Do you find us American tourists in UK and Europe loud, brashy and unruly?

Question

This is a common refrain you hear when talking to a European. While the ignorance of many people can't be help, there are some genuine Americans who want to know why this image persists. I just want to know in what ways you would expect a person from the US to behave, if you find something intolerable in us.

Answer 1

I'm American but I moved to the UK when I was 14. I've still got some friends over there, but one of them I fell out with when he came to visit.

He was intolerable, to say the least. NOTHING was good enough for him. He complained all day, mostly about these things
- The fact you don't get free coke refills
- The waitresses not kissing his a**
- Queues being a little disorganised, not roped off in an orderly fashion like at Disney world
- The price of everything
- The food portions

And you got the sense that because he was American, he felt entitled to special treatment. He would tell anyone who would listen that he was from the US, and expect them to be impressed. It made me cringe.

We went to Paris and he spoke to everyone in English, and if they didn't understand he'd just walk off. He had a misunderstanding when booking our tickets there, he accidentally booked us into a hotel near Disney and not in the city centre, but because they never specified that Disney was not in the city centre he said he was going to write to Expedia and demand a full refund.

We went to see Chicago in the west end, and afterwards he marvelled at the actors- "It must be really hard for them to have to sing and act whilst at the same time trying to lose their British accent". He was genuinely baffled by the idea that the American accent is in fact, an accent of it's own and not something that everyone else deviates from. Shocking.

I haven't spoken to him since he stepped on the plane home a year ago.

Also my American grandmother flew via Heathrow once, and she never left the airport, but she still always asks me why England doesn't have water in the toilets. I don't know what was going on at Heathrow that day, but trust me, there is water in our toilets!!

Obviously everyone who travels gets a few surprises but in my experience, Americans don't handle them as well as other people- I'm always hearing groups of American tourists going "Oh my GOD I can NOT believe that about the coke refills!!!" etc, they go on and on as if it's the most shocking thing they've ever encountered, and there's an assumption that any deviation from the American way is inferior. When I first moved here, I was a bit like that too, and I really cringe at the thought now.

If you want to travel in Eurpoe, just take all this on board. Do some research and show tolerance and appreciation. Go out of your way to find things to appreciate, and swallow the little silly annoyances (like not getting free coke refills!) that actually don't matter that much.

Answer 2

I like America and Americans, yes you can be a bit loud but not unruly or brashy.

I think that this false impression goes back to WW2 when the USA were a little late in offering help to Europe, the military personnel who came over had all the things (stockings, food, cigarettes etc) that the Brits could only remember from the distant past and this caused resentment and jealousy.

Another reason may be the close relationship between Blair and President Bush, the president is pretty well liked here and Iraq was seen more as a threat to the US than the UK. Blair, on the other hand, is not well liked, he is seen as a liar who will do anything to ingratiate himself with the president, even to the extent of having our soldiers killed in the president's war.

Do not be put off by the things you hear in th US, come over and I am sure that you will be welcomed by the vast majority of people you meet.

I have travelled in the USA on many occasions and am always pleased to hear your accent when I am back home.

Answer 3

I would agree with some of the other respondents by giving an on-the-fence yes & no answer!

Just as British people can be loud, brashy & unruly abroad (hen/stags parties invading Eastern Europe, anyone?) so can Americans. The one time that sticks out in my mind is when I went to the Eiffel Tower in Paris and was browsing in the gift shop. There was a large group of Americans in there who were dominating the time (and patience) of the shop assistant. They weren't interested in France, its history, etc, they were only interested in getting souvenirs for their families. The shop assistant was trying to serve other customers - myself included - but was being constantly addressed by, "can I get this shipped to the US?", "how much is this in dollars?" and I never heard an 'excuse me' or 'do you mind?' from any of them, they seemed to have no manners and feel that interrupting was the best way to get served.

