Teaching Americans How to Behave Abroad If you enroll in a foreign school, you should consider their culture. http://www.careerjournal.com/myc/workabroad/20060413-mccartney.html?cjcontent=mail
On the subject of teaching. Perhaps there should be a course to teach illegal immigrants how to behave in the USA! "Dear President : I'm about to plan a little trip with my family and extended family, and I would like to ask you to assist me. I'm going to walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico, and I need to make a few arrangements. I know you can help with this. I plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws. I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here. So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Vicente Fox, that I'm on my way over? Please let him know that I will be expecting the following: 1. Free medical care for my entire family. 2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not. 3. All government forms need to be printed in English. 4. I want my kids to be taught by English-speaking teachers. 5. Schools need to include classes on American culture and history. 6. I want my kids to see the American flag flying on the top of the flag pole at their school with the Mexican flag flying lower down. 7. Please plan to feed my kids at school for both breakfast and lunch. 8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I can get easy access to government services. 9. I do not plan to have any car insurance, and I won't make any effort to learn local traffic laws. 10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from Pres. Fox to leave me alone, please be sure that all police officers speak English. 11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my house top, put flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals. 12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, and don't enforce any labor laws or tax laws. 13. Please tell all the people in the country to be extremely nice and never say a critical word about me, or about the strain I might place on the economy. I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all the people who come to the U.S. from Mexico. I am sure that Pres. Fox won't mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely. However, if he gives you any trouble, just invite him to go quail hunting with your V.P. Thank you so much for your kind help." "
Behaving Abroad means: -Bring Checkbook. We only really want your money -Dont expect any gratitude or special consideration for the money you give us. - Please be prepared to rescue us in the case of disaster or invasion. - We expect you to learn our language and bend over backwards for our culture in our county, and in yours too. -If you have any problems, dont look to us. We are too busy spending your money. People everywhere want our money and not us. We should top giving it to them on all fronts. What non-sense. IMHO of course.....
This approach, I believe, should apply to all and not only to Americans. If a traveling businessman/tourist or student is aware of the culture/sensitivites of the country of destination, there is a good chance she/he would respect that. I made personal friends and managed to stay for 14 years in the UAE without any problem (culturally or whatsover) because I familiarized (through a book) their culture, both Islamic and Arabic, before boarding the plane headed towards Abu Dhabi in 1992.
Re: Re: Teaching Americans How to Behave Abroad Similarly, I had a lot more fun in Dominica because I went there to be part of that society, rather than to bring mine with me. There aren't many expats there, but many of them, especially the ones in the offshore banking industry, try to live and socialize among one another and maintain a barely concealed contempt for the society around them. -=Steve=-
Re: Re: Teaching Americans How to Behave Abroad While US citizens are certainly not alone in this (the FSU comes to mind in particular), US citizens - rightly or wrongly - are famous for being "ugly Americans" in other countries/cultures. It costs nothing to try to conform with the local customs/culture when traveling.
Re: Re: Re: Teaching Americans How to Behave Abroad Yes, I agree with you and Steve. I have travelled extensively through London, France, Italy and Spain, and various parts of Latin America. I was treated very well because I bothered to learn something of the different cultures, thus showing respect. Abner