I am Canadian a proud of it. I hear from alot of people that there is alot of Americans say they are Canadian and sew Canadian patches to there bags because they get treated pretty poorly in many countries.
Reply to this I hear from alot of people that there is alot of Americans say they are Canadian and sew Canadian patches to there bags because they get treated pretty poorly in many countries.
Yeah, I heard that too. I think they got blamed for Bush a lot.
Reply to this People just think Americans are rude and the cause of alot that happens
Reply to this I've never lied about it...but I did feel pretty ashamed after reading
Escape From Moscow..
As I turn to leave I hear English spoken from the lounge, where a group of Australians are drinking around a large glass table. For most of my year in Russia I had spoken as little as possible to the English-speakers that I had met on my travels; I thought that there were only a handful of foreigners in Russia, and each one I learned about made my own experience seem less unique. But at that moment I was too desperate to be idealistic. I walk up to them and tell them that I had been mugged. Every one of them laughs. I ask to sleep on the floor in one of their rooms. They refuse. They think I am lying. I show them my student card from Tver State University. Their spokesman tells me to give him my passport too, as if the card was part of a confidence trick along with the cuts on my hands and the tale of the couple on the train.
You can't blame a nation for the behaviour of one group of people though!
Reply to this I fly my Australian flag pretty highly. Which does remind me, i need to buy one.
Reply to this I have never lied about my nationality but have known people that have.
Most of the time it is to avoid discrimination, sometimes it is just because they don't know what to call themselves.
For example, I know a girl who was born in France and has always had a french passport but her family are from Turkey and she has strong turkish roots and speaks fluent turkish. Sometimes she says that she is French and sometimes she says she is Turkish.
This is fairly common in London where there are many people who have strong imigrant backgrounds. Sadly, they are put in an odd place where some feel they can't call themselves British. Possibly because society won't accept it or because thier family teach them this way.
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Some people get offended and annoyed when they get constantly asked where they are from. So they just lie about it or answer in a sarcastic way... like the Vietnamese girl I knew who tells people she's Chinese. Maybe because they always thought she's Chinese.
I've never lied about my heritage nor my citizenship. I'm a proud Pilipino-Australian.... couldn't think to be anything else.
Reply to this My mum is from Cabanatuan City and has been in Australia for the last 25 years. Just had to throw that out there lol
Reply to this I've never lied about my citizenship, and am proud of it, but a few weeks ago I read an article in the Toronto Star (a VERY liberal newspaper) about how the author and many of her compatriots are now ashamed to wear the Maple Leaf on their backpacks.
Apparently she's embarrassed about how the conservative government and PM Harper are representing the country internationally. She says that we've become almost as bad as America under Bush and that she's ashamed of how we've acted on the world stage in big summits such as Copenhagen and the G-20.
Its interesting to see how the tables have turned.
Reply to this Governments advise against all travel to Mindanao in the Southern Philippines because of the presence of Islamic Extremist groups so when I went there I was a bit paranoid and pretended to be Russian rather than admitting I'm British. It turned out to be unnecessary though: the government warning is ridiculously over-cautious and there are only a couple of very small and very remote areas where there is any danger. The people of Mindanao were among the friendliest, most hospitable I met anywhere in the Philippines.
Reply to this ... sometimes it is just because they don't know what to call themselves.
- Potterfield
True, it's easy to lose a sense of identity having born or living in a foreign land with different cultural background. I'm just glad that I never felt that way here in Australia. I found Australians very friendly, accepting, accommodating and helpful. So I ended up falling in love with one and married an Aussie when I was in College ! 😉
My eldest son identifies himself as an Australian, and I'm ok with that. Though it touches my heart when my youngest son calls himself a Pilipino-Australian and enthusiastic to learn the Pilipino language.
Reply to this The more history I read, the more inappropriate I think being proud of a citizenship is. If we go back far enough, we are all so mixed and came from so many different origens, that to be proud of being of the citizenship we are now, just seems too strange.
Do any Australians avoid displaying the Australian flag these days because of the racial attacks in Australia? Apparently, some Australians are becomming targets of aggression in Indonesia and India because of it.
Reply to this So they just lie about it or answer in a sarcastic way... like the Vietnamese girl I knew who tells people she's Chinese.
