Stereotypes of Tourists, from a British Perspective {Gadling}

Jan 25th 2007 9:41PM As an American citizen who lived in France for eleven years of my life, I would like to say that this is a rather accurate portrayal of things. Americans do have a tendency to be oblivious of others. I saw it many times growing up over there and was often ashamed to admit that they were my fellows. (And that, rest assured, is a VERY nice way to put it.) The other stereotypes are also accurate. Please do not have the arrogance or the narrowmindeness to assume that Americans are different at home than they are abroad. What we do in another country is learned from what we do here. I have many friends from overseas and I have heard the exact same complaints that this survey lays out. So please, try to see things from another's point of view before automatically assuming that they are wrong. And when touring in another country, remember that it is home to them, and they are just as patriotic and desireous of privacy as we Americans are.