longer.blue

It's embarrassing being an American and having everyone assume you're an uncultured dullard just because of it. I'm a lifelong American, but, y'know, "when in Rome...," and such. By the way, before you suggest I'm mentioning this just to score social media brownie points or to say, "Hey, look at ME and how enlightened I am!", maybe consider that it's NOT some incredible feat to be respectful of, and empathetic to, various norms of different cultures and nations when traveling abroad—and so such a "feat" may be worth pointing out to the hordes of so-called "ugly American" tourists: E.g.: While in Quebec in 2013, and then again in 2015, I tried to honor the Quebecois culture to the extent I could by making an attempt to speak French to the degree I'd managed to pick it up at those points in time. (Even when I'd visited Ontario in 2017, though English seemed usually far more preferred in that region, I showed up in Toronto with an understanding that there are still certain differences in everyday activities that I was better off being aware of as an American.) Additionally, in 2010, while traveling for around two weeks through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, I tried to do the same, though in German—even if only to use a little basic Deutsch. In France, way back in the 2000s, I didn't see the issue with service compris, as other Americans are known to do, and I saw no reason it was (and remains) frowned upon by so many in the United States; in fact, I think it lovely that visitors are are able to tip on TOP of the gratuity. (Wait staff and restaurant workers the world over often can barely make ends meet on their incomes!)