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Whats the most uncomfortable/racist thing you witnessed abroad?

fakearms123

I went abroad with my basketball club to a summer camp in Massachusetts, US when i was about 16 years old, we went over to Boston first, stayed there for a few days before we left to go to the 2 week summer camp, anyway when we were staying in the YMCA in Boston we (group of about 10) decided to find an outdoor basketball court to practice before the camp, surely enough there were some nice black gentlemen occupying one the courts so we took the other court and played. We were all so pale and pasty it was embarrassing but we were good at basketball which made up for it.

The black gentlemen came over and started talking, in all honesty i knew it was english these boys were talking but it still sounded like beatboxing or something. Anyway they challenged us to a match and we were hestitant at first but we played, i was the youngest by about 2 years. They were doing these silly tricks and were trying crazy shots while we were playing as a team. We were beating them pretty badly and they were calling each other and us "b*tches", "p*ssies" and "n" word was flying around. We all felt really uncomfortable and after we won, we had to jog back to the hotel cause it started getting real sketchy near the end.

Have you ever just been so uncomfortable when your holidays?

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Donkey Oaty

formula wrote: »

Also what is wrong with being proud of your race? I'm proud to be white.

In before someone says "In before Godwin".

Mike 1972

who what when wrote: »

If english (sic) people dont like to see themselves portrayed as the bad guy then maybe they should have re-evaluated theyre foreign policies in the past!

Because all English people have a lifespan of 400 years and individual personal veto on their countries foreign policy decisions :rolleyes:

NOGMaxpower wrote: »

while in Belfast (technically abroad) I was attacked and chased by a mob of loyalists. they seemed to just know I was a southerner and it was as if they were trawling the streets looking for trouble.

Did they identify the county colours on your GAA jersey :pac:

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

vicecreamsundae

uncomfortable/racist thing abroad.

this actually makes me laugh now though it was NOT funny at the time.
i was in chicago, and on the el train with two roomates. one of whom was homeschooled, and while quite intelligent at university, didn't seem to pick up on the things you learn when you've been socialised normally!
we had to switch to the green line, which is the track which goes south to the poorer parts of the city, and predominantly Black areas.
We're the only three white girls in this carriage full of african americans and up on the ceiling are advertisiements for different things, and one of them is a local health centre, with a picture of a black woman holding her baby.
L pipes up loudly "that baby looks like a monkey."
What?! no it doesnt L.
"Sure it does! look at it's nose! its like a little baby gorilla" etc etc.
i was so embarrassed to be with her!!!!!
after we got off the train we had to explain to a twenty year old american WHY it's not cool to imply a black baby looks like a gorilla. she honestly saw nothing wrong with it, and had absolutely no concept of how her privilege made her unaware of how for so long black people in america were portrayed as wild/ savage/ aape-like people etc etc. unreal!

Pittens

I was in a train station in Rome in 2003, and a well dressed middle aged man - on hearing me speak English to a friend - came over to talk. He was accompanied by two well dressed middle aged women. Off he went on a rant. It lasted 5 minutes. I hadnt a clue.

I think he thought I was English, or - more likely - American, and he was complaining about the Iraq war, imminent at the time. but I dont know.

when he finished I said - I dont know what you said. He smirked, his friends smirked, and then they walked away.

Of course he may not have liked the way I was dressed.

EDIT:

Or it could've been formula ranting about the Irish.

Overheal

alwaysadub wrote: »

I've noticed more stupidity than anything abroad. Questions i've been asked like: "where is Ireland"
"oh,you're from Dublin, it must be awful living there with the Troubles, do you get bombed much"
"you have very good English"

I think its arrogance on your part then, as if you expect the rest of the free world to involve themselves with Irish Culture instinctively.

Pittens

I think its arrogance on your part then, as if you expect the rest of the free world to involve themselves with Irish Culture instinctively.

Not knowing where Ireland is is pretty uneducated. It is an Island, thus it is easy to spot on a map, even one without political borders, and not the same as Kazjicistan ( or whatever) and the hundreds of borders in Central and Eastern Europe into EurAsia.

And we are beside the Island of Britain, very famous in history.

[Deleted User]

20goto10 wrote: »

Italians are pricks about speaking Enhlish. But if you put even the minimal effort into trying to speak Italian to them you will usually get a bit of respect and they will turn the conversation English. Unless they can't speak English of course :-)

Italians are pricks? Why exactly should they take kindly to people approaching them in their country speaking another language? Why should they show respect to someone who can't even be bothered to learn a few basic phrases of Italian? And why should they be expected to speak English anyway? I have second cousins over there who don't speak a word, they were crap at it at school, where the teachers were equally crap, and they just have no use for it.

