LogFAQs > #889568526

Joelypoely posted...

Responding to your original question, I'm probably guilty of what you're talking about (usually "where are you from?" early into the conversation) but I never thought it was rude or anything assuming they can also ask me questions about where I'm from. For whatever reason when I'm travelling I find it really interesting keeping a mental note of the demographics of people I come across etc. E.g. When I visited Australia two months ago something like 40% of people I came across in hostels were German! In comparison I'm a New Zealander and met only 4 other New Zealanders during my time there. That amazes me. It's also interesting learning about the similarities and differences across languages and cultures, not in a stereotyping or malicious way.

That's not rude because you're asking it in a bit of a different context. When you're traveling and talking to other travelers, I can't see many people being bothered by asking where they're from. You're also asking where the person is from, not their ancestry. That never bothers me, I'll happily say I'm from the US (assuming I'm out of the country) or California (if I'm in the US), or near LA (if I'm in California).

The problem is when I'm home or when people don't accept a response of the US/California/LA for where I'm from, prodding into my ancestry. My favorite is when they reject those answers and pester me to say something else, then when I ask them what they are (as they're now fair game after bugging me) they just say "I'm American" and I'm supposed to just accept it.
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<D