A question for our non-American friends... ( Archived) (44)

no way

so if your an american travelling the world just wear a big coat and a diaper

well in fact i met a man from norway in cancun, and he was very surprised that I knew where was norway.....i mean....what people from those places thinks about mexican people ?????

well i can see muct opf the people on the thread is from UK..



so walk in.....


walk out!!

I have to confess I recently chatted with a lady from Lithuania and I wasn't entirely sure where it was, but I had some idea of the general area... A wrong idea as it turned out.

dont get mad...but american people sometimes does not know anything else besides their own city...sorry (no mad please)

I'm not mad. I asked everyone to be honest. That is honest.

have you a problem with people from the UK? or have I just mis-understood your post??

I think that question would be answered differently in Europe than for example in Africa and maybe Asia.

I've lived in the U.S. for a long time now but I can tell you that the view of Americans has changed, at least in central Europe. I don't think you will find much real hate in Europe but definitely a loss of respect. The biggest issue people have is that Americans seem arrogant and disrespectful to other countries. I know your question was about the individual American but the negative image of George Bush and the actions of his administration do leak into the overall picture of the American people, especially for the average Joe who probably doesn't know any individuals. The American president was elected by its people, so he somewhat reflects an image of all Americans to other countries even though he doesn't have many supporters left in this country either.

Another big issue is religion. Bush's religious comments and his "direct line to God" leaves a bitter taste for most Europeans who can't stand the idea of mixing politics and personal beliefs.

On a personal note: there are still people in this country (mostly extreme Christian conservatives) who either defend Bush or at least the war in Iraq. They are ultra-patriotic, uninformed and very outspoken. I believe the majority of Americans is reasonable, but the problem is they don't stand up for their beliefs. They chalk those right-wingers off as a few crazy people that should be ignored. Exactly that is the problem. A few bad apples give the whole crop a bad name. I think rational people need to speak up and defend their opinion of what they believe is right, even if it seems obvious to many people. It would change the media and subsequently the impression of the majority of Americans to the outside.

I probably shouldn't butt in but I'm gonna. I agree, there are arrogant people who live in the US but not all of us. Unless the Americian citizen is 100% Native American, they have no claim except to say they are thru an ancestor who traveled here for one reason or another. They arrogance began back in a time when we were a Bristish Colony. Talk about arrogance, wow!!! Maybe I only see it now because I'm digging deeply into history of people and what life was like 250 years ago. Then there are those bloody dang immigration laws up to 1906. What part of European history would you like me to recite? I probably know just about as much about it as I do American history. Ok, I'm frustrated with my years of genealogy research. All I want to know is the answer to a few questions. Instead, I hit major roadblocks of attitude. I've run into those same basic attitudes all my life. When in the UK, I heard, "go back to America". When I lived in Virginia, I heard "go back to New York". When I moved here, I will admit it was different. Basically, I was told I needed "language lessons" badly and I've failed them, too.

Ok, I'll get off my soapbox until I start on it. Maybe I really have found something I'm very passionate about, the right to immigrate to where ever the h*ll you want.