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extravadanza posted:One time I got 1 on 1 english tour of Nagoya Castle in Japan. The man was a volunteer, like 80 and as nice as could be. It was a tiny bit awkward when it came to the whole, "America bombed the poo poo out of this castle and we have slowly rebuilt it" part, but I think that's the most I've ever felt out of place or offensive in my travels. He was a child in Nagoya when the bombing happened, so he still remembered somewhat. eh deadpool sounds better, OP has a point
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Feb 25, 2016 16:35
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webmeister posted:I'm curious to know, what is the actual scenario here in your head? I'm more afraid of breaking some unwritten, unspoken rule that everyone knows and will burn you alive for breaking, such as don't look a specific caste of people in the eye, don't buy this souvenir as its offensive, don't wear shoes in this building. I know rationally people are forgiving of aliens, especially in touristy areas, and they'll warn you about the important stuff, but I'm terrified I'll miss or forget some critical rule of etiquette.
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Feb 25, 2016 17:38
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Aliens huh
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Feb 25, 2016 18:30
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extravadanza posted:In my opinion it's definitely worth it to get out of the USA and see another country, but a lot of Americans don't. It can be expensive and the language barrier can be daunting if you have spent your whole life surrounded by the same language. There's a chance OP won't enjoy it, but I think it's worth a shot. Yeah, this seems like the way to go, particularly Montreal, where you don't have to feel like a dick asking people to speak English. (Better yet to piss people off, go to Quebec City and ask someone to speak French.) OP really might not get much out of foreign travel, especially traveling alone I could definitely see how someone could get "yeah I could read this on Wikipedia and look at some movies about it at home". Depending on his salary, $2k might be a lot of money to spend on something he could likely feel kind of "meh" about afterwards. The people who follow T&T are going to be overwhelmingly people who REALLY like traveling. All the people who are "meh" about it aren't going to post here, so OP isn't getting the most unbiased views either. Saladman fucked around with this message at 18:36 on Feb 25, 2016 |
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Feb 25, 2016 18:34
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TwoQuestions posted:I'm more afraid of breaking some unwritten, unspoken rule that everyone knows and will burn you alive for breaking, such as don't look a specific caste of people in the eye, don't buy this souvenir as its offensive, don't wear shoes in this building. how can you have travelled 27,000 light years from Zog-4BY and be afraid of going to Canada
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Feb 25, 2016 20:30
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TwoQuestions posted:I'm more afraid of breaking some unwritten, unspoken rule that everyone knows and will burn you alive for breaking, such as don't look a specific caste of people in the eye, don't buy this souvenir as its offensive, don't wear shoes in this building. Okay, but this isn't the slightest bit rational. If there really are rules that you need to follow, they will be clearly marked! How else would people know about them? Especially in tourist areas, where "assumed knowledge" is different for everyone. "Please remove shoes before entering the mosque", assuming the piles of shoes at the doorway didn't give you a hint. "Please remove your hat and dress modestly while in the church" Why would people be selling offensive souvenirs in the first place? It's not like you can go to Germany and just pick up a Heil Hitler t-shirt by accident! And genuinely, nobody is going to burn you alive for breaking some imaginary rule of etiquette. At worst, people will think "stupid fat arrogant American" and roll their eyes, but unless what you're doing is beyond the pale (it probably isn't) you're unlikely to trigger a reaction. And hey, they were probably already thinking that before you even arrived.
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Feb 25, 2016 22:07
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webmeister posted:And genuinely, nobody is going to burn you alive for breaking some imaginary rule of etiquette. At worst, people will think "stupid fat arrogant American" and roll their eyes, but unless what you're doing is beyond the pale (it probably isn't) you're unlikely to trigger a reaction. And hey, they were probably already thinking that before you even arrived. Pretty much that bolded portion. Really, you just need to be more respectful than the average American. EZPZ.
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Feb 25, 2016 22:40
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extravadanza posted:Pretty much that bolded portion. Really, you just need to be more respectful than the average American. EZPZ. This. Reiterating that it is nice to learn some basic words/phrases for each country you go to (say paldies to the cute girl working at your hotel and make her blush). Also, don't be so ethnocentric. Make an attempt to show an interest in their culture, be it movies, music, literature, food, fashion, etc. I just coordinated a Skype call between my stepfamily and a French author who is interviewing WWII veterans for a book about the D-Day paratroopers. I know how to use Skype and speak a little French, while my step-grandfather (WWII paratrooper) and stepmom were the main people speaking. The author was trying his best to speak English but they both kept interrupting the flow of the interview to complain that his English wasn't good enough. He asked if they would mind switching to French. I laffoed so hard that out came some residual bong smoke from high school. After the interview, the author asked them if they ever visited France since the war, what movies, books, food they liked about France. Complete silence. He went on to talk about all the things he liked about the US. These kinds of people want the world to kiss their rear end for being American but don't think anything worth knowing has happened elsewhere. All told, it was pretty embarrassing but they're not blood relatives so whatever lol.