Having said that, that time is the exception. Most Americans I come across in Europe are polite, friendly, and are here because they genuinely want to learn about our continent and the vast unending history we have here. Some are a little louder than others, but that's just it - some, not all, not the majority, in my experience.

If I had to choose either way, I would say that most American tourists over here are NOT loud, brashy and unruly, however it is the loud ones who are remembered because, well, who remembers the quiet ones?

Answer 4

Maybe I not often in life met american tourists (or they hadn't been load, brashy and unruly - so I wasn't able to notice them). But of course there might exist some. I met loud, brashy and unruly Israeli in Turkey and Egypt. Met loud, brashy and unruly Russians in Switzerland. Met loud, brashy and unruly Germans in Mallorca/ Spain and loud, brashy and unruly British in Spain. Some nations never seem to be loud, brashy and unruly.... Some always seem to be a bit depressed. So what? For luck the world has so many different cultures and charakters. By the way, I am from Switzerland.

Answer 5

No..... I find the loud, brash and unruly Americans as just that - loud, brash and unruly, but the vast majority of Americans are not like that at all. The reason the stereotype persisits is because we don't recognise the average American tourist. They just blend in like the rest of us. You could walk past hundered of American tourists and you wouldn't even know it and then one day you'll be sitting on a bus and there'll be that one loud, brash American and all of a sudden he becomes a microcosm for every American. My wife is American. She was a tourist in London for two months and she isn't loud or brash in the slightest. In England we like to act superior to others, be they French or American or any other race. We really have no right to.

That being said, while we maintain the loud and brash stereotype of Americans, as an Englishman living in Chicago, I have noticed that over her American's have a stereotype that all us English are from Kensington and talk like Hugh Grant. It's not the case guys, we don't. I don't find anything intolerable about America or Americans. I love living in the States. In many ways it is different to England and in many ways it is not different at all. As my wife likes to say "it's the same but different". You get idiots in every culture and society but it's not fair to judge everyone by their standards.

Answer 6

Well to be honest, yes and no. U cannot say that all Americans r loud, brashy and unruly the same as u cannot say all English ppl r snobbish, aloof etc. There r good and bad in all nationalities. I have found Americans to be either very polite, courteous and then again i have found some as u describe.

Answer 7

I would like to think all Americans are very welcome in the UK as indeed I have always been welcomed in the various parts of the USA that I have visited over the last 25 plus years.
On one of my early visits, a lovely young waitress asked me about the ' little bubbly stone highways'. It took me several days to figure out the question. She was meaning to ask about the cobblestones roads which are seen in many old films of London Town and else where in England.. There are very few 'cobbles' now - we also have become modernised, with super stores, factory outlets, and Malls etc. There are good and bad people in all nations, and, like yourselves, we cannot individually do a lot about our Politicians. Peace to the World.
You are always welcome, so come and have a 'nice day or two or three or more'

Answer 8

Any that I have come across have been polite, respectful and a pleasure to meet. I work in a pharmacy, the only people who ever call me ma'am are Americans, and they never fail to say please and thank you.
I find British natives to be far more rude and objectionable. Perhaps it's a different viewpoint, British people view shop staff as lower forms of life and like nothing more than to be rude to them, Americans value hard work, and as one lady said to me "everyone has bussed tables at some point, the main thing is you do what you can to make ends meet".
So far as tourists are concerned, keep the american ones coming!

Answer 9

America is just 350 years old in one sense when the settlers from around the world came and made this their home...the English, the Italians, the French and the others . Though the subsequent generations of people have become total Americans , still, many trace their roots to some distant countries. But the native Americans ... native Indians .... are but few now and they have integrated themselves well with the present. We cannot make out who is native and who is not. They , too, should travelling like the others but not for visiting their original lands. Theirs is the main land of America itself.

Answer 10

It's obviously not all American tourists but, yes, there is a perception of being brash and loud. Incidentally, I used to work in one of the big London stores; one of my members of staff was a terrificly nice New England girl who, after having been with us for 6 months, often used to apologise on behalf of her fellow countrymen!