I mean, it exists on social media (so there’s that). There was a case where an American woman screamed at a French baker for refusing a crisp $20 bill as payment despite the fact she’s literally in France (where Euros are used as the main currency).
The stupidest one was from where an American guy was arrested in the UK for having open carry (firearms) where gun laws are strict, him using the excuse of “I don’t know the laws around here” didn’t work since he should’ve researched that beforehand.
Please use !askeurope@lemmy.world for such posts.
How do you get into the country with a firearm in the first place?
From what I’ve heard, he traveled via a cruise ship bound for Britain by putting that into luggage in a concealed compartment.
Ah so he knowingly hid it to get it in the country.
Drug cruises here we go…
On the use of dollars internationally in tourist contexts, I once spent a few fairly unpleasant days in Cancún (the rest of the Yucatán peninsula and CDMX were great, though!), I noticed that a lot of shops and services would accept dollars, which Americans more than happily made use of.
The crux of it was that anything paid in dollars had its price, when compared to pesos, inflated to about double.
It was essentially a form of idiot tax.
I like that Morgan Freeman is above Taylor swift and Tom cruise.
There was a case where an American woman screamed at a French baker for refusing a crisp $20 bill as payment
This happens depressingly often, especially in touristy areas.
Indeed. I once overheard a American say to his wife “whats with these Euros? Why cant they just accept dollars here”
I cant even pay with Swiss Francs in the airport in Barcelona.
whats with these Euros? Why cant they just accept dollars here
Little did they know, Euro is WORTH MORE than US Dollars at face value as reflected by the exchange rate. A 200€ (~$235) note is higher than $100, and there is a 500€ (~$589) note (although no longer in circulation) but nethertheless it still exists & definitely more than a $100 bill.
nethertheless
I enjoyed this word.
It’s a typo, sorry. Anyway, even though the 500€ note is considered obscure: can high end stores accept that as payment? Euros makes USD ook cheap since most of their physical notes from the USD are the same size & look bland. Euro bank notes look colorful in comparison. I would say it’s difficult to counterfeit Euro than US Dollars (especially the $100 bill is prone to fakes).
It’s a typo, sorry.
It may have been but I did a interweb search on it and turns out, its a old timey way of saying “nevertheless” and I enjoyed learning that. So thanks.
There is only Burgerland
There is only Burgerland
There is also Burgenland.
A region in Austria (where you might know, or not, they don’t have kangaroos), and now when I read your ‘Burgerland’, it made me think if they already know that word analogy there, maybe?
There is also Burgenlandkreis (Castle County) in the german state Saxony-Anhalt.
I got quite a few times confused when someone referenced Burgenland, Austria before I learned about it.
Oh no, Austria lost its kangaroos? Is Australia going to give them more?
I like that he is mocking US defaultism and that “the only country” you can see on the Global Peace Council logo “you can fully see” is the US - when you can see at least Mexcio, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, Nicaragua, Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and Canada.
You cant even see the continental part of the US completely, Alaska is missing at least partially.
US defaultism
TIL a new ism :)
I’ve seen a couple of things in Japan if that datapoint matters. Twice about accepting USD, and a few times getting mad about people not speaking English.
I’ve seen people (not just Americans, though) do things that are illegal here because they couldn’t imagine it being illegal in their home country. Cycling after any alcohol, cycling with earphones, cycling holding an umbrella, various waste disposal laws, picking up money and not reporting it (technically theft here even if it’s forgotten change in a vending machine, but that never gets enforced that I’ve seen), and just other minor stuff.
Americans in particular love to consider self defense as “if you say something I don’t like or throw the first punch, I can fight you” which is just wrong in Japanese law (only the amount of force needed, and no more, to get out of the situation to safety is legal; you can’t punch someone just because they punched you).
Edit: also pocket knives; we have very strict laws here and lots of Americans in particular (but I’m sure others) carry them without thinking and can get in huge trouble for it.
I’ve seen people (not just Americans, though) do things that are illegal here because they couldn’t imagine it being illegal in their home country.
I mean people do illegal stuff in their home countries too because they don’t think it is illegal, but often it’s just that it’s not enforced.
I’m an American immigrant in Germany, and I do encounter US defaultism, but the thing that always strikes me most about American tourists or new Americans studying abroad at the beginning of the semester is almost the opposite. They believe that they can loudly speak English in a college town in public without being overheard or understood and they’re very wrong.
I teach German to new arrivals here, and at least one of my students was in a bar once with an American who reassured him that “nobody understands us,” to which people at two neighboring tables answered that they could just fine.
Of course, the underlying assumption is that Europeans, like Americans, don’t commonly master foreign languages (I don’t necessarily blame Americans for our foreign language skills: it does come up a lot less in the US than in Europe and imo, it’s one of the biggest flaws of our education system that kids often start learning a foreign language at age 11-12, with some districts I’ve heard starting as late as 15-that’s obviously a huge handicap).
The most deeply seated example I know is probably the utter confusion most Americans have at hearing that insulting people is illegal. I don’t hate that insults are forbidden, but my preference would be for them to be legal. That said, during my nearly ten years in Germany and my over twenty years in the US, the majority of Americans I’ve known have held their tongues on uncomplimentary things much more than the majority of Germans. That’s due to a bunch of cultural factors, but the important thing for me is that even though there’s a law that ostensibly limits speech here and not there, the law doesn’t actually cause self censorship or a chilling effect on expression (between the two comparatively, I’m sure there are countries that speak more freely than Germans, and that might be due to a combination of cultural factors and legal protection).
