As many people know, America is not a super popular country at the moment. But what is it like traveling to other countries? The actions of president Donald Trump, have resulted in other countries’ hostility and dislike for our country, Although the actions may not have been terrible for America.

Recently I visited three bordering countries as an American and through talking to others I feel I better understand how they are feeling. The countries I visited were France, Italy, and Switzerland. These countries aren’t directly impacted by the actions america has taken so far but they are all fully aware of the situation.

Most of the people in other countries speak at least a little bit of English, so if you can get past the language barrier you can have very interesting conversations with them, but before that happens the question of where you are from is always asked. For the most part everybody I talked to asked me where I was from before I could ask them, it felt almost like a precaution. I would tell them that I was from the United States, and they would give out a concerned look but I would make sure they knew how terribly sorry we are for our president and that we do not support the actions he has taken. A lot of people would get very excited and shake my hand or start smiling and then we could continue our conversation.

On the other hand i saw Americans walking around a tiny little ski town wearing their bright red MAGA hats and being absurdly obnoxious, it was evident that they were inebriated and just putting a overall bad rap on Americans, multiple times we were asked if we knew them or felt the same way as them.

Most people were pretty welcoming and understood that what our president does is out of our control, but they are still not the biggest fans of America and what we stand for.

My friend took an alternate approach and told people he was from Argentina, because he can speak Spanish almost fluently. Nobody questioned him and it was evident that they were much more interested in talking to him than they were to me.

I think overall peoples opinions on Americans vary on where in Europe they are located. We talked to some Ukranians who were very upset after finding out we were Americans but we also talked to some Swedish people who wouldn’t stop asking questions about America. Age also played a role in it, younger people who are probably less politically aware cared much less than older people. But as long as you are respectful and apologetic pretty much everybody will be kind or at least well mannered