Canadians, Kiwis, Aussies and their flags

On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 10:35:35 +1200, "Nigel Marx"
wrote:

I'll chip in here. Recently I met some travellers who had big New Zealand
flags on their bikes. It turned out they were US citizens travelling around
the world and had picked the NZ flag as they got way less hassle if people
thought they were Kiwis.

Regards

Nigel in NZ


Had they ever heard of "the land of the long white cloud" or a Haka?

Were they aware it was in the southern hemisphere and not a section of
Holland redeemed from the floods?


Cheers, Alan
--

On 28 Jun 2004 10:32:11 GMT, (gman99) wrote:

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.

FOAD troll...

Hi gman

I notice a definite improvement in communication skils in this ng :-)

Cheers, Alan a.s.d.
--

zzyyxx wrote in message . ..
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.

Hey, guess what? It's not always all about you.
It's just about saying where they're from, and maybe connecting with
others from back home.

chill

Bob

"A Mate" wrote
| We did meet a Dutch couple (with the inevitable caravan!!) in Bogdzkale
| in Turkey - she wearing an Australian Institute of Sport tracksuit -
| with flag (a perquisite of elite athletes normally). They lived in
| Sydney, were now Australian citizens and their daughter was at the
| AIS - guess they qualify as Australians. I don't think they were
| indicating anything other than normal parental pride in their
| daughter and her accomplishments.

And possibly the fact that their daughter gets logo'd tracksuits cheap :-)

Owain

Aramis wrote:
"Miguel Cruz" wrote:
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?

120 km/h? Who hitchhikes on the side of a highway where traffic is passing
at 120 km/h? It was a ramp on a secondary, or tertiary road and he was
travelling, oh, maybe 30 km hr when he passed. Don't pick scenarios that
support your argument.

The point still stands if he was crabwalking through a molasses pit with two
wooden legs. The reason he stopped had nothing to do with first thinking you
were American. Americans are a miniscule minority of hitchhikers in Europe.
If anything, the reason he eventually stopped was because you weren't
European.

One of the most amusing things about the little leaf patches is the
hallucinogenic effect they have on their wearers - suddenly, every nice
thing that happens is a direct consequence of someone having seen the leaf.
"Yeah, so it was raining cats and dogs, so I put on my maple leaf jacket,
and then suddenly the sky just totally cleared up!"

- 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.

Simply claiming exactly the opposite of what my experiences have been
proves nothing

Nevertheless in this case what I wrote is true. Which just goes to show that
it doesn't mean anything either way - you've drawn an unsubstantiated
correlation.

Sounds to me like the guy was an idiot. If someone was treating Canadians
that way I wouldn't drink with him.

Clearly you have chip on your shoulder.

I'll let you and Alohacyberian hash it out over whether I'm an irrational
America hater or an irrational America lover. For the record, I don't think
I've ever met a Canadian I didn't like, and my dozens of trips to Canada
have always been unambiguously excellent. I have lots of respect for
Canada's role in international affairs and I know every episode of SCTV by
heart. You'd have to point a gun at me to get me to say something bad about
Canada. I just think the flag-on-the-backpack thing is ridiculous.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu

If you knew half as much as you think you do, you might amount to something.
On what basis do you think you can tell me the reason for him stopping. I
don;t recall you as part of the 3 hour conversation.

Don't you think we talked about him turning around. Do you think he told me
it was because he saw the flag and made a point of picking up Canadians? Do
you think he had some not too favourable things to say about Americans. I'm
sorry I left all those details out because you seem to find it hard to read
between the lines. My guess is you do it on purpose to have something to
argue about.

Not liking the flag on the backpacks is your issue. It has a discernible
difference to those who do it, so many do it. If you don't like to think
human nature operates that way, that, too is your issue.

"Miguel Cruz" wrote in message
...
Aramis wrote:
"Miguel Cruz" wrote:
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?

120 km/h? Who hitchhikes on the side of a highway where traffic is
passing
at 120 km/h? It was a ramp on a secondary, or tertiary road and he was
travelling, oh, maybe 30 km hr when he passed. Don't pick scenarios that
support your argument.

The point still stands if he was crabwalking through a molasses pit with
two
wooden legs. The reason he stopped had nothing to do with first thinking
you
were American. Americans are a miniscule minority of hitchhikers in
Europe.
If anything, the reason he eventually stopped was because you weren't
European.

One of the most amusing things about the little leaf patches is the
hallucinogenic effect they have on their wearers - suddenly, every nice
thing that happens is a direct consequence of someone having seen the
leaf.
"Yeah, so it was raining cats and dogs, so I put on my maple leaf jacket,
and then suddenly the sky just totally cleared up!"

- 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.

Simply claiming exactly the opposite of what my experiences have been
proves nothing

Nevertheless in this case what I wrote is true. Which just goes to show
that
it doesn't mean anything either way - you've drawn an unsubstantiated
correlation.

Sounds to me like the guy was an idiot. If someone was treating
Canadians
that way I wouldn't drink with him.

Clearly you have chip on your shoulder.

I'll let you and Alohacyberian hash it out over whether I'm an irrational
America hater or an irrational America lover. For the record, I don't
think
I've ever met a Canadian I didn't like, and my dozens of trips to Canada
have always been unambiguously excellent. I have lots of respect for
Canada's role in international affairs and I know every episode of SCTV by
heart. You'd have to point a gun at me to get me to say something bad
about
Canada. I just think the flag-on-the-backpack thing is ridiculous.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu

Miguel Cruz wrote:
You'd have to point a gun at me to get me to say something bad about
Canada. I just think the flag-on-the-backpack thing is ridiculous.

Just remember that we didn't have our own flag until 1965.
Maybe we're still in the infatuation stage of the relationship.

-- Ron
Hamilton, ON

Aramis wrote:
If you knew half as much as you think you do, you might amount to something.
On what basis do you think you can tell me the reason for him stopping. I
don;t recall you as part of the 3 hour conversation.

Don't you think we talked about him turning around. Do you think he told me
it was because he saw the flag and made a point of picking up Canadians? Do
you think he had some not too favourable things to say about Americans. I'm
sorry I left all those details out because you seem to find it hard to read
between the lines.

Well, to be honest, it seems to me like you are making the story up as you
go along...

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu

I'm just not putting in enough detail to counter your attempt at gainsaying.

If it doesn't fit the premise you hold, it's being made up?

"Miguel Cruz" wrote in message
...
Aramis wrote:
If you knew half as much as you think you do, you might amount to
something.
On what basis do you think you can tell me the reason for him stopping.
I
don;t recall you as part of the 3 hour conversation.

Don't you think we talked about him turning around. Do you think he told
me
it was because he saw the flag and made a point of picking up Canadians?
Do
you think he had some not too favourable things to say about Americans.
I'm
sorry I left all those details out because you seem to find it hard to
read
between the lines.

Well, to be honest, it seems to me like you are making the story up as you
go along...

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu

On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 14:27:13 +0100, "Owain"
wrote:

"A Mate" wrote
| We did meet a Dutch couple (with the inevitable caravan!!) in Bogdzkale
| in Turkey - she wearing an Australian Institute of Sport tracksuit -
| with flag (a perquisite of elite athletes normally). They lived in
| Sydney, were now Australian citizens and their daughter was at the
| AIS - guess they qualify as Australians. I don't think they were
| indicating anything other than normal parental pride in their
| daughter and her accomplishments.

And possibly the fact that their daughter gets logo'd tracksuits cheap :-)

Owain

And of course, they weren't a Dutch couple - they "were now Australian
citizens" so they were an Australian couple. No guess about it.

Cheers, Alan
--