Foreign Travelers Eye the US

I have long been fascinated by what foreigners think of the United States and its people. I think a very neat documentary could be done following people from other nations who have never been here and recording their observations and thoughts (assuming I possessed a mind-recording device). According to this piece in the UK’s Telegraph, it seems that the opportunity to do this type of project may be greater than ever. The story says that with the declining value of the dollar ,more and more people, particularly those from Britain, to whom the story is aimed, are coming to the United States for vacation (aka holiday). I guess that’s really not such a big surprise, although I have heard that Visa regs lately have been kind harsh and some people have had gnarly hassles at the airport. But that does not stop them from coming. On a side note, I did learn one interesting factoid from the article. It discusses the best cities to visit, putting Boston and Philadelphia on the list, as well as NY and LA…but it drops in a lovely way the fact that New York City and Los Angeles are about 2,800 miles apart – that’s two and a half times the distance from London to Rome. Who knew! Anyway, they also give props to Washington DC, California and (woo hoo!) the National Parks.

So keep your eyes out for foreign-speaking visitors in your city today. And please, be nice to them. America’s image is having a hard enough time as it is in the world today.