I had a similar experience as regards 'German'.

I started my European trip in Frankfurt and rented a car there. Of course it had German plates.
I visited the WWI installations/battlegroung at Ypres, and it was later in the afternoon and not a busy day. Parked the car very near to the entrance.
There were two older gents standing at the entrance, with a table in front of them. As I exited the car I heard one say to the other (in French) 'what the hell are these Germans doing, coming here!".
As we walked to their table to pay the entrance, both had a gruff look on their faces. As soon as I told them that we were Canadian, and pointed the the Canadian flag lapel pin I was wearing, they got wide smiles are were most welcoming. [that also was the only time that my French wasn't demeaned while in France]


>Reminds me of when I was living in Germany in the early 80s. I went on trips to Switzerland, France, Spain, Russia, and Nederland. At the time, i was comfortable speaking German so I spoke German when in each country. I never made that mistake again-especially since I 'appear' German (actually I'm mostly Norwegian with English and Indian thrown in). I was given the most rude looks and treatment I've ever experienced. Waiters actually ignored me and shop keepers called me names behind by back. When I switched to English the transformation in the treatment was astounding. From that point on, I always spoke in English and struggled with the host nation's language as much as I could and people were very friendly and helpful. It's amazing the attitude people have towards other countries and somehow that attitude is carried over to the people of the country that typically have nothing to do with the reasons the country is despised to begin with!
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>>>>Not much has changed (in our Political methods) since Benjamin Franklin negotiated a treaty of alliance between the French and the united colonies and secured loans from the French government which helped finance the American revolution against the British. (Not to mention the French participation at Yorktown).
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>>>>What did the colonies do later? Even though France was the first superpower to recognize the united colonies as a Sovereign Nation, we turned around and negotiated a treaty with Britain directly (behind France's back) that gave us more than we had hoped for (including land all the way to the Mississippi).
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>>>Right, and then we saved their beans from the fire in both WWI and WWII and they still hate Americans. De Gaulle wasn't too happy with us and almost all of their governments since did the same.
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>>You mean that folks aren't free to disagree with you once you "save their beans"???? Differences of opinion = hate???
>>Geez, the French (of France) have as much regard for Quebeckers as they do for Americans, I guess. I know that when I spoke my best Quebec French when visiting France (long ago) to shopkeepers they snidely remarked that I was Quebecois. Needless to say I then played the dumb 'anglais' and all was fine.
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>>While there's no doubt that the US saved more than France's "beans" in both World Wars, the actual method of doing so isn't, at least in my mind, the most glowing. Sitting on the sidelines and selling to both sides and then getting in when things are most dire is one way to do it. There could have been other ways.