I don't want to banter against the US, but I have this question that i really like answered.
If I talk with, watch or see Americans, there is a certain hollowness to them. Not with everything, but in general. Maybe it's the way of expressing yourself. Or is it cultural?
Anyway, I would like to hear peoples opinions and experiences about this.
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Dumbass
>image.jpg
You mean the fake smiles, false kindness, pretending absolutely everything in the country they visit is overwhelmingly amazing and quaint, the false modesty etcetc?
I've noticed it too.
It's nice to relax and talk to the americans that visit France but they wear on me so quickly. It irks me how they feel they have to overblow their emotions.
They'll take this as me shitting on them but that's not what I'm doing. Just making an observation
Well that certainly answered my question.
Kys
Foreigners to us appear wound-up, angsty and frustrated a lot
The laid back, escapist, chill lifestyle is the thing here.
It's hollow but fun
For some reason you're supposed to be nice and friendly with everyone even if you don't want to.
>American
>hollowness
>France
>not the greatest country with the greatest people in the world
What makes this a rule of thumb?
>You mean the fake smiles, false kindness, pretending absolutely everything in the country they visit is overwhelmingly amazing and quaint, the false modesty etcetc?
Euros seem unfriendly, unappreciative of foreign accomplishments, and arrogant. I wish they """faked""" kindness, appreciation, and humility like Americans supposedly do.
guns...
W-why so many kindness?
I don't understand what you mean by "hollowness". Can you give an example?
Well at first it's refreshing and nice to have people everywhere act like they love having you around. But at a certain point it just gets confusing and annoying, since whenever you answer them sincere, you'll notice they dont really care. I'd prefer to meet a shitload of people that dont care from the start, so you can filter out the people that do care much more easily
The example is the way Americans express themself. When you arrive at a shop or hotel for example, people act overly enthousiastic, asking you where you're from etc. But when you actually answer them, it's like they block. It is going too deep and they just continue handling the procedure. I guess it's formal, but it still feels weird.
it's more of a US/Canada thing, it happens when people live in suburbs for to long and think a "city" is a suburb built around a large shopping mall. No buildings, art, or nature older than like thirty years anywhere. No bakeries, no good local booze shops, everyone goes to church but are terrible at religion, all have three car garage and stick trees out front because the old growth forests had to be kill/Actual farmers who live there for 100+years, then their kids want to move to city so they sell land for millions then blow it all on atv and drugs
sounds like you're talking to the wrong people
if I'm travelling somewhere it's because I have a genuine interest in the place and would love to talk to the locals
It's true, we're very insincere
Expressing oneself honestly and directly is highly discouraged in freedomland. Some of it has to do with our distorted concept of "decency" but beyond that it's really inexplicable
>unappreciative of foreign accomplishments
When im relaxing with a beer or coffee in a bar i don't want to be appreciative of whatever you guys accomplished, frankly.
And actually I'm very friendly with tourists, I like having them here, I've been out with a number of them. But I don't smile from ear to ear and call everything they happen to wear or say "quaint" or "charming", I respect and enjoy them being here I don't wet my pants over them with false interest
I've walked around American suburbs. I always thought they should stick a few convince stores around. Wouldn't that be good business? They wouldn't have to drive all the way to the city centre to get milk
It's not "cool" to have any emotions.
ahh. Yes, a lot of American greetings ("how's it going?", "how are you?", etc) just mean "hello". People don't actually want to have a long conversation about the events of your day so far, and how you feel. I see how this can seem shallow.
In China, "have you eaten yet" is a common greeting. That doesn't mean that everyone you meet wants to go eat lunch with you.
this
>how's it going?
>good, you?
>good
and your done
Same in french, m8
this
I've had foreigners seriously answer stuff like that and start talking about their day or whatever, it's weird.
The correct answer is "good" or "fine", regardless of if you're good or fine. Then you just keep doing whatever you were doing.
Sometimes it isn't faked. Or at least it is only blown out of proportion.
