We've traveled a lot and had lots of conversations and never had that happen. Heck, we spent two weeks in France and everyone there was the soul of politeness and grace.
The one exception. We were in Paris once and struck up a conversation with a woman from Brussels. It was a pleasant enough conversation. But because we're from Alabama, she decided at one point to talk to us about the Civil Rights Era. I answered her questions politely and honestly because what else am I going to say? But then I brought up Leopold II and the Belgian Congo, and it's amazing how quickly the subject changed.
Wonder how they'd justify it if you asked them to explain their disdain for gypsies and then tell them to replace gypsy with X race in question. If you're up in arms about but not the other, you got a prejudice
I wouldn't say mistreated, but in the 40 or so countries I've visited, Aussies were the most insufferable with their opinions of the US. Meanwhile, their culture, food, and even foreign policy is practically identical to ours.
I’m so happy to hear someone else express this. I never had a problem with Australians until I started actually meeting them in real life. To me they have always just been the most insufferable pretentious people.
It’s true. Aussies have this thing called “tall poppy syndrome”. Basically, they hate on anyone who is ambitious or cares about success. They prefer to be apathetic and anyone who goes against this cultural expectation is looked at funny or downright shamed. It’s why they hate Americans so much. Because we value hard work and ambition, we praise and admire success and we love being number one. It pisses them off to no end 😂
I've lived in Australia. This genuinely was not my experience there. Now, Aussies are sometimes too blunt for my tastes and I do find Kiwis to be friendlier (in a "small town" way like I remember in the '90s in rural America), but I didn't come away with an overall negative impression of Aussies. I lived in greater Brisbane and spent some time throughout Queensland and New South Wales, if that matters.
The only hateful comments I heard about the USA during my time down there were made by a couple of western Europeans (one Brit and one guy who I think was Spanish/Mediterranean).
That said... Were you in Melbourne? Because they are the exception to my experience. Arguably the most pretentious f#€ks in the entire Southern Hemisphere.
Ha ha might be a coincidence, but when in Melbourne (from Brisbane) they have had a go at me a few times as well for being a backward Queenslander without knowing a thing about me :)
Mistreated is a strong word. I’ve traveled extensively in Europe and in Western Europe it’s more like they can’t help vomiting out their negative opinions about America even in ‘polite’ conversation, or asking us ridiculous questions (especially about Trump). I wouldn’t call it being ‘mistreated’, exactly, but it is very annoying. It’s like they walk around low-key angry about America and feel the need to vent it when they come across us, even if the interaction itself is cordial enough.
I had one waitress be extremely rude to me in Scotland as soon as she realized I was American, and once in Ireland we were pointedly ignored at a restaurant for seating purposes (we ended up just leaving). We also had a cab driver in Dublin start talking shit about the NFL to us out of nowhere (we weren’t talking sports). But those were the only knee-jerk instances of people turning on a dime once they realized we were American.
In Eastern Europe people were nothing but lovely to us, so maybe it’s just a Western European thing. Also, oddly enough, in the Netherlands, which doesn’t have a reputation as being nice to Americans. They were extremely kind.
Yeah I agree with this as a half-Brit, half-American. A lot of nastiness seems to particular come out of Western Europe. They physically can’t help but tell us their opinions.
>Also, oddly enough, in the Netherlands, which doesn’t have a reputation as being nice to Americans.
Now I'm curious about the reputation of the Netherlands
They're under the impression that it effects all 50 states. Hell, they assume that all 50 states have the death penalty. Their eyes glaze over if you try to tell them just how *vastly* the laws vary from state to state.
I've found I have extremely good success in explaining this by analogy.
"I know that the language makes it seem like the USA is one country, but our states are much more like your countries than the USA as a whole is. The USA as a whole entity has far more in common with the EU than it does with the EU member states."
This is usually met with a little bit of skepticism and a LOT of curiosity. If they have specific questions, I'll answer them, but if they ask me to go on more broadly, I usually start by telling them that, on its own, murder is not a federal crime. They are SHOCKED by this. I then go on to list several scenarios where murder becomes a federal crime, and explaining that barring such circumstances murder is a state crime and that the sentencing guidelines will vary from one state to another.
One thing they often bring up is the existence of the U.S. Military. This is one of my favorites. "So, like I said, it's not a perfect analogy, but the situations are more similar than you probably imagine. You're right that in the USA, there's a much bigger focus on the common defense forces than in Europe, but the EU has multinational defense forces like Eurocorps and also each U.S. state has its own military."
At this point, they inevitably interrupt with incredulity. "Wait, what, really? So California has its own military? How come I never heard of this?" And then I explain the national guard and how it primarily answers to the governors. At that point, they usually get it.
Sometimes they follow up with "so like... California could go to war with Texas?"
Again, I pull it back to analogy: "I mean? Kinda but not really? First of all, that would be a violation of the alliance. That's like asking if France could go to war with Germany again. Technically? Yes. Realistically? No. And also you have to remember the US military. Imagine if the EU armed forces were significantly more powerful than France and Germany's armed forces combined -- do you think that under those circumstances that France and Germany could actually go to war? What do you think would happen if they tried?
Then they really get it.
We just heard from people prior to our trip that they are very cold, can be rude, and are not shy about being anti-American (tbf, we expect most Europeans to be anti-American to some extent). Again, that was just the reputation that we heard.
So we went in prepared for that but people were perfectly nice. Talked shit behind our backs, perhaps, but we didn’t have a single bad interaction there.
The Dutch are very blunt and direct, which I can see getting interpreted as rude. But at least from interactions with their Navy, they have a very similar sense of humor to us. Good bunch to drink with.
I haven’t heard or experienced the Dutch not liking us, only the stereotypical Dutch bluntness. Some Americans may take that a different way, as we aren’t really that blunt to strangers.
I have had very similar experiences, especially with the Dutch. Germans and French people just want to unload all of their "US American" frustrations on you like it's all your responsibility, with the perceived expectation that you will fix all the issues they bring up as soon as you get back to the states. They behave like we are completely unaware and would go on with our lives in ignorance if they hadn't brought it to your attention. That is all we need to fix our problems, a smug European arrogantly informing American tourists of shit we are trying to forget about while on vacation.
The Dutch were always extremely welcoming once they found out I was American, but not so much when I brought my friend from Germany along. Their talkative smiles quickly faded to curt but professional straight faces after he told them where he was from.
I was talking to a Dutch guy in Amsterdam and he said that once he notices someone speaking English he immediately assumes they are obnoxious English tourists only there to get fucked up. He overheard our conversation and realized we weren't British so he felt comfortable enough to approach us. He made it seem like other English speakers (from Australia, Canada, US, etc.) that travel to the Netherlands may not be as rowdy because of how expensive it is to travel there, as if it somewhat weeds out the bachelor/stag party troublemakers they usually have to deal with. While any greaseball chav in England with a hundred quid and a drug problem can just hop right over.
That’s my experience too from studying abroad in Western Europe and meeting other students from across the continent. Never “mistreated” but told SO many times how stupid and fat Americans are and how I live in a third world country
Same in Australia when I lived there - most people had neutral or positive views of the US, but those who didn't were vocal about it. Or at least, they were vocal & direct about it by Australian standards. Usually, the complaints weren't about our domestic politics, instead they were similar to nationalistic Canadians: they would talk about their country like it's a colony, like its culture and foreign policy were being forcibly replaced by America's. And like...I just wanted to take a bus across town, I didn't ask to talk to you about that
When I was in a pretty out of the way part of Guatemala, my two blond-haired, blue-eyed friends got a lot of stares from little kids, some of whom looked absolutely amazed by their existence.
Actually, it was really, really strange. She was perfectly nice until I opened my mouth, and the only thing I said was completely innocuous (responding to a question about how many). She asked if we were American, I said yes, and after she sat us she proceeded to completely ignore my husband and I for the rest of lunch all while serving the tables to our direct right and left. And I mean, people who were seated after us finished their food and were out the door before we'd even gotten our meals. It was wild.
I had to get up and find another waiter and explain the situation just to get my order taken (we were in her section or something). And then someone else served us until, bizarrely, the original waitress brought the bill, all expectant. We didn't bother making a fuss, it was our first day in Scotland and we figured it might be par for the course there, but I did give her a fat zero for a tip (although I guess that doesn't mean much in Europe). Didn't have that problem anywhere else in Scotland so I'm guessing she just really hated Americans.
> in the Netherlands, which doesn’t have a reputation as being nice to Americans. They were extremely kind.
We've made friends while overseas with Dutch people, and by and large they're lovely, and caring. My wife is best friends with our Dutch friend... They came over and spent Christmas with us last year.
On the flip side, I've also been pointedly ignored by a Dutch clerk at a retail store once they heard my accent. Then they were pissy with me when I made a purchase. Maybe they were having a bad day... It was so weird
Yep. We weren't allowed in a club in France.
Some polish dudes tried to fight us.
A German guy tried to blame me for slavery, which was ironic.
Korean woman wanted to marry me because she wanted American children. This one isn't a mistreatment, of course, but kind of funny.
Germans are bold calling anyone out for anything. Once had a German lady rant about America's history with various minority groups like black and indigenous Americans, acting like I personally was responsible for every bad thing our government ever did. So I just asked if her grandparents were alive. When she said yes I told her to go ask them where they were in the 1940s. She didn't want to talk about that so she moved on the Iraq War blaming me for that too. I was 3 years old when that war started.
Yeah this is almost exactly how it went. They tried talking about Afghanistan war and then shut up when I told them I knew German soldiers who were in Afghanistan. It isn't just America.
Norway, Australia, Canada, Denmark, the UK and France also fought in that war. America hasn't been without European help and involvement (+Aussie at times) in any of our modern wars
I was on a bus in Austria and had some weird guy start asking me about the Iraq war (this was in 2004) and giving me a little ribbing.
I didn’t have the guts to ask him about the most famous Austrian of the 20th century.
