30+ Questionable Things Americans Have Done Abroad

From u/Istealpotatoes:

In Australia, they shook a koala out of a tree at a wildlife park.

From u/Carl_Clegg:

An American tourist stopped me while I walked to a wedding in my kilt. That guy lifted the back of my kilt to prove I was a true Scotsman.

My friend intercepted the perfect diving headbutt.

From u/misterkittybutt:

I am American, but I visited England and toured the Tower of London. A cannon had a "Do not touch or climb" sign behind a rope.

An American woman lifted the rope. She told her kid, maybe seven, to sit on the cannon for a picture. The kid protested; the sign said no. The woman said she did not care. She ordered her kid to do it or she would ground them.

From u/Supergamery45:

They performed the Nazi greeting in Berlin, Germany, near the Jewish memorial.

From u/Tytonidae7:

From my job at a youth hostel:

People thought Euros were too complex and refused to pay with anything other than dollars. Another person complained they could not read street signs and wanted an English version in a small town with few tourists.

I often see people in Germany do the Nazi greeting, which is illegal, and they find it funny.

From u/Quack_Candle:

In France, two American tourists tried to leave the Paris Catacombs with a stolen bone.

From u/frankiestree:

I was in a tour group in Tajikistan inside a local's home for tea. He talked about his family and how many children they have. The only American in the group asked, "What contraception does your wife use? Does she use herbs or something?"

Everyone looked shocked. He politely avoided the question, then a long, awkward silence followed. Then she asked again! Another tour member cut in, "Okay, I think it is time for us to leave. Thanks for having us."

From u/Cheap-Department2817:

I live in New Zealand, and we have special churches called maraes. People cannot wear shoes there.

One day I saw a middle-aged woman enter the marae with her shoes on. I walked over and politely asked her to leave her shoes at the door. She said, "What is this some kind of savage church?" The men immediately kicked her out.

From u/Bigel_7:

Angrily shouting, "DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?!" very loudly at a cashier in a small Paris store repeatedly until they gave up and stormed out. After they left, I approached to buy something and said "Bonjour," and they replied, "Hello." She spoke English.

From u/siriusly_no_siriusly:

Do not buy their round. This happened in a pub in Ireland. The pub round system had been explained to them. They happily took drinks from everyone.

When it was their round and everyone's glasses were empty, someone mentioned, "Think it's your round..." They replied, "I think I'm good now, thanks." I felt ashamed to bring them along! (I bought the round for everyone else instead.)

From u/grindelwaldd:

I was at Disneyland in Japan. An American tourist stood behind us during the fireworks and castle show. He lit a cigarette in the crowd where children were. Then he loudly complained that Winnie the Pooh singing in Japanese was "f*cked up" and "ruined Pooh forever." I also saw him punch a toddler's balloon because it blocked his path.

From u/Puppie00:

I worked in a high-end restaurant. Five or six course meals are the standard. People take time to eat, talk, and enjoy the evening for two to three hours. Taking half an hour between meals is normal. If we served faster, guests would complain about the food coming too quick.

Anyway, this table, mostly local people plus one loud American woman with a thick, I guess, New York accent, complained after three minutes after every course about her food. First, I explained that. The rest of the table also grew awkward about her actions. She kept complaining, though, saying how very disappointed she felt.

I kept explaining that our food is freshly made. It takes time to prepare. The whole point is to enjoy the evening with the people you are with. She just would not grasp the idea and reacted with much disbelief. Lady, you are abroad. If you want to eat quickly, go to a fast food chain... even better, stay home.

From u/Nardon211:

In the Netherlands, Giethoorn is a place. It is a nice, typical Dutch village with many waterways and canals. You can rent a boat and float around the waterways and the village.

Tourists often forget this is a real village where normal people live, not just a theme park. So they often park their boat in someone's backyard. They walk through the garden, look into houses through windows, and stuff. People get used to it, but it is still rude.

From u/lullabyluddite:

I had dinner with an American in China. He asked for water in English, and the waiter did not understand. He spoke up and repeated himself in a slow, patronizing voice. Again, the waiter could not speak English. I asked for the water in Chinese, and the waiter left. The American then said, "It’s so infuriating here sometimes."

Many things in China can be annoying and inconvenient. But expecting people to understand your language is unreasonable.

From u/ChronicallyConrad:

I am a Greek-American, a dual citizen, visiting Greece. An American woman at the Acropolis museum tried to touch the marbles after a staff member said she could not. She responded, “You know in Spain they let you touch the Roman statues!”

Spain is good. This is Greece; we have little left besides history and a few nice islands. The government must not sell those islands.