For example when I visited Europe I would be in awe at things, and the other American tourists would act way more awed. I could tell we had the same level of admiration, but they were showing it on a much higher level.
It's just cultural differences. Euros tend to be more introverted, while people from the Americas tend to be more extroverted.
I don't know dude, i think allot of them LIKE driving to the fucking supermart. Most of the teens get bored out of their fucking minds or turn into consumer whore normies
>You mean the fake smiles, false kindness, pretending absolutely everything in the country they visit is overwhelmingly amazing and quaint, the false modesty etcetc?
and that's why people don't like the French because they're openly opinionated and critical of the host country they visit.
maybe i should go to france and tell the locals how they're turning into arabia and they're poor socialist slobs who nobody cares about. would you prefer that?
It's normal, and probably good, for a Frenchman not to spend too much time appreciating foreign accomplishments when he's in France.
However, I've traveled with Europeans (Germans and Swedes in my case) who couldn't stop comparing everything to German or European things. Everything fell short. For example, they couldn't drink Tsingtao without comparing it to European beer. I don't know if they were just unhappy and homesick, or if they enjoyed feeling superior. In DC I heard a Swedish guy (who became a US citizen recently) call the US capital building "fake looking... an inauthentic emulation of Greek-Roman Architecture".
Now, neither of these Europeans was necessarily wrong. Chinese beer isn't as good as most German beers, and the US capitol buildings are very obviously inspired by Greek and Roman architecture. Still, these things can be said in a less arrogant way, and a tourist can make an effort to appreciate things within their national context. One should travel to appreciate foreign things, not to feel superior to them.
>it irks me how they feel they have to overblow their emotions
I hate this too and I live here.
I don't understand what you mean, elaborate what you mean hollow.
basic manners
For most people it isn't actually fake, although the people that fake it can do it very well so you never know.
However to most them being friendly does not mean you are friends, I believe this is what trips most Europeans up.
other people expect you to be nice and cheerful. i find it much easier to be emotionless when interacting with people.
Older suburbs (think prior 1940) often have small stores but many go or have gone out of business.
>I've walked around American suburbs. I always thought they should stick a few convince stores around. Wouldn't that be good business?
Probably but retarded zoning laws don't allow for it. Even if they did people still like giant lawns which still keeps everything spread out
>In DC I heard a Swedish guy (who became a US citizen recently) call the US capital building "fake looking... an inauthentic emulation of Greek-Roman Architecture".
He's right though
I felt this. I stayed over at an American's house in Oregon once and everyone just seemed so plastic.
You're supposed to love your country, user.
Being friendly to people you meet is just part of our national character desu. Americans move around a lot and the general idea is that you're supposed to get a modicum of friendliness wherever you go because nobody knows when they might be the person in a strange new place who doesn't know anyone.
Getting close to Americans is a different story entirely.
>Being friendly to people
fuck you
So we're too nice, plastic like. Then if we act indifferent, we're assholes because we're expected to be nice. Okay then. I really don't understand Euros sometimes. You can either look at it pessimistically, or just look at it like people are just trying to be courteous, not "fake". Which is the case.
he acknowledged that in his last paragraph, his point was about them being arrogant. Which i agree with.
I think this is about punching up vs. punching down. America is seen as very big and strong, therefore people don't feel bad for criticising it. I think most americans too feel this way to some degree.
Like i think it'd be more acceptable for a polish guy to mock america than an american to mock poland. Though maybe only in more liberal circles.
Was it autism?
It's not fake, it just seems like that because you're from a different culture. It's part of the standards of politeness and manners here, so people do it. Not pretending or being fake, just being a decent person.
If they did the same in your country, where such standards don't apply, it would feel fake, because the only incentives a person would have to act in such a way would be deceitful ones. Think about your country compared to Russia, where people generally don't smile without direct cause, even in photos, because it's their culture. Our culture is to yours as yours is to Russian.
something like this kind of sillyness
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I admire murricans in so many other aspects tho
this