I'm a European living in United States and daily I come in contact with people who are interested by the fact that I come from a different country. I am always happy to answer questions and describe the place, but I regularly encounter questions which are quite annoying.
I'm sure that Americans visiting Europe tend to encounter an annoying questions from Europeans also. Therefore I'm not saying this is a one sided issue.
I'm sorry if anything I say make me sound like I'm writing from a high and mighty place above average folk. I do not mean that. I simply want better interactions, because it honestly makes me happy when someone is interested in my culture.
Don't ask “What's your country like?”
That is a really big, open-ended question. But more then that, it has no direction. What do you want to know about? How it looks, how it smells, the people, the landscape?
It does seem like a good way to start a conversation, but trust me, it actually stops it as the person tries to think of a suitable answer.
The question should be much more specific. You don't have to be actually interested in the answer, but ask something just a bit more specific, for example: “what is the weather like in your country”? That little addition makes a lot of difference.
Specify you're talking about your heritage
The most awkward and embarrassing situations which happened after I came to America were ones were people would tell me they're Polish, or Irish, or Italian or half English and half Scottish. I have long since learned that for Americans claiming that is quite normal. They're talking about their heritage and they are proud of it.
But people who are actually from those countries won't understand you're speaking about your heritage. They will think you are actually from Poland or Italy.
America is a big melting pot and your ancestors came from dozens of different countries. But for a lot of Europeans, our ancestors usually stayed in the same country for centuries.
After speaking to people I wondered if there are any Americans at all here. And the awkward situations came when a person would claim to be my national. I would then start speaking to them in a language which they did not understood. I can't count how many times that have happened.
Don't assume I don't know anything about American culture
Yes I am from Europe. Yes we do get American shows. No, they don't come from the 80's. They are very up to date. We also have American fast food restaurants, American clothes, American electronics and plenty more things. United States is a very influential nation and if a person lives in a civilized country it's impossible not to come in contact with American culture.
After I moved here, a lot of my friends would try to explain things to me. Things I already knew about this country since childhood. While living in Europe I have watched Cartoon Network, I played in McDonald's playground and I've seen American movies. Europe and America may be worlds apart when it comes to culture, but when it comes to a lot of things, both places are very much alike. Which brings me to my next point.
Don't assume my country is 50 years behind America
It's probably a worst thing you can do to a foreigner. Any kind of assuming is bad, but this is the worst. It is like people from other countries assuming all Americans are ignorant and fat.
Yes we do have color television, cars, cell phones, computers and many more luxuries that American people enjoy. I had many people ask me if we have those things in my country. Countries in the so called “western world” are very much alike when it comes to technological progress. Not all of them have the economy of USA, which translates to less people being able to afford the latest luxuries, but most people do have them and if not, they usually come in contact with them on the daily basis.