Ah, I think she may be living in my neighbourhood. I asked an Asian women I met which country she is from, a couple of years ago. She got stroppy about it. Firstly, she snapped at me that all Asians are Japanese, arent they. I said, they are not and although I waited as patiently as I could through more stroppiness I still dont know which country she is from.
Reply to this Hey Mel,
The Irish/English thing can be hard to explain sometimes! We come from a different blood line, but I'd say it's well diluted by now!
I had a guy from Uruguay asking if the Irish were "95%" English. I explained that the first people to land in Ireland were from North Africa and Spain and that the first people to arrive in England were from central Europe (Germans basically!!). He replied......... Yes, but you are not black. I left the conversation there.
At Angkor Wat in Cambodia the kids used always ask where we were from, to which I would reply China. Some got so confused that they just left me alone.
Darren
Reply to this The Irish/English thing can be hard to explain sometimes!
I wouldnt mind discussing it with those who have some level of political awareness, but when the discussion starts with someone asking ''So, it is a war between the Catholics and Protestants, which side are you on?''...
Here is a quote from my latest blog, which I havent published yet. Excuse spelling, because I havent reread it yet either. I wrote it, at the hostel, straight after the discussion. If I had had a preview of what the discussion was going to be like, I would have denied my citizenship to prevent it. 😉
There is an English guy staying in the hostel, who is complaining that N. Ireland, Scotland and Wales are costing Britian money, and that nobody in England wants N. Ireland and that Ireland should look after it. I told him that if it is still part of the UK, so the British government is responsible for it. He thinks the solution is to send all the Irish people who are in England back to Ireland and to send all the English people back to Ireland and that Ireland should take back N. Ireland. He says he thinks nationalism is something to be admired and everybody should be nationalist. I told him that I dont think the Orange men would be too keen on being forciable sent to live in England. He thinks the Orange men dont count because they are weird. But, then who are the nationalists he is admiring?? I was about to ask him, when he launched into how Ireland helped the Nazis during the second world war, by not switching off their lights and allowing the Nazis to land in Ireland. I told him that I dont think it was quite as simple as that and that Ireland was a neutral country during the second world war, who did not support the Nazis but they did/do have a tense history with England which caused certain grey areas when demands were being made by Britian and Germany during the second world war. Well, I am glad I am leaving the hostel before breakfast tomorrow, because that guy keeps casting me strange sideward glances, even though I told him that Ireland predominantly does not want aggrivation with England or any country, because all but the most overly nationalist Irish people want to continue to progress as we have been doing economically, politically, educationally..... He then started saying he had trouble in Ireland when he was there, because he is English and that black people have trouble in Ireland too. I told him that there is no legistlation against any black Irish citizen, to prevent her/him availing of all opportunities that other Irish citizens can avail of, but there are of course the weirdos who will be prejudiced against everybody except those they deem worthy of the rights they themselves are entitled to. He then started telling me that not all the English gained from exploiting the world. I told him I know that, but he still continued to defend this point, even though I wasnt disagreeing. I asked if he often gets a hard time from Irish people, about the Irish, English political situation. Judging by the way he keeps looking at me, I think he does. But, maybe he also includes me amongst those who are giving him a hard time about it. Often the way with political discussions.
Reply to this I explained that the first people to land in Ireland were from North Africa and Spain and that the first people to arrive in England were from central Europe (Germans basically!!).
I am currently trying to figure out where everybody in Europe came from and keep losing track. Apparently, the Celts inhabited central Europe for a long time, and were then driven west. And the Romans got as far as what is now known as England, but didnt reach what is now known as Ireland, as far as I can figure out. And before the Romans, there were some other tribes in England. And before inhabiting central Europe, I dont know where the celts came from. There was a time before history was written. What I need is a chart, to explain all this migration that took place, because I am probably getting it all wrong. 😉
Reply to this I'm American and never felt the need to lie about where I'm from. If someone's going to dislike me simply because I'm American, that's their shallow attitude problem. I'd rather people like/dislike me for real reasons.
I did let myself down once though in the heat of an argument with a Maoist trying to extort money from me in Nepal. I knew telling him I was an American would instantly lose the argument for me - so I blurted out that I was Canadian. Eventually he talked to my porter - who proudly told him he was working for an American...and the jig was up.
Around Annapurna - Part I : Militant Commie Rodents In The Mountains Reply to this I don't lie about my citizenship AND I don't wear clothing in a foreign country that reflects my citizenship.
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