How do you visibly identify your nationality when travelling overseas?

[Holidays]

Not ashamed of where I am from but when travelling don't like to advertise "tourist". Obviously when you speak it is usually a giveaway.

 

[ShaneN]

I do not see any need to advertise my nationality.

A few years ago I was sitting outside a laundry in Yosemite Valley in California when a woman came up to me and asked if I was from Australia. I was wearing a cap advertising Medibank Private and she recognised the brand. She was an expat living in San Francisco.

Now to confuse people I wear my Yosemite National Park cap or Boston Red Sox cap (but not in New York), or my Lords - Home of Cricket cap.

 

[drron]

I wear my Moo brew cap.Mainly because on the back it has-not suitable for bogans.i guess another Aussie might recognise it.

 

[drewbles]

I try and blend in as much as I can. I dislike being considered a 'tourist' (at least visibly, i'll always be a tourist in a place I don't know).

Definitely try and keep quiet as well unless I need to speak. The amount of 'Von and Nev' type of Aussies i've run into overseas (especially in Vegas) that wander around in awe and marvel (loudly audible) in an Aussie accent makes me realise why I like to try and blend in

I must have some kind of whacky accent though. I've been asked, by a British couple when in SFO what part of England I was from (I said SYD and they were puzzled; I was living in SYD at the time) and in the USA, in bars, i'm always happy to advise i'm Aussie... *after* I tip (the amount of times i've heard 'Wow! an Awww-zii that tips!" and then 12-18 months later when re-visiting, i'm remembered is amazing). A tipping aussie = a cheaply inebriated aussie

 

[Julesmac]

Travelling by taxi to the airport in Rome, in 2000, I had an hilarious chat with the driver - the fact that my Italian is very basic never stops me having a go! - I told him we were Aussies - I said kangaroo, Sydney, Olympic Games, Capice? and with a delighted smile he said "Kylie"!
In Paris last year we were going on a bus tour - when we pulled up to collect some more folk we could spot the Aussies a mile off. Not decked with flags or anything, definitely tourists (like half of Paris), it was just something about the faces. When they spoke, of course, it was evident.

 

[RooFlyer]

Wearing a University of Queensland jersey in Quebec confuses the heck out of the Quebecois. WTF? Another place starting with Q?????? At least you've got an in as you aren't English or American

Or worse, an Anglo Canadian!! Quebeccers can't tell accents, so if you are an Anglo, their first reaction is contempt, thinking you are an Anglo Canadian. Once they find out you aren't Canadian, they are still hostile, but at least won't spit on you.

Tabernac!

 

[here2go]

Or worse, an Anglo Canadian!! Quebeccers can't tell accents, so if you are an Anglo, their first reaction is contempt, thinking you are an Anglo Canadian. Once they find out you aren't Canadian, they are still hostile, but at least won't spit on you.

Tabernac!

A Luxembourgish French teacher friend of mine said I can pull a pretty good "Bonjour" compared with most Poms and Skips, so I can get away with a few things. Funny thing is I learned most my French from Scottish Anglo-Canadian I bumped into in Quebec in my uni days who taught me how to order burgers with poutine upgrades, along with an Acadian on the train between Quebec and New Brunswick.

 

[Blinky]

Not ashamed of where I am from but when travelling don't like to advertise "tourist". Obviously when you speak it is usually a giveaway.

On our just completed 8 weeks in Europe more people mistook us for Saffers than Aussies. One (very good) waitress in a michelin starred restaurant in Knightsbridge refused to believe that we were Australians. We were even mistaken for Brits and Canadians.....

 

[here2go]

On our just completed 8 weeks in Europe more people mistook us for Saffers than Aussies. One (very good) waitress in a michelin starred restaurant in Knightsbridge refused to believe that we were Australians. We were even mistaken for Brits and Canadians.....

As long as you are never mistaken for an American.

