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I've found that Dutch people abroad tend to refer to the Netherlands as Holland themselves, because that's what it's known as in most places, despite north and south holland just being regions.

 Chongara wrote:
No point. None of them even have a proper football team. What're you going to watch while you're drinking your bud light?

A real sport.

You could watch rugby, which is a bit like American football, but without the softy body armour.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
A brief primer - skip it if you can't stomach blood.

http://youtu.be/D3PSPjumaGc

Northwestern Europe should not give you any problems. English is enough to get around in countries like the Netherlands and Germany, where there are plenty of people capable of speaking English. France and Southern Europe is more of a trouble, as people there usually don't speak English, but vacation there is still very good possible at least in the major touristic areas. A phrase book is a must-have thing though.
And please do not reinforce any negative stereotypes about Americans. The image of the US is already bad enough as is
You should also be aware of cultural sensibillities etc. Like; Do not call the Netherlands 'Holland' where a Dutchman can hear it (some of them, especially Frisians (who aren't Dutch at all), can take offense) , do not mention 'the War' in Germany or near Germans, stuff like that.

Also, people will be offended if you are ignorant about their country. So taking the effort to learn something about the geography and culture of the countries you visit is highly recommended.
If you plan on visiting the eastern parts of the EU, be aware that touristic infrastructure is only recently being developed there, so it may take some more effort to find the best places to visit.

As long as you don't venture near Russia or Belarus, people in Europe will probably not lynch you in the streets for being American, and making sure you don't come across as nationalistic or too Republican will greatly improve your chances of survival (no guarantees though ).
Nah really, I am just kidding, you should be fine.

 Eggs wrote:
I've found that Dutch people abroad tend to refer to the Netherlands as Holland themselves, because that's what it's known as in most places, despite north and south holland just being regions.

Only those that come from those regions, if people ask me if i am from Holland, i say "No, i come from the Dutch Mountains, Limburg!"

To make a few friends, get to know Soccer, when in United Kingdom, (don't call it England when you are in wales or scotland). Say bad things about the french or german soccer teams, when in the Netherlands, talking down the german national team is always OK, Being in Germany showing appreciation for Franz Beckenbauer is a good thing, In France saying that the German or Brittish soccer teams suck is good, seeing a pattern here?

Oh and soccer is as serious in Europe as Baseball is in USA/Japan. Don't make fun of it.

 Jihadin wrote:
OMFG.....Matty back

I don't think so, this thread was originally posted in a different section of the board.

As a Swede, I don't think I've ever met another Swede that couldn't at least make themselves understood in English, not taking children into account. In fact, you can't get into (upper) secondary education in Sweden (literally can't, not just "it's hard") if you haven't at least passed Swedish, Maths, and English. The fact that English is the most important subject bar our own language and the universal language tends to make people at least decent at it.

We're dirty socialists though, so take that into account.

Personally, I would not mind at all people asking me stuff in English, but quite a bunch of foreigners confirmed me that starting the conversation in French made it way easier, even if the people answers in English. Also, if you are bothered about people attacking you on the U.S. foreign policy, well, you can just study a bit the history of the countries you are going to. Certainly at least France, the UK and Germany have their own share of quite dirty deeds that you could throw back at them.

 Albatross wrote:

 Cave_Dweller wrote:
Pro-tip: Don't travel to eastern European countries.

There, fixed.

Come on ! I have been in Ukraine, it was fine. When I got cold in Lviv/L’vov, some girl lend me her leather jacket. When my brother got cold, she lend him her Burzum sweatshirt. Too bad we were only two .

 Jihadin wrote:
South Korea

Those almost cannot speak English. Or, for a few, speak absolutely perfect English. No middle ground, in my experience.

To the OP. Two pieces of advice.

1. If on a tour please do not compare everything to 'home' it's fething irritating for others on tour. If you want to compare things to home, stay home.
2. Do not expect Europe to have the same setups in hotels as you expect at home, always remember a lot of these hotels were built a long while ago so do not expect a lift for your (quite possibly oversized ) luggage.