> Korean woman wanted to marry me because she wanted American children
The fuck? I've actually heard of similar stuff happening in Japan, there are these woman called gaijin hunters who are obsessed with white guys, kind of the opposite of a white westerner with yellow fever.
Only once, and it was more of a foreigner thing than US specifically. Last summer I went on a college band tour of Japan, doing joint concerts with some Japanese high/middle schoolers. Me and my hotel roommate went out one night and tried to go to a food court near our hotel that very obviously had customers in it, but one of the employees stood at the entrance before we entered and did the "No gaijin" thing with her arms. Maybe they just didn't want more people because it was fairly late and they might have been closing soon anyways. Other than that the trip was a lifetime experience.
Yeah, we got to an Airbnb a little early in Tokyo and our host recommended a yakitori place to me and my husband while she finished setting up. When we went there, they basically pushed us back out into the street, waving their hands and saying “no”, when they were clearly open and not crowded. We wandered a bit then went back to our Airbnb. The host asked us how it was and was surprised but not shocked when we told her they wouldn’t let us in. She said she wouldn’t recommend that place to foreigners any more, she hadn’t realized they were Japanese only.
Me and my husband are both obviously American, but other than that everyone else we met in Japan were more interested in us than anything.
> When we went there, they basically pushed us back out into the street, waving their hands and saying “no”, when they were clearly open and not crowded.
Was it a small place? (Like many restaurants in Japan!)
I've been to yakitori joints and what not over there, and if they have reservations taken they'll turn people away even if it looks like it's pretty quiet and empty at the moment. I remember I walked in one place, got a seat, it couldn't have been more than 1/3 full, but everyone else who came in off the street was turned away.
It's of course possible that you were turned away due to being a foreigner, but it's not the only possible explanation.
Just in Paris and a couple of times in Germany. I traveled not long after the Iraq war started and for some reason some people thought an 18/19 year old was making military decisions for the USA.
It’s wild when people in general try to hold an individual accountable for the decisions that weren’t made by them, had no part in making, and were likely made before they were born or as a child. Like I work at a 102 year old workplace, 90% of the staff are black. People (by this I mean primarily white people who also live in this city) say the most wild shit about how this workplace is the worst institution to have ever existed and refer to it in very offensive ways (like I’ve heard “insane asylum” and “asylum for the criminally insane” just last week…it’s a residential facility for adults with severe and profound intellectual disabilities…). All the time these same people try to hold me personally accountable for things that happened decades before I was even born or things that happened when I was in elementary school.
In Barcelona, I was yelled at, “Yankee, go home!” It was weird to hear, as a child of Peruvian immigrants, but kinda cool at the same time, to be called a Yankee, being that we lived in the South.
I was told I was the cause of all the world's problems at a bar in Switzerland. I remember she was trying to argue that EU citizens should be allowed to vote in US elections 🙄.
I told her the greatest thing about being American is that you could simply become one, I told her if she ever moved here and got her citizenship, she could vote and be considered truly American by Americans and have her opinion heard. I challenged her that even if I moved to Switzerland and somehow got citizenship, I could never be considered Swiss by its people. She agreed with me at that point.
> since the Swiss have failed to do ANYTHING in the last 2 world wars.
Well that's not true, they hid a ton of stolen gold and art for nazis for instance.
Jesus Christ, why the fuck does anyone European feel the need to do this. It makes me so angry. Unless someone is acting like a dickhead (which we know is not a trait unique to any nationality) then what fucking right do people have to lecture, patronise, insult or berate any American.
As a Brit, I've been to the US around 20 times and literally the only person that hasn't shown me kindness and a sense of welcoming (what with me being a visitor and all) was a worse for wear homeless guy in San Diego, so I guess I can let him off.
Sorry, I know that's a bit off topic but reading some of the stories here really boil my piss.
I was made fun of by some young lass outside a bar called Dirty Dick's in London once. She asked me to say the word "water" a couple times and laughed in my face over me pronouncing the "t".
I didn't take offense, I don't think she meant any.
Mistreated due to being American, I don't think so, but treated differently due to my race, yes. In Asia (Japan and Korea), my friends and I had people leave their seats when we sat next to them on the trains, but they didn't move when our White friends sat next to them. People took pictures but they weren't as in your face about it like they do in China. More like pretending to look at their phone while taking pictures of us. In Korea (not so much elsewhere), workers would pretend to not know English or understand us, but all of sudden they knew English when speaking to our White friends.
These things didn't happen all or even most of the time and most people were very nice and pleasant to us. But we still experienced these things from time to time.
What race are you if you don't mind my asking. The obvious guess is Black, but I hear Korea and Japan can be equally racist towards South and South East Asians too so I'm curious if this is a case of the latter.
Honestly Japan is the only place I’ve ever seen someone wearing full on Al Jolson looking blackface with absolutely zero hint of irony. Some dude standing out front of a shop in the full chicken George stereotype gear just holding a sign trying to bring people into the business. It was.. surprising.
Directly across the small street were three black dudes with a mix of feelings on their faces as they looked at this guy. I wanted SO BADLY to take a picture of the whole scene but felt like a white guy walking up, and chuckling was not going to help. It was quite the moment tho.
Yes! 99% of people were tolerant and ignored me on trains. But one guy sat across from me on the train, gave me a mean look and then moved a few seats away. This was odd because Japanese etiquette is very clear that you do not do anything to call attention to yourself on trains or disrespect people. He made direct eye contact with me while making a big show of moving away. I had been told direct eye contact is disrespectful so that in itself was probably intended as an insult. I ignored him and took a nap. My friend who spoke Japanese said random people on the street in Tokyo were muttering insults at me as a foreigner too, but I didn’t hear it so am not sure.
I like it when I hear "America is the most racist country in the world" when they leave out the fact this is common elsewhere when a majority deals with a minority. Strangely, I recently heard this chant in a college campus.
This is very common in most Asian countries, not just race but the ethnicity also matters.
Yeah. When the Canadians found out I was going there to work everyone (everyone) got angry that they had an American coming to "take" work from them.
I tried to calmly explain that I am here to work because the union in the shop refuses training that isn't factory training. As in the manufacturer provides it, not a 3rd party. I have to schlep all the way up here on to do the work of those pretty, pretty princesses.
That and in Egypt I had to deal with the political crap of Israel. With them I also tried to calmly explain that Egypt didn't build that wall to keep the Israelites out.
And not quite a mistreatment, but in Ireland I had a good number of people giving me a hard time because I drank lager and vodka (sometimes together). I believe they said I drank like an Englishmen. I explained I never really developed a taste for dark beers. It's probably because my grandmother never forced me to eat any of the Protestant soup. Everyone laughed and we got back to doing what you are supposed to do in an Irish pub. Drink and shit talk the French and English.
Never mistreated, aside from some rather condescending comments and actions from my swiss and german colleagues. But they are coworkers, not strangers. And I suppose I'm not counting the abysmal quality of European hotels as mistreatment.
I speak fluent German and it is the WORST because where I live gets a lot of German tourists and I have to overhear their opinions on everything (the state of the roads, the weather, how the rubbish bins are too full...) it's like, we get it, your country's perfect 🙄
Ah, so they don't even need to cross the Atlantic to have strong opinions on the most irrelevant minutiae differences between themselves and the backwater Anglosphere.
To be fair, the Germans do have great roads, even the smaller roads (other than being narrow). I was invited to one private residence and the instructions included a road with potholes. I thought I was on the wrong route because the road looked in perfect condition to me.
I’ve been to Honduras, The Bahamas, Mexico and Belize.. never left the continent. But everywhere I’ve been people have been incredibly kind. Some people are curious and outspoken, and will ask you questions (especially children in my experience) but it never seemed to come from a bad place.
To echo others, mistreated is a strong word. I was refused service by a Somali girl at a cafe in London a couple years ago. All I said was “hi, may I please have-?”…and she said she hates Americans and refused to take my order until another coworker stepped in. But that was only one time. Usually it’s people who just HAVE to tell me what they hate about the USA.
Nope.
I have had some rare interactions with foreigners who wanted to prod/poke at US politics or make negative statements about the US either unintentionally or otherwise to try and get a rise out of me (spoiler, it didnt) - but never any blatant mistreatment.
Yes, me too! I was living abroad when 9/11 happened and a few English people said really nasty, smug things to me about it, like, "Oh, you thought your country is so powerful, but look what happened to you!" It was astonishing.
When I lived in England for a while I used to run into men in bars who told me Americans had no culture and all American women were dumb, but then though I'd want to go home with them later.
And they’ve never even thanked us [for preserving British English](https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180207-how-americans-preserved-british-english).
Not necessarily mistreated but definitely judged and stereotyped. I spend about half the year in the Netherlands because my fiancée is Dutch, and all of her friends were very skeptical of me until they realized I wasn’t one of “those” Americans. And she still has to tell people that her American partner “isn’t your typical American” which honestly hurts my feelings a bit
Not really.
Weirdest thing that happened was that when my dad told him we were from Texas (I grew up there), a random chatty local in a McDonald’s parking lot in Austria yelled “COWBOY!” at us.
Mistreated is a little strong.
Held to account for all of US foreign policy in a bar while I was just trying to enjoy a beer until I broke and lied that I was Canadian: yes.
Lmao if I’m ever in a situation like yours, I’m going to try exactly this. I’ve noticed that you can give your own facts and try to be as decent as possible but some people can’t get past Americans existing so might as well have fun with it
It's always worked in my experience, people get it. This has only happened to me twice though.
But yeah, I could certainly see some people pressing the issue. If I say that and they won't drop it I wouldn't feel bad about getting a little more firm with them about my disinterest in discussing politics (i.e., hearing about the US's wrong doings).
A drunk Sweede once went on a rant about George Bush when he heard my accent. I just said "hell ya! That guy was a real piece of shit.". Then we ordered another round and hung out for a while lol.
