How U.S. travelers can act Canadian to get better treatment abroad

Are you tired of being treated like the ugly, rambunctious American you obviously are when traveling abroad and being dispatched to the table next to the bathroom at the Paris bistro or, worse yet, being totally ignored when asking for directions to Alexanderplatz in Berlin?

There’s an easy fix for that: Just act Canadian and play the part.

After all, who could resent an affable Canadian (besides other affable Canadians, perhaps).

FlightNetwork.com, based in Ontario, of course, has a theory that Americans and Brits love to pass themselves off as Canadians when traveling to avoid the inevitable insults that come from being a damn, imperialism-loving Yankee or sun-never-sets on the British Empire Englander.

FlightNetwork enlisted body language guru Mark Bowden to offer tips to flag-jacking Americans and Brits — i.e. those wanderlusters who would resort to sewing a Canadian flag onto their jackets — to better pass themselves off as Canadians.

Bowden’s advice conversely can serve as a guide to foreign hosts on how to spot and out obvious wannabe Canadian frauds.

For example, there’s the American Psycho move, described as “a well-meaning but misplaced gesture that appears superior, placing outstretched arms with palms down, above the heads of others, in an attempt to calm a situation but has the effect of escalating it.”

Whether you are an Ecuadorian, Romanian or South African and seek to masquerade as a Canadian for first class treatment while traveling, the following video should help in your roaving escapades.