I want to know what Canadians think of americans.

[habernac]

I love the US. I've been to 30 out of the 50 states now. Most are friendly and share a lot of traits with Canadians. That said, I'm surprised at how many have barely left their own backyard. I was working in Viriginia a few years a go and was shocked at how many hadn't left the eastern seaboard. I visited more states that trip than they'd been to. Heck, I'm not all that well travelled myself (5 countries in all) but I'm a world traveller in comparison.

Dis, it all comes down to priorities. $3000 isn't really all that much if you want something bad enough.

[Ronald Pagan]

I think Americans are friendly.

[Ford Prefect]

Out of curiosity, I'm interested in hearing what kind of family connections Canadians and Americans typically have. I have two nephews, two grand nieces, a grand nephew and more cousins than I even know of living in the US. The nephews and their families were born in Canada and moved to the US, but the cousins have all been there for many generations. I suspect that anyone who is second or third generation Canadian or more probably has a lot of family connections with the US.

As for the whole rude American tourist bit, I've noticed that too. I figure it must be some kind of deep seated insecurity complex that Americans have that makes them over compensate with an unnaturally aggressive attitude when they leave their home land. It may even be our attitude towards them that triggers this response too.

[habernac]

My grandfather was born in North Dakota actually. Moved to Sask when he was very young. A number of his brothers and sisters settled in the US (he was 3 youngest of 12 kids) but most stayed here. We have a bunch of relatives on the west coast, Oregon and California mostly.

[Displaced Flames fan]

My wife and her parents were born here, but moved to BC when she was 6 mos old. Her brother is Canadian. Her Dad still lives there too, half the time. She lost her status when she moved back to the states at 18.

I love Canada..at least the parts I've been to! BC, Alberta.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by habernac

I love the US. I've been to 30 out of the 50 states now. Most are friendly and share a lot of traits with Canadians. That said, I'm surprised at how many have barely left their own backyard. I was working in Viriginia a few years a go and was shocked at how many hadn't left the eastern seaboard. I visited more states that trip than they'd been to. Heck, I'm not all that well travelled myself (5 countries in all) but I'm a world traveller in comparison.

Dis, it all comes down to priorities. $3000 isn't really all that much if you want something bad enough.

Yeah, I'm still paying for past mistakes and with two high school age kids I've got to be prepared to pay for their's as well!

I hear you about traveling Americans. I've been to just a few more states than you and most people I talk to about it are in awe of how much of this country I have seen. I'd like to see it all though.

I've been to Mexico a few times (but do border towns really count?) and Canada numerous times. Nowhere else yet though. Hope to someday, but family is always the priority for me. Given the choice, I'll always choose to go home and visit.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by Ford Prefect

Out of curiosity, I'm interested in hearing what kind of family connections Canadians and Americans typically have. I have two nephews, two grand nieces, a grand nephew and more cousins than I even know of living in the US. The nephews and their families were born in Canada and moved to the US, but the cousins have all been there for many generations. I suspect that anyone who is second or third generation Canadian or more probably has a lot of family connections with the US.

A lot of my ancestors were American, and my male lineage (the line I inherit my surname from) settled in New England in the 1630s. Other ancestors settled in New England but were royalists who moved north following American independence. I've got third cousins on both sides of the family still in the US, though I'm not in close contact with any of them (and one of the cousins is an absolute nut and keeps sending out emails about how Obama was sworn in using the Koran and similar stuff).

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Ford Prefect

Out of curiosity, I'm interested in hearing what kind of family connections Canadians and Americans typically have. I have two nephews, two grand nieces, a grand nephew and more cousins than I even know of living in the US. The nephews and their families were born in Canada and moved to the US, but the cousins have all been there for many generations. I suspect that anyone who is second or third generation Canadian or more probably has a lot of family connections with the US.

Both my brother and sister were born and raised Canadian but now have dual citizenship and reside in the States. My sister and her 2 kids are in Denver and and my brother is in Minneapolis.

[mykalberta]

US tourists are less annoying than English tourists.

