As a Midwestern American, my girlfriend and I went abroad on a trip that happens to be where cruise ships dock. We did not take a cruise. However, the most annoying people we met on the entire trip were southerners from the US. Just everything about them was the worst. Every stereotype you can imagine was being presented. They were god fearing and cheeto loving, and they made it known. We weren’t even in the US, for fuck’s sake. The cherry on top, for me, was every single American store we passed on the tour bus, one of them had to yell the name of the store. “SAYAM’S CLUHHHB”…“WAYNDEES” Like, can you shut the fuck up? It was, right then, in that exact moment, it hit me like a bolt of lightning, no wonder people say Americans are loud and annoying. Because the vocal yokels absolutely are.

Another factor, there’s so few of you that escape the country (only 48% of you have a passport) that the only ones folks in EU mostly see are;

• the wealthy assholish ones 😡
• the plucky risk taking ones on holiday on a couple pennies and a dream 😁
• people here on business trips 😐
• the influencers 🤢

So here’s a Canadian answer.

I have found that, on average, Americans speak at a higher volume than folks from my country. At the same time, they seem more willing to share things that we wouldn’t except in more familiar company. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, but there are times when I would recommend a touch more discretion.

For the most part I think you’ll be fine in Australia. Just whatever you do, DON’T support Collingwood and DON’T drink Fosters.

Volume for sure, but also Americans seem to be largely incapable of experiencing silence. They tend to fill silence as if they love the sound of their own voice.

Obviously this isn’t all Americans, and my only experience of Americans are when they’re tourists.

You say you listen more than you speak so you’re probably fine. Even just asking about how to not be annoying shows you have more self awareness than any American I’ve ever met

Let me put it this way: When I am in a restaurant/bar/pub/similar place, I can’t follow the conversations of the people at the other tables. However, with US-Americans, I understand every single word, even if they’re two tables over. Their normal conversational volume is just so much higher. To them, it is completely normal, and they don’t seem to notice. To us, they’re speaking very loudly, as if everyone were hard of hearing, or as if we were on a construction site.

I went to Geneva, Switzerland when I was in college. There was a public square with about 1000 Swiss eating at different tables, all leaning forward like they were telling secrets. We 6 American college students were louder than all the 1000 Swiss in the square, by volume.

People from the Netherlands are loud too.

It’s something about when you guys walk around in a larger group. Most of you just have a higer volume setting. Like you are trying to get heard by every bystander as well. When hiking through the Balkans I could hear Americans from far away.

Australians seem te be loud as well so you’ll be fine I guess…

But who’s generalizing?

As an Australian, I took up baseball because the crowd is far more pleasant than the Aussie Rules football mob.

You’ll be fine. Half of Australia doesn’t have an “inside” voice.

I think it just means louder that most (but not all) of the other people. I didn’t think much of it until I had some American friends visit me and I took them to bar near where I live. I didn’t really noticed anything while we were all sitting together.

When I crossed the room to go to the bar for another round, then I noticed that I could clearly hear my American friends voices above everyone one else in the room. I could clearly hear their conversation from across the bar. They were just speaking somewhat louder than everyone else.

Americans speak loud, you hear them from a faar and can spot them easily

I wonder how true this is now or if its something that is more from last millenia. With everyone on their phones now I just can’t imagine its quite the same. Granted every so often you run into the person with their speakers playing the game/media sounds rather than earbuds.

It means the other country is perpetuating stereotypes.

Let me tell you a few more:

• French are dirty
• Parisians are all supermodels or pick pockets
• English politeness is just their passive aggressive bullshit
• Japanese are rude as shit
• Germans are robots
• Mexicans are lazy
• Canadians are overly polite
• Italians are way too passionate
• Australians are way too laid back
• Icelanders fuck a lot
• South Africans are racist assholes

To be clear, I don’t agree with or believe any of the above, I am just telling you the stereotypes.

I flew back to America from Tokyo today and as a frequent traveler to Japan I can tell you it’s all of the above. As a very introverted, easily overstimulated person I love going to Japan because it’s my ‘quiet time’. Coming home I’m usually overwhelmed by the sheer noise of being in America.

1. People simply speak louder than they need to here. In Japan you speak in a hushed voice unless it’s necessary to raise it. Also people aren’t afraid to lean in a little closer to hear what is being said to them. In America people stand 2 meters away from each other and have to speak loud enough for the whole room to hear
2. People speak more and don’t value quiet time. In Japan you don’t speak on trains. Your inane conversation can wait. Its more pleasant for everyone if you just stay quiet. Then an American tourist boards and everyone in the car gets to hear all about their opinions on some anime whether they want to or not
3. People tent to interject / interrupt more here

Hopefully this didn’t come across too much as venting. I can’t wait to go back.

You talk loud and don’t shut the fuck up. Yes, you have an opinion on everything. Yes, you think your country’s great. Yes, you think you are great also. Shut up.

I remember being on holiday in Thailand, visiting a village that very clearly had set aside an area as a market for tourists. The Americans decided to have a conversation between one area and another about heading off to look at the village school or whatever. EVERYBODY ELSE, locals and tourists, could tell this specific area was for tourists, but the USAians just couldn’t read the room and had to loudly talk about it. JFC it was painful to witness.

Sometimes literally loud(New Jersey residents raise your hands), but usually also overbearing, painfully extroverted, having to control conversations, injecting themselves into what didn’t need them, etc.

I’m not judging from the outside. As an American that at one time was married to an Australian, we met when I was stationed there and we were both at the same base so I would see how my squadmates behaved then later when they had gone off to the racks, I’d get to hear the Aussie service members mock and laugh at some of the behaviors of the guys I came over with. They would joke that I had to be an immigrant because I rarely talked.

It’s not an “all Americans do this” type of thing, it’s that the Americans that do this are so impactful in a negative way that it becomes a cliched caricature. If you’re not that type of person, you won’t need to do anything to assimilate, you’ll fit in just fine. Those folks were some of the best people I’ve ever met in my life and they were very welcoming and inclusive.