Breconian, you are sadly oh-so-right about the attitude of Americans abroad. I come from a medium sized city outside of Memphis. I rarely ever meet people who have been abroad. If they have, then it's as a tourist for short stays in the host country. "It's Tuesday, so we must be in Germany" kind of thing. I wish I had a dollar (Euro?) every time I was personally embarrassed by Americans acting loud, proud, and obnoxious as foreign visitors.

IMHO, there still exists here an isolationist attitude of sorts and there are distinct sociological and geographical reasons why. As a percentage of the total population, relatively few Americans go abroad, compared to Europe, for example. For one, the US is a country which spans a continent. I can drive from Memphis to Canada or Mexico in about 13 hours. Imagine starting from Frankfurt and taking a 13 hour drive. How many nations could you visit?! The US is over twice the size of the EU, and inter-continental travel is too expensive. Also, I know very few Americans who can afford to go to Canada or Mexico, much less Asia, Africa, or Europe. Also, Americans also do not get nearly the vacation time that is so common in the EU. Ten days a year if you're lucky. All moving around the point that, if it were feasible, I really think more of us would go abroad more often and be more educated about other lands, ergo, not so loud, proud, and obnoxious as foreign visitors.

I don't know how many US natives are around the board -would be interesting to know.