Saturday, July 16, 2011

A song a day: Against Me - Americans Abroad


A few years ago, I read an article about how Australian travellers had overtaken South Africans as the most hated tourists in the world (I think the article was called “The New South Africans”). I’ve seen it in action so many times: whether they’re demanding instant coffee in a cafĂ© in Hanoi (“Have you got any Nescafe?” in that terrible nasally strine) or being drunk and lecherous in Rome or just saying the same thing over and over, just a bit louder because someone in their home country has the audacity to not speak English – Australian tourists can be terrible. With the strong Australian dollar, there are more and more of us out there (myself including) polluting the world with our arrogance and self importance (I'm an Australian so you must instantly love me). So whenever I hear this song, I replace the word Americans with Australians and the song still works - probably even better… Now that’s a song that truly crosses cultural boundaries.

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2 comments:

  1. You mean people don't hate Americans, anymore?
    Honestly, while I know that America has some good, I hate American tourists so much that I hate when other Americans come to visit my part of America. Maybe it's more like what Jarvis Cocker said- everybody hates a tourist, especially those who think it's all such a laugh.

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  2. Great song!


    Diane
    www.expatriatetaxreturns.com

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