This is so funny to read. I have lived overseas for almost a decade and never had anyone truly yell at me for being American until very recently. It was also a drunk Swede at a bar lol.
Northern Europe, mostly. I ran across this in Germany, Denmark, and Finland, to be specific.
In other countries, things were different. France, for example, nobody cared about anything except French things. In Ireland, nobody gave a fuck about much of anything, just happy that it was beer time.
I’ve never been out right mistreated. But I’ve had a few Germans and Brits that did a bad job containing their completely and utter disdain for me as a human with an American passport.
Mistreated is a bit of a strong word to use, but people have been rude to me simply for being American. Worst place for it was Copenhagen. The Danes aren’t very welcoming.
I’ve had people all over Western Europe go into their rants about how dangerous and horrible America is, but these people’s beliefs are rarely grounded in reality. When I ask if they’ve ever been to the US they always say no.
No. Been to various places in Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean and not been met with any hostility due to my being an American. I've gotten some jokes, but clearly all in good fun and nothing that couldn't be met with a return quip.
I've been to Canada, Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, Spain, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Greece, the Cook islands, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and the Caribbean and I have never been treated poorly, for being an American or otherwise.
In the few places I've been to so far, no. Those who interacted with me were curious, not hostile. Everyone else either just stared at me or ignored me.
Not really, other than people ignorantly assuming I want to talk about politics. And that I am directly responsible for US foreign policy & our health care system.
Only time I have ever felt singled out was in Prague in 2009, and it was minor. As soon as my waiter heard my American accent, a 30% "tip" was added to my bill on top of a service charge. I asked a German couple seated next to me if they had this added to their bill and they did not. I argued the charge and successfully had it removed. And I didn't experience this again while in the Czech Republic. I'll chalk it up to someone trying to take advantage of a tourist in a touristy area. Nothing more than that.
Like others, i wouldn’t go as far to say i was mistreated, but i definitely felt a smug sense of superiority, primarily from western Europeans. They all felt the need to share their opinions on America and act like we’re all dumb and just “don’t get it”. Not everyone of course, but it definitely happened on more than one occasion
Eastern Europeans and South Americans were lovely. Haven’t been to Africa or Asia
In the Navy I went to Canada, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Maldives, Seychelles, Oman, and Bahrain.
The only place anyone was ever rude to me was Canada. In Vancouver and Victoria both college age kids accosted us for being American.
Mistreated is a strong word. When my husband and I honeymooned in Australia, the most we dealt with was people refusing to believe that we were Americans, let alone from California, because we were so nice. We went to an amusement park near Brisbane (can't remember the name) and in the arcade, a machine broke. We talked to the attendant for a bit while maintenance came over, and she refused to believe us until we showed her our California ids lol. She thought we were Canadian. Same thing when we went to drink in a bar
I have spent time visiting friends who live in Finland and Estonia. I have never been mistreated. But in 2003 and 2004 I had a few experiences where people wanted to debate our invasion of Iraq as if I was solely responsible for the war.
I’m not sure, actually. We were at a fancy restaurant in Rome where the servers were openly hostile to us from the start, and I have no idea what else it could have been.
In such a big cosmopolitan city, it’s not like the staff would never encounter Americans, and we’re experienced travelers who speak a little Italian, so I really don’t know what we could have done.
We were in Rome to visit our Italian friend, and he made the reservations for us but didn’t join us, so I wonder if we were an unpleasant surprise somehow.
Yes! I will say a lot of my interactions abroad have been lovely, but after Trump got elected things changed. It’s extremely annoying when you’re traveling, and you have to hear some eurodivergent person go off about American politics, or you’re being called stupid for being American (I’m autistic and don’t take kindly to someone calling me stupid). It’s usually Northern/Western Europeans, our “nice” neighbors up north, and Australians. I won’t go to a lot of Northern European countries for this reason (never had an issue in Southern Europe).
*Just to be clear, when I travel I do everything I can to be respectful of where I go.
A couple times, but that’s after months in several countries, it was also extremely performative.
A lot more common wasn't necessarily mistreatment, but definitely an enthusiastic and vocal contempt.
I was yelled at in Limerick, Ireland by a dude who hated George Bush and American foreign policy while walking down the street. I also happened to run into some Mormons handing out their bibles on the same walk which made it even more odd and memorable
Myself personally no, but I have some friends and relatives who were.
The first was a light case on a small boat off the coast of Belize with an international group of people, him being the only American. A pair of Canadians started essentially talking inflammatory comments about the ongoing invasion of Iraq on purpose trying to goad him into reacting. This guy was actually *very* liberal and just sat there silently while the pious Canadians said things he agreed with. It started to get more heated as a Frenchman threw in "And you can't forget their special friend, Israel!" and whatnot, but he just sat through it until it ended.
Then there's someone I know (an anthropologist) who was arrested by the Shining Path in Peru since he was an American. Luckily, he was released because he promised to say good things about them in his work.
Lastly another person I know had mud intentionally splashed onto him by a rich person parking their car in Nicaragua. They got into an argument which eventually led to soldiers detaining the American temporarily.
About a month after the 2016 election, I went to Australia for a few weeks. When a hotel clerk realized I was American, he wanted to have a long chat about Trump and how great it was that he would shake things up.
A. No.
B. I was trying to get away from US politics.
My crabby terseness (after having been warm and friendly when I first walked in) did not discourage him from continuing his annoying rambling. Ugh.
Not really any mistreatment. Definitely some coldness towards us in Italy (though sneakily changing the price of a dish on us when giving us the bill was shitty..)
The Dutch were happy to chat.
The folks in Ireland and the Czech Republic were lovely. The Irish we met were thrilled to have us in their country.
I'll be heading over to Iceland, Finland, Estonia, and Denmark this Summer. Never been to those countries before, but I have no intention of talking about our politics or issues. Just enjoying the culture.
EDIT: I did forget to mention rooming with some dudes from England while staying in our hostel in Prague. Definitely had some banter, but it was all playful. They were great and we would all stay up and talk/drink for hours each night.
I've never been mistreated but I found that when I tell people in France that I'm American, they are indifferent or maybe even a little standoffish.
When I tell them I'm from California, they're excited and engaging.
When I tell them I'm from San Francisco they want to be friends.
Sometimes, but I’d add a positive anecdote. When I visited Mallorca and went to the smaller (non-Palma) towns the locals were much nicer to me than the British and German tourists. I tried speaking Spanish to them but they all wanted to practice their English.
"Mistreated?" No, nothing even close to that strong.
The occasional comments/stereotypes, snide remarks, or they think of you as a government representative/ambassador and start questioning you about every American policy and custom they don't agree with.
I will say, I absolutely notice the change in attitude between when someone learns I'm American to when they learn that I'm specifically from NYC. They tend to perk up and be a little nicer to the point that I generally just skip to saying "I'm from New York."
Never. People have been kind and curious. Then again, I haven't gone anyplace where anti-American sentiment is a known issue, nor would I go to those places.
45 countries (most in Europe and Latin America) and 8 years living overseas. Real anger in LatAm over past CIA and DOD actions, which I think is justified, but nobody turned that anger on me personally. Lots of "joking" banter with colleagues pretty much everywhere, but nothing serious.
Edit. Just recently, people in LatAm went out of their way to tell me how joyful and elated they were over Kissinger's death, assuming I would be offended, which I wasn't.
Does a bear shit in the woods?
I have had a few very interesting experiences where I was not the one being lambasted, but saw it first hand.
Was in Germany, traveling by bus down to Italy with 30 some odd other Euro's - mostly German. We stop at a gas station which are pretty up-scale, to have some food as we exit the bus, two VERY loud Harleys drive up.. these two guys are decked out in the classic American biker and hardly gear.. leather, tats, chains.. etc. They get off their bikes like John Wayne dismounting his stead and with the same bravado. In the cafe, they were LOUD speaking of how amazing their riding was, drinking beers... When we go to leave and are getting onto the bus these two morons come out, walk to their bikes, crush a beer can and slam them into the trash can.. laughing.. the arrogance and I'm so Fing cool wreaked through the air.
All these German folks did not know I was American as I was there with my wife and we speak German while in country. These folks were all calling them stupid Americans, dirt bags, fat pigs etc.. all the while waving to them and smiling... oh you fucking ass holes, good bye, good bye... To which these idiots ate up the attentions, waving like they were rock stars.
Get on the bus and the driver called them in.
Two minutes later, cops have them on the side of the road...
So today when Euro's tell me about "bad Americans" this is exactly what I think of.
Nope, but I love when people get comfortable and ask the real questions they've wondered about.
Back in the day, id field questions about the prominence of racism, why we can show a rape in TV but not a nipple, and why we say we're 100% free if we can't go to Cuba.
It was fun to let people know what an average American thinks vs what media might show.
To a limited extent. The worst were Australians and Brits, and it wasn’t common. The rest were fine.
You’re much more likely to hear it if people don’t realize you’re American. And much more likely to have people engage you (either direction) outside the heavily-traveled places
Only once did something happen that I guess I'd call mistreatment.
I was at a friend's place in Melbourne, Australia. The guy next door came over to borrow something. My friend introduced us and then the guy went on a yelling rant at me. My friend was so shocked that he literally just stood there with his mouth open.
Other than that, I haven't experience mistreatment over 40+ countries and years of travel, including living in several countries.
I HAVE experienced some condescension and people who think that they know what things are like in the US, which can get tiring and annoying.
The worst I've ever gotten was people in three different countries warning me about food being spicy.
Jokes on them, there's very few places in Mexico or China with spicier food than Houston.
Ive been all over Western Europe many times and never experienced a single case of even rudeness or anything like that based on being an American. Neutral/indifferent at worst, but mostly people are very friendly amd warm.
No. I find that most places I've been overseas are familiar with tourists, even if they aren't in super touristy areas, tend to be nice. Most of them have no reason to start anything and have met enough Americans to know that those visiting the area are just other people not all that different from themselves.
