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Insolent tourists: counterattack? | ||
Tags: Travel | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages |  | |
| Marikki Tetraglot Senior Member Finland Joined 5306 days ago 130 posts - 210 votes  Speaks: Finnish*, English, Spanish, Swedish Studies: German | Message 9 of 32 26 February 2011 at 6:37pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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The worst and also funniest thing I have encountered was an american tourist insulting my currency :)
I was in a big department store in Helsinki, Finland when an american lady pointed with her finger something and asked me, another customer, "How much?" . I found the price tag and told her " xx euros". Her response was "Oh, I meant how much money that costs". At that point I was feeling a little bit bitchy and pretended I didn't understand what she meant with "money" until she told "american dollars". To tell the truth I didn't feel insulted but amused. To her euros were probably comparable to squirrel pelts as a currency. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| psy88 Senior Member United States Joined 5402 days ago 469 posts - 882 votes Studies: Spanish*, Japanese, Latin, French | Message 11 of 32 27 February 2011 at 2:16am | IP Logged | ||||||||
I have heard American tourists ask how much something cost in "real money", i.e. US dollars. Sad but true. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| ilperugino Pentaglot Groupie Portugal Joined 4985 days ago 56 posts - 75 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: Mandarin | Message 12 of 32 27 February 2011 at 11:54am | IP Logged | ||||||||
The other currency is monopoly money, as it is the country, and I´m refering to any kind of - let´say - insolent tourist. They treat us as dummies, monopoly people: I once saw in Italy (Florence) an american woman asking in a very distinctive... English (!) that she wanted "vanilla, chocolate and etc". in her ice-cream! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Marikki Tetraglot Senior Member Finland Joined 5306 days ago 130 posts - 210 votes Speaks: Finnish*, English, Spanish, Swedish Studies: German | Message 13 of 32 27 February 2011 at 1:17pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Well, let's not forget what it is like to be a confused tourist in a distant country. I happen to have very fresh
memories about my very own blunders and the awkward moments when my ignorance and confusion must have appeard to locals as either arrogance or idiotism. The American lady I told about earlier was in fact very warm and friendly just like the most Americans I have met are. She told me that her group had just arrived to Finland from Russia and the next day they would "do" Sweden and Norway. So maybe she felt that the consept of "currency" just was something too overwhelming in her situation.. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| hjordis Senior Member United States snapshotsoftheworld. Joined 4997 days ago 209 posts - 264 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Spanish, Japanese | Message 15 of 32 27 February 2011 at 7:06pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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| ruskivyetr Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5292 days ago 769 posts - 962 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish, Russian, Polish, Modern Hebrew | Message 16 of 32 27 February 2011 at 7:28pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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When abroad, I'm generally hard to spot as a tourist, mainly because I don't act like the usual "obnoxious" tourist
(and I'm not just talking about American tourists, every nation has it's irritating tourists). Just this past week I was away on vacation. When I flew back to New York, I wasn't in the best of moods. Now flying into JFK is a normal thing for me...it's going home. However, to these two people from the South (I was flying up from there) it was like a big magical land they had never seen before, when to me it was just home. I was kind of irritated about their "happy go lucky" behavior, but then again taking a red eye isn't very fun :P. It's about perspective. Some people can't conceal their excitement at visiting a new place, and therefore emit symptoms of "obnoxious tourist syndrome". If people are rude and aren't respectful of your country, its customs, or your people, then by all means politely tell them off. However, if people are just excited to be in a new place, then don't rain on their parade, even if they are being obnoxious. Edited by ruskivyetr on 27 February 2011 at 7:31pm 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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