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"In my experience, people were polite but conversations rarely moved past surface-level niceties." As a Britain who lived in America, this is how I felt about

"In my experience, people were polite but conversations rarely moved past surface-level niceties." As a Britain who lived in America, this is how I felt about Americans. I think its more of a cultural illusion.

dualogy 13y ago
As a German who lived in Britain, this is how I felt about Brits :D It's a neverending circle..
- collyw 13y ago
  Did you live in the south east of England by any chance? It gets better the further from London you get.
yardie 13y ago
As an American living in France, this is how I feel about the French. But I've heard the opposite from other brits about Americans. We're too friggin nosey. We want to know where you live, where you went to school, what you do (this is really big blunder a lot of Americans make), and why you're here.
- blisterpeanuts 13y ago
  Agreed, I have been told by Europeans that it's not common in their region to ask what you do for a living. It's as though they'd rather talk about real things rather than mundane money-related humdrum topics. It's rather refreshing, actually. Quite the opposite from Taiwan where I lived for a couple of years. People would ask questions that in the West would be considered incredibly intrusive: how old are you, what do you weigh, are you married (and if not, why not?) and so forth. To me it was like a giant Jewish family. Or, I guess, a giant Chinese family :)
  - prewett 13y ago
    Asking what you do is not asking about "mundane money-related humdrum topics." It is asking "who are you?" "What do like to do so much you spend all day at it?" At least, that's what it is when I ask it.
  - yardie 13y ago
    It's a difference in mentality between old world Europe and America. Even in the 21st century some aspects of Paris (where I live) are still classist. And the most straightforward way to determine class is by your occupation. Americans ask what do you do because we are, honestly, interested in what you do all day. I work in computers, after work I enjoy discussing computers, tech, drinking. In a previous life I was a bartender, wind tunnel tech, and traveler. But I don't do that now and if I wasn't behind the bar most people wouldn't know I lived that life. So what do you do is an icebreaker for me.
- Nicholas_C 13y ago
  >what you do (this is really big blunder a lot of Americans make) Woah, woah, woah, is this impolite to ask outside of the US?

dualogy 13y ago

As a German who lived in Britain, this is how I felt about Brits :D It's a neverending circle..

collyw 13y ago
Did you live in the south east of England by any chance? It gets better the further from London you get.

yardie 13y ago

As an American living in France, this is how I feel about the French. But I've heard the opposite from other brits about Americans. We're too friggin nosey. We want to know where you live, where you went to school, what you do (this is really big blunder a lot of Americans make), and why you're here.

blisterpeanuts 13y ago
Agreed, I have been told by Europeans that it's not common in their region to ask what you do for a living. It's as though they'd rather talk about real things rather than mundane money-related humdrum topics. It's rather refreshing, actually. Quite the opposite from Taiwan where I lived for a couple of years. People would ask questions that in the West would be considered incredibly intrusive: how old are you, what do you weigh, are you married (and if not, why not?) and so forth. To me it was like a giant Jewish family. Or, I guess, a giant Chinese family :)
- prewett 13y ago
  Asking what you do is not asking about "mundane money-related humdrum topics." It is asking "who are you?" "What do like to do so much you spend all day at it?" At least, that's what it is when I ask it.
- yardie 13y ago
  It's a difference in mentality between old world Europe and America. Even in the 21st century some aspects of Paris (where I live) are still classist. And the most straightforward way to determine class is by your occupation. Americans ask what do you do because we are, honestly, interested in what you do all day. I work in computers, after work I enjoy discussing computers, tech, drinking. In a previous life I was a bartender, wind tunnel tech, and traveler. But I don't do that now and if I wasn't behind the bar most people wouldn't know I lived that life. So what do you do is an icebreaker for me.
Nicholas_C 13y ago
>what you do (this is really big blunder a lot of Americans make) Woah, woah, woah, is this impolite to ask outside of the US?