Reply #29: Be yourself, Allen. [View All]

[alwynsw]

We've done Europe a number of times. Only idiots and malcontents will hold your citizenship against you.

Don't be a dumbass and go into a Moslem neighborhood at night screaming "I'm American!"

The best tool we've ever used is to be a tourist, but not an ugly American. Treat people the same way you do here.

Also, even the most butchered, but honest attempt to speak common phrases in the local tongue goes a long way. People recognize and apprediate the effort.

The worst thing you can do? In my experience of observation, the worst is to attempt a Maurice Chevalier accent when a French person doesn't speak English or try a German accent in the same position in Germany.

I think the people I've seen try that idiotic move are the same ones I've seen in Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico ask, "But how much is that in American dollars?"