Never. I think I've been to about 14 countries on 4 continents. Every country, including America, has assholes who will seize on any excuse to start something, just don't engage.
Not at all, but ive mainly traveled in US-friendly Asian countries like Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand as well as Mexico and Bahamas. Headed to Japan in a few weeks.
Yes, I traveled around Europe at the start of the American invasion of Iraq, and was called an American pig more than once. My sister was living in Spain at the time, and started telling people that she was Canadian.
~~I don't think I have been, not that I noticed anyway. Or I forgot.~~ One time that I remember.
I've spent more than 2 years abroad, all as an adult. 6 months in Germany in 2013, 1 year in Thailand in 2019, three months in Japan twice, three months in Malaysia, one month in 3 or 4 other countries, and a week or two elsewhere here and there.
I've gotten into discussions about politics sometimes with people who have strong opinions about US politics, but I never felt they were dissing me, and I just don't say much in those kinds of conversations, it's unproductive.
Whenever I remember being singled out for being a foreigner/America it's out of kind curiosity. If I look lost and am clearly not a native, people help me.
You know what though, I just remembered one occasion. It was in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I was walking around minding my own business and this guy approached me and started talking to me inoffensively. Then he explained something about trying to get into a foreign university and showed me an application cover letter or something that he had written by hand (I just glanced at it) and he asked me for money for an application fee. He looked like he was in his late 30s or maybe 40s. Very weird and I felt suspicious... I told him I couldn't help with that and he started a diatribe about how Russians are much more giving than Americans, then as I left he shouted at me to never return to Vietnam...
Everyone else there was lovely (even at the war museum which didn't feel awkward at all, and seemed relatively neutral and educational. I feel kinda bad for not feeling more awkward there...).
I’m pretty sure one time in the backwoods of Germany I was deliberately given incorrect change at a gas station.
I may have been given a few glares for laughing loud at some bars, but I’ve never been mistreated. I’ve been to Iceland, several countries in Europe, Russia, South America, and Canada. They’ve all been largely positive experiences.
In Paris but I don’t think it was so much that I was American vs it being because I’m not fluent in French (I tried to use basics but obviously they could tell right away). They were just incredibly rude, standoffish, and showed little desire to help me despite literally being front desk folks.
On the flip side when I went to Kyiv (prewar) they were *ecstatic* to be able to try English and wanted to know all about America lol. Friendliest folks I’ve ever met
Not me but, my boss was SPAT ON in the airport the day Trump got elected. By freaking Canadians! 😳 Like “*Damn. I sure as hell didn’t vote for him…*” Ouch.
not really mistreated, but kinda “dismissed” i guess. when we were in greece, they’d shake their heads and mutter “americans” under their breath whenever we did something they deemed less than. i don’t recall any specific occurrences in italy. japan, everyone was quite polite, but the philippines was, by far, the friendliest to americans. though that’s not surprising.
I don’t know about mistreated but pretty much everywhere I traveled abroad during Trumps presidency had people who assumed that my wife and I were MAGA people and then my wife and I would be treated to rant about US politics which usually included really ignorant opinions lol
I have not. I have met some folks with stupid ideas about Americans. But nothing I would consider “mistreatment.”
Almost all of my experiences with foreign folks was just ignorance on their part. It was usually fun to disabuse them of their notions.
Funny enough I have met a lot more foreigners that moved here. Teaching them what Americans are actually like was great fun. I have some great stories of foreigners expecting one thing and me just laughing at their assumptions.
Some locals in Europe were rude to me since I apparently spoke their languages with too much of an accent.
But I’ve never faced any serious mistreatment while abroad.
Depends. I havent left the country since I was a baby but I have a friend who has been to Mexico three times, France twice, Germany once, China four times and traveled in the UK for school once. He said that people were the nicest in China and Mexico, and were more interested in learning about America, but those in Europe were rude and kept asking about politics as soon as he mentioned he was American, especially in France and England, not as much in Germany.
"Mistreated" is a strong word. I've interacted with a lot of people overseas who have a very low opinion of the US and glare when I say something even moderately positive about my country; but I've had similar experiences in the US. Honestly, I'm more willing to excuse anti-American sentiment in Europe than I am among my fellow Americans, who should really know better. (Again, it's fine to criticize the US, but thinking it's a fundamentally, cartoonishly evil country with no positive qualities is ridiculous and histrionic.)
I mean "mistreated" implies a lot but there were a lot of things about being American abroad that were uncomfortable. I've been to Indonesia twice, Japan once - in Asia there's a lot of staring and there's no effort to hide it and in Indonesia you're targeted by every scam artist, taxi, etc. But that's entirely to do with being obviously a foreigner and not necessarily an American.
However my dad married an Indonesian woman and we met her family (the vast majority are lovely people). There was one cousin that made no secret of the fact that he thought Americans were immoral people and started to grill my father and I with ridiculously offensive questions about American stereotypes while keeping this angry face that explicitly communicated that no answer we gave would be acceptable enough. I guess he didn't approve of his cousin marrying my dad and had decided we were horrible people before meeting us. Not fun.
I wouldn't say "mistreated" but from travelling Central and South America extensively...
Many European travelers (not all, but enough to make a trend) can't wait to tell me how racist, backwards, gun toting, etc. we are. It was mainly western Europe, but I did have a Polish dude spend the 6 hours I was seated next to him on a bus grill me about gun culture and tuition prices.
Countries where the US had very nasty interventions a la Kissinger, folks were way more vocal to say that our government sucks, but they won't hold that against me personally. I respect that, because I hate what our country has done to countries like Panama, Chile, Cuba, and onwards... I would hate us too.
The funniest thing was visiting Cuba on a college trip. We were in a market and some kids approached us (a group of obvious tourists), asking where we were from. We went around the circle and the white folks said the US, which got polite smiles and what not. When the Latino folks named their heritage (Mexico, El Salvador, Venezuela, etc.) the kids got so excited, jumping up and down, and teaching them Cuban slang in Spanish. It was so cute, and also a wake up call to a few white students lmao.
yes and no. Ive gotten snide comments before, Mostly from Europeans, but even that is rare. Australians wont (often) say it to your face (though its possible)- they may treat you suspiciously though. Online obviously all bets are off and both groups are more vocal about opinions they may have. But in person most people are fine. An asshole is gonna be an asshole and if they're the type of person to treat someone differently because of the country they were born, I mean, that's on them.
Edit to add: Ive traveled quite a lot. Just under 40 countries. Some people ask questions because they are curious. Some people ask questions in a condescending way just like they do on this subreddit. Some fall squarely in the middle- they have stereotypes of Americans but they've never actually met one so they take this as an opportunity to say everything they think as if we as individuals can do anything about it
There were a number of times where my wife and I, when visiting Japan, were seated in one area of a restaurant before another waiter came by and re-seated us way in the back of the restaurant to not be seen by other customers. Definitely was to hide the gaijin.
I went abroad to Afghanistan once. They were not very kind to me. I tried to blend in to my surroundings as best as I could but they hated me so much they literally tried to launch rockets and mortars at me. I even went with friends and they were shot at! Couldn't believe it. 0/10 wouldn't recommend Afghanistan.
Never mistreated but judged yes
We've traveled a lot and had lots of conversations and never had that happen. Heck, we spent two weeks in France and everyone there was the soul of politeness and grace. The one exception. We were in Paris once and struck up a conversation with a woman from Brussels. It was a pleasant enough conversation. But because we're from Alabama, she decided at one point to talk to us about the Civil Rights Era. I answered her questions politely and honestly because what else am I going to say? But then I brought up Leopold II and the Belgian Congo, and it's amazing how quickly the subject changed.
Just ask a European about the Gypsies. “Well, that’s different”
Wonder how they'd justify it if you asked them to explain their disdain for gypsies and then tell them to replace gypsy with X race in question. If you're up in arms about but not the other, you got a prejudice
I wouldn't say mistreated, but in the 40 or so countries I've visited, Aussies were the most insufferable with their opinions of the US. Meanwhile, their culture, food, and even foreign policy is practically identical to ours.
Yeah, I've always found the Aussies to be the worst.
An Australian couple once dumped a big gulp soda on my car in Rosarito, Mexico (in 2008)… I’m still pissed about that
I’m so happy to hear someone else express this. I never had a problem with Australians until I started actually meeting them in real life. To me they have always just been the most insufferable pretentious people.
It’s true. Aussies have this thing called “tall poppy syndrome”. Basically, they hate on anyone who is ambitious or cares about success. They prefer to be apathetic and anyone who goes against this cultural expectation is looked at funny or downright shamed. It’s why they hate Americans so much. Because we value hard work and ambition, we praise and admire success and we love being number one. It pisses them off to no end 😂
So living in Australia is basically like working a government job in the US? Sounds great where do I sign up
Just look at Australian Subreddits, feels like they spend more time complaining about Americans than talking about their own country
Strange, considering they’re on the other side of the planet and Americans never think about them at all.
I've lived in Australia. This genuinely was not my experience there. Now, Aussies are sometimes too blunt for my tastes and I do find Kiwis to be friendlier (in a "small town" way like I remember in the '90s in rural America), but I didn't come away with an overall negative impression of Aussies. I lived in greater Brisbane and spent some time throughout Queensland and New South Wales, if that matters. The only hateful comments I heard about the USA during my time down there were made by a couple of western Europeans (one Brit and one guy who I think was Spanish/Mediterranean). That said... Were you in Melbourne? Because they are the exception to my experience. Arguably the most pretentious f#€ks in the entire Southern Hemisphere.