From aRedditor:

A South African here. Americans climb out of their vehicles in game reserves. They get attacked by wild animals because they want to get closer or pet them. Then they cry about it.

I thought people from the country with grizzly bears and mountain lions would be more careful around wild animals.

Americans also get shocked when they see cities here instead of just mud huts.

Fromu/Imaginary_Reveal7884:

Screeching, "Oh ma gawd do that again!! Say something Scaaaattish!!" (Scottish) hit me and my friend at eight years old during a school trip to an art gallery. It caught us off guard. My friend just mumbled, "What do you want me to say?" They howled with laughter.

Fromu/PmMeLowCarbRecipes:

I am a Brit on a food tour in Rome. Two women from Chicago (they told us twenty times) interrupted the tour guide constantly. One woman claimed Chicago invented pizza and that the local pizza lacked quality because "real pizza is deep dish." The other woman agreed.

The four-hour tour mentioned this every twenty minutes. The pizzeria stop on the tour was awful.

Fromu/Makes_Bakes_Sews:

In a Paris crêperie, an American couple rudely complained to staff. They complained to the manager because the pancakes and coffee were too small. They ordered a crêpe and an espresso.

We struggled not to laugh when the manager finally lost it. He practically yelled, "You are in Paris! In France! In France, THIS IS coffee! If you want what you call coffee, you need to find a Starbucks." He also refused the discount they asked for.

Fromu/whoopdawhoop12345:

A friend who works as a customs agent in Ireland said Americans bring firearms to Dublin Airport.

When stopped and flagged, people cannot walk around with handguns or possess them. They talk about the Second Amendment and similar things.

They must explain they are no longer in the USA and cannot have access to their firearms.

I asked him how often this happens. He said often enough that Dublin Airport has a safe for Americans bringing guns.

Wild.

Fromu/inckalt:

I am French. I spoke with an American woman visiting (a friend of a family member). We started discussing differences between our countries. She stated, "The USA is the only country in the world with true freedom."

She was not joking. I told her, "What do you mean? We are also free in France." She smirked condescendingly and asked, "Really?" like she wanted me to admit something. I nodded and left.

From u/IcyVeinz:

Iceland sees much tourism when the pandemic ends; about half those visitors are American. This stems mostly from ignorance and refusing to accept local differences. Some tourists get angry that English isn't the default language in non-tourist businesses. They object when we speak our own language at work.

Northern Lights. Many people think flicking a switch makes them appear.

From u/GuessImDoingDis:

Working at Maccas [McDonald's], I heard an American tourist tell his family they wanted good food, not foreign garbage, while waiting in line to order.

From u/MizElaneous:

He spoke slow, shouting English as if I failed to understand. He was in western Canada; everyone speaks English. I had already spoken English to him.

From u/Are-Sole:

The best one I heard was the American tourist complaining they built Edinburgh castle so far from the train station.

From u/Cap10Haddock:

India. The subway has seats for ladies. An American man in his twenties refused to move and let the standing ladies sit. Everyone asked him for about five minutes.

From u/FantasticAngel:

I live in Israel; my two favorites:

"Where are the camels and the dunes, isn't this a desert country???" The tourist said this in Tel-Aviv...

An old American man stripped naked on a beach (not a nudist beach; we lack those). This action was very disrespectful and illegal here.

From u/ashritaebc:

Indian here. My office hosted two American and one British lady; I took them sightseeing. We were a British colony until 1947 and still have many British buildings as our history.

The American ladies talked to me about how the British treated us during colonization in front of the nice British lady. I felt uncomfortable discussing it. The British lady seemed uncomfortable, but the American ladies kept making jokes about how the British lady's country was awful to mine.

That part of our history is dark, but bringing it up and continuing was rude and tasteless.

Thankfully, the British lady did not get offended, or I would have faced consequences for offending a guest.

From u/oyloff:

I saw a very drunk American tourist in his twenties tell a Viet bartender in Viet Nam how his American grandfather freed Viet Nam from communists.

From u/Tobybrent:

A friend described a trip to an English tourist spot, one of many places called Arthur’s Camelot. People climbed a scenic hill to a quiet, tree-filled spot. Visitors looked out over the land, thinking about the ancient myth, not seeing the castle.

The chubby, puffing American arrived, glanced around annoyed, then shouted with his accent, “Where’s the god***n castle?”

Fromu/CarefreeCFC_:

Someone asked for an Irish car bomb in a pub in Ireland.

The drink is awful. Calling it that will get you refused service. Your outcome depends on where you are in Ireland when you ask for it.