For the record: That is bloody well said!

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HansP
All you wanted to know
about riding in Norway

Thanks Hans. I have read several of your posts as well. Seem pretty level headed. Probably a good travel mate.

Best

Hi all,
just wanted to say: I ain·t got nuffink against americans....! Even shook hands with one, once!

Love and peace,
Dan

I obviously did not make my self clear.. My point was my government is just as bad as yours( i.e. we are both in a stupid war)! and yes Aussies are just as loud mouthed (maybe more:confused1!.. My point was exactly yours, that there are a$$hole is every county (I said as much).. but because of the Resentment towards the US government (justified or not (irrelevant to the point here)) when there is a loud mouth American, people that want an excuse to hate them ONLY REMEMBER THEM! not the nice guy! See example of volvos or nut on sports bike..

Mate I was defending you and yours!

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2000 Africa Twin
http://two-up-ona-twin.blogspot.com

Xander

No worries. These threads can often get kind of sensitive. Thanks for the reply.

I can't remember if anything like mass murder happened there. And if its a problem with the name IE Africa Twin in relation to Americas slave history and Honda is so sensitive to that maybe they should change the name of the bike to something Cute Little twin.

No worries I wanted to make myself clear... Not sure what the second part (HTML part) is all about though????

As for AT not being sold in the US I know they didnt, and they didnt sell them in Aus either..so it cant be an anti-USA thing.. it is just stupid market research that for some reason decided that two places were you can spend a lot of time dual sporting (USA and Australia both have a lot more out back then Europe) they dont need to sell a dual sport bike and they wonder why world sales of that model were lower then road tourers??? I think they forgot to notice that the GS is BMW #1 seller in Aus (or at least was in 2005). I love my AT and cant understand that decision?????:confused1::confused1::confused1:

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2000 Africa Twin
http://two-up-ona-twin.blogspot.com

It amazes me that in many countries where the government of the US played such active rolls in fomenting troubles (Guatemala, Nicaragua, Chile, etc.), which costs the lives of countless non-combatants, they don't just take us outside and beat the shit out of us. But they never show any hint of animosity towards Americans. They get over their issues much faster than those of us in the US - who are stuck in WWII land.

Then there's Iraq. It'll be a long time before the American tour operators start booking trips there - they will beat the shit out of us, and then some.

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quastdog
Chiang Mai, Thailand

Hello all,
Why don·t we admit it.... it·s much more difficult to be nasty and say nasty and aggressive things when we are looking into the eyes of the receiver!!!!
Timid?, lack of confidence? or just chicken.....?
At the meetings everyone is over the moon with everyone, but when there·s a distance between us, all our lower instincts come out and we write to kill!?
What a load of childish rubbish we spend our time on.
Are our lives so boring that we have to confront with and agress others.:confused1:
One thing is to have different opinions, another to bark like a mad dog (like the infamous white mut ) when not face to face.!

Love and peace and if not,and You·re so fond of war, do whatever You want but FACE to FACE! (or wear human sissy bars)

Dan

Chris:

I'm not so sure it would be a good idea to "display the flag" of the United States of America if you are traveling internationally.

I'm a Canadian who lives in Europe and who works in various countries in Africa. 99% of the American people whom I meet are delightful human beings. However, the American government, most especially the current administration, is not generally well liked or well respected in many other countries of the world.

Most citizens of other countries of the world are smart enough to make a distinction between people who are American vs. the Government of America. However, when you fly a flag, the flag represents that nation, not yourself as an individual. The most commonly seen media images of the American Flag are either on the shoulders of American servicemen and women who are engaged in conflicts in countries that did not invite them, or on the lapel of the suit jacket of the current American president, who is generally not well respected outside of his country.

For this reason, I think it might be best if you didn't "display the flag". Just be your normal nice and friendly self, and let people get to know you as "Chris the human being", not "That American with a flag". No-one expects you to apologize for your government's actions, or to not be proud of being a citizen of our country, but sometimes, discretion is the better part of valour. My personal guess is that 'Sometimes' is going to last until about November of 2008.