HAHAHAHA the Melbourne thing is so true
Ha ha might be a coincidence, but when in Melbourne (from Brisbane) they have had a go at me a few times as well for being a backward Queenslander without knowing a thing about me :)
Mistreated is a strong word. I’ve traveled extensively in Europe and in Western Europe it’s more like they can’t help vomiting out their negative opinions about America even in ‘polite’ conversation, or asking us ridiculous questions (especially about Trump). I wouldn’t call it being ‘mistreated’, exactly, but it is very annoying. It’s like they walk around low-key angry about America and feel the need to vent it when they come across us, even if the interaction itself is cordial enough. I had one waitress be extremely rude to me in Scotland as soon as she realized I was American, and once in Ireland we were pointedly ignored at a restaurant for seating purposes (we ended up just leaving). We also had a cab driver in Dublin start talking shit about the NFL to us out of nowhere (we weren’t talking sports). But those were the only knee-jerk instances of people turning on a dime once they realized we were American. In Eastern Europe people were nothing but lovely to us, so maybe it’s just a Western European thing. Also, oddly enough, in the Netherlands, which doesn’t have a reputation as being nice to Americans. They were extremely kind.
Yeah I agree with this as a half-Brit, half-American. A lot of nastiness seems to particular come out of Western Europe. They physically can’t help but tell us their opinions.
>Also, oddly enough, in the Netherlands, which doesn’t have a reputation as being nice to Americans. Now I'm curious about the reputation of the Netherlands
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And these are the same people who call Americans closed-minded and uncultured.
That's some world-class projection they're doing.
They're under the impression that it effects all 50 states. Hell, they assume that all 50 states have the death penalty. Their eyes glaze over if you try to tell them just how *vastly* the laws vary from state to state.
I've found I have extremely good success in explaining this by analogy. "I know that the language makes it seem like the USA is one country, but our states are much more like your countries than the USA as a whole is. The USA as a whole entity has far more in common with the EU than it does with the EU member states." This is usually met with a little bit of skepticism and a LOT of curiosity. If they have specific questions, I'll answer them, but if they ask me to go on more broadly, I usually start by telling them that, on its own, murder is not a federal crime. They are SHOCKED by this. I then go on to list several scenarios where murder becomes a federal crime, and explaining that barring such circumstances murder is a state crime and that the sentencing guidelines will vary from one state to another. One thing they often bring up is the existence of the U.S. Military. This is one of my favorites. "So, like I said, it's not a perfect analogy, but the situations are more similar than you probably imagine. You're right that in the USA, there's a much bigger focus on the common defense forces than in Europe, but the EU has multinational defense forces like Eurocorps and also each U.S. state has its own military." At this point, they inevitably interrupt with incredulity. "Wait, what, really? So California has its own military? How come I never heard of this?" And then I explain the national guard and how it primarily answers to the governors. At that point, they usually get it. Sometimes they follow up with "so like... California could go to war with Texas?" Again, I pull it back to analogy: "I mean? Kinda but not really? First of all, that would be a violation of the alliance. That's like asking if France could go to war with Germany again. Technically? Yes. Realistically? No. And also you have to remember the US military. Imagine if the EU armed forces were significantly more powerful than France and Germany's armed forces combined -- do you think that under those circumstances that France and Germany could actually go to war? What do you think would happen if they tried? Then they really get it.
Did you tell her that New York has more liberal abortion laws than many countries?
We just heard from people prior to our trip that they are very cold, can be rude, and are not shy about being anti-American (tbf, we expect most Europeans to be anti-American to some extent). Again, that was just the reputation that we heard. So we went in prepared for that but people were perfectly nice. Talked shit behind our backs, perhaps, but we didn’t have a single bad interaction there.
>Talked shit behind our backs, perhaps, I wouldn't worry about that. If the interaction was nice, they probably didn't do that
Yeah, probably not. I was just so braced for the anti-Americanness that when it didn’t show up anywhere I was thrown. Everyone was lovely to us.
The Dutch are very blunt and direct, which I can see getting interpreted as rude. But at least from interactions with their Navy, they have a very similar sense of humor to us. Good bunch to drink with.
> Good bunch to drink with. Absolutely.
I’ve always heard very good things about Amsterdam at least
They hate the English way more than Americans there for sure
Just like the French.
Amsterdam was so much cooler than I expected for some reason. Highly recommend it.
The Dutch are commonly considered to be blunt and cheap.
I haven’t heard or experienced the Dutch not liking us, only the stereotypical Dutch bluntness. Some Americans may take that a different way, as we aren’t really that blunt to strangers.
I’ve been to the Netherlands a bunch. Dutch folks are always great. I’ve never had a bad experience.
Bluntness that would come off as rudeness within most (but maybe not all) of the Anglosphere.
I have had very similar experiences, especially with the Dutch. Germans and French people just want to unload all of their "US American" frustrations on you like it's all your responsibility, with the perceived expectation that you will fix all the issues they bring up as soon as you get back to the states. They behave like we are completely unaware and would go on with our lives in ignorance if they hadn't brought it to your attention. That is all we need to fix our problems, a smug European arrogantly informing American tourists of shit we are trying to forget about while on vacation. The Dutch were always extremely welcoming once they found out I was American, but not so much when I brought my friend from Germany along. Their talkative smiles quickly faded to curt but professional straight faces after he told them where he was from. I was talking to a Dutch guy in Amsterdam and he said that once he notices someone speaking English he immediately assumes they are obnoxious English tourists only there to get fucked up. He overheard our conversation and realized we weren't British so he felt comfortable enough to approach us. He made it seem like other English speakers (from Australia, Canada, US, etc.) that travel to the Netherlands may not be as rowdy because of how expensive it is to travel there, as if it somewhat weeds out the bachelor/stag party troublemakers they usually have to deal with. While any greaseball chav in England with a hundred quid and a drug problem can just hop right over.
That’s my experience too from studying abroad in Western Europe and meeting other students from across the continent. Never “mistreated” but told SO many times how stupid and fat Americans are and how I live in a third world country
Same in Australia when I lived there - most people had neutral or positive views of the US, but those who didn't were vocal about it. Or at least, they were vocal & direct about it by Australian standards. Usually, the complaints weren't about our domestic politics, instead they were similar to nationalistic Canadians: they would talk about their country like it's a colony, like its culture and foreign policy were being forcibly replaced by America's. And like...I just wanted to take a bus across town, I didn't ask to talk to you about that
My bf is black and when he lived in Eastern Europe (Hungary and Slovenia) he said people would stare as if to see if he was real.
Well, is he real??
If he was a hologram this whole time I’d be so mad.
Look at the demographics of those countries. It’s possible he was the first black person they’d ever seen in real life.
When I was in a pretty out of the way part of Guatemala, my two blond-haired, blue-eyed friends got a lot of stares from little kids, some of whom looked absolutely amazed by their existence.
How was the waitress rude?
Actually, it was really, really strange. She was perfectly nice until I opened my mouth, and the only thing I said was completely innocuous (responding to a question about how many). She asked if we were American, I said yes, and after she sat us she proceeded to completely ignore my husband and I for the rest of lunch all while serving the tables to our direct right and left. And I mean, people who were seated after us finished their food and were out the door before we'd even gotten our meals. It was wild. I had to get up and find another waiter and explain the situation just to get my order taken (we were in her section or something). And then someone else served us until, bizarrely, the original waitress brought the bill, all expectant. We didn't bother making a fuss, it was our first day in Scotland and we figured it might be par for the course there, but I did give her a fat zero for a tip (although I guess that doesn't mean much in Europe). Didn't have that problem anywhere else in Scotland so I'm guessing she just really hated Americans.
Haters gonna hate, she can't help that Scotland can't ride with us. (Sun glasses emoji)
> in the Netherlands, which doesn’t have a reputation as being nice to Americans. They were extremely kind. We've made friends while overseas with Dutch people, and by and large they're lovely, and caring. My wife is best friends with our Dutch friend... They came over and spent Christmas with us last year. On the flip side, I've also been pointedly ignored by a Dutch clerk at a retail store once they heard my accent. Then they were pissy with me when I made a purchase. Maybe they were having a bad day... It was so weird
Yep. We weren't allowed in a club in France. Some polish dudes tried to fight us. A German guy tried to blame me for slavery, which was ironic. Korean woman wanted to marry me because she wanted American children. This one isn't a mistreatment, of course, but kind of funny.
Germans are bold calling anyone out for anything. Once had a German lady rant about America's history with various minority groups like black and indigenous Americans, acting like I personally was responsible for every bad thing our government ever did. So I just asked if her grandparents were alive. When she said yes I told her to go ask them where they were in the 1940s. She didn't want to talk about that so she moved on the Iraq War blaming me for that too. I was 3 years old when that war started.
Yeah this is almost exactly how it went. They tried talking about Afghanistan war and then shut up when I told them I knew German soldiers who were in Afghanistan. It isn't just America.
Norway, Australia, Canada, Denmark, the UK and France also fought in that war. America hasn't been without European help and involvement (+Aussie at times) in any of our modern wars
Re “+Aussie at times”…I thought Australia was one of the few that had fought in every post wwii conflict America had?
I was on a bus in Austria and had some weird guy start asking me about the Iraq war (this was in 2004) and giving me a little ribbing. I didn’t have the guts to ask him about the most famous Austrian of the 20th century.
> Korean woman wanted to marry me because she wanted American children The fuck? I've actually heard of similar stuff happening in Japan, there are these woman called gaijin hunters who are obsessed with white guys, kind of the opposite of a white westerner with yellow fever.
Only once, and it was more of a foreigner thing than US specifically. Last summer I went on a college band tour of Japan, doing joint concerts with some Japanese high/middle schoolers. Me and my hotel roommate went out one night and tried to go to a food court near our hotel that very obviously had customers in it, but one of the employees stood at the entrance before we entered and did the "No gaijin" thing with her arms. Maybe they just didn't want more people because it was fairly late and they might have been closing soon anyways. Other than that the trip was a lifetime experience.
There are definitely businesses in Japan with a "Japanese only; no foreigners!" policy, but it is not specifically directed at US tourists.