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Feb 26, 2016 02:11
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extravadanza posted:Pretty much that bolded portion. Really, you just need to be more respectful than the average American. EZPZ. Totally true, people expect Americans to be terrible so if OP is, he's normal. If he isn't, he's probably going to be mistaken for a Canadian unless he has a really distinct accent.
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Feb 26, 2016 04:53
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To be fair, the stereotypical American tourist of a fat retiree in Bermuda shorts yelling "hey Martha" and (when asking for directions) responding to "je ne parle pas anglais" by repeating themselves in English only louder and slower has kinda faded a bit, at least in my experience. Without getting into stereotypes, I've seen way worse behaviour from Russian, Chinese and Australian tourists - though every nation has bad apples of course. webmeister fucked around with this message at 05:11 on Feb 26, 2016 |
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Feb 26, 2016 05:07
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The people at the grand mosque in Abu Dhabi couldn't be nicer about telling you you are doing something that is offensive or against the rules. Don't be an rear end in a top hat, smile, and be thankful and aplogetic. And get the gently caress out of the states and go to as many places as you can to get some perspective. Make yourself mildly uncomfortable.
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Feb 26, 2016 05:22
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webmeister posted:Without getting into stereotypes, I've seen way worse behaviour from Russian, Chinese and Australian tourists - though every nation has bad apples of course. Also, the British act way worse than Americans in Europe, but nicer when they come to North America or the Caribbean. I think it's a proximity issue -- the closer people are to home, while being in a different country, the more of a complete oval office they will act. I will also freely admit that Canadians pick up every bit of slack from the missing American presence in Cuba, if you want to talk about horrible tourists...
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Feb 28, 2016 04:36
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PT6A posted:Also, the British act way worse than Americans in Europe, but nicer when they come to North America or the Caribbean. I think it's a proximity issue -- the closer people are to home, while being in a different country, the more of a complete oval office they will act. I will also freely admit that Canadians pick up every bit of slack from the missing American presence in Cuba, if you want to talk about horrible tourists... This is truth, there were a lot of rear end in a top hat tourists when I went to Cuba a couple years ago, it didn't feel any different than when I'm around groups of people in Mexico. And some of the worst people I saw ever were Chinese tourists in Malaysia. I have never seen anyone litter so badly in a national park in my life, and I spend a lot of time in parks all over the place. Tip for the OP: don't drop garbage on the ground anywhere if you travel. I will hunt you down and I will kill you.
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Feb 28, 2016 06:36
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OP I keep thinking of this thread and laughing. can you give us more notions of what you think a vacation in each of these places might be like? Australia Ireland Japan South Africa Kenya India Netherlands Germany Jamaica Bahamas
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Mar 1, 2016 19:14
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TwoQuestions posted:Where would you recommend a beginning traveler go who has problems picking up on social cues in new environments? I find that basement dwelling sperglords mostly like Asia because they can find a woman who looks and behaves like a cartoon and their personal hygiene issues are comparatively less noticeable. This may be your only chance to find a mate. Goonspeed. GuestBob fucked around with this message at 22:27 on Mar 1, 2016 |
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Mar 1, 2016 22:22
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Jamaica-The only thing I know about this country is the prominent woman beater "Bob Marley" comes from here. I would not feel safe bringing a girl with me to the kind of place where the most popular song is "No, Woman! No Cry!".
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Mar 2, 2016 00:26
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Please come back OP we miss you
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Mar 3, 2016 23:50
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webmeister posted:Please come back OP we miss you
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Mar 4, 2016 00:19
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What do you want? Here I thought the thread died.
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Mar 4, 2016 04:52
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tell us more about what people are like
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Mar 4, 2016 04:58
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OP is a mess OP is a waste OP is a big fat mistake
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Mar 4, 2016 05:36
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OP, I think you would enjoy reading this reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/481x3x/people_who_traveled_the_world_what_did_you_choose/
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Mar 4, 2016 07:42
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TwoQuestions posted:What do you want? Here I thought the thread died. Answer Riptor's questions! Tell us about where you're maybe thinking about travelling and why
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Mar 4, 2016 10:39
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Go to the next town over from where you live and report back on their strange ways and customs
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Mar 4, 2016 11:31
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TwoQuestions posted:What do you want? Here I thought the thread died. I would like to know if you plan on traveling to another country now? Has your mind changed about that, or do you still be believe it's too dangerous? I think that's something hard to change without actually experiencing it
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Mar 4, 2016 21:06
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On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is 'not at all' and 5 is 'very much so', how racist are you OP?