Michael

Apologies that this is only tangentially on topic but I think it has some relevence to the discussion about different views of people c/w governments.

When I was a child (in the 1960s) we took occasional foreign holidays, and one year we went to Germany; staying in private houses along the Mosel valley. In one such house the woman of the house ran the gasthoff while the man worked in a local factory and had a couple of rows of vines. Being proud of his wine, he was happy to share a bottle with my father, and then another bottle. Late in the evening I remember two old fools, well in their cups, reminiscing about their wartime service. These reminiscences were about lousy rations, idiot officers and happy comradeship - exactly the same as any time old soldiers meet. At the time I was surprised that two men who had been on opposing sides in a war which was still recent back then could enjoy each other's company like this (I was very young), but I now understand how powerful the common bond of shared experience can be. Two people meeting face to face are just that = two people.

This was one of the most important formative experiences of my childhood and I treasure it still.

The general consensus seems to be, as expected, that US citizens are NOT hated, but their government's appalling foreign policy is detested by most. Incidentally, referring to US citizens as "Americans" is misleading - Canadians are Americans and so are Chileans.

The UK has a lousy foreign policy, with Blair licking Bush's hand, and I think we ordinary Brits will suffer for that. English football hooligans have caused much resentment abroad, which is why I only have the European Union stars on my number plate but not the country of origin. I'm not English and I dont want the blame!

So every country has its dorks and ignorant farmhands who should be drowned in a bucket and who make us cringe.

Vive la France

I agree that Canadian people are pretty impressive, but Canadian ducks are much less so? Last time I was in Canadian waters, a gang of rowdy ducks partied in my dinghy. When I awoke in the morning, I found feathers, poop, grass, mud and Molson bottles everywhere. Took me an hour to clean up the mess. You guys really need to teach these waterfowl some manners, especially relating to how they treat the tourists.

C

While I've only traveled abroad a moderate amount,Canada,Mexico,Italy.Bahamas,and Costa Rica. I have never felt mistreated for being from the U.S. . I'm fairly modest and genuinely intrested in where I am ,or else why bother?
As a farmer I'm used to not having much money and to being and working with others in similar situations. My father taught us that we wer'nt too good for any job so just get on with it.
As to politics all I can say is the bastiges didn't ask me!
When I feel down the best thing for me is to remember the words to Louie's song " I think to myself , what a wonderful world"

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ride,smile,repeat as nessasary

My few cents worth...... there is good and bad in every bunch, every nationality, every family, every street, village, town or country.

treat everyone you meet how you would like to be treated, always be polite, it costs nowt, if things get heated, keep a cool head, an even temper and a closed mouth and you will be the better man.

Heck, i should take my own advice sometimes!!!!

For the record, I always say I'm from Texas. Often people follow my reponse and ask if I have a horse/gun or something like that. I hate saying "America" or blabbing out the whole united states of america thinig because when in Mexico, we're all Americans, or from the "United States" of America or Mexico. So I just say Texas. Anyway.. I digress.

3ish years ago I was at a bar in New Zealand (Nelson, I think)
and was having drinks with another Texan and Auklander and I go up to a group of locals who are smoking and ask to bum a light. I go through the usual routine of "texas.. no horses" then the guy proceeds to lay into how much he hates the US.

I was fine with this and just listening and chuckling because I always wanted (like the author of this thread) to know why people hate Americans. His points (though rather drunk) were mostly around the themes of cultural prevalence of movies and music. He really hated US films. Sheesh. I think he hated all movies because he couldn't come up with an example of anything he liked. Eventually, we find some common ground and all was merry...

That was the only time I really had someone go off on me how they hated us US'ers.

I look forward to meeting Americans when I'm traveling-- it is great to find others from my country who share the same cultural background and wanderlust. The only time I've cringed when hearing other Americans talk to eachother was in Paris. Just because YOU don't understand the language that everyone else is speaking doesn't mean everyone else doesn't understand yours.

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http://davegtravels.com - RTW on a DRZ
All the way south - Texas to Tierra del Fuego in '08-'09