T H I S+W E E K

Gonzo Congo
Redmond O'Hanlon hunts dinosaurs in the African jungle
By Don George, Editor

Fetishes and fossils
A talk with Redmond O'Hanlon

Kidnap my heart
By Alison Buckholtz
An Arab taxi driver takes a lone American where she never planned

D E P A R T M E N T S

The Surreal Gourmet
By Bob Blumer
Dahling, you taste fabulous!

Mondo Weirdo
More strange food tales

Postmark
By Tessa Souter
Harlem on my mind

>Readers' Tips and Tales
The Ugly American

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LA S T+W E E K

Tuesday, June 10

Tiger Leaping Gorge
By Simon Winchester
Greed menaces a Chinese treasure

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Cookie Molino | The Ugly American -- Why Does the World Love to Hate U.S. Tourists?
09:34am Jun 13, 1997 PST (#20 of 20)

okay here is the bottom line. There are some travelers who when abroad act like boors. Americans just cornered a big market share at a key time in history, that's all.

Boors come from many cultures!

They grossly disregard local culture, make a stink when they can't get things like back home, and make boorish and uninformed remarks in loud voices about local customs, food, culture, people, and the arts. They often talk loudly and dress inappropriately, not in the sense of style or snobbery but just plain inappropriately - like visiting sacred sites with no regard for posted local customs re dress or silence. They pontificate in banks about the exchange rate and the lengthy queue and they make sure everybody hears their disgusting impatient sighs and mumbling complaints, albeit in their native tongues. They bitch at restaurants that don't automatically bring water. They hang their laundry in inappropriate places in the halls and yell down hotel bannisters at their travelling companions, making crude racist remarks about the "slowness" of the locals. The idea of having fun, getting to know the local ways, or learning anything completely escapes them.

Travelling boors.

They come in all nationalities.

Are you saying you never saw a rude, travelling (fill in any nationality)? Some cultures seems to have raised their people with better skills at kindness and adaptation abroad. But that's about it.

I've seen rude Chinese, Brits, Germans, Japanese, Palestinians, Russians, Brazilians (not in any order, ahem) - you name it, yes name just about any background: demanding a fried egg at a small inn or shouting at the front desk about the ridiculousness of the fan system, decrying the shape of the toilet paper squares or joking loudly about how completely unskilled Michelangelo's David looks.

How about groups of boorish college kids (yes there are the other types) who travel in packs of about 6 or so and sit incessantly talking to each other while (Japan, Europe) completely passes them by on the street or on a train? You sit next to them for 6 hours and the entire time they not once look up or talk about anything except the dorms back home. Annoys me to no end. They come from all countries.

Boors come in all shapes and sizes.

Americans got the bad name, like Germans and Parisians did in other contexts, because of frequency, timing, volume and visibility, that's all.

The Taiwanese and South Koreans prove it - once fairly shy types (yes, yes, generalizations) - some of their lot now jetset the world barking orders at department store counters and maligning the foreign cultures of others. The result of booming economies back home, for some of them, no doubt.

There are trends (the Irish are more friendly on the street than the French, the Chinese more deferential or taciturn about making an accommodation request when abroad than the Swiss, the newly-met Japanese companion more likely to offer you a small gift than the Scottish) but those are generalities and stereotypes with so many exceptions, the exceptions often eat the rule.

Stephen Loane | Seattle: Liquid city
08:59pm Jun 12, 1997 PST (#6 of 7)

for 3 years Seattle was home and its liquid air my mate. Endlessly indifferent and always moving, pushing on toward the east from where I came. Thin like the gauze of a white summer dress; heavy and thick like a beat old futon. That is what I miss most about Seattle. Beer and coffee may be the Yin and Yang of this city but clouds are its' great cosmos. They carry the rain and something more. At night on Queen Anne, you can almost touch them. If you listen closely you might hear a whisper. They sail along like slow secret spaceships as their great soft underbellies reflect the neon halogen glow of the fires below. The manna they bring is what Seattle is most known for but it is the giver which is my lover.

Scott Fettner | Motorcycles
07:11am Jun 9, 1997 PST (#6 of 24)

i've been riding since I've been driving. I've dropped my bikes a few times (when I first started riding), and it was always because of my own carelessness - taking turns to fast, not watching out for sand, leaves, or grease on the road, etc. But the last accident I was involved in (2 years ago), a car coming from the opposite direction turned left in front of me, and I had no time to react. I slammed into the right rear of his car, and flew over the trunk. I ended up having to walk about 20 feet back to my bike. Other than some road rash, I was miraculously unhurt. My bike was not as lucky.

Ever since this accident, I've been extremely afraid whenever I see a car coming from the opposite direction with his left turn signal on. I'm also nervous when I see someone sitting at a side street. Never used to be - I had always been aware in these situations, but never afraid. Bottom line is that often, your life is in the hands of other drivers on the road, and you can't rely on their safe driving skills. In the two situations I've mentioned, unless you are prepared for the worst (and sometimes even if you are), you may not have enough time to react. Be wary, but not to the extent that it ruins your enjoyment of riding.

My biggest problem is that I ride vintage bikes, and the front drum brakes on my two bikes are not the greatest - you've got to learn your bikes' capabilities and limitations. Oh yeah - that's a real important thing you have to learn - you have to program yourself to grab the front brake in an emgency, and not to slam on the rear brake with your foot like you would in a car. Hope your front brake works real well.

Oh, and DO NOT read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance."

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