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Mar 4, 2016 21:37
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Riptor posted:OP I keep thinking of this thread and laughing. can you give us more notions of what you think a vacation in each of these places might be like? WaryWarren posted:OP is a mess Aren't we all? jyrka posted:OP, I think you would enjoy reading this reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/481x3x/people_who_traveled_the_world_what_did_you_choose/ So we're all just bags of meat that we would do well to protect ourselves from those who will hurt us. Cops hurting people is especially disturbing, but that happens here in the US too. King Metal posted:I would like to know if you plan on traveling to another country now? Has your mind changed about that, or do you still be believe it's too dangerous? I think that's something hard to change without actually experiencing it Not too dangerous anymore, just concerned about cost/benefit now. I have no clue as to where I'd like to go, maybe New Zealand? Picnic Princess posted:On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is 'not at all' and 5 is 'very much so', how racist are you OP? Probably a 2, the area where I live and grew up in is about as diverse as a Klan rally, so I don't have much experience with people of different cultures. I'd like to be a 1, but I don't have much experience in interacting with people who are very different than me, and hitherto I've not sought out such experiences for fear of causing offense or embarrassment. Still don't know why you want the opinions of some weird dude from the Internet, but here they are.
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Mar 5, 2016 00:39
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TwoQuestions posted:
It's interesting to me because I imagine people with your background are like how Trump supporters see the world. Except you actually seem like you'll listen to the experiences of other people.
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Mar 5, 2016 02:12
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Saladman posted:It's interesting to me because I imagine people with your background are like how Trump supporters see the world. Except you actually seem like you'll listen to the experiences of other people. There are a lot of Trump supporters around here, kinda scary. And I'm interested in other cultures, but had nothing to go on save the History Channel (from years ago) and the locals, with subpar results.
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Mar 5, 2016 03:48
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OP, you are too wishy-washy. Please select from one of the following destinations and get back to us with your trip report. All are reasonably priced from Ohio and good places to be in March. Vancouver (for snow sports) Tokyo (great deals on airfare this time of year and you speak some Japanese) Tamarindo Costa Rica St. Thomas USVI
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Mar 12, 2016 14:52
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This thread is great. I'm going to be in South Africa for like 10 days so... I think I'll get insurance out the rear end for absolutely everything. The OP would probably just have a heart attack if he knew anything about the country at all. Have to say that despite all the shootings and general violence I've never felt unsafe visiting the US either, and I've wandered around DC, Las Vegas and the Brox late at night and often high and/or drunk and with a bag full of camera equipment. Florida was fine too though I never visited any of the sketchier places.
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Mar 17, 2016 15:55
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Hi someone mentioned Caro early in this thread so I would like to point out that he survived Syrian death jail and was recently released. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3771486 good day
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Apr 21, 2016 19:30
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Fullhouse posted:Hi someone mentioned Caro early in this thread so I would like to point out that he survived Syrian death jail and was recently released. I think that was me, and yeah holy poo poo what a surprise. I saw a couple weeks ago on somewhere that wasn't SA. I hope the FBI keeps him on a short leash back here before he tries to murder a bunch of innocent people. I wonder of the Syrian government gave him back (I can't imagine any money or other prisoners changed hands) because they knew he'd be an expensive/dangerous liability in their enemies' country. He almost constantly spouted his desire to kill/destroy CIA and FBI drones. It's also a good point for the OP! A paranoid schizophrenic American made it through -Syria- alive. Too bad we'll never hear anything about it (that doesn't come from a delusional psychopath).
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Apr 21, 2016 20:23
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I will buy you a non alcoholic beverage if you come to Australia OP. I am genuinely curious about how your mind works. I'll even chip in $50 for the flight. Beware though. There's a good chance the guys at airport customs will see how vulnerable you are and murder you on sight. Locals wont even bat an eyelid.
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Apr 25, 2016 13:23
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That's a great idea, why don't we crowd-fund OP's trip? Not sure where though, Australia's pretty good what with all the wildlife but there are so many choices...
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Apr 25, 2016 13:35
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Op seems like a West Africa kinda man. Ghana has computers and op could make a thread about his travels/update us on how long it takes for the hyenas and vultures to clean his bones up Plus it gets him out of the US... Which would make help Make America Great Again
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Apr 25, 2016 19:42
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Why are you people giving OP travel advice when he clearly just wants a platform to get strangers talking about his psychological issues?
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Apr 27, 2016 04:33
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Personally I ust want to see Caro mk.2 happen and this time actually participate.
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Apr 27, 2016 08:19
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mobby_6kl posted:Personally I ust want to see Caro mk.2 happen and this time actually participate. I don't think OP is the same spectrum of crazy as Caro and Kyoon. Gotta keep your eyes peeled for the next one... and also Caro turned on everyone that participated, even the people that were genuinely trying to help him. IIRC he pledged to hunt down more than a few people (but anyone who was against him was just a CIA clone anyway, so killing them wouldn't be murder).
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Apr 27, 2016 12:52
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mobby_6kl posted:That's a great idea, why don't we crowd-fund OP's trip? Not sure where though, Australia's pretty good what with all the wildlife but there are so many choices... And people say I'm insane... Why would you spend hard-earned money on getting some nerdy hick out of Ohio? An Idiot Abroad is still on Netflix I think if you need that kind of fix. And holy poo poo Caro made it back from Syria. I'm blown away that Caro wasn't.
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Apr 28, 2016 00:29
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