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Canadians, Kiwis, Aussies and their flags
Why do they insist on putting their flags onto their backpacks and whatnot?
I'm an American who's done quite a bit of traveling in Europe in the last couple years and haven't experienced any problems with people disliking or being rude to me. So why do they feel the need to proclaim that they're not American? Like you wouldn't be able to tell from their accents! It's kind of insulting to me too, because they don't want to be mistaken for an American, like there's something wrong with being American. |
#2
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Canadians, Kiwis, Aussies and their flags
zzyyxx wrote:
Why do they insist on putting their flags onto their backpacks and whatnot? I'm an American who's done quite a bit of traveling in Europe in the last couple years and haven't experienced any problems with people disliking or being rude to me. So why do they feel the need to proclaim that they're not American? Like you wouldn't be able to tell from their accents! It's kind of insulting to me too, because they don't want to be mistaken for an American, like there's something wrong with being American. Have you ever considered that they might be proud to be Australian, New Zealanders, etc.? In the past my wife and I traveled in Europe with American flags on our backpacks, and nobody accused us of trying to prove we weren't Canadian. |
#3
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Canadians, Kiwis, Aussies and their flags
No, it's the distinction from the American thing.
If your personal experience doesn't bear it out, consider yourself fortunate. You do read the news, right? "Cyril & Sandy Alberga" wrote in message ... zzyyxx wrote: Why do they insist on putting their flags onto their backpacks and whatnot? I'm an American who's done quite a bit of traveling in Europe in the last couple years and haven't experienced any problems with people disliking or being rude to me. So why do they feel the need to proclaim that they're not American? Like you wouldn't be able to tell from their accents! It's kind of insulting to me too, because they don't want to be mistaken for an American, like there's something wrong with being American. Have you ever considered that they might be proud to be Australian, New Zealanders, etc.? In the past my wife and I traveled in Europe with American flags on our backpacks, and nobody accused us of trying to prove we weren't Canadian. |
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Canadians, Kiwis, Aussies and their flags
No, it's the distinction from the American thing.
Really? Have you interviewed a significant number of them to verify your claim? Australians do not need a flag to separate themselves from Americans as their accent is quite different. Pete |
#5
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Canadians, Kiwis, Aussies and their flags
"Pete" wrote in message hlink.net...
No, it's the distinction from the American thing. Really? Have you interviewed a significant number of them to verify your claim? Australians do not need a flag to separate themselves from Americans as their accent is quite different. Also many Swedes, Norwegians, Swiss, Dutch, Danes, etc, put flags on their backpacks, which presumably has nothing to do with trying to avoid being mistaken for americans. I think it is a "small country phenomenon", since the French, British, and Americans seem to do this much more rarely. Bjorn |
#6
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Canadians, Kiwis, Aussies and their flags
I guess you could say I've interviewed a few Canadians on the topic - since
I am one, and I have travelled to Europe 11 times, 5 as a backpacker in my "youth" - ahem. Of course Europeans can tell and Aussie or Kiwi from a North American, but unless you have a pronounced Southern drawl, a Canadian will almost always be presumed to be an American at first glance. I'm quite good at sourcing accents but many of my friends and family can't source an Aussie from a Kiwi, forma South African, nor can they differentiate different UK accents, so I assume there are a number of Europeans who can't tell any North American accent from another. If population tends translate into travels Europeans will see 10 times as many Americans as Canadians. It is only natural to generalize based on those kinds of real life encounters. You can count a far greater number of truly generous encounters in Europe, as a Canadian, if the people you are interacting with know you are a Canadian. It's not absolute, nothing is, but I have had dozens of encounters where initial aloofness dissipated once the individual I was interacting with asked, or figured out that I was a Canadian. If you would like some examples; - A trucker in the Netherlands turned around to pick me up after he saw the flag on my backpack. - I have never had to answer a single question crossing a border when displaying my passport - American backpackers I have been travelling with had to empty their backpacks and were questioned privately on several occasions. It even extends beyond Europeans -once when I hooked up with some Kiwis in Ireland and was invited back to their London flat for a few days, one of their flat mates was particularly cold towards me. He wouldn't even look at, or speak to me as we piled in the VW to head to a pub the first night I was there. 10 minutes after we arrived at the pub one of the other folks asks me something about Canada and this distant guy gets a quizzical look on his face, comes over, has me confirm I am Canadian and then apologizes for his behaviour because he thought I was a Yank. After that we drank and snag for days - ah Europe and youth!. The fallout from American foreign policy and cultural myopia is a fact. It affects some people more than others, and may not at all dictate the way some people react to tourists. It is enough of a factor, overall to be noticed by those who are most likely to get mistaken for an American, eh? "Pete" wrote in message link.net... No, it's the distinction from the American thing. Really? Have you interviewed a significant number of them to verify your claim? Australians do not need a flag to separate themselves from Americans as their accent is quite different. Pete |
#7
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Canadians, Kiwis, Aussies and their flags
Aramis wrote:
