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April 30, 2008
European Reflections - Part IV - Who Was Nice, Who Was Mean
So we're all told Americans are loathed abroad, especially in Europe. With that said, I didn't find any blatant manifestations of said hatred, but like anywhere there were folks who were much nicer than others. Keeping in mind the subjectivity, I still feel confident enough to make a completely accurate judgment. Heh. But really, the Tavern Banter Power Rankings are just that, my opinion. With that said, let's see who was the least friendly:
8. Nice - There were a bunch of upsetting things in Nice, but even then nothing was terrible. What got me was at Carnival, their festivities were fun for them I'm sure, but their floats basically lampooned Americans. Thus our presence there was a liiiiiitle awkward. The waiters we had were rude, cursing at us in French as they walked away (This happened after a girl in our group was confused about the menu, asking questions in English, frazzling the waiter. Evidently he forgot I ordered in French or didn't care).
7. Rome - For being one of my favorite cities, Romans didn't do much to help their cause. Again, they weren't unfriendly in anyway, they were just nothing special towards us. We were just another tourist, one more customer depositing our Euros. Which is fine, just don't expect to top these rankings.
6. Paris - Surprise, surprise. The French were not mean, they were not rude, they were not arrogant in my experience. They just weren't very friendly, helpful, or level headed. Getting help would be impossible if one didn't speak English and even when one did, an American accent would betray us to a few rolls of the eyes. I'm high on the French, too. The competition was stiff, though, and the Parisians just didn't match up.
5. London - Eh. The English were remarkably like what I thought they would be before I got to London. Well, the English that I could find. London is very much an international city and there are many folks from many different countries. But I did find English and the ones I met were hit or miss. Again, no anti-Americanism, but if you didn't know their little social codes, tough luck pal. I guess with such an influx of immigrants and a reduction of English presence, what is held dear to them are guarded like the Holy Grail. Good luck with that.
4. Turkey - While no one in these rankings were particularly poor, there is still a large gap between the Turkish and the English. And even though we had our fair share of, uh, interesting experiences, we had some of our best moments on our educational field trip through Turkey. For the most part the Turks were quite friendly, and what made it was our time with the Turkish school children. Good time, good times.
3. Athens - I suppose my experience would be different from the girls, who had to contend with a VERY masculine society. So no, I did not get my butt pinched or invited to spend some time with a shop keeper in a back room. But these are my rankings, and even though Athens is admittedly overrun with tourists, we were all generally treated in a positive manner. Nothing mediocre about it. From everyone, too. While some may have been lost in our cultural divide, everything was meant in a good way.
2. Wales - Wales was just like home. The people I met were so down to Earth, so welcoming, that I felt guilty imposing on the family I stayed with and their friends. They couldn't be better at showing me the ropes and what it means to be Welsh (namely, beating the English in rugby). I didn't meet a mean soul in my entire stay there and I'm fairly certain anyone would be hard pressed to come across an unfriendly person.
1. Dublin - FINALLY! Dublin tops the list after not getting out of the gutter. Whereas Wales was just like home, Ireland was even better. The people there was so helpful, so courteous, so nice, I was beginning to think it was a conspiracy. In fact it was not, and perhaps that is why I enjoyed myself so much there.
Posted by Lambert on April 30, 2008 4:45 AM
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