Dont forget to bring a power adaptor. Our sockets are different over here

You will be absolutely fine. As someone else said just act as you would anywhere else, be polite, open but always aware of your surroundings. Do some research on the places you might stop at too. Like any big city/country there are some "less desirable" areas (read gak holes to be avoided).

I work for a vacation company, we set up tours for old people and send them all over the world. They sent me to Greece a while back, and I didn't have any problems communicating. I don't know about other places in Europe, but in Greece everywhere I went, everyone I talked to spoke some english at least weather it was the receptionist at the hotel or a random guy off the street. One thing that was amusing, was when we were eating in a restaurant in Delphi and there was a large group of german students there.. the waiter didn't speak german, and they didn't speak greek, so they placed their order in English

I think you'll be fine if you stick to more touristy places, and you are nice to people, you won't have to worry much. If you want to go exploring off the beaten path then it might be harder to communicate. There's lots of guide books out there you can get that will be a big help too.

 Soladrin wrote:

 Chongara wrote:
No point. None of them even have a proper football team. What're you going to watch while you're drinking your bud light?

A real sport.

Might need to drink something other than bud light because asking for that might get you Looked At.

 purplefood wrote:

 Soladrin wrote:

 Chongara wrote:
No point. None of them even have a proper football team. What're you going to watch while you're drinking your bud light?

A real sport.

Might need to drink something other than bud light because asking for that might get you Looked At.

That too, we actually have beer here.

 Necros wrote:
One thing that was amusing, was when we were eating in a restaurant in Delphi and there was a large group of german students there.. the waiter didn't speak german, and they didn't speak greek, so they placed their order in English

Why is that amusing ? That is what I do in about every country I go to that is not francophone, be it Italy, Greece, Albania, South Korea or Iran. That is precisely the reason I learned English. If English was only useful to speak with people from the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, I sure would not have put that much effort into it, but since it is pretty much the lingua franca of the world, it is therefore the single most interesting language to learn for me.

 Soladrin wrote:

 purplefood wrote:

 Soladrin wrote:

 Chongara wrote:
No point. None of them even have a proper football team. What're you going to watch while you're drinking your bud light?

A real sport.

Might need to drink something other than bud light because asking for that might get you Looked At.

That too, we actually have beer here.

We have beer here too, and some if it is excellent. To find it, you just need to go to a liquor store instead of a gas station.

English is the new lingua franca.
Also, if you go to Belgium and drink Bud Lite, I will hunt you down and kill you.

Bullockist wrote:
To the OP. Two pieces of advice.

1. If on a tour please do not compare everything to 'home' it's fething irritating for others on tour. If you want to compare things to home, stay home.
2. Do not expect Europe to have the same setups in hotels as you expect at home, always remember a lot of these hotels were built a long while ago so do not expect a lift for your (quite possibly oversized ) luggage.

Having been a tourist in europe I tend to associate comparisons to home to two types of people, English (specifically English rahter than Brits in general) and Texans. Both are lovely people, but both tend to go on a bit about how the place they are in is not like the place they are from. Most other Americans go to other countries to actually see other countries. Certainly the ones who come to NZ are generally so awed by it that they don't talk about what its like in the US, unless they're from Texas.

No offense to Texans or English intended, most of my American side of the family is from Texas or Louisiana and I love England and the UK, but yeah, they don't make great tourists.

The one massive annoyance I have about my English compatriots is the obsession with eating 'British food' when abroad. I appreciate I'm making a massive generalisation, but the amount of folk I've seen asking for fish and chips or tomato sauce when abroad is staggering! (My inlaws included - all the way to manhattan, to a swanky restaurant, where I'm picking up the tab, and they order bloody fish and chips...)

Be as well staying at home...

 Eggs wrote:
The one massive annoyance I have about my English compatriots is the obsession with eating 'British food' when abroad. I appreciate I'm making a massive generalisation, but the amount of folk I've seen asking for fish and chips or tomato sauce when abroad is staggering! (My inlaws included - all the way to manhattan, to a swanky restaurant, where I'm picking up the tab, and they order bloody fish and chips...)

Be as well staying at home...

