olgapants's blog

Why oh why is the American tourist always spotted so quickly when abroad? Is it the shiny New Balance sneaks? Is it the immortal fanny pack? Is it becausethe faces can't be seen behind the fold out 'Spanish phrases' pamphlet? Well, it's all of that and more.

aka TRAVEL ETIQUETTE

Foreign places are not America with a big zoo. Here's what I mean. The 'ugly American' traveller doesn't understand that maybe everyone doesn't speak English or that some places happen to not have an a/c or that not all places eat bacon 'n eggs for for the big BF. It's usally not the best idea to wear shorts and tube socks to nice restaraunts, either. Also, if there are locals doing their local business, talking about them and snapping pictures like they're zoo gorrillas is obvious.

Stereotypes. Are they really that bad? They can be. But they can also be good.

I know most people think stereotyping cultures, religions, etc isn't a good thing, but I am positive that everyone has them about some groups of people.
Stereotypes arise from associations that people have from previos experiences. I mean, if you've had minimal exposure to a certain group, it's easy to find a similar trait among the individuals and group them together. Anyone who says they have never had a stereotype against someone is flat out lying. We all have associations and initial reactions to a group of people, especially if it is one that we are unfamiliar with.

Yes, I love foreign cinema and I'm sure that many others do, too. However, recently I came upon a very interesting French movie entitled 'Monsieur Ibrahim'.  I saw a preview for it at an independent theatre loooooooong ago and was pleasantly surprised to find it in the foreign section at Blockbuster as their foreign flick collection doesn't go beyond 'Amelie' and 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'. Well, I took this as a heavy hint and brought the movie home.

The political middle ground (or moderates, if you will) is close to nonexistent in the nation. All the moderates I come across drive me to want to put my hand in the garbage disposal because they are moderates simply because "they have no opinion". There is nothing worse I can think of than that. The opposite of that, however, is excellent. That opposite is agreeing with both sides on varying issues to pursue a postive cause ("getting over yourself", if you will).