I guess you could say I've interviewed a few Canadians on the topic - since I am one, and I have travelled to Europe 11 times, 5 as a backpacker in my "youth" - ahem. Of course Europeans can tell and Aussie or Kiwi from a North American, but unless you have a pronounced Southern drawl, a Canadian will almost always be presumed to be an American at first glance. I'm quite good at sourcing accents but many of my friends and family can't source an Aussie from a Kiwi, forma South African, nor can they differentiate different UK accents, so I assume there are a number of Europeans who can't tell any North American accent from another. If population tends translate into travels Europeans will see 10 times as many Americans as Canadians. It is only natural to generalize based on those kinds of real life encounters. You can count a far greater number of truly generous encounters in Europe, as a Canadian, if the people you are interacting with know you are a Canadian. It's not absolute, nothing is, but I have had dozens of encounters where initial aloofness dissipated once the individual I was interacting with asked, or figured out that I was a Canadian. If you would like some examples; - A trucker in the Netherlands turned around to pick me up after he saw the flag on my backpack. - I have never had to answer a single question crossing a border when displaying my passport - American backpackers I have been travelling with had to empty their backpacks and were questioned privately on several occasions. It even extends beyond Europeans -once when I hooked up with some Kiwis in Ireland and was invited back to their London flat for a few days, one of their flat mates was particularly cold towards me. He wouldn't even look at, or speak to me as we piled in the VW to head to a pub the first night I was there. 10 minutes after we arrived at the pub one of the other folks asks me something about Canada and this distant guy gets a quizzical look on his face, comes over, has me confirm I am Canadian and then apologizes for his behaviour because he thought I was a Yank. After that we drank and snag for days - ah Europe and youth!. The fallout from American foreign policy and cultural myopia is a fact. It affects some people more than others, and may not at all dictate the way some people react to tourists. It is enough of a factor, overall to be noticed by those who are most likely to get mistaken for an American, eh? Well, my wife and I have traveled fairly extensively since 1959 (actually, she started as a bicycle leader for American Youth Hostels in Europe in 1954 (or was it '53?)). We have been in Europe a fair number of times, including during the past few years, as well as in Japan, Argentina, Jamaica, Russia, Mongolia, Viet Nam, Australia and New Zealand, just to name a few of our recent trips. We have never hidden our country of origin (although we tend to be mistaken for Canadians until we disabuse people of that idea -- nothing against Canadian, we love traveling in Canada too). And we have had many, many special things happen, and few if any negative ones. For example, we were in Japan last month, and took a day trip to a town (Mikawa, near Kanazawa) for a Shinto festival. I was invited to pull one of the floats for a couple of blocks, and then we were invited into someones house, where he was entertaining dozens of relatives, friends and associates. They even put on an impromptu tea ceremony for us, and tried to talk us into staying the night. We have been dragged to a governor's tea in Simla, invited into a home in Istafahan (pre revolution, admittedly), given brandy "on the house" in a small restaurant in France, and gotten all sorts of help in Oz and Kiwi-land, etc. I could go on, but I'm not sure that being from the States keeps you from having nice things happen. Cyril Alberga |
#8
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Canadians, Kiwis, Aussies and their flags
Aramis wrote:
- A trucker in the Netherlands turned around to pick me up after he saw the flag on my backpack. You think that driving by at 120 km/h he had marked you as an American? - I have never had to answer a single question crossing a border when displaying my passport - American backpackers I have been travelling with had to empty their backpacks and were questioned privately on several occasions. I have never had to empty my backpack crossing a border (except into the UK, but they're special) when displaying my American passport - Canadians I have been traveling with had to empty their backpacks and were questioned privately on several occasions. It even extends beyond Europeans -once when I hooked up with some Kiwis in Ireland and was invited back to their London flat for a few days, one of their flat mates was particularly cold towards me. He wouldn't even look at, or speak to me as we piled in the VW to head to a pub the first night I was there. 10 minutes after we arrived at the pub one of the other folks asks me something about Canada and this distant guy gets a quizzical look on his face, comes over, has me confirm I am Canadian and then apologizes for his behaviour because he thought I was a Yank. After that we drank and snag for days - ah Europe and youth!. Sounds to me like the guy was an idiot. If someone was treating Canadians that way I wouldn't drink with him. miguel -- Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu |
#9
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Canadians, Kiwis, Aussies and their flags
"Cyril & Sandy Alberga" wrote in message ... zzyyxx wrote: Why do they insist on putting their flags onto their backpacks and whatnot? I'm an American who's done quite a bit of traveling in Europe in the last couple years and haven't experienced any problems with people disliking or being rude to me. So why do they feel the need to proclaim that they're not American? Like you wouldn't be able to tell from their accents! It's kind of insulting to me too, because they don't want to be mistaken for an American, like there's something wrong with being American. Have you ever considered that they might be proud to be Australian, New Zealanders, etc.? In the past my wife and I traveled in Europe with American flags on our backpacks, and nobody accused us of trying to prove we weren't Canadian. That's funny. |
#10
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Canadians, Kiwis, Aussies and their flags
Why do they insist on putting their flags onto their backpacks and
whatnot? Are you implying that only Americans can be patriotic? Like you wouldn't be able to tell from their accents! I assure you that almost no European will be able to distinguish between the accents of Canadians & Americans. Lots of Canadians sound just like Midwestern Americans except for the occasional difference in "out" ("oot") as in "about." Pete |
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