I will choose my words carefully here, as I don’t want to be seen to be overly whinging. There are many benefits and priveleges afforded to those who hold a British passport: easy access to most countries in the world, a decent network of official support in the event of a problem and of course the world’s almost universal adoption of our language as the international mode of communication (last week I stood in a Belgian shop and watched while a Flemish speaking assistant and a Spanish tourist conversed, in English of course).
But there are certain times on our travels where people have made assumptions about our preferences and acted on those assumptions, without checking whether in fact they applied to us. Most of these are very minor and usually cause a smile rather than irritation. Almost all are associated with food and drink. I have listed five examples from my experience, and am sure others can add to the list:
1. Ketchup. Wherever we travel in the world, as soon as the staff in a restaurant work out that we are British, the tomato ketchup comes out. I HATE the stuff and can’t understand why I would want to ruin a good meal with it. Do so many Brits request this on the table of the most remote restaurants that everyone is compelled to provide it?
2. Tea. Contrary to popular opinion not all Brits drink milky tea. Yet in many places (north America in particular) as soon as people learn that we are British there is a hospitable scramble to find some tea. No kettle in most homes: microwaved water is the way to go. I prefer my tea green, and always without milk, and I have raised more than an eyebrow or two for not conforming with the stereotype.
3. Spicy food intolerance. In India I did get tired of the constant checks from staff in restaurants, particularly the posher places, to see if the meal had inflicted pain on me. I love spicy food, and while I won’t deliberately order something to have me screaming I will certainly add chillies to a dish if I feel the need. So to have staff fussing over me when eating a mild dish was amusing but made me think about the number of British people who must have previously complained in order to create this behaviour.
4. Spicy food censoring. An extension to the above, we were prevented from trying a delicious looking treat of chilli cashew nuts from a roadside stall in Sri Lanka by a driver who insisted they would be too hot for us. Maybe he would have been right, but I wish I had been given the chance to try. I wish I had been more assertive in asking to stop, and resented the fact that my being British meant that I was deemed unsuitable for this potential culinary highlight.
5. Crap buffets. On a recent trip in Jordan, we hired a driver in Amman who took us around the country for a few days. When arranging places to stop for lunch, on the first day he took us to a truly awful place that provided a tasteless selection of pastas and poor quality meats for tourist buses. The next day I tried to be diplomatic and asked him what his favourite food was and how we could get to try that, and he found another place for us in a small town. Great, we thought, this is more like it. Soon it transpired it was another tour bus stop on the road to Petra, for groups looking to eat in a typical small town. More buffet rubbish, although this time to be fair it included a rendition of his favoured dish. From then on we made our own lunch arrangements. He was clearly under contract to visit certain places with his guests. Do so many people prefer to eat from these buffets that they become the meal of choice? They are almost without exception awful.
What else have people been unwillingly treated with when revealing their nationality? And if these are the things that Brits face, what are the perceived tastes of others? Comments welcome as ever.
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you are spot on all counts. made for an interesting read … thanks
go figure
just saw in your porto that ur a copywriter 
i’m a freelance copywriter as well hahaha cheers! andy
Thanks Jasmin, I’m glad to hear that my experiences are familiar even to a native Indian! There are no doubt so many British and American Indians coming to India on holiday that it’s an easy mistake to make. I’m sure you can use it to your advantage
!00% correct on all points… if one is perceived to be South African, the waiter or waittress will ask: “Is ANYthing allright?” as so many South Africans winge and complain about every single thing… but re point 5… most tourist drivers or guides are on commission from any place they take tourists… the higher the commission from the restaurant or curio shop, or whatever, dictates where a tourist will eat or shop or what they may get to see…. it’s a big problem here in Africa… and very difficult to beat, unless one is in the know and decides oneself where one want to eat and shop and so forth… and even then sometimes drivers or guides will tell you that particular business has shut down or ‘closed today’ as they wont receive a commission, and only want to take you where they know they have a ‘good deal’…. life…. ruled mostly by greed rather than aiming to please…
Yes, you are so correct T. The curio shops and gift emporiums. While not particular to any one nationality they are a real pain on a trip when time is short and your driver/guide is determined to make his commission. Maybe it’s best to be open with him and give him the dollar or two that he might get from the shop just so that he bypasses it. That way he’s happy and so are you. Don’t know if that always works but I might try it next time…
Jasmin my daughter has your name and is 1/2 British and 1/2 Indian small world
love this post so true
Stereotyping is a fact of life. Being a US citizen and living in California, the rest of the States assume we are superficial, pampered and have lots of money. People in nearby states (such as Oregon, Arizona and Nevada) are often not too friendly with Californians as they assume we will drive up the cost of living in their state (like real estate and groceries). When we visited China several years ago, we often had to ask for rice with our meals since the Chinese assumed we did not care to have it. Several of our acquaintances and friends in California often wonder why we visit Africa every year. Several perceive the continent as dangerours, hot and rife with disease (thanks to the media). While these qualities are true in some parts of the continent, what is not commonly known is that Africa has magnificent and unique landscape, beautiful beaches, cold weather and is reasonably safe.
Hi John and Carolyn!