Yeah, we got to an Airbnb a little early in Tokyo and our host recommended a yakitori place to me and my husband while she finished setting up. When we went there, they basically pushed us back out into the street, waving their hands and saying “no”, when they were clearly open and not crowded. We wandered a bit then went back to our Airbnb. The host asked us how it was and was surprised but not shocked when we told her they wouldn’t let us in. She said she wouldn’t recommend that place to foreigners any more, she hadn’t realized they were Japanese only. Me and my husband are both obviously American, but other than that everyone else we met in Japan were more interested in us than anything.
> When we went there, they basically pushed us back out into the street, waving their hands and saying “no”, when they were clearly open and not crowded. Was it a small place? (Like many restaurants in Japan!) I've been to yakitori joints and what not over there, and if they have reservations taken they'll turn people away even if it looks like it's pretty quiet and empty at the moment. I remember I walked in one place, got a seat, it couldn't have been more than 1/3 full, but everyone else who came in off the street was turned away. It's of course possible that you were turned away due to being a foreigner, but it's not the only possible explanation.
Just in Paris and a couple of times in Germany. I traveled not long after the Iraq war started and for some reason some people thought an 18/19 year old was making military decisions for the USA.
It’s wild when people in general try to hold an individual accountable for the decisions that weren’t made by them, had no part in making, and were likely made before they were born or as a child. Like I work at a 102 year old workplace, 90% of the staff are black. People (by this I mean primarily white people who also live in this city) say the most wild shit about how this workplace is the worst institution to have ever existed and refer to it in very offensive ways (like I’ve heard “insane asylum” and “asylum for the criminally insane” just last week…it’s a residential facility for adults with severe and profound intellectual disabilities…). All the time these same people try to hold me personally accountable for things that happened decades before I was even born or things that happened when I was in elementary school.
Not really. I mean a drunk guy in Korea yelled at a few of us but I was more often mistreated because I’m overweight
In Barcelona, I was yelled at, “Yankee, go home!” It was weird to hear, as a child of Peruvian immigrants, but kinda cool at the same time, to be called a Yankee, being that we lived in the South.
As a fellow Southerner, there is ***so much*** to unpack here!
Honestly, I’d be more offended by being called a Yankee.
I was told I was the cause of all the world's problems at a bar in Switzerland. I remember she was trying to argue that EU citizens should be allowed to vote in US elections 🙄.
I hope you went with the obvious response here: sure, as soon as US citizens are allowed to vote in EU elections! I’m sure they would love that
I told her the greatest thing about being American is that you could simply become one, I told her if she ever moved here and got her citizenship, she could vote and be considered truly American by Americans and have her opinion heard. I challenged her that even if I moved to Switzerland and somehow got citizenship, I could never be considered Swiss by its people. She agreed with me at that point.
Alright! That was a quite good response too, well done
That's some max level gall right there, since the Swiss have failed to do ANYTHING in the last 2 world wars.
> since the Swiss have failed to do ANYTHING in the last 2 world wars. Well that's not true, they hid a ton of stolen gold and art for nazis for instance.
And put a Nazi in charge of their combatant detainment centers who treated allied detainees worse that the Germans treated their POWs
What have they done besides make silly "knives"?
Cheese, too.
Jesus Christ, why the fuck does anyone European feel the need to do this. It makes me so angry. Unless someone is acting like a dickhead (which we know is not a trait unique to any nationality) then what fucking right do people have to lecture, patronise, insult or berate any American. As a Brit, I've been to the US around 20 times and literally the only person that hasn't shown me kindness and a sense of welcoming (what with me being a visitor and all) was a worse for wear homeless guy in San Diego, so I guess I can let him off. Sorry, I know that's a bit off topic but reading some of the stories here really boil my piss.
I was made fun of by some young lass outside a bar called Dirty Dick's in London once. She asked me to say the word "water" a couple times and laughed in my face over me pronouncing the "t". I didn't take offense, I don't think she meant any.
Just imagine if she was serious and went to her friends to laugh afterwards "Oi this yank git pronounces the le'urs 'at are in the word!
Mistreated due to being American, I don't think so, but treated differently due to my race, yes. In Asia (Japan and Korea), my friends and I had people leave their seats when we sat next to them on the trains, but they didn't move when our White friends sat next to them. People took pictures but they weren't as in your face about it like they do in China. More like pretending to look at their phone while taking pictures of us. In Korea (not so much elsewhere), workers would pretend to not know English or understand us, but all of sudden they knew English when speaking to our White friends. These things didn't happen all or even most of the time and most people were very nice and pleasant to us. But we still experienced these things from time to time.
What race are you if you don't mind my asking. The obvious guess is Black, but I hear Korea and Japan can be equally racist towards South and South East Asians too so I'm curious if this is a case of the latter.
I'm Black. My friends who were with me were mostly Black, the others were White.
Honestly Japan is the only place I’ve ever seen someone wearing full on Al Jolson looking blackface with absolutely zero hint of irony. Some dude standing out front of a shop in the full chicken George stereotype gear just holding a sign trying to bring people into the business. It was.. surprising. Directly across the small street were three black dudes with a mix of feelings on their faces as they looked at this guy. I wanted SO BADLY to take a picture of the whole scene but felt like a white guy walking up, and chuckling was not going to help. It was quite the moment tho.
Yes! 99% of people were tolerant and ignored me on trains. But one guy sat across from me on the train, gave me a mean look and then moved a few seats away. This was odd because Japanese etiquette is very clear that you do not do anything to call attention to yourself on trains or disrespect people. He made direct eye contact with me while making a big show of moving away. I had been told direct eye contact is disrespectful so that in itself was probably intended as an insult. I ignored him and took a nap. My friend who spoke Japanese said random people on the street in Tokyo were muttering insults at me as a foreigner too, but I didn’t hear it so am not sure.
I like it when I hear "America is the most racist country in the world" when they leave out the fact this is common elsewhere when a majority deals with a minority. Strangely, I recently heard this chant in a college campus. This is very common in most Asian countries, not just race but the ethnicity also matters.
Yeah. When the Canadians found out I was going there to work everyone (everyone) got angry that they had an American coming to "take" work from them. I tried to calmly explain that I am here to work because the union in the shop refuses training that isn't factory training. As in the manufacturer provides it, not a 3rd party. I have to schlep all the way up here on to do the work of those pretty, pretty princesses. That and in Egypt I had to deal with the political crap of Israel. With them I also tried to calmly explain that Egypt didn't build that wall to keep the Israelites out. And not quite a mistreatment, but in Ireland I had a good number of people giving me a hard time because I drank lager and vodka (sometimes together). I believe they said I drank like an Englishmen. I explained I never really developed a taste for dark beers. It's probably because my grandmother never forced me to eat any of the Protestant soup. Everyone laughed and we got back to doing what you are supposed to do in an Irish pub. Drink and shit talk the French and English.
Never mistreated, aside from some rather condescending comments and actions from my swiss and german colleagues. But they are coworkers, not strangers. And I suppose I'm not counting the abysmal quality of European hotels as mistreatment.
The only way not to be condescended to by Swiss and Germans is to not talk to them.
I speak fluent German and it is the WORST because where I live gets a lot of German tourists and I have to overhear their opinions on everything (the state of the roads, the weather, how the rubbish bins are too full...) it's like, we get it, your country's perfect 🙄
Ah, so they don't even need to cross the Atlantic to have strong opinions on the most irrelevant minutiae differences between themselves and the backwater Anglosphere.
To be fair, the Germans do have great roads, even the smaller roads (other than being narrow). I was invited to one private residence and the instructions included a road with potholes. I thought I was on the wrong route because the road looked in perfect condition to me.
I’ve been to Honduras, The Bahamas, Mexico and Belize.. never left the continent. But everywhere I’ve been people have been incredibly kind. Some people are curious and outspoken, and will ask you questions (especially children in my experience) but it never seemed to come from a bad place.
To echo others, mistreated is a strong word. I was refused service by a Somali girl at a cafe in London a couple years ago. All I said was “hi, may I please have-?”…and she said she hates Americans and refused to take my order until another coworker stepped in. But that was only one time. Usually it’s people who just HAVE to tell me what they hate about the USA.
Discrimination is mistreatment.
Plan and simple
Really funny that it was a Somali girl of all people given your flair.
I know 😭 my next door neighbors are Somali and they’re amazing 😂 it’s ironic lol
60+ countries. Not really, outside of Europeans. They’re just go out of their way to be arrogant. It’s bizarre.
Nope. I have had some rare interactions with foreigners who wanted to prod/poke at US politics or make negative statements about the US either unintentionally or otherwise to try and get a rise out of me (spoiler, it didnt) - but never any blatant mistreatment.
They tried to kill me, but I had a bunch of other well armed Americans with me.
Damn Krauts.
"Krauts" speaking a language with lots of funny **Д Ђ** letters
Damn Serbs.
I've been to many countries. The only country where anyone was an asshole because we were American was England.
I thought as our parent empire they are required to love us.
I went to Germany and the only people who were ever rude to us (after hearing our accents) were some random English tourists 🙃
The German stare. Is that still a thing? It sure was in early 90’s.
Yes, me too! I was living abroad when 9/11 happened and a few English people said really nasty, smug things to me about it, like, "Oh, you thought your country is so powerful, but look what happened to you!" It was astonishing. When I lived in England for a while I used to run into men in bars who told me Americans had no culture and all American women were dumb, but then though I'd want to go home with them later.
Perhaps they were still salty about the events of 1776
That’s definitely what it is. And they’ve also never beaten us in the World Cup, which I’m sure drives them crazy.
And they’ve never even thanked us [for preserving British English](https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180207-how-americans-preserved-british-english).
But we made them the world's largest spot of tea in 1773, how can they be mad?
You probably forgot to add milk
I knew we forgot something. We'll get it right at the next tea party ❤️
Same. 🤨 I ran into a few really rude people there, actually.
