Foreign tourists' tips for visiting America.

[Jenamarie]

I thought this was an interesting look at American through foreign eyes. :)

(and don't worry, they're not ragging on us, just pointing out cultural differences tourists should keep in mind. )

[pam]

That's great.

[prisonchaplain]

One of the biggest cultural differences I've encountered is the American drive for one to be/feel/appear confident comes across as arrogant, selfish and not-a-good-at-team-playing.

[Quin]

Hilarious!

So true!

Q

[Palerider]

Good stuff

[classylady]

Loved the article!

[Guest]

Philippines:

It is normal to find instructions for public facilities. Having signs in different languages on how to flush the toilet doesn't mean they think you're dumb. You may find these instructions helpful because, unlike the Philippines, there are so many different types of public toilets.

[Guest LiterateParakeet]

That was really fun to read. So interesting to see how we come across to other cultures. It reminds me--I used to read a blog by a doctor in India. He visited America and when he returned home, he wrote a post all about how "America is heaven for dogs." He was amused and puzzled by the way we treat our dogs here. :)

[Quin]

That was really fun to read. So interesting to see how we come across to other cultures. It reminds me--I used to read a blog by a doctor in India. He visited America and when he returned home, he wrote a post all about how "America is heaven for dogs." He was amused and puzzled by the way we treat our dogs here. :)

My sister works with a largely African company... With most of the employees from countries that view female beauty as "Never too fat, or too rich" (This sister is a bit on the Reubanesque side, and is simply chuffed working with people who find her lovely, instead of repulsive. As I'm sure most of us would!). Anyhow, She texts me her culture-clash-isms, and you just reminded me of one of my favorites:

"America is a strange country: You feed your dogs, starve your women, and children make you poorer."

Yup.

Hole in one.

Q

[Mahone]

Just a few additional things from a British perspective. I've been back and forth to Florida enough times to make the TSA suspicious, but outside of Florida I've only been to NY.

- Most public toilets seem to be intentionally fitted so that the gaps between the walls and doors are wide enough to see clearly through for anyone nearby. It's really a little off putting. On the other hand public toilets are regularly available, clean and FOC to use - a welcome change from the UK.

- Flags. Flags everywhere. It can take a first time visitor by surprise to see it in person, even if they expected it.

- Don't be surprised when you hear the average Americans perception of modern day Britain. I married my wife in Florida, and an American guy there was dressed in a top hat, three piece suit and walking stick. At least two people asked, quite seriously, if he was my father. Another American I met here in the UK admitted he had expected to see thatched cottage houses. There also seems to be some sort of obsession with the UK, particularly among the women, which I can't quite explain.

[Dravin]

There also seems to be some sort of obsession with the UK, particularly among the women, which I can't quite explain.

I can: Jane Austen.

[Quin]

I can: Jane Austen.

Also the accent in yummy.

LOL... It's a broad stroke "accent"... We can't tell the difference between anywhere, or any class 99:100*. And we don't care.

It's all delicious.

((Similar to how most Americans (not from the south) also can't tell the difference between American Southern accents. My brother has a Manc accent, and people imitate him with this absurd BBC+Cockney love child. It makes my eyeballs fall out of my head and roll under the nearest gutter, but he finds it amusing. ))

Actually, almost all English speaking accents get dreamy eyed droves following them around. English, Irish, Scottish, South African, Aussie, NZ. Only Canada gets short shrift. They sound too much like us, so them we make fun of, ay?

Q

[dahlia]

I worked with Scandinavians. Boy, those folks can drink - and in the middle of the day, too! The way I was raised, women didn't drink beer. The Scandinavian women can down beer by the gallon. It kinda put me off a bit at first.

My Norwegian friend had heard that Americans tip, but not much else. We went out to eat and she put down a quarter. When I asked what that was for, she said it was the tip. I had to school her on what was expected. Imagine all those poor waitresses getting a 25 cents tip!

[bytebear]

"A veritable swimming pool of water greets you when you open the toilet lid and when you flush, it all goes down the drain in a huge rotating whirlpool.”

I'm a little scared. What are toilets like elsewhere?

[Guest]

"A veritable swimming pool of water greets you when you open the toilet lid and when you flush, it all goes down the drain in a huge rotating whirlpool.”

I'm a little scared. What are toilets like elsewhere?

Well for one, they don't require 5 gallons to flush. So, it's basically a little bit of water in the bowl and when it flushes, it doesn't go round and round forever because there's only a relatively small amount of water that flushes... So it goes swoosh and gone...

So, my grandma visited America, when she pees, she won't flush because it's a crime to waste all that water. She waits two or three pees before she'll flush it... So we told her, no grandma! You gotta flush every time you use the toilet because it will stink. Well, she just can't bring herself to waste all that water so she opted to pee in the shower drain and take a "tabo" (like a dipper) to wash out the pee...

Edited March 3, 2014 by anatess

[Quin]

Desert Rules : If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down!

Edit.

I take that back: If it's yellow, drink more water.

But, really, we learned that rhyme in school.

How bizarre IS that, come to think of it?

[classylady]

There have been several time when traveling in Europe where I've taken pictures of the loo. I guess foreigners here in the States aren't the only ones fascinated by the different types of toilets.

[dahlia]

My Norwegian friend told me that in the old parts of Copenhagen (she went to school in Denmark), the toilets have a grid in the bowl to keep the rats from climbing up out of the sewers.

As the nuns used to say, Mary, Mother of Mercy!

[MorningStar]

I stayed in Austria for 5 weeks and I remember the bathrooms smelling pretty horrible, probably because of the lack of water in the toilets.

[Quin]

My Norwegian friend told me that in the old parts of Copenhagen (she went to school in Denmark), the toilets have a grid in the bowl to keep the rats from climbing up out of the sewers.

As the nuns used to say, Mary, Mother of Mercy!

My 14yo neighbor in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) got bit by a cobra that swam up the toilet plumbing.

Q