly the media or whatever that feeds them such assumptions.
And you're right, there is nothing as Canadian culture. At least not completely. While the US is a big melting pot for different races, Canada is more a mosaic of diversity.

[outlaw]

Dear Elmo, one thing I noticed about Canadians is that they are very well traveled individuals. More than Americans, in general.
Therefore, Canadians acquire a more broader view on the global issues and cultures.