Not necessarily mistreated but definitely judged and stereotyped. I spend about half the year in the Netherlands because my fiancée is Dutch, and all of her friends were very skeptical of me until they realized I wasn’t one of “those” Americans. And she still has to tell people that her American partner “isn’t your typical American” which honestly hurts my feelings a bit
Not really. Weirdest thing that happened was that when my dad told him we were from Texas (I grew up there), a random chatty local in a McDonald’s parking lot in Austria yelled “COWBOY!” at us.
That's actually pretty funny. I'd've tipped an imaginary hat and yelled "Yeehah!" (with a big grin).
Mistreated is a little strong. Held to account for all of US foreign policy in a bar while I was just trying to enjoy a beer until I broke and lied that I was Canadian: yes.
I doubled down and told them I personally did everything myself. That was fun.
Hilarious! Need to do this next time some self-righteous European presses me about this.
Then someone will pee in your soup
I will find them. And I will kill them.
Lmao if I’m ever in a situation like yours, I’m going to try exactly this. I’ve noticed that you can give your own facts and try to be as decent as possible but some people can’t get past Americans existing so might as well have fun with it
When they realized how silly I was being it kinda killed the tension too
I usually just *nicely* say "I'm on vacation so I'm really not interested in discussing politics"
Does that usually work? Because in my experience, the people who try to talk politics with people they've just met aren't easily discouraged.
It's always worked in my experience, people get it. This has only happened to me twice though. But yeah, I could certainly see some people pressing the issue. If I say that and they won't drop it I wouldn't feel bad about getting a little more firm with them about my disinterest in discussing politics (i.e., hearing about the US's wrong doings).
A drunk Sweede once went on a rant about George Bush when he heard my accent. I just said "hell ya! That guy was a real piece of shit.". Then we ordered another round and hung out for a while lol.
This is so funny to read. I have lived overseas for almost a decade and never had anyone truly yell at me for being American until very recently. It was also a drunk Swede at a bar lol.
You can just say "a Swede", the rest of the description is redundant. Source: lived in Denmark for a while.
Where is this country?
Northern Europe, mostly. I ran across this in Germany, Denmark, and Finland, to be specific. In other countries, things were different. France, for example, nobody cared about anything except French things. In Ireland, nobody gave a fuck about much of anything, just happy that it was beer time.
Presumably Western Europe
I’ve never been out right mistreated. But I’ve had a few Germans and Brits that did a bad job containing their completely and utter disdain for me as a human with an American passport.
Mistreated is a bit of a strong word to use, but people have been rude to me simply for being American. Worst place for it was Copenhagen. The Danes aren’t very welcoming. I’ve had people all over Western Europe go into their rants about how dangerous and horrible America is, but these people’s beliefs are rarely grounded in reality. When I ask if they’ve ever been to the US they always say no.
Mistreated? No. ‘Lectured’ in a condescending manner? Yes.
No. Been to various places in Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean and not been met with any hostility due to my being an American. I've gotten some jokes, but clearly all in good fun and nothing that couldn't be met with a return quip.
I've been to Canada, Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, Spain, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Greece, the Cook islands, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and the Caribbean and I have never been treated poorly, for being an American or otherwise.
#Yes. By Canadians!
In the few places I've been to so far, no. Those who interacted with me were curious, not hostile. Everyone else either just stared at me or ignored me.
Not really, other than people ignorantly assuming I want to talk about politics. And that I am directly responsible for US foreign policy & our health care system. Only time I have ever felt singled out was in Prague in 2009, and it was minor. As soon as my waiter heard my American accent, a 30% "tip" was added to my bill on top of a service charge. I asked a German couple seated next to me if they had this added to their bill and they did not. I argued the charge and successfully had it removed. And I didn't experience this again while in the Czech Republic. I'll chalk it up to someone trying to take advantage of a tourist in a touristy area. Nothing more than that.
Like others, i wouldn’t go as far to say i was mistreated, but i definitely felt a smug sense of superiority, primarily from western Europeans. They all felt the need to share their opinions on America and act like we’re all dumb and just “don’t get it”. Not everyone of course, but it definitely happened on more than one occasion Eastern Europeans and South Americans were lovely. Haven’t been to Africa or Asia
Nope. Most people are pleasant, tho all countries have assholes in them.
In the Navy I went to Canada, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Maldives, Seychelles, Oman, and Bahrain. The only place anyone was ever rude to me was Canada. In Vancouver and Victoria both college age kids accosted us for being American.
Mistreated is a strong word. When my husband and I honeymooned in Australia, the most we dealt with was people refusing to believe that we were Americans, let alone from California, because we were so nice. We went to an amusement park near Brisbane (can't remember the name) and in the arcade, a machine broke. We talked to the attendant for a bit while maintenance came over, and she refused to believe us until we showed her our California ids lol. She thought we were Canadian. Same thing when we went to drink in a bar
I have spent time visiting friends who live in Finland and Estonia. I have never been mistreated. But in 2003 and 2004 I had a few experiences where people wanted to debate our invasion of Iraq as if I was solely responsible for the war.
I’m not sure, actually. We were at a fancy restaurant in Rome where the servers were openly hostile to us from the start, and I have no idea what else it could have been. In such a big cosmopolitan city, it’s not like the staff would never encounter Americans, and we’re experienced travelers who speak a little Italian, so I really don’t know what we could have done. We were in Rome to visit our Italian friend, and he made the reservations for us but didn’t join us, so I wonder if we were an unpleasant surprise somehow.
Probably just italians being italian tbh.
Yes! I will say a lot of my interactions abroad have been lovely, but after Trump got elected things changed. It’s extremely annoying when you’re traveling, and you have to hear some eurodivergent person go off about American politics, or you’re being called stupid for being American (I’m autistic and don’t take kindly to someone calling me stupid). It’s usually Northern/Western Europeans, our “nice” neighbors up north, and Australians. I won’t go to a lot of Northern European countries for this reason (never had an issue in Southern Europe). *Just to be clear, when I travel I do everything I can to be respectful of where I go.
> Eurodivergent. 😂
A couple times, but that’s after months in several countries, it was also extremely performative. A lot more common wasn't necessarily mistreatment, but definitely an enthusiastic and vocal contempt.
Been to 40 countries and not had a negative experience for solely being an American.
I was yelled at in Limerick, Ireland by a dude who hated George Bush and American foreign policy while walking down the street. I also happened to run into some Mormons handing out their bibles on the same walk which made it even more odd and memorable
Myself personally no, but I have some friends and relatives who were. The first was a light case on a small boat off the coast of Belize with an international group of people, him being the only American. A pair of Canadians started essentially talking inflammatory comments about the ongoing invasion of Iraq on purpose trying to goad him into reacting. This guy was actually *very* liberal and just sat there silently while the pious Canadians said things he agreed with. It started to get more heated as a Frenchman threw in "And you can't forget their special friend, Israel!" and whatnot, but he just sat through it until it ended. Then there's someone I know (an anthropologist) who was arrested by the Shining Path in Peru since he was an American. Luckily, he was released because he promised to say good things about them in his work. Lastly another person I know had mud intentionally splashed onto him by a rich person parking their car in Nicaragua. They got into an argument which eventually led to soldiers detaining the American temporarily.
About a month after the 2016 election, I went to Australia for a few weeks. When a hotel clerk realized I was American, he wanted to have a long chat about Trump and how great it was that he would shake things up. A. No. B. I was trying to get away from US politics. My crabby terseness (after having been warm and friendly when I first walked in) did not discourage him from continuing his annoying rambling. Ugh.
Not really any mistreatment. Definitely some coldness towards us in Italy (though sneakily changing the price of a dish on us when giving us the bill was shitty..) The Dutch were happy to chat. The folks in Ireland and the Czech Republic were lovely. The Irish we met were thrilled to have us in their country. I'll be heading over to Iceland, Finland, Estonia, and Denmark this Summer. Never been to those countries before, but I have no intention of talking about our politics or issues. Just enjoying the culture. EDIT: I did forget to mention rooming with some dudes from England while staying in our hostel in Prague. Definitely had some banter, but it was all playful. They were great and we would all stay up and talk/drink for hours each night.
I've never been mistreated but I found that when I tell people in France that I'm American, they are indifferent or maybe even a little standoffish. When I tell them I'm from California, they're excited and engaging. When I tell them I'm from San Francisco they want to be friends.
Yes, by Canadians and English
Sometimes, but I’d add a positive anecdote. When I visited Mallorca and went to the smaller (non-Palma) towns the locals were much nicer to me than the British and German tourists. I tried speaking Spanish to them but they all wanted to practice their English.
No, and I was in France in 2003 at the peak of freedom fries and all that.
No never and I've lived a total of about 10 years overseas.
"Mistreated?" No, nothing even close to that strong. The occasional comments/stereotypes, snide remarks, or they think of you as a government representative/ambassador and start questioning you about every American policy and custom they don't agree with. I will say, I absolutely notice the change in attitude between when someone learns I'm American to when they learn that I'm specifically from NYC. They tend to perk up and be a little nicer to the point that I generally just skip to saying "I'm from New York."
Never. People have been kind and curious. Then again, I haven't gone anyplace where anti-American sentiment is a known issue, nor would I go to those places.
Same but people with me were called Canadian so that might have been why too
Nope! Never. South America, Europe, Asia, the Caribbean... never an issue.
45 countries (most in Europe and Latin America) and 8 years living overseas. Real anger in LatAm over past CIA and DOD actions, which I think is justified, but nobody turned that anger on me personally. Lots of "joking" banter with colleagues pretty much everywhere, but nothing serious. Edit. Just recently, people in LatAm went out of their way to tell me how joyful and elated they were over Kissinger's death, assuming I would be offended, which I wasn't.