Didnt have one problem with a US tourist while on vaca, English tourists on the other hand.

[FlamesAddiction]

Americans and Canadians are pretty much the same.

I mostly grew up in a border town and used to go to the States regularly and never felt different from them.

We both have our own annoying little quirks.

One thing I find though when I am in big American cities is that people are not as friendly as they are in Canadian cities - which I suppose there is probably a reason for. When I was in Seattle, I couldn't get directions from people off the street. They completely ignore me. One lady even rushed to her car, rolled up the windows and locked the door. And I'm not a scary looking person or anything. Another time I was driving in a residential neighbourhood in St. Paul and saw a lady in her yard, so my gf and I pulled over to ask directions and some man came out of the house and told us not to come any further. Those sort of things happened frequently when I go to the States, but I can honestly say, I have never experienced that in Canada.

[Ford Prefect]

The reason I asked about what type of family connections people have with our American neighbours is that I suspect there are a lot, and in reality they really are our cousins. Therefore, dissing them is kind of like slagging your Saskatchewan cousins because they drink Pilsner or Great Western instead of Big Rock. Sure we have differences with the US, but the bottom line is they're our neighbours, trading partners, allies and family. None of us like all our cousins, but they're still family. That's kind of how I feel about the US.

[troutman]

I don't need your war machines
I don't need your ghetto scenes

[BigFlamesFan]

I have travelled alot in the US. For the most part all my experiences have been good. The exception is whenever I goto a hockey game down there. If im wearing my flames jersey or they find out I'm from Canada, 9 times out of 10 it turns into "Canadians Suck!!". Not your team sucks. I can handle that. Cheer for your team. But the amount of slagging and even some physical abuse I have gotten is brutal.

My opinion- Americans arent much different from us in everyday situations, unless they are in a hockey arena.

[soulchoice]

I have no problems with Americans at all. I really have never been into the whole argument of who is better and why. There are certain traits of Americans(some) that I dont like and certain traits of Canadian culture(some) I dont like.

It doesnt bother me one bit, if I meet an American and he/she knows nothing or very little about Calgary or Canada for that matter. Makes no difference to me at all.

Although in reality, if the right career move was available in a large US city, I would move in a heartbeat. There is indeed something magical about all the major US cities that I have had a chance to visit.

[millhouse11]

nm

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

I had this same thought last summer when I was in Cabo. As I mentioned before, I've travelled to 19 different states now and for the most part never came across on American who was obnoxious or rude to me. But at the place we stayed at in Cabo, there was a whole bunch of obnoxious ones, I had never experienced that before with them. Most of em were in their 30's and 40's, yet they were extremely loud and actin like they were college kids on spring break. You could generally pick out the Americans from the Euros and Canadians rather easily.

It was quite bizarre, maybe Americans just have a different mentality when they travel, I dont know. Like they work really hard at home, so when they go away they wanna whoop it up and git er done full blast or something. Or it also could've just been the area we were staying in. It was a 5-star timeshare resort which my millionaire aunt has and let us stay for a week. Most of the people there were rich Californians.

Anyway, common sense tells me that theory is way too incredibly broad-stroked to be true. But who knows? I just found it interesting you mentioned that because I had the exact same thought last summer.

Well, what I have found, is if you go to places or stay in places where people have a lot of money, manners decline in proportion to how much their income inclines.

Everytime I have stayed in places like that, I see the Americans in a restaurant, at the beach bar, whatever, holding their hands high and clicking their fingers loudly and yapping loudly at the same time to get service. And they don't treat the service people nicely once they arrive either.

Individually, I have found Americans to be very nice. Uneducated about most parts of the world, but nice people. And yes, many have not been more than 100 miles from where they live.

I think the fact that they are not learned about Canada and other countries can be attributed to two things.

1. Their education system.

2. Their news networks.

I just came back from SanFrancisco, spent 10 days there. All that was broadcast about the G20 meetings in London, and I mean ALL, was what Michelle Obama wore, is she the new Jackie O, did she flub when she hugged the queen, should she have removed her sweater and shown her bare arms in the group photo of the wives of the 20 leaders.