I feel your pain, I spent a month in Belgium with the RAF.
All people wanted to do was find an Irish bar and drink Guinness.
We are in freakin' Belgium, the beer capital of the world!
One bar I went into had around 200 different beers!

As a scot, I want to try all the alcoholic drinks, and all the food in the world before I die. Problem is, each mouthful hastens my demise...

The trick is not to try and cram it all down in one evening.

But that's the fun part!

Europe is safe for travel, but watch where you are heading.

Turn a corner and you leave 'Europe' and enter the 'Middle East'. This can be a game changer, especially if you look or sound American, Jewish or both.

 Orlanth wrote:
Europe is safe for travel, but watch where you are heading.

Turn a corner and you leave 'Europe' and enter the 'Middle East'. This can be a game changer, especially if you look or sound American, Jewish or both.

What part of your suddenely turns into the middle east?

You'd have to go trough the less safe European countries to get there anyway.

 Soladrin wrote:

 Orlanth wrote:
Europe is safe for travel, but watch where you are heading.

Turn a corner and you leave 'Europe' and enter the 'Middle East'. This can be a game changer, especially if you look or sound American, Jewish or both.

What part of your suddenely turns into the middle east?

You'd have to go trough the less safe European countries to get there anyway.

If you've seen camels you should turn around, you've gone too far!
In all seriousness I would imagine that as long as you follow Wheaton's Law (don't be a dick) you shouldn't have any problems in most conceivable tourist destinations. I was actually amazed how nice everybody was when i went to China this summer. Once you got over the people staring at you and taking cell phone pictures of "the white guy"

 Soladrin wrote:
What part of Europe suddenly turns into the middle east?

Vienna, as soon as you leave the Westbahnhof train station and walk fifty paces into the 15th district.

 Orlanth wrote:
Turn a corner and you leave 'Europe' and enter the 'Middle East'. This can be a game changer, especially if you look or sound American, Jewish or both.

I have been to the middle east (well, I guess… Iran is part of the middle east, right ?) and I had no problem. My mother is Jewish. Though in all honesty, she had to use the Swiss passport because on the French one, it was written that she went to Israel, and therefore she would not have been allowed to enter. Which is stupid, really.

I've been to most countries in western Europe.

You will be able to get by just with English in most places. In the Scandinavian countries: Norway, Sweden, Denmark (Finland) almost everyone speaks English well. I recommend Stockholm, it was one of my favorite cities to visit. The Scandinavian countries are however quite expensive. In Germany and Holland most people seem to speak some English especially in the cities. These are all very safe countries to travel around.

France and Spain and Portugal are a little more difficult depending on where you go. But you can usually get by just pointing at stuff, and people will teach you important phrases as you go (like how to ask for beer). You need to be careful in parts of Spain with your bags and money (and phone). There are a lot of pickpockets and scam artists around. Italy is kind of similar... I personally hated Italy. Rome is just a big tourist trap, streets and streets of nothing but tacky souvenir shops. Missing the last train and getting stranded in Naples was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. I didn't even know much about the city at the time because I had only meant to catch a connection there and not stop, but you can tell it's kind of place where you're going to get stabbed and mugged if you're milling around lost after dark.

Malta is a nice country, it gets the most sunlight of all Europe, some nice rocky beaches, and it's a former British dependency so everyone there speaks English (apart from the Germans) very safe place too.

 Chongara wrote:
No point. None of them even have a proper football team. What're you going to watch while you're drinking your bud light?

Well, if in England, Scotland, Ireland, or France, he can watch Rugby (which, lets face it, is an infinitely better sport than American Football)


I was stationed in Germany, and really had no problems getting on there, all the FLGS and LGW workers spoke reasonably good English, and if you approached people in a polite and fairly quiet manner, most would respond positively to you asking if they speak English...


Basically dont be like this:



and you should be good.

Also, I'd suggest you dress fairly bland or "conservative"... I mean, don't be wearing your I *heart* USA, USA flag, or other completely obnoxious American clothing around. And keep in mind that while many things are similar to the US, there are definitely some differences besides the language.