So nice of you to post here and to get the views of our very well travelled friends
Yes, Africa does get so much bad press, yet for the most part it is a very safe place to travel (and let’s face it there are some places in LA or in London that you wouldn’t want to venture day or night). Funny about the rice in China. I don’t remember that but I can’t imagine eating a Chinese meal and not being offered rice. Their service must have been based on previous visitors’ behaviour though, so I guess enough people left rice on their plates?
Hilarious post! I think Americans get similar treatment at restaurants where we get our special menu. It happened to my wife and me at brewery/restaurant in Munich (of all places).
Do agree, I don’t eat much and this is instantly assumed to be fear of the spice. “You’d prefer a sandwich I bet” a Malaysian jested this weekend when I replied I wasn’t hungry.
I believe it’s also pride in the cooking though – spicy is commonly equated with flavoursome. I sometimes spot a glimmer of disappointment when as a Brit I gobble down what is really quite mild food without coughing up a lung. I feel my host might have preferred me to say the food was too spicy rather than just right, as being British this must only mean it was terribly bland.
Never thought of it that way, but yes – if the perception is that we can’t handle spicy food, seeing a Brit enjoying a spicy dish might imply that it’s been made too bland! Oh dear
I grew up in England, and have lived in the US for ages, and most of your list applies to Americans as well – especially about spicy food! Every time I visit a new Thai restaurant in the U.S. I have to explain that I really can eat hot food, and then see the wait staff watching for a reaction. Once I made the mistake of going on a tour of Thailand with a U.S. group, and the food was totally dumbed down. And on the rare occasions I have a car and driver for a day tour, I almost always have a fight over where to eat.
I only drink green tea too, and when I first moved to the U.S. everyone (both locals and expat Brits) wanted me to drink the black stuff. I still hear surprise when people find I prefer coffee.
Rice in China – I thought rice was normally served at the end of the meal in China, maybe the problem was with wanting it WITH the food?
Ok so shoot me, I am a Brit living in USA and aside from #5 I conform to all these stereotypes.. love ketchup, milky tea and can’t do spicy food.
Good to hear from another green tea drinker and spicy food lover Kathy. We need to spread the word
Don’t worry Clare, you’re not alone. But I would be interested to know; if you conform to these strereotypes, do you feel well catered for when you travel?
Thanks both for your insights
To be honest I don’t really expect to be catered for.. I approach travel with the whole “when in Rome” attitude or I go without.
Living in the USA made me very aware of other Brits who live here who expect America to be UK lite because we speak the same language. Sure, I cave and visit the local British shop for tea bags, crisps and biscuits occasionally but for the most part I live in America as an American would.
I don’t really see why traveling should be any different. I won’t be taking tea bags or ketchup to Cambodia when I go at Christmas for example.
Quite right Clare. Your part about living in the US made me smile. I’m glad you’ve found the British shop for your fix. We also found a shop in Manhattan where his Cadbury’s supply came from Dublin and not from Hershey’s (tasted nothing like Cadbury’s). He charged $1.50 for a small bar but it was worth it as a monthly treat!
LOL, how true. I studied in the UK. Most of my british friends served me tea for tea, ketchup with my fish n chips and told my my cooking was too spicy.
Ok,ok, so now a days, I have so many British friends in KL who can out cook me (asian cuisine) out chilie eat me and also out starbucks coffee drink me! They would totally KILL me if i added ketchup to their cooking as well! No point stereo typing really.. lest u be stereotyped eh?
GREAT POST!
that’s funny! where were you in the UK? Can you get good fish and chips in KL? I’m sure you can (if you want them, that is)
What a self-obsessed article. Apart from point two, these are applicable to ANY tourist.
In fact, though it may be true that some spicy food may be kept away from some foreigners for fear it will hurt their tongues, the British are well known for their love of a vindaloo and will offered the spicy food far more than, say, if the guest is Spanish.
When abroard in a foreign country, I have always lived by the idiom “when in Rome,do as the Romans do”. If a local eatery is busy with locals, I will use it. After all, they know best. I forget I am British (I leave that back at the airport) and immerse myself in the local way of life.
British friends, who have scoffed at my way of thinking, are usually the ones who get food poisoning,malaria and rebuffed by locals. Don’t try to change them to a British way of life, for christs sake.You are a guest in their country, do not insult them.
regards
Michael
Kathy, is correct in saying that in China rice is served at the end of the meal. Watch what happens on a table of Chinese people when you next eat at a Chinese restaurant. The rice is to fill you up if the other dishes haven’t.
A good example of why: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_WAmt3cMdk
On my first visit I to Beijing went to a restaurant with some expats. We ordered our dishes which arrived in a flash. We all dived in however held back a bit as we were waiting for the rice dishes to arrive. We asked the waiter a number of times. It will arrive soon he said after each enquiry. The rice arived only after voices were raised! I told a Chinese friend of my experience and was advised me to: Order one dish plus rice, treating the dish as a starter. When that dish is nearly complete the rice will arrive. The waiter will smile while thinking ahhhh! you have no money for more food. This is when you ask for the menu and put in your full order.
I have been to China on a number of ocassions since (Guangzhou, Chongqing, Shanzhen and more) and that is the method I use everytime.
……
“a decent network of official support in the event of a problem”
Andy,
As an ex Consular Officer that comment is appreciated. Our coverage and service is better than most however good preparation and comprehensive insurance is a must before any trip.
Thanks for the suggestions, and I hope to never need the support of the consular network, however good it is!