Misanthrope Time
Jul. 22nd, 2004 12:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rebness
Why is it that people conform to national stereotypes when abroad? Here are some examples of sucky things people of various nationalities did in Paris, rather than simply blaming it on the poor Americans for once...heehee...
NB...this rant is sort of tongue-in-cheek...no offence meant to any nationality.
The English
I'll start off with my countrymen...
Granted, English people rock because they will queue. Hell, Chris and I queued at Versailles without even knowing what we were queuing for.. However, I suspect that other nations think we are idiots for doing this, if we note their grins as we glare in polite disbelief as the dastards skip the Holy Queue. It's just not cricket, chaps.
But yes, we are annoying, too. And it's that old snootiness.
The very, very worst example of this was at Pere-Lachaise cemetery. A French girl had hand-written a note in English and left it at Oscar Wilde's grave, praising his books, expressing sympathy for him and wondering whatever happened to ruin him so completely.
We were standing there when this stupid Englishman (in socks and sandals, dare I mention) came up and read the letter. "Well," he sneered, "someone's stupid. Everyone knows why Wilde left England. And look! She's spelt this word wrong."
Yes, you damned idiot, everyone knows why Wilde left England. It was because of sneering, contemptuous people like yourself. Please remember that it was the English who destroyed him, and there really isn't anything noble in sneering at the spelling of someone who writes in a second language.
Admittedly, this is one of my biggest faults. I'm an intellectual snob, a grammar Nazi, a literary snob... this horrid man was like a wake-up call, though I still hate gross stupidity.
Americans
I'm in two minds about Americans in Paris. On the one hand, they've paid vast amounts of money and made a huge effort to come and see Europe. They're immensely interested in the history and culture and despite the stupidity of Freedom Fries and Dubya's efforts to alienate Europeans as much as possible, they've still chosen to visit us as opposed to, I dunno, a mid-west Cheese Fayre.
On the other hand.
Why are they so loud? I swear that this is a phenonemon only heard in Europe. In America, Americans are friendly and quieter.
In Europe, particuarly Paris, they shout. You're at the Louvre, losing yourself in a painting: "OH MY GAWD! IT'S A DA VINCI!"
You're standing in the Conciergerie, reading up on the history plaques. A stupid woman stands there and reads the entire damned plaque in a loud voice to the woman at her side who is reading the same plaque anyway whilst the French, Canadian and British visitors glare at the ignorant woman.
You're at the entrance to Notre-Dame and a lady comes out and explains that there is a problem with a portion of the tower. It may not be safe for visitors and they're calling engineers in. Could we possibly return in an hour's time?
American woman: Why are they taking so long?
American man: (contemptuous) Because they're French.
Honestly. American visitors-- I swear to God, Europeans spend 90% of our time feeling superior to everyone else. We are truly not impressed that you shout and you uphold stupid stereotypes to try and get one over us. Thank you for visiting our continent. Now please lower your voices a few decibels and stop trying to shove in front of the queue.
To be fair, we did meet some really nice Americans. We were dying of heat on the metro and a couple of young men who were also nearly fainting with the heat got talking to us... a great thing about Americans such as them abroad is their abject friendliness. It really does put us to shame.
Australians
Dude! Again, it must be pretty cool to come such a long way. But if you are seriously going to sit there and whine about how cold Europe is, and how much you suffer because you're used to furnace-type heat, at least try and give it some relevance by putting on something more than a floaty top and thin skirt.
Also, you're not the only country in the world that doesn't have an Eiffel tower, so don't come out with such nonsense. About the only other country that does is America, so be quiet.
Spanish
The most amazing thing about the Spanish visitors we encountered was that not only did they push in front of queues, but one cheeky bint actually invited her entire group to join her at the head of the queue in the Louvre and glared at everyone when they tried to stop it!
French
Quelle horreur!
One simple request: If I talk to you in French, don't fecking reply in English. Great, you can speak my language. I'm trying to speak yours—humour me. If I didn't speak French, you'd certainly reply to my stuttering attempts in French.
There. Now I think I've alienated 90% of my Friends list. Ah, well. ;-)
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no subject
Date: 2004-07-23 01:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-23 04:31 am (UTC)I know...I'm kind of like...uh-oh. But yeah, they're just opinions and 'tis meant to be silleh. ;-)
*sighs dreamily* My beloved Guardian.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-23 04:49 am (UTC)Did you know that foreign folk and anybody who embraces the EU is evil?
Neither did I until.. *taps The Sun*
no subject
Date: 2004-07-23 05:06 am (UTC)I guess the rest of us Englishwomen aren't quite good enough. :p
Now, back to cleaning behind the 'fridge... ooh, there's rubbish all behind it. At last, use for The Sun...
no subject
Date: 2004-07-26 04:37 am (UTC)"BECKHAM GETS UP IN THE MORNING!"
no subject
Date: 2004-07-23 07:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-02 05:16 am (UTC)If it's any consolation, think about how silly Bax, Christian and I were giggling everyone talked about their "fanny." Heehee!
no subject
Date: 2004-08-01 11:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-02 05:15 am (UTC)