Spain and France tourism - Oh my..

[carlosMM]

You really wanted me to speak French? I'm not very good at French and I tried to speak it, however, many times the people just say "Anglais?", asking me to speak in English instead!

So?

They realized that you tried hard. No matter that they prefer to speak English instead (they probably think they have a better chance to understand you then): they have made a tick in the 'tries to adjust to our country' box, which is a plus for you! Well done!

 

[carlosMM]

When he moved to Germany, all his stuff was brought by a removal men. They let all the furniture in the street, because they said "we stop at the first door". So he had to carry everything inside by himself.

Then these guys were NOT movers, but a truckage company. There's a difference. Sounds dumb? It is......but that's how it is in Germany! Obviously, the price should differ for someone moving from ground floor to ground floor instead of 6th to 12th floors. So you get a price 'to the first door', then extra for anything from there. And some non-movers do not offer that.

get proper movers, and you get your stuff wrapped, packed, transported, set up, unwrapped.

 

[Grisu]

apparently ordering a la mode is "american arrogance".

wow, just....WOW!

not "american arrogance" but "arrogance", or just rudeness. Around here you order what's on the menu. If you want something that's not on it, it's a special request, not an order and should be put forth as such. I'd view it as rude to directly order something that isn't on the menu.
If you want something special, you ask if it's possible to get this and that, and the waiter then may grant you your request.

 

[Stylesjl]

not "american arrogance" but "arrogance", or just rudeness. Around here you order what's on the menu. If you want something that's not on it, it's a special request, not an order and should be put forth as such. I'd view it as rude to directly order something that isn't on the menu.
If you want something special, you ask if it's possible to get this and that, and the waiter then may grant you your request.

But did that warrant such a nasty response as well as nationality bashing? If i asked for some french fries with my burger do i except a "Stupid Aussies and their arrogance!"?

 

[Grisu]

no, certainly not. the guy was a jerk for responding that way, he was going way overboard

 

[carlosMM]

But did that warrant such a nasty response as well as nationality bashing? If i asked for some french fries with my burger do i except a "Stupid Aussies and their arrogance!"?

ask?

or demand?

or maybe you are the 50th person that day with a special, weird wish, and the first 49 were impolite bastards and now you reap what they sowed.

 

[aaglo]

You found some interesting places on your trip to France/Spain. You should've come to Finland, we would've taken good care of you and your friends.

 

[Leatherneck]

snip:

I am still amazed at the astonishment and sheer joy of the people in China when I asked them to explain their customs to me, and tried to speak Chinese.

The company I worked for did a lot of jobs in China and I went there often ... very enjoyable, but the language is tough. One word can have a dozen meaning depending on how you say it. You could ask in chinese (which I remember little of now) "Is there a store near the hotel?" and say "Goat boy your mother is a pig." or something equally as bad. So I got in the habit of pulling out the good ol Berlitz book and just pointing at a phrase or question. Doubt my thick southern accent helped much either.

 

[ZiP!]

The waiters don't comply with easy requests. I asked for some ice to put into my glass of Coke and she looked at me like I asked her to bring to me a baby fetus to eat or something. After looking at me for a few moments she brought me a big chunk of ice in a rubber container that I had to break apart with my knife by my self.

I was eating Mussels with French Fries and I asked the waiter to bring me a lemon, to which she asked "what for?" and I said I wanted to put it in my fries, to which a whole scandal errupted as she kept trying to find out why the hell I would want lemon on my fries. I swear the conversation went like this:
"Can you bring me a lemon please?"
"Lemon? What for?"
"I want to put it on my fries?"
"You mean a whole lemon? Like the fruit lemon which is like a yellow lime?"
"Yes."
"To put it on the fries? What? What for?"

She actually had to go speak to another waitress and I was brought a whole lemon which I had to cut myself, d'oh! And I was charged one euro for it.

As a person who lived in France for more than 10 yrs :
I don't have to answer to everything, and didn't have enough to read the whole thread. But 1 thing caught my eye...

