It was almost like the scene in Gotcha where the kid escapes East Berlin and walks into a McDonalds in West Berlin and orders "American" everything.
It's like, in the middle of all this, I'm paranoid that you'll think I don't like poetry.
Buffy ,'Empty Places'
Spike's Bitches 45: That sure as hell wasn't in the brochure.
[NAFDA] Spike-centric discussion. Lusty, lewd (only occasionally crude), risqué (and frisqué), bawdy (Oh, lawdy!), flirty ('cuz we're purty), raunchy talk inside. Caveat lector.
Cashmere - Jun 23, 2010 4:44:17 pm PDT #23616 of 30000
Now tagless for your comfort.
billytea - Jun 23, 2010 4:44:29 pm PDT #23617 of 30000
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.
I get the NZ defensiveness too, for the same reason.
Yeah, that's fair. And occasionally pretty amusing.
Incidentally, there's a TV show here, a humorous news wrap-up kind of deal, that has a segment where they challenge ad firms to come up with ads for some odd products. One week they did an ad promoting the invasion of New Zealand. (The slogan ran something like "100% Pure. 100% No Army. 100% There for the Taking.")
beekaytee - Jun 23, 2010 4:48:16 pm PDT #23618 of 30000
Compassionately intolerant
The Gruen Transfer!
bt, I love that show. The recent one about the mining ads was really interesting. That show? Would never fly in America. We like our fear-based advertising just fine, thanks. No need to see, much less discuss, what is behind it.
javachik - Jun 23, 2010 4:51:40 pm PDT #23619 of 30000
Our wings are not tired.
I can deal with people being irritated or angry about cultures subsuming their own. What I'm not keen on is the smug sense of superiority that the guy in China had. There's a difference, right?
sj - Jun 23, 2010 4:56:20 pm PDT #23620 of 30000
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."
The Americans that were on our tour of Italy years ago were so awful and rude, that my family and I couldn't be insulted when one of the English citizens on our tour said we weren't like other Americans.
sj - Jun 23, 2010 4:57:20 pm PDT #23621 of 30000
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."
Happy Birthday, Teppy!!! I hope it was a wonderful day!
Ginger - Jun 23, 2010 5:04:14 pm PDT #23622 of 30000
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
My friend I traveled with and I worked hard to not reinforce ugly American stereotypes. Once, when we hit an annoying situation at U.S. Customs on the way back, we looked at each other and said, "Hey, we can be rude now. Thank god."
§ ita § - Jun 23, 2010 5:04:52 pm PDT #23623 of 30000
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
they are often assholes about it
I've known more Americans who pretend to be Canadian when travelling than I've known Canadians who were assholish about not being American. And that's after a pretty long time living both places. That's where I come at it from. Before I'd even get into counting "ugly tourist" stats. Which, as a Jamaican, just make me want to weep. And then I'd have to get to "ugly host nation" ... and, well, I found writing off Canadians to be little less hostile than Canadians reacting overtly defensively about mistaken identity.
javachik - Jun 23, 2010 5:06:19 pm PDT #23624 of 30000
Our wings are not tired.
Sorry: ETA to I posted this before I saw the latest tourist posts. I don't mean to interrupt.
Have any of you peeps been following the Mehserle trial? Our local police advisory has sent out notices that the verdict could be in very soon (late June). I am nervous. I don't think it's gotten as much infamy as the Rodney King case, but Oakland will likely see looting or worse if Mehserle isn't convicted. I am a little nervous. I don't live near downtown, but I am still nervous.
Aims - Jun 23, 2010 5:18:50 pm PDT #23625 of 30000
Shit's all sorts of different now.
Yikes, java. That sounds like yuk. I hope it ends up that the police are just being overly cautious.
On another note - can I get some safe~ma for Joe? He's not home from school and we have the second tornado warning although this time a tornado was spotted less than 10 miles from us. He's not picking up his phone and I hoping it's just cause he's driving and fine or in the school building and has crappy reception. I'm sure he's fine, I'm just a little freaked at the moment. Em and I are totally fine and in the basement.