To ask about people from different countries

[TyraBanksEyeTwitch]

I don't know how well I can express myself here. Currently on holiday somewhere with lots of Europeans, Spanish, German,Italian, Scandinavian, French and of course British.

The Italians are outgoing, social, glamorous. The Danes are reserved, polite, healthy.
The Germans are practical, family orientated, humorous.
This is just my interpretation based on one holiday park obviously. I have spent time in all these countries too.
But how do different cultures form personalities? There must be Italian introverts, but on the whole is it the weather, location, history, language?
What makes them more likely to be engaging, social, care about appearances, enjoy chatting and laughing for long amounts of time?
I was thinking about our history and whether our status as an island made us rule breakers? Did it make us the rebellious, stubborn, funny, resilient people we are? Did our weather make us more prone to socialise with our immediate family more, compared to the bigger social networks of the Southern Europeans.
It's funny because I belong to two cultures but I am most definitely British. I feel my Britishness in every inch of my body. But would I have the same personality if I grew up in another country?

@samarrange The French do scream at their kids a lot. But so do many British people. I only ever see it in France or the UK, and it is as shocking every time.

A lot of stereotypes are often very true indeed!

^
Completely true

That's true, although until a few centuries ago, most countries were pretty sparsely populated.

I think the Lutheran faith and the weather, specifically the long, dark winters, have also contributed a lot to the stereotypical Scandinavian character.

You're the one to know!

@ToBeOrNotToBee

There are clues if you look close enough. Like the language of the book/newspaper they're reading, the label on the clothes, even shoes (certain brands popular in some countries but not all).

These allow you to guess though not to know. People can be bilingual and read books in a language that is not from their country.

Every explanation given for how we know someone's nationality is based on assumptions.

I don't understand how we can assume someone's nationality based on their behaviour and then say people of that nationality behave in that way.

I was born in a European country where my family have lived for about four centuries, and I never fitted in. My parents tried all sorts to figure out what was wrong with me, to no avail. As an adult, I moved to the UK and fitted right in - everything has been fine since. Clearly my upbringing did nothing to remedy the fact that somehow, oddly enough, I belong here 😅

Sit down at a restaurant and just listen to conversations.

I was in Mallorca, sat down next to a group of men, I heard them speak German, narrows it down to German, Austrian or maybe Swiss.
Then looked at the clothing, ok, so jeans and a t shirt, not very helpful. Their phone case is blue and white checkered, bavarian colours (bayern munich fan), looks wise dark hair and brown eyes.
I've deduced (correctly in this case) they're from Southern Germany.

It's actually quite easy, once you got to know countries, the people, and little quirks.

The Brits sometimes lose it, but with the French it's non-stop moderate-level exasperation. "Non mais ça suffit ! Faut que ça s'arrête maintenant, tu me fais chier", in response to the most minor transgression imaginable.

Yes, that is also true. There are many factors.

As a swede, I did chuckle at your description of danes as reserved. They're generally seen as the drunken uncle of the Scandinavian family.

I think swedish reservedness is a result of our history. A few hundred years ago land reform laws led to people moving out of settlements to their new patches of land, often miles away from the nearest neighbours. There was also a period of time when the nobles were fearful of uprising so social gatherings were banned.

@Fladdermus I laughed out loud at that too. I’ve yet to meet a reserved Dane. 😂

Another example, in London this time. Again heard German, noticed they were wearing a German brand of shoes (Rieker, really practical, not completely stylish but very well made and pricey too). They were drinking beer, and being relaxed.
I noticed one of them said Tisch-le when referring to the table. He used a German word for Table and ended it with a Frenchism.
Swiss.

Or in Mallorca again, standing next to some Statuesque blonde late middle aged couples who looked the epitome of health and wellness. They were speaking a Nordic language, I'm not that familiar with them, but put them as either Danes, Swedish or Norwegians. No idea what they were saying, but then I saw one had a book on the table, with ø in one of the words. So that ruled out Swedish.
I never got further than that, but you get the gist.

Agreed. And what about border regions? I spent time in Alsace this summer, which has moved back and forth between France and Germany a number of times. Are its population ‘less French’ than Parisians or Bretons? No. Are they culturally quite distinct in some ways from, say, Provençal people? Almost certainly.

Germans, on holiday at least, very often have practical shoes, waterproof jackets and an old backpack. With practical things in it I’m sure. I don’t know anyone where I live who couldn’t spot a German miles away. 😅 It’s the clothes and hair too. You can just tell.

But they’re the drunken uncle by Scandi standards, which don’t necessarily translate into a different culture’s idea of wild and kerraaazeee…?

I am Swedish and could spot Swedish people anywhere. And Danes. My DH is not from here but he is even better than me at spotting them. And the other day we were at a restaurant being served by a younger British guy. He looked at my DH and started speaking English to him (and Swedish to me). He picked which country my DH is from straight away, even though he has lived here for 20 years.

They are certainly not wild and crazy. But nor are they generally reserved. I’d say they are just nice, decent people!

With clothes, it can be quite subtle or very obvious, even in Europe. In some countries, it’s very obvious if your clothes aren’t from there. In Russia 20 years ago, for example, not only were the clothes different but Russian women in their 20s dressed very differently from British women of the same age - no trainers, for example. You literally could tell by looking.

France is another one - it’s maybe less pronounced these days but when I lived there, most French women wouldn’t wear bright colours or patterns beyond stripes. You could just tell if you saw someone in certain clothing that they weren’t French.

When I hosted a group of Danes visiting here, not having previously known any Danes, we got on so easily and naturally, chatting and laughing with seemingly the same sense of humour, I found myself thinking they were just like us!

Now Americans in Paris.

They stand out like a sore thumb.

Or Americans anywhere really.

I think it's very relative.

Danes may not seem reserved compared to Norwegians or Finns. But they certainly do when compared to, say, Greeks or Spaniards. That's an obvious generalisation in the sense that there are many introverted Greeks and many exuberant Danes, but you know what I mean.

I think the perceptions of Danes versus Swedes was an important element in the brilliant TV series 'The Bridge' even if went over the heads of most English speaking viewers!

And if you can’t see them they make sure you hear them.

Spot on every word.

If I’d see Danes abroad I’d think they were reserved compared to many other people. And I would feel ’at home’ with them. But when I go to Denmark I do see them as less reserved than us.

With British people abroad it's often a class thing. Tracey in Torremolinos would look and act differently than Saskia in Sicily. The former would be more likely to be shouting at her kids. No one I know would dream of doing that in public

Go to DW in Florida. Never seen so many British parents shouting in their kids faces.