Americans tend to make fun of French pple who put Mayonaise on their french fries (Pulp Fiction )... Here in France no-one would put lemon. Don't expect them to know your habits... There's a thread here on 'french fries topping'. Go see how your fellow americans react about mayonaise. Please don't tell me you are the only one with the right to be 'surprise' by an odd topping.

 

[garric]

You found some interesting places on your trip to France/Spain. You should've come to Finland, we would've taken good care of you and your friends.

Aye, I used to live near the border of Vyborg, so I've been to Finland many many times. Do you still have that whole one drink per person per day rule that has forced many Fins to come down to buy alcohol from us Russians?

As a person who lived in France for more than 10 yrs :
I don't have to answer to everything, and didn't have enough to read the whole thread. But 1 thing caught my eye...

Americans tend to make fun of French pple who put Mayonaise on their french fries (Pulp Fiction )... Here in France no-one would put lemon. Don't expect them to know your habits... There's a thread here on 'french fries topping'. Go see how your fellow americans react about mayonaise. Please don't tell me you are the only one with the right to be 'surprise' by an odd topping.

Like I said earlier, in America, they would still bring you mayo even if they find your tastes strange or revolting; they would still do it no matter what. They wouldn't try to question you or anything like that.

 

[ThePrankMonkey]

Like I said earlier, in America, they would still bring you mayo even if they find your tastes strange or revolting; they would still do it no matter what. They wouldn't try to question you or anything like that.

quoted for truth. i cant imagine any american server asking "why do you want mayo/lemon/toilet water?" they would just say ok and get it no questions asked.

i now its a funny concept to some but in america when you ask for something you generally arent questioned or challenged no matter how odd the request is.

personally i have had my fries with mayo. i kinda liked it. i wouldnt find any request odd as i make requests that arent normal. so i dont bat an eyelash when someone else does it.


and to mr carlosmm...i dont care if they had a million snooty customers before him, that does not excuse forgive or justify his behavior. when you serve others you serve them, you dont get nasty and lecture them. i worked at a place where a customer ordered some dish blackened, cajun style basically. the place i was working at was italian. what did they do? said "right away sir" and fixed the dish the way he wanted it. THAT is how you serve people. not by being arrogant and thinking you can just tell people off at will because of their nationality or because someone else made you mad or their order (an order for food in america isnt a demand BTW) doesnt fit the culture where they are ordering. so please stop trying to make excuses.

 

[Gladi]

quoted for truth. i cant imagine any american server asking "why do you want mayo/lemon/toilet water?" they would just say ok and get it no questions asked.

Different service culture. But some us find it freaky to see niggers standing at attention in WC (Hard Rock Cafe, Washington DC; and for info I would call anybody in such position ****** even if he was white as lily)

 

[ThePrankMonkey]

so part of the service culture in europe is to challenge and lecture you?

holy crap. i know where i will never be going for a vacation EVER.

if i wanted that kind of treatment i could have stayed married to my first ex wife.

:hugethumbdown: for europe's service.

 

[Urederra]

Like I said earlier, in America, they would still bring you mayo even if they find your tastes strange or revolting; they would still do it no matter what. They wouldn't try to question you or anything like that.

And, like I said earlier, I ordered bull steak, not cow steak please, at a steak house in the US and I got a "sorry, we don't do that" answer.

and still nobody has answered me, if there is a lemon topping choices for your fries at McDonnal's or burguer King's.

Next time, I am going to order a couple of glasses of bourbon for my fries at McDonnals. what? Do I have to pay for the bourbon? It is a topping for pete's sake!!!1111oneoneoneeleveneleveneleven.
What, they don't serve alcohol? Not even wine at McDonnals? But, I will pay for it. I am the customer I want wine with my burger, or beer. In germany, in Hamburg, the craddle of hamburers, they serve nice cold beer with your hamburgers, why they don't want to give me beer with my burgers in an american restaurant? I am the customer and i am always right!!!!!!1111oneoneoneeleveneleveneleven

 

[Leatherneck]

And, like I said earlier, I ordered bull steak, not cow steak please, at a steak house in the US and I got a "sorry, we don't do that" answer.