 

[UP4014]

Low profile is my preferred travel. Nothing obvious and I even grew a beard once to blend in further to suit the country I was in.

we've all heard people complain about he loud American, but loud Australia is intolerable. :evil:

Matt

 

[irv]

When I was in Lake Louise I had a tee shirt on with a HSV logo on the front pocket. As I wandered around a store I heard the comment "HSV must be an aussie" however in a Canadian accent. Shows the influence of many Australians working in the ski resorts.

 

[irv]

I think we need a new thread here. Having just come back from the pool shop, I need a master class and further instruction as to where my money went...

I thought my pool was a maximum six foot deep but it appears it is bottomless

 

[Awesom Andy]

I have an Asian heritage, so I'm always called an Asian when I'm in Australia. Funny enough, when I was in the US, when I talk to people, most of them would identify me as an Australian with my accent, so it seems like that I'm only recognised as an Aussie when I'm not home.

 

[JohnK]

I do not need to advertise where I am from. My accent is a dead giveaway.

I do not travel with a backpack and i only wear a cap/hat when I play golf in Thailand. The cap has Sydney on it. Some of my t-shirts may have Bardwell Valley on them or Forest Lodge darts.

Oh, and I first heard "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!" back in 1994 on a Contiki tour by a sheila from Broken Hill. Never stopped yelling it. I still think it is disgusting everytime I hear it....

 

[Rox]

I do not need to advertise where I am from. My accent is a dead giveaway.


Oh, and I first heard "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!" back in 1994 on a Contiki tour by a sheila from Broken Hill. Never stopped yelling it. I still think it is disgusting everytime I hear it....

Strongly agree - the other thing that makes my flesh crawl is when identified as an Australian overseas, over enthusiastic know-alls start loudly talking about "Sheila's" & other Barry mckenzieisms thinking I will find them funny.

Wendy Harmer one Australia Day explained that the possible etymology was Cornish wives going down to the mine pit opening at lunch time with hot pasties for their husbands, and yelling down the mine shaft "oggie, oggie, oggie, oi, oi, oi"

I have often been mistaken for a New Zealander by other Australians ( here) - have no idea why

 

[Lowjhg]

I love to keep a very very low profile about my nationality, esp not wearing anything distinctly unique to Singapore. My dress sense is rather new yorky/british, which confuses a few people when I'm identified as a Singaporean. Ive had people asking if I'm from taiwan, indonesia or malaysia due to my mandarin and english accents.

Although once everyone finds out of my nationality it usually involves lengthy conversations that stretch towards everything and anything from the roads to the air quality.

 

[timster]

I see no need to advertise my nationality.

I'd much prefer to be judged on my own merits, rather than peoples' perceptions of my countrymen which unfortunately, due to the advent of bogan travel, are increasingly negative. Mostly when I identify an Australian overseas it's when they're behaving poorly.

In this country I'm often mistaken for English. In Europe I'm sometimes mistaken for Dutch or German. Fine by me.

 

[jastel]

I dont conciously advertise the fact but I have had some funny moments.
In lots of places "oh your from Australia, My cousin lives in Sydney, You must know him"...Obviously...NOT.
Once in line for the Vatican the bloke behindme started talking to me because of my shirt, he lived about 100kms from me.
Once in Florence a pizza guy on a scooter asked ME for directions in Italian..despite the fact i had a Sydney jumper on.
You can have some fun with some people, tell them you rode a Kangaroo to school when you were a kid, you have pet crocodile etc

 

[JessicaTam]

I was once chatting to some beggars in LA and they asked where I was from. I said Australia, and when asked where that was I replied with the ususal 'downunder, kangaroos, sydney opera house' sort of things. They asked if that was near New Zealand. What the?...

 

[here2go]

I was once charting to some beggars in LA and they asked where ai was from. i said Australia, and when asked where that was I replied with the ususal 'downunder, kangaroos, sydney opera house' sort of things. They asked if that was near New Zealand. What the?...

NZ is Closer to MEL than DRW, so it is near NZ!

Just remember - we shut the Sydney Harbour Bridge down twice a day to let the kangaroos cross.