".....I’ve now been overseas for about fourteen months and change; in that time I’ve visited Turkey, Great Britain, Hungary, Austria, Israel, Germany, Spain and Jordan. (More to come.) Here’s a bit of what I’ve seen regarding Ugly Americans and Ugly Other Folk:
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For starters, in my neck of the woods, just about every member of the U.S. embassy and every American expat that I know speaks a little Turkish. “Ve Az Turkje Bilyorum.” (“And I know a little Turkish.”) I don’t say this to pat myself on the back (my Turkish beyond basic greetings, ordering at restaurants, and giving directions is pretty terrible; I’ve found my skill at charades growing exponentially) but simply to offer the contrast I’ve heard from my Turkish friends – that other diplomats in town, particularly European ones, often know much less of the native language or none at all. More than a few have given the impression to Turks that they find learning any of the language beneath them. Which is a shame, because the Turks know that their language is not a common one, and they seem to appreciate any effort to try to speak it, no matter how much you mangle it. Or, they’re just being nice to me. (Insert joke about the “soft bigotry of low expectations” here.)"
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