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Anonymous
>>21481tldr; Pretend that youre not american.
No, I didn't say that. I said don't try to argue with someone if you feel they are ignorant about your country's food, level of education, etc, because they generally have a stick up their collective assess about the whole thing. There are a lot of funny ideas about America floating around out there, and the French in particular seem to make a national sport out of developing and nurturing these funny ideas. They seem to think that being French is an excuse for ignorance and cultural chauvanism. If you decide to make it your personal mission to change this fact, you'd better have a big appetite for confrontation, because you are one small person against an entire country. As a tourist, you need to understand this fact in advance so that you don't end up getting into any arguments that you will inevitably lose. You see, you're not a Bad Person. You're just a little inferior.
As an American, you're probably not used to being made to feel this way, so it will seem weird at first. Just remember that if they really hated you, they wouldn't even deign to express their funny ideas about you (see: Japan). So that's why you shouldn't be too bothered by it.
>>21482
There's a big difference between being ashamed of your country, and going around arguing with people over something you can't control. But if you want to go waving your American flag and "educating" people about your great country, instead of just relaxing and enjoying a new place, please do so, and come back to /trv/ with stories so we can all laugh at your sucky vacation.
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