This reminds me of a semi xenophobic thing I witnessed in a cafe in Dublin a few years ago, an Italian bloke came in and obviously had hardly any English and was using Italian words and pointing, all the staff were just scowling at him and talking rudely about him, making no effort at all to understand what he was saying or use a trial and error approach to see what he wanted. It just annoyed me because I have seen HUNDREDS of Irish people abroad walking into places and using English and then getting annoyed when they weren't understood. This bloke was obviously embarrassed and self conscious and just wanted a cup of coffee and a scone. So the Irish really aren't the most welcoming either when people have no English and make no effort to learn any.

Overheal

Sofa King Great wrote: »

The most uncomfortable thing i have witnessed is the amount of Irish/British/Americans who assume it is acceptable to go up and speak in english to someone in another country where English is not the first language and gets annoyed when they respond in Spanish/French/Italian!

That one is at least partially understandable, given English is pretty much an economic common.

fontanalis wrote: »

But venice doesn't have The Foundry.

****in foundry. All I know is I wouldnt work there again.

Donkey Oaty

[quote=[Deleted User];66420804]This reminds me of a semi xenophobic thing I witnessed in a cafe in Dublin a few years ago, an Italian bloke came in and obviously had hardly any English and was using Italian words and pointing, all the staff were just scowling at him and talking rudely about him, making no effort at all to understand what he was saying or use a trial and error approach to see what he wanted. [/QUOTE]

That's appalling, and I would hope highly unusual.

InTheTrees

I've been in the Gaza strip.

DB10

Threads like these bring out the worst posters/trolls.

Well I hope they are trolls for their sake.

PFL

NOGMaxpower wrote: »

while in Belfast (technically abroad) I was attacked and chased by a mob of loyalists. they seemed to just know I was a southerner and it was as if they were trawling the streets looking for trouble.

Needless to say I ran as fast as i could as they threw stones/bottles at me, they still chased me while i drove away shouting Paddy, Taigh, free stater etc chants of hang him etc.

I've been to Belfast hundreds of times with no issue, admittedly I stayed in mostly nationalist areas. but in this case i was in the city centre near where the bus tours start strolling back to my car from the shops.

WOW ! How long ago did this happen & what time of the day?

brummytom

IITYWYBMAD wrote: »

Brit does = English. It also = Welsh, Scot and (in the context of the UK) UK and N.I.

Whats the prob?

Whoooah. I like the Scots but don't go lumping me in with the Welsh.

English it is.

Sofa King Great

Overheal wrote: »

That one is at least partially understandable, given English is pretty much an economic common.

That sums up the attitude right there. So are you saying they should know what you are saying as english is "an economic common?"

Overheal

Sofa King Great wrote: »

That sums up the attitude right there. So are you saying they should know what you are saying as english is "an economic common?"

Im saying if you're in tokyo or paris, you can reasonably expect to walk up to the cashier @ mcdonalds and have them speak english.

Dont get me wrong, when I went to paris I wasnt expecting that to be the case, but there you go.

And while I was in Paris, funny story about that: an American Tourist actually did walk up to our school guide (Irish) expecting him to speak english. Maybe he just got lucky. lol. But either way, Fr. Grace was having none of it and started mumbling in French while he herded us away

this was in throwing distance of Notre Dame.

as for uncomfortable racism? Happened in FL when I went to middle school. But rather than essay the details, lets suffice to say a lot of retributive-racism happened in that school and the administration was complicit.

griffdaddy

formula wrote: »

why you've never made any major contributions to science or art.

That would be excluding all those Irish writers that are generally regarded as the best of all time I presume? People like Yeats, Joyce, Beckett and Heaney are all airport novelists I suppose. And as for all that software we were designing and exporting a few years ago, I suppose all those disks just had Dubliner's songs and videos of Wexford Hurling stars riding porno stars? pull the other one mate.

some_dose

stovelid wrote: »

Has to be The Brits.

Whenever I visit England, I conduct Irish history tests on random citizens in the street.

When they (a alarmingly high number of them) complain that they can't answer some of the more detailed questions, I smugly tell them, "maybe you should have raped a different country then?".

This has to be one of the funniest things I have ever read on Boards. Kudos to you

Herb Powell

formula wrote: »

If I'm ignorant then please educate me.
Who is the Irish equivalent to Galileo?
The Irish DaVinci?
I stand in awe admiring magnificent Italian architecture like the leaning tower of Pisa. Ireland is full of ugly buildings. Liberty Hall. Ugh. You have no appreciation of beauty or aesthetic. The same goes for your people. *vomit*

Admittedly Carlow is fast becoming a rival to Venice. The place seems flooded half the time.

and you were asking how Italians are racist......?

