‘We’d love to return next year if you can put up with a pothead and a cougar who is obsessed with young Dutch men?’ Mark and his Japanese wife Emi visited from London last weekend. They had bought several guidebooks and were keen to discover all things Dutch so we dined at Italian, Indonesian and French restaurants and Mark sampled local beers at Café Hoppe, the oldest café in Amsterdam. Emi took lots of photos of young Dutch men. Apparently Japanese men and women are obsessed with youth.
Natasha’s younger sister, Pippa, is currently backpacking around South America. She is discovering that national stereotypes are uncannily accurate. She emailed us with those she had encountered. Here are a few:
The American: Loud, but don’t ask them for an opinion because everything is ‘awesome’ or ‘I don’t know. Whatever – it’s okay’. They can’t ever just say they’re from the US; it’s ‘Illinois’ or ‘Missouri.’
The Canadian: Makes a big deal about not being an American, little realising they are equally loud. They also come across as jingoistic by insisting on having a Canadian flag sewn to their backpack.
The German: Polite and friendly when you first meet them but quickly become bossy and domineering. They judge other people’s choices and think their opinion is the only one that makes sense.
The Latin: Polite but overly critical of host country (and every other country apart from their own). Opinionated and frequently unintentionally causes offence, e.g. ‘You would look better if…’ Everything is described as ‘crazy’.
The Latina: Is highly competitive where looks are concerned; looks every woman up and down; potentially bisexual.
And of course I’m a Brit/Whinging Pom living abroad. ‘Just remember I had to deal with loads of annoying cultural differences when I first moved abroad, too,’ Hot Danish said recently when I complained that everywhere closed dead-on 5pm during the week and didn’t open at all on Sundays (this includes the Dutch equivalent of an off licence). ‘You need to have three months’ bills before you can open a bank account in the UK,’ he continued. Admittedly, this was a good example. ‘But worse, the English think their way is the right way.’
‘Actually we know our way is the right way,’ I replied.
