I’m talking about after going through borders and I put away the US Passport…
And the average everyday people ask me “where are you from?”
Like if the place has anti-American sentinments, could I just pretend to be… not American…
cuz you know… the US has been getting a bad rap recently due to ahem a certain person in Capitol Hill…
Like most people in the world falsely assume “American” = “White” anyways…
They’d never suspect a thing… would they?
I can speak Cantonese and Mandarin… I can try faking a Chinese person’s accent when speaking English. Or pretend to be a Hong Konger (via the Cantonese). Or pretend to be Taiwanese (most people can’t tell the difference between the sound of Mainland Mandarin vs Taiwan Mandarin).
I heard that there are people who hate Chinese tourists… so is this actually gonna backfire?
But then again, I might also get hit with the double-whammy of “looking Chinese” while “acting like an American”.
So this is basically like code switching… but with national identity…
Is this morally okay? Or am I like crossing some ethical line here? Is this like the “cultural appropriation” thing where it’s inappropriate to do?
China’s rep isn’t exactly great, either …
But if you’re from America (that’s where you grew up and live) then that’s what you should say, because that’s what matters. The obsession with “heritage” is weird.
If you are american, it usually shows. There is normally no way to hide that identity.
examples?
Americans talk loudly and tend to be less mindful of the area around them. There’s this tendency to take up more space. Not necessarily in the sense of putting your bag on the seat but just big arm movements when talking, leaning, stretching legs. Not that every American I met did that, but enough to be noticeable. At least here in Germany people on average try to take up less space when in public.
There’s just this general air of “confidently doing something without knowing what they’re doing”. Other tourists tend to be more careful, ask how to do something or show they are insecure about how things work in a foreign country.
Americans just tend to take up more space. With their body language, their voice… I’ve met quite a few through language exchange groups and like 80% of the time you can tell their nationality before you talk to them.
Edit: Also let’s not forget american friendliness and enthusiasm. Often they are like 50% more enthusiastic about a situation then what feels appropriate. Be it thanking someone or being amazed by something.
Yeah, I can see that criticism.
Part of the problem is that a lot of Americans aren’t used to being in cities, which becomes an issue when they have to move around an urban environment. A lot of the same issues of not knowing for to be in a city appear in tourists visiting NYC.
It’s not exactly a criticism. I personally have never met an american who was outright rude, just really oblivious of their surroundings. One of my american friends (who is a rather quiet person and feels much more at home here) told me that the US always feels very loud due to advertisements, music, TV being everywhere and you get used to having to speak very loudly just to be heard.
Just go to any European tourist hotspot. Americans stick out like sore thumbs.
Americans tend to lean to one side or lean onto things, they’re a lot louder than other cultures, they are usually a lot nicer, they LOOOVE to talk, kinda silly when it comes to international things esp when it’s their first time, their obvious accent and even their phrases/metaphors, honestly the list goes on.
If you’re from one country or another then they’re going to know, but as an American born person 99% of the time people are chill and actually prefer you to be an American since we’re apparently nicer than Canadians. You’ll get asked “oh are you Canadian?” More than American because Canadians would be mad if you called/thought of them American and Americans would be flattered to be thought as a Canadian.
That’s from our experience living in Spain at-least. People won’t pin you as a typical red republican just because you’re from America, they already know republicans never leave USA anywho haha
Nobody is going to hate you just for being American, chill
As a Canadian… Americans pretend to be Canadians abroad all the time. As a result, everyone thinks I’m American at first, until they realize I behave differently.
I can usually spot the American in a crowd, no matter their skin colour. It’s generally in the worldview they project.
I can also usually spot the Chinese in the crowd for the same reason.
Unless you can fake the “We’re the best” attitude instead of the “nobody’s better than I can be” attitude, I wouldn’t try to fake being Chinese in many places. You’ll just come off as fake.
Better to just be yourself and hold the views and attitudes you actually hold. If you’re worried about how others will receive that, just be more private with the personal information you share.
chinese national have a reputation for being really trashy(much like americans, israeli and some british tourists), so be warned, better of saying your canadian.
If you can be respectful of the local culture where you’re visiting while you’re there, you’ll be fine. Being an obnoxious American tourist is just as bad as an obnoxious Chinese tourist. Outside of unwarranted xenophobia, your behaviour matters more than your race.
Don’t.
First of all, Chinese are not that well viewed abroad either, a lot of the Chinese tourists we get in Europe are the top earners kids and are entitled as fuck.
Secondly no one judges people from their country, sure there are a lot of obnoxious Americans and Chinese tourists, but I imagine that’s just survivor bias, you don’t notice the non obnoxious ones which I assume to be the majority.
Thirdly, and maybe most important, you won’t be able to do it. This question is proof that you think and act like an American, you have some ancestor who came from China so you think you’re Chinese-american, and that that somehow means you’re Chinese, but you grew in a different culture, eating different food, watching different TV shows, etc. In short, you are an American of Chinese ethnicity, you are not a Chinese who was born in America.
Do you want to know what’s one of THE most obnoxious bullshit American tourists do? Teaching Italians about Italy because they’re Italian-American, or thinking they know all about Ireland because the grandpa of their third-cousin once removed came from Ireland, so they’re Irish-American. Unless you spent a significant chunk of your life in China, especially during the formative years, you will not behave Chinese, you have an “Americanized” image of what a Chinese is, and at best you would have fooled someone who doesn’t care about your nationality as long as you treat them with respect. There’s a song that I think sums out this feeling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq0_yCNSV-c it is a very common one, I’ve lived both in Italy and Ireland which is why I use them as examples, and every so often you’d get the X-American thinking they’re X, and you could tell them apart from across the street.
In most parts of the world neither Chinese nor Americans get trouble just for where they come from.
In most parts of the world people can decide very well between what governments do and what normal people do.
could I just pretend
But in most parts of the world people prefer very much if you DON’T lie to them.
Not gonna lie this is funny as fuck.
If you said you were a Chinese national I’d say please don’t fucking feed the wildlife bro.
Interestingly if I see Americans abroad I usually assume they are far less likely to be the special ones
I’m just curious which is hated less…
I mean most people can’t tell the difference between Chinese, Hong Konger, Taiwanese… so I might go with Taiwanese lmfao
Its a thought excercise anyways… not actually travelling any time soon afiak
Being more honest than I should be. Chinese tourists have a pretty bad reputation for being rude and destructive, not following rules and norms
Americans reputations have taken a nosedive off a cliff, but actually if anything my stock in American tourists specifically has gone up slightly, as you can almost guarantee they aren’t maga
I find questions like these more and more upsetting. I’ve posted several articles on Lemmy and other platforms that show how the USA is rapidly sliding into a fascist state, the breakdown of democracy is horrifying, and also directly affects the wellbeing and security of the countries US Americans are visiting as tourists. And all the US tourists that come over here say: well, I didn’t vote Trump (which nobody can check, can we? We just have to believe it). We all know USAmericans are not particularly blessed with vacation days, but wouldn’t they be BETTER spent in creating political initiatives in the USA? By God, man, you may be lucky you can actually re-enter the USA when you come back, and if the midterms go topsy-turvy (and rest assured that Trump will do anything to make them come out in his favor), you may well be seeking asylum in Europe or Australia in 2 years time! So, instead of thinking about what kind of silly hat to wear abroad, stay home and do something, a couple of things against trump’s fascism (end of rant).