Ickle Magoo

griffdaddy wrote: »

That would be excluding all those Irish writers that are generally regarded as the best of all time I presume? People like Yeats, Joyce, Beckett and Heaney are all airport novelists I suppose. And as for all that software we were designing and exporting a few years ago, I suppose all those disks just had Dubliner's songs and videos of Wexford Hurling stars riding porno stars? pull the other one mate.

Not to mention all the hundreds of thousands of Irish people exported around the world who went on to make huge contributions or who are the ancestors of those who made great contributions in all manner of fields...

_sparkie_

Jazlynn Lemon Son wrote: »

But thats not the question!.

Abroad, I guess in Lebanon when I was told by a member of Hezbollah to cover up my Star of David necklace or I'd be shot dead

you were wearing a star of david in south lebanon, what did you expect would happen?

as for uncomfortable situations, this has happened a few times. when you meet a new group of people and dont really catch everybodies name, then you just out of instinct try to call them and you remember you dont know their name and end up saying something like 'hey.....you' or 'hi....eh....,dave?'

marglin

been in london for a few weeks now worst racism i heard was off an english guy from work, driving through an obviously indian/pakistani area goin on about how it was so sickening then giving out about eastern europeans because they lowerd wages(which is technically true but through no fault of theirs, its just economic supply and demand) then having the craic with the polish/indian guys at work!? very uncomfortable.

ascanbe

formula wrote: »

When confronted with a superior argument that you are unable to counter, resort to making stupid jokes. It's the Irish way.

Probably why your country remained backward for so long before the EU civilised you and why you've never made any major contributions to science or art.

What's- a matter you?

dr.bollocko

Formula & recylingbin. Don't post in this thread again.

Other posters please keep things on track. Report any posts you find offensive.

EDIT:
OK A load of posts have been trimmed.
Folks do not feed the trolls.

owenc

stovelid wrote: »

Has to be The Brits.

Whenever I visit England, I conduct Irish history tests on random citizens in the street.

When they (a alarmingly high number of them) complain that they can't answer some of the more detailed questions, I smugly tell them, "maybe you should have raped a different country then?".

How are they rude if they don't know an answer to a question they don't honestly give a crud about...:rolleyes:

jester77

I got badly sunburned when I was in Asia. I don't want to be rascist but my legs were yellow with blisters and it was very uncomfortable and anyone that witnessed it were in shock.

the_syco

Ickle Magoo wrote: »

People who think Brit = English...

Or that speaking English = British.

Found out that when asking the French if they speak english, you don't ask can they speak english, you ask can they speak "Irelanda".

You see, the French mainly don't speak english, they hate you, and there are no rooms in their hotel.

They love the Irish, can talk about their holidays there, how their brother/sister/family/cousin studied/holidayed there.

Found this in Nantes, France. They really hate the english there, it would seem.

=-=

This is widespread in France, it would seem. I know of people trying to buy cameras, and getting nowhere, until they let it slip that they were Irish. The French salesman then spoke perfect english.

Going to Clisson again in a few days, and will remember this. I think they like the Irish for two reasons:
A) "We're" meant to hate the British

"We" have bombed Britain

Thirdfox

who what when wrote: »

The japanese killed at least 10 million chinese during world war two.
Thats a good enough reason to hold a grudge as far as im concerned!

Hold a grudge against the government with their lack of apologies...but not the people

aDeener wrote: »

thats impressive, i sure as hell wouldnt be able to tell the difference...... unless they showed me a passport :pac:

brianthebard wrote: »

I think Thirdfox has said in the past that he's Chinese....

Used to be Chinese...naturalised Irish now

and it's normally quite easy to tell the difference between Koreans, Japanese and Chinese...

CD.

it's not always the case that French people are nice once they know you're Irish. i was in a resteraunt in France with my sister and one of the older staff came over to chat, he said something really fast in French (pretty sure he asked if we came from the cinema with a few other questions thrown in) we basically replied, in French, could he slow down, we were visting from Ireland and our french wasn't the best but that we would happily talk to him in french. he glared at us and walked away.

and yes, i do know we didn't say anything offensive accidently.

reversely, we were in a hostel in Sweden and accidently walked into a french retreat type thing, they weren't freindly at all, and asked (angrily, it was quite scary) we're we english, we said no, irish and immediatly there was smiles all around and they apologised for mistaking us for english then tried to convince us to stay and drink with them. we made our excuses and fled (they were all about forty, sitting around on matresses we were 18 and 22)

also, it is amazing how well the swedish speak english in resteraunts/shops.

Teutorix

CD. wrote: »

also, it is amazing how well the swedish speak english in resteraunts/shops.

Germanic languages are easier to learn if you already speak one. If you dont its supposedly quite hard.