What Guide Books Say About America

[nakatago]

For Americans: here's what all those travel guide books are saying about your country.

http://www.theatlantic.com/internationa ... us/257993/

With the proliferation of Hollywood films and US TV shows, you'd think that a lot of people would already be familiar with American life. Then again, not everyone's into them anyway.

[JR8]

Hehehehe....



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'Update, June 3: A number of commenters ask about tipping. As I note in the comments, the books tend to include long sections on the nuances of American tipping. They also strongly encourage visitors to adhere to the unusually high tipping rates, explaining both that service jobs tend to pay very poorly and that the tipping system is partially responsible for the exceptional quality and consistency of service here. A commenter on Reddit posts this excerpt, from a guide book for the U.S. that the commenter says was translated from Japanese, explaining tipping in unusually blunt terms.

'Americans have a social institution called a "gratuity". Basically, the price on the menu at any place which serves food is not the real price. The real price is 20% higher. You have to calculate 20%, write it under the subtotal, and sum to arrive at the real price. Taxis work the same way. It is considered very rude not to pay the "gratuity."

[carteki]

With the proliferation of Hollywood films and US TV shows, you'd think that a lot of people would already be familiar with American life. Then again, not everyone's into them anyway.

And you think things in America are like those in the movies?

[nakatago]

With the proliferation of Hollywood films and US TV shows, you'd think that a lot of people would already be familiar with American life. Then again, not everyone's into them anyway.

And you think things in America are like those in the movies?

Nope; just a common way of assuming things about America. The same way people who are into Anime assume all Japanese schoolgirls are kawaii and everybody acts so 'animatedly' when surprised.

[JR8]

Oh, I tend more to having a reflective moment as to why I am surprised.


I don't like surprises.

[zzm9980]

Lonely Planet urges caution when discussing immigration. "This is the issue that makes Americans edgy, especially when it gets politicized," they write, subtly suggesting that some Americans might approach the issue differently than others. "Age has a lot to do with Americans' multicultural tolerance."

They seem to continually misspell "Singapore" as "America"...