An example of why other countries hate Americans

[jon@af]

So, my wife is currently in South Korea, about 2 hours outside of Seoul, teaching English at Korea Nazarene University to some of the local children. While she has been there, I've heard several stories of the people she is with and their less than mature manner of handling themselves in a foreign country. Things like making a game out of going up to random Koreans and being loud and obnoxious in English to see how they react, singing loudly as they walk down the street and generally trying to bring attention to themselves has been the basic factor of most of the stories I have heard about these people she traveled there with - most of them either graduating college this year or already graduated, like herself - hoping to foster a positive image of American citizens.

Now, as embarrassed as those instances were to her and as immature as they may have seemed, I was told a story this morning of a recent happening that solidified for me at least one reason why it is no wonder that other countries hate us.

and the conversation went:

Originally Posted by Tania Swigart at 11:40 p.m. Tuesday KST

Tania:
so, I went to Lotte Mart (like Wal Mart) with Jared, Tim, Ashley, Andrea and Hannah and boy was that a mistake.

I am never going anywhere ever again with them!
it was so horrible!

Andrea has this game at her school they decided to play,which would be fine in America, but NOT in a foreign country.

If you say the word "mine" you have to do 10 push ups wherever you are
so yeah, middle of the street, supermarket, etc. there were these crazy Americans doing push ups.

Then we went to a bakery. I sat and watched the stuff while everyone else got something. They bought a cake, candles and party hats and wore them down the street yelling the happy birthday song.

Then we got in the elevator and there was a Korean kid in there
in the middle of us going up, Tim OPENED the door and the emergency sirens went off and we jerked to a stop
they thought it was so funny. Then Jared decided to scream at the top of this lungs while we were stuck there for a few seconds. I was so embarrassed.

Then they walked through the halls singing happy birthday and some of the kids thought it was their birthday and they started singing too.
I've never met most of these people but already I don't think I ever want to
You left the chat.

And, here is the kicker. In the elevator, after Tim opened the door Andrea says "we are representing America and your school" (meaning Olivet) and then starts laughing!

At first she was afraid she was taking professionalism too seriously with these people, but she (and I) have come to the conclusion that these people do not have the slightest idea how to respect other cultures or even themselves.

It wouldn't piss me off as much if it were stupid little kids that didn't know better who were going into this country making asses of themselves. At least then it's slightly passable because they're just kids. But we're talking adults. And the kicker is, one of the guys is a guy I went to school with who graduated with me with a degree in political science!

Just a word of advice for those of you from the U.S. that plan to travel abroad... EVER. Don't act like these assholes.

This probably could fit under stress release, but it's more out of astonishment than outright anger that I post this.

But yes, as the thread title says, if you're wondering why so many countries think we're idiots, it's because we have idiots representing us in foreign countries. Go figure.

[fredjacksonsan]

I see that the perception of Americans overseas is well deserved.

[drunken monkey]

I think the difference between the opinions of what other people have of Americans and what Americans think of other peoples is this:

Other countries' opinions of Americans is based on what they see from their own experience of American people.
American people's opinions of other countries' people is based on what they see on television.

How accurate is that?

[MagicRat]

^^ good point^^

I blame, in part, the poor education that American children receive about other countries; For example, how many Americans are forced to take American history, in school? (Everyone, right?)
Now, how many are forced to take European history or history of ancient civilizations?

Also, imo (to a certain extent) misguided patriotism that emphasizes "America is the best" is a problem here.
Some people take this to mean that other countries and cultures are not worthy of respect. Many American have little interest about learning about others.

As an example of this contempt, in recent years, some American journalists and writers etc, were encouraging the public to hate the French. The French????
France is the cradle of Western civilization and liberal democracy, upon which the US is based!! How does this make sense??

This is frustrating because pretty much all Americans I have met are very nice , but are still disliked overseas.

Finally, American foreign policy, such as support for Israel and certain recent military campaigns have tainted much foreign opinion of individual Americans, undeservedly so.

[jon@af]

Originally Posted by MagicRat

^^ good point^^

I blame, in part, the poor education that American children receive about other countries; For example, how many Americans are forced to take American history, in school? (Everyone, right?)
Now, how many are forced to take European history or history of ancient civilizations?

Also, imo (to a certain extent) misguided patriotism that emphasizes "America is the best" is a problem here.
Some people take this to mean that other countries and cultures are not worthy of respect. Many American have little interest about learning about others.

As an example of this contempt, in recent years, some American journalists and writers etc, were encouraging the public to hate the French. The French????
France is the cradle of Western civilization and liberal democracy, upon which the US is based!! How does this make sense??

