Yahoo Lifestyle Americans, Tell Us How Locals Immediately Knew You Were American When You Traveled Abroad
Recently, I came across a video from a creator who laid out the dead giveaways that someone is an American in Paris. These included drinking iced coffee (especially from a major chain like Starbucks), wearing leggings, and having an orange-hue spray tan.
While I'm American, I've lived abroad in Europe and Canada, so it got me thinking of all the ways I, too, have (or haven't) been spotted as an American.
One time, I chatted with someone at a bus stop in Montréal. I was what I would consider "pretty dressed up" since I was coming home from an event. The person was trying to guess where I was from and didn't believe I was American because "Americans don't dress up." !?!
I felt the flipside of this later when I was out and about on a Saturday in my leggings after a workout class, while it felt like everyone around me was walking off a Pinterest board. In the US, it's normal to go about your day in workout clothes, but I actually felt like I had a "Hello, I'm American" sticker slapped on me in Montréal (especially in their creative-leaning neighborhoods).
So, if you're an American and traveled to a new city or country and quickly got identified as an American by a local, what were the dead giveaways?
Maybe you visited France, and servers would always switch to English with you, even though you speak perfect French. When you asked one of them how they knew, they said, "You raised your hand to get my attention."
Perhaps you went to Tokyo on a business trip to be your company's US representative. After a meeting, you were walking with some of your Japanese counterparts (who didn't know where you were from) when you asked them where to throw away your coffee cup. They immediately said, "Are you American?" They told you they can spot Americans because they're always confusingly looking for public trash cans.
After the 1995 sarin gas attacks in Japan, public waste bins were largely removed from Japanese cities and never fully returned. Littering and low-waste lifestyles are also common in Japan for both practical and cultural reasons.
Maybe you're American, but your dad is from Russia, so you've traveled there a few times to visit relatives. The locals in your family's town always say they can tell you're American because you make eye contact and smile at them.
Let me know in the comments or by using this anonymous form what gave away that you were an American when visiting a new city! Your response could be featured in an upcoming BuzzFeed Community post.