And on and on it went about, will they bow or curtsy to the queen? All they were concerned about is if the Obamas would put on a good show and not flub it. And they could easily have put that topic to rest by saying, only the queen's loyal subjects curtsy or bow to her, but apparently it was much more newsworthy not to do so.

Another big issue on the American news networks is the fact that the Obamas used two hands to greet the queen, not a one handed handshake, I mean, come on!!!!

Obama was shown in a few situations, not what he said, just shown in a pic with maybe the queen, maybe his arrival, maybe in his limo or aircraft. Nothing of any substance was mentioned as to what the USA wanted to achieve at the meetings or what they did achieve. Outside of maybe seeing glimpses of the British PM when with Michelle and Barrack, the other leaders or even the other countries represented were not mentioned.

It is totally mind boggling how the American press can take a blip in the local, national or international news of the day and make a 10 day drama out of it.

[Thunderball]

I've actually found that save for some (very) small regional differences and accents, Canadians and Americans are totally interchangeable.

In fact, in my last two trips abroad, we've had some of our typical misconceptions changed.

In Disneyworld, we were laughing about how fat Americans were, and pointed at a truck with the seat pushed all the way back and tilted (to accomodate the gut of the guy we saw walking from it). I suggested to my group to check the plate... the location... New Brunswick. Who knew?

Another time, in Mexico, we saw a couple absolutely berate a server for misunderstanding their order. The server was really cool too. I asked him if he found out where they were from. His reply, Ontario. These people were the most disgusting couple I've ever seen. They were loud, rude, annoying and arrogant.

In fact, in both my travels and those of my friends, the biggest pricks are almost always from Ontario, followed by NE USA. Maybe it really is a East-West thing?

[Traditional_Ale]

I really have nothing nice to say about the US. I hate going there, and every time I have to I can't wait to leave.

If I can, I will pay hundreds of dollars extra on an airline ticket simply to avoid even their airspace.

I hate America. The sooner its dead, the better.

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by redforever

Well, what I have found, is if you go to places or stay in places where people have a lot of money, manners decline in proportion to how much their income inclines.

Everytime I have stayed in places like that, I see the Americans in a restaurant, at the beach bar, whatever, holding their hands high and clicking their fingers loudly and yapping loudly at the same time to get service. And they don't treat the service people nicely once they arrive either.

Individually, I have found Americans to be very nice. Uneducated about most parts of the world, but nice people. And yes, many have not been more than 100 miles from where they live.

I think the fact that they are not learned about Canada and other countries can be attributed to two things.

1. Their education system.

2. Their news networks.

I just came back from SanFrancisco, spent 10 days there. All that was broadcast about the G20 meetings in London, and I mean ALL, was what Michelle Obama wore, is she the new Jackie O, did she flub when she hugged the queen, should she have removed her sweater and shown her bare arms in the group photo of the wives of the 20 leaders.

And on and on it went about, will they bow or curtsy to the queen? All they were concerned about is if the Obamas would put on a good show and not flub it. And they could easily have put that topic to rest by saying, only the queen's loyal subjects curtsy or bow to her, but apparently it was much more newsworthy not to do so.

Another big issue on the American news networks is the fact that the Obamas used two hands to greet the queen, not a one handed handshake, I mean, come on!!!!

Obama was shown in a few situations, not what he said, just shown in a pic with maybe the queen, maybe his arrival, maybe in his limo or aircraft. Nothing of any substance was mentioned as to what the USA wanted to achieve at the meetings or what they did achieve. Outside of maybe seeing glimpses of the British PM when with Michelle and Barrack, the other leaders or even the other countries represented were not mentioned.

It is totally mind boggling how the American press can take a blip in the local, national or international news of the day and make a 10 day drama out of it.

Oh yeah, I think American's are really, really stupid. As rule, even.

[ok, ok,....I get it]

Originally Posted by Traditional_Ale

Oh yeah, I think American's are really, really stupid. As rule, even.

awesome.........as opposed to you and your mastery of the English Langauge..............