This is frustrating because pretty much all Americans I have met are very nice , but are still disliked overseas.

Finally, American foreign policy, such as support for Israel and certain recent military campaigns have tainted much foreign opinion of individual Americans, undeservedly so.

I couldn't agree more with the both of you and it really saddens me to say that (not because of you, but because you're so right).

I can only hope that when my wife and I have children, we teach our children the value of respecting other cultures, especially when immersed in them.

And I really do think that there should be ancient civilizations taught in school. It was taught at my high school and I took it in college, but I know that not all schools offer such a course.

side note: I think I'm going to move this to politics.

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by drunken monkey

American people's opinions of other countries' people is based on what they see on television.

How accurate is that?

This thread should have been moved to stress release.



I have opinions of people from other countries and their governments and it is not from TV either. I have 6 years in Germany, 3 years in Saudi Arabia and 3 years in S. Korea and visited many more. I never had any problems worth mentioning. .....

[Oz]

I think it's been eloquently expressed here already - Americans tend to be Ignorant about cultures outside their own and think America is the best without having much to compare it to. Combining the two usually results in loud, obnoxious Americans abroad. Not that I can comment - Aussies are just as bad and usually a lot more drunk.

I'll never forget telling a Texan I was from Australia and he praised my good English and asked how long it took to drive to Switzerland?!

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by Oz

I'll never forget telling a Texan I was from Australia and he praised my good English and asked how long it took to drive to Switzerland?!

Bob??

[03cavPA]

Originally Posted by J_Swigz

I can only hope that when my wife and I have children, we teach our children the value of respecting other cultures, especially when immersed in them.

That's the key. Too many children have not been taught respect for anything, let alone other cultures.

Screw everybody else; it's all about 'me'. We only have to look around to see where that got us.

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by '97ventureowner

Bob??

Nope can't be me since I've been to Switzerland so I know where it is at geographically.

On the the issue of Australia members of our U.S. Navy love it there and the female population appears to like Americans more than the males. My nephew lost his virginity to a nice Sheila there.

Of course there are bad Americans abroad or a few bad apples but there are many more that represent the U.S. with honor and good character. As I mentioned earlier I've never had any issues in any foreign country I've lived in or visited.

[drunken monkey]

And that's the other truism;

people only tend to remember the bad.

[YogsVR4]

As I mentioned earlier I've never had any issues in any foreign country I've lived in or visited.

Neither has my wife or I.

I think it's been eloquently expressed here already - Americans tend to be Ignorant about cultures outside their own and think America is the best without having much to compare it to. Combining the two usually results in loud, obnoxious Americans abroad. Not that I can comment - Aussies are just as bad and usually a lot more drunk.

I'll never forget telling a Texan I was from Australia and he praised my good English and asked how long it took to drive to Switzerland?!

I think that presumption is incorrect. Sure, there are people who totally miss the boat on learning other people culture, but its also true that nobody knows everyone elses. I'm familiar with Korea, China (eastern side), French but I don't know squat about Ethepian, Russian and others. In one country I fit in fine, in the other I'd hear people say I'm an ignorant American.

I wonder if that guy in Texas thought you said Austria. You know you folks from down under have one hell of an accent

[internationalist]

Originally Posted by MagicRat

^^ good point^^


...misguided patriotism that emphasizes "America is the best" .

Misguided patriotism that saying "we are the best", or "we are superior" is extremism and on a general scale not worse than the selfish ideology behind terrorism. It is commonplace here in the U.S. as well as other countries. It causes wars and makes fences around cultures. It is not for the benefit of this world.

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by YogsVR4

I wonder if that guy in Texas thought you said Austria. You know you folks from down under have one hell of an accent

Not to mention being upside down. There must be an adjustment period when they get up to the Northern Hemisphere.

Of course, it could be difficult to understand real Texans too.

At least we speak English. Language is often a barrier to good relations with our neighbors in the world.

[Gohan Ryu]

America has one of the most culturally diverse populations in the world. There are communities of people from just about every country on earth living here. America is made up almost entirely of immigrants and almost every American I know has family living in other countries. To say that Americans are ignorant of other cultures is...ignorant.

Although there is some truth to the "ugly American" image, MY EFFING GOD you should see some of the Koreans here in LA...rudest MFer's you'd ever run across. LA has the largest Korean community outside of Korea, also the largest Armenian community, a HUGE Latino community, lots of immigrants here. Some of them are so culturally unaware of America (the country they now live in) and are so bass ackwards that I just WISH I only knew about them from TV.