But they said "Sorry" they didn't say "What for? Why? Where do you think you are?" etc etc ..
Steak in the US is Either Steer or Heffer, Bull are not used for steaks the meat is to tough. Most meat comes from cattle farms that are for meat only and not free range which has a different texture. You might find Bull meat at a butcher shop but it again is 99.9% grain fed steer or heffer, better marbling and tender.

EDIT: A smart server would have brought you the meat and told you it was bull meat and let you figure out it wasn't. Clearly they didn't get a smart server that could bullsh*t the bull meat

 

[Urederra]

I told them I wanted to put it over my head> LOL.

Thanks for the info about heffer and steer. good to know.

 

[ThePrankMonkey]

And, like I said earlier, I ordered bull steak, not cow steak please, at a steak house in the US and I got a "sorry, we don't do that" answer.

i hope you are not trying to say that

"sorry we dont do that"

is on par with

"You Americans think you know everything! You can not put the icecream on the cake! You Americans can't have everything you just want by paying money!"

the problem with your request is they cant locate a bull, kill it, have the USDA inspect it butcher it and cook it to your liking within a reasonable amount of time. it is not the order but the availability. im sure if it could be done in a reasonable amount of time i bet they would said yes sir and fix it right away. so no we dont do that. i dont why to be honest, i guess because bulls are allowed to age and the older cattle gets the tougher the meat gets.

but did they scream at you and lecture you? of course not. i find the differences too great to try and put them on the same level.

not wanting to put ice cream on a cake isnt the same as not having a bull available to serve customers.

 

[Gladi]

so part of the service culture in europe is to challenge and lecture you?

holy crap. i know where i will never be going for a vacation EVER.

if i wanted that kind of treatment i could have stayed married to my first ex wife.

:hugethumbdown: for europe's service.

You have rather weird definition of challange or lecture. IMO Garric was lectured on the cake, he got puzzled response for lemon, but was hardly challanged or given lecture.

He was challanged by "deek guy", and that was just an ass.

 

[ThePrankMonkey]

when you ask a customer why they want a lemon you're challenging them. its none of your business why, they're paying not you. maybe if YOU pay for their meal then sure ask away. but to ask something of someone that is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS is rude and out of line.

here let me show you.

"Can you bring me a lemon please?"
"Lemon? What for?"
"I want to put it on my fries?"
"You mean a whole lemon? Like the fruit lemon which is like a yellow lime?"
"Yes."
"To put it on the fries? What? What for?"

they're not just asking why, they're challenging them. like "why in god's name would you do that!" and they might as well have said it while they are at it.

see even after he said he was going to put the lemon on his fries he continues to ask why, what for. that's challenging his tastes and preferences.

now personally i find lemon on fries weird but...that's his bag and not my concern. the server took the request far too personally, as though he farted and demanded the server sit down and inhale his anal explusion deeply into his lungs.

 

[Veritass]

My wife and I went to France on our honeymoon five years ago. We were complete prepared for everyone to live up to the stereotypes and be rude, but we had not one single problem. As long as you are polite and greet them in French and ask them in French if they speak English, people are very polite back. We had a wonderful time. I highly recommend that Americans tour the battlefields and sacred sights of Normandy, including Arromanche.

We even rented a car and drove around and went to Mt. San Michel, which was a great trip. The only time I had communication difficulty was purchasing gas from a person who did not speak English. I could not understand the number of the price she was saying to me. I asked her (in German and then in Spanish and then in gestures) to please write it down, and she did, and I paid it. Done deal.

The only completely arrogant jerk that we ran into in twelve days there was a guy from Kentucky, who was complaining that the French wouldn't bend down and kiss his ass for "saving them in World War II." Mind you, this guy wasn't old enough to be in Korea, much less WWII. I'm sure that guy will return home and continue to spread stories about how rude the French people are.

Oh, and for getting a soda, that's the one use for McDonald's overseas.