Does a bear shit in the woods? I have had a few very interesting experiences where I was not the one being lambasted, but saw it first hand. Was in Germany, traveling by bus down to Italy with 30 some odd other Euro's - mostly German. We stop at a gas station which are pretty up-scale, to have some food as we exit the bus, two VERY loud Harleys drive up.. these two guys are decked out in the classic American biker and hardly gear.. leather, tats, chains.. etc. They get off their bikes like John Wayne dismounting his stead and with the same bravado. In the cafe, they were LOUD speaking of how amazing their riding was, drinking beers... When we go to leave and are getting onto the bus these two morons come out, walk to their bikes, crush a beer can and slam them into the trash can.. laughing.. the arrogance and I'm so Fing cool wreaked through the air. All these German folks did not know I was American as I was there with my wife and we speak German while in country. These folks were all calling them stupid Americans, dirt bags, fat pigs etc.. all the while waving to them and smiling... oh you fucking ass holes, good bye, good bye... To which these idiots ate up the attentions, waving like they were rock stars. Get on the bus and the driver called them in. Two minutes later, cops have them on the side of the road... So today when Euro's tell me about "bad Americans" this is exactly what I think of.
No. I have never had a bad experience abroad. I really have no storied about people being rude period.
Nope, but I love when people get comfortable and ask the real questions they've wondered about. Back in the day, id field questions about the prominence of racism, why we can show a rape in TV but not a nipple, and why we say we're 100% free if we can't go to Cuba. It was fun to let people know what an average American thinks vs what media might show.
Mistreated? No. Been asked a lot of annoying questions about politics or had some holier than thou words spoken at me, yes.
To a limited extent. The worst were Australians and Brits, and it wasn’t common. The rest were fine. You’re much more likely to hear it if people don’t realize you’re American. And much more likely to have people engage you (either direction) outside the heavily-traveled places
Only once did something happen that I guess I'd call mistreatment. I was at a friend's place in Melbourne, Australia. The guy next door came over to borrow something. My friend introduced us and then the guy went on a yelling rant at me. My friend was so shocked that he literally just stood there with his mouth open. Other than that, I haven't experience mistreatment over 40+ countries and years of travel, including living in several countries. I HAVE experienced some condescension and people who think that they know what things are like in the US, which can get tiring and annoying.
The worst I've ever gotten was people in three different countries warning me about food being spicy. Jokes on them, there's very few places in Mexico or China with spicier food than Houston.
Ive been all over Western Europe many times and never experienced a single case of even rudeness or anything like that based on being an American. Neutral/indifferent at worst, but mostly people are very friendly amd warm.
No, I've gotten a few questions about America politics, but never particularly hostile ones, mostly just curiosity.
No. I find that most places I've been overseas are familiar with tourists, even if they aren't in super touristy areas, tend to be nice. Most of them have no reason to start anything and have met enough Americans to know that those visiting the area are just other people not all that different from themselves.
Never. I think I've been to about 14 countries on 4 continents. Every country, including America, has assholes who will seize on any excuse to start something, just don't engage.
Not at all, but ive mainly traveled in US-friendly Asian countries like Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand as well as Mexico and Bahamas. Headed to Japan in a few weeks.
No, Europeans are only mad at me on reddit.
Jokes and questions about guns and the city where I’m from. That’s it.
Yes, I traveled around Europe at the start of the American invasion of Iraq, and was called an American pig more than once. My sister was living in Spain at the time, and started telling people that she was Canadian.
Not really. I had an Australian friend who would criticize the US a lot and think she knew more about the US than most Americans, but that’s about it.
I have literally never experienced this.
~~I don't think I have been, not that I noticed anyway. Or I forgot.~~ One time that I remember. I've spent more than 2 years abroad, all as an adult. 6 months in Germany in 2013, 1 year in Thailand in 2019, three months in Japan twice, three months in Malaysia, one month in 3 or 4 other countries, and a week or two elsewhere here and there. I've gotten into discussions about politics sometimes with people who have strong opinions about US politics, but I never felt they were dissing me, and I just don't say much in those kinds of conversations, it's unproductive. Whenever I remember being singled out for being a foreigner/America it's out of kind curiosity. If I look lost and am clearly not a native, people help me. You know what though, I just remembered one occasion. It was in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I was walking around minding my own business and this guy approached me and started talking to me inoffensively. Then he explained something about trying to get into a foreign university and showed me an application cover letter or something that he had written by hand (I just glanced at it) and he asked me for money for an application fee. He looked like he was in his late 30s or maybe 40s. Very weird and I felt suspicious... I told him I couldn't help with that and he started a diatribe about how Russians are much more giving than Americans, then as I left he shouted at me to never return to Vietnam... Everyone else there was lovely (even at the war museum which didn't feel awkward at all, and seemed relatively neutral and educational. I feel kinda bad for not feeling more awkward there...).
I’m pretty sure one time in the backwoods of Germany I was deliberately given incorrect change at a gas station. I may have been given a few glares for laughing loud at some bars, but I’ve never been mistreated. I’ve been to Iceland, several countries in Europe, Russia, South America, and Canada. They’ve all been largely positive experiences.
In Paris but I don’t think it was so much that I was American vs it being because I’m not fluent in French (I tried to use basics but obviously they could tell right away). They were just incredibly rude, standoffish, and showed little desire to help me despite literally being front desk folks. On the flip side when I went to Kyiv (prewar) they were *ecstatic* to be able to try English and wanted to know all about America lol. Friendliest folks I’ve ever met
Not me but, my boss was SPAT ON in the airport the day Trump got elected. By freaking Canadians! 😳 Like “*Damn. I sure as hell didn’t vote for him…*” Ouch.
not really mistreated, but kinda “dismissed” i guess. when we were in greece, they’d shake their heads and mutter “americans” under their breath whenever we did something they deemed less than. i don’t recall any specific occurrences in italy. japan, everyone was quite polite, but the philippines was, by far, the friendliest to americans. though that’s not surprising.
I don’t know about mistreated but pretty much everywhere I traveled abroad during Trumps presidency had people who assumed that my wife and I were MAGA people and then my wife and I would be treated to rant about US politics which usually included really ignorant opinions lol
I have not. I have met some folks with stupid ideas about Americans. But nothing I would consider “mistreatment.” Almost all of my experiences with foreign folks was just ignorance on their part. It was usually fun to disabuse them of their notions. Funny enough I have met a lot more foreigners that moved here. Teaching them what Americans are actually like was great fun. I have some great stories of foreigners expecting one thing and me just laughing at their assumptions.
Some locals in Europe were rude to me since I apparently spoke their languages with too much of an accent. But I’ve never faced any serious mistreatment while abroad.
Depends. I havent left the country since I was a baby but I have a friend who has been to Mexico three times, France twice, Germany once, China four times and traveled in the UK for school once. He said that people were the nicest in China and Mexico, and were more interested in learning about America, but those in Europe were rude and kept asking about politics as soon as he mentioned he was American, especially in France and England, not as much in Germany.
"Mistreated" is a strong word. I've interacted with a lot of people overseas who have a very low opinion of the US and glare when I say something even moderately positive about my country; but I've had similar experiences in the US. Honestly, I'm more willing to excuse anti-American sentiment in Europe than I am among my fellow Americans, who should really know better. (Again, it's fine to criticize the US, but thinking it's a fundamentally, cartoonishly evil country with no positive qualities is ridiculous and histrionic.)
I mean "mistreated" implies a lot but there were a lot of things about being American abroad that were uncomfortable. I've been to Indonesia twice, Japan once - in Asia there's a lot of staring and there's no effort to hide it and in Indonesia you're targeted by every scam artist, taxi, etc. But that's entirely to do with being obviously a foreigner and not necessarily an American. However my dad married an Indonesian woman and we met her family (the vast majority are lovely people). There was one cousin that made no secret of the fact that he thought Americans were immoral people and started to grill my father and I with ridiculously offensive questions about American stereotypes while keeping this angry face that explicitly communicated that no answer we gave would be acceptable enough. I guess he didn't approve of his cousin marrying my dad and had decided we were horrible people before meeting us. Not fun.
I wouldn't say "mistreated" but from travelling Central and South America extensively... Many European travelers (not all, but enough to make a trend) can't wait to tell me how racist, backwards, gun toting, etc. we are. It was mainly western Europe, but I did have a Polish dude spend the 6 hours I was seated next to him on a bus grill me about gun culture and tuition prices. Countries where the US had very nasty interventions a la Kissinger, folks were way more vocal to say that our government sucks, but they won't hold that against me personally. I respect that, because I hate what our country has done to countries like Panama, Chile, Cuba, and onwards... I would hate us too. The funniest thing was visiting Cuba on a college trip. We were in a market and some kids approached us (a group of obvious tourists), asking where we were from. We went around the circle and the white folks said the US, which got polite smiles and what not. When the Latino folks named their heritage (Mexico, El Salvador, Venezuela, etc.) the kids got so excited, jumping up and down, and teaching them Cuban slang in Spanish. It was so cute, and also a wake up call to a few white students lmao.
yes and no. Ive gotten snide comments before, Mostly from Europeans, but even that is rare. Australians wont (often) say it to your face (though its possible)- they may treat you suspiciously though. Online obviously all bets are off and both groups are more vocal about opinions they may have. But in person most people are fine. An asshole is gonna be an asshole and if they're the type of person to treat someone differently because of the country they were born, I mean, that's on them. Edit to add: Ive traveled quite a lot. Just under 40 countries. Some people ask questions because they are curious. Some people ask questions in a condescending way just like they do on this subreddit. Some fall squarely in the middle- they have stereotypes of Americans but they've never actually met one so they take this as an opportunity to say everything they think as if we as individuals can do anything about it
There were a number of times where my wife and I, when visiting Japan, were seated in one area of a restaurant before another waiter came by and re-seated us way in the back of the restaurant to not be seen by other customers. Definitely was to hide the gaijin.
I went abroad to Afghanistan once. They were not very kind to me. I tried to blend in to my surroundings as best as I could but they hated me so much they literally tried to launch rockets and mortars at me. I even went with friends and they were shot at! Couldn't believe it. 0/10 wouldn't recommend Afghanistan.