wearing flag patch while travelling

My mom uses her British passport when she travels so terrorissts won't treat her as bad wtf? She's trying to get me to apply for dual so I can get a British passport as well in case a plane gets highjacked...

 

If I were a "terrorist" I would probably hate Britain as much as the US... seeing as Britain is always kissing the States' ass. So I wouldn't count on being treated any better if you were British instead of American. But then again.. I'm not a terrorist so I really don't know what I'm talking.



ANYHOOH.. I've never even thought of wearing a Finnish flag abroad. Besides... there'd be no point in carrying it coz no one would recognize it anyway.

 

quote: have a flag of Spain on the bumper sticker.

My wife is Spanish and i can tell you this, the Spanish in general have a different view on national flags, you don't see them around much and they are regarded as more oppressive than something patriotic....you are way more likely to see the individual regions flag, such as a catalan flag in Barcelona.

I think people are idiots who wear flags, hands down. My joy in travelling is to blend in and to learn about other cultures..not to advertise where I am from. I'm american and have yet to have a single problem while travelling overseas..anyone who isn't going to judge you by how you are as an individual is not worth knowing.

There is another downside, last time my wife was in Spain (outdoors at a bus stop) she was smoking, these travellers with australian flags were gesturing and coughing because of it, so she blew it there way to piss them off....kind of opens yourself up to being stereotyped and not representing your country well.

 

I know I told her this and she wasn't very happy heh

 

I admit, I do it...when I travel overseas I do have a Canadian patch on my bag. But it's not like I'm running around going "I'm Canadian, nyah-nyah" at all the Americans lol it's just a nice kind of icebreaker, and helps identifying your stuff in the airport. Besides, what's wrong with being proud of where you're from? I love Canada, Canada rocks. It's got nothing to do with the states - I'm not Canadian because I'm not American, I'm Canadian because I'm Canadian, period.

 

I'd have to disagree -- there are often more reasons than you may be aware of at the time. When I was 16, I was an exchange student in Okinawa, Japan. People who knew me as an exchange student treated me well & were wonderful people. Yet, they warned me to avoid all other Americans -- there are several American military bases on Okinawa, & those military guys have earned a reputation for being jack-asses. Too many of them behaved disrespectfully under ordinary circumstances & too many had a tendency to just go off-base to get drunk, which led to getting rather obnoxious.

The September after I left was when 3 marines raped & killed a 12 year old girl, which got tons of press & was basically the straw that broke the camel's back, as Japan started getting really vocal about wanting the US military out of Okinawa. Rape, robberies, & prostitution were all major problems around the bases for quite some time before this point.

This is why some very wonderful, kind people told me to avoid being associated with the Americans.

 

There is no way to be proud of where you are from, it is possible to be happy about where you are from.....you can't be proud of something that happens by chance through no effort of your own.

I still maintain, if someone doesn't want to know me because I'm American, I feel absolutely no loss.

What should I do, pretend to be from somewhere else so people will be more likely to get to know me, there's no chance i would ever do that.

Plus, its pretty obvious I'm not a marine, not at all worried about that.
I've been surrounded by arabic people overseas, drunk people in Wales, French people, and have never had anything except polite discussions about current events, or how things are where I'm from...I'm not going to hide where I'm from, but I'm not going to wear a political symbol as if its some sports team I support.

Its pretty ridiculous to just dislike anyone because of where they are from, and I'll stick by that....during the cold war I wasn't an asshole to people from the Soviet Union that I met...I was just generally curious about how things were.

 

You tell 'em Gary!

 

ha,. ok

Just a hater of nationalism is all, and labelling oneself

too much "pride" is the root of much evil...

Perhaps I overstated...you don't have to be an idiot to wear a patch of your country, but i will make fun of you....

 

Hey, I totally agree with you. When I finally manage to get myself together enough to travel, I will be far more interested in the other country's culture and not spend energy pretending to be from some other country than the US. It shouldn't matter and I'm not going to give in to morons.

 

the reason i brought up my current location is that for the past month i've been backpacking through australia, staying in hostels etc, and have come to meet a lot of fellow travellers, flag-toting canadians among them.

 

bravo, this is just the answer i was looking for..... thank you, thank you.


peace,
sophia

 

okay, well you say you wear the flag as an icebreaker... that's what i was talking about before, where i feel when i wear the flag, that i'm only sewing a label on myself to make myself feel more comfortable, less individual, part of a group, etc. it's faux-security to cover up for a weak individual.

also, to help identify your stuff at the airport....... i throw a neon cord around one of my straps and that does the job just as well as a flag..

anyhow, i guess what i was really thinking was what you said at the end there.... "what's wrong with being proud of where you're from?". i guess the best response would be, why be proud of where you're from? i grew up in b.c., and i love the land; i camp and fish and ski and hike.... it's a beautiful part of the planet, and to top it off, because i was born there, i happen to know people there, which is tops. haha... you see, it has nothing to do with the nation, and everything to do with the beauty of the land and the people. i don't need to wear a flag every time i leave it to show where i've come from, because i carry that in my memory and more importantly, am able to journey the world as an unlabelled individual.

you had nothing to do with where you born, and likewise your hair colour, skin colour, height, parents, etc. shouldn't pride be of something achieved through more personal means?

einstein said, "nationalism is an infantile disease. it is the measles of mankind."

we need to give up our old arrogances and start thinking like one world.

peace,
sophia

 

i met quitew a few flag totting canadians here. in any case.. i agree with seamonster.

 

I'm listening to boards of canada... nice ambient stuff.