Should I be prepared to experience racism as an Asian-American in Switz., Italy, and/or France?

Based on my recent trips to Italy and Spain far from standing out you will be part of crowds of Chinese,Korean and Japanese tourists. It seems that the shops, restaurants and hotels are also aware they need to seek out these numbers of tourists from these ethnic groups and offer them services and treat with courtesy .

My wife and I go to Italy every year, and, besides Florence where I'm from, we also go to some rather rural areas of Tuscany where I have property and family. My wife, to whom I've been married for nearly 25 years and who has been coming there for about 30 years, is black Puertorican. She's never had any problems at all whether she was with me or alone, including in recent years with all the African migrant crisis happening. I guess locals can easily spot that my wife is an American rather than an African migrant. Same the times we went to Switzerland (last time last July). Her brother, who lived in Europe for a few years, will also tell you that he feels much more discriminated against and treated with suspicion when in America than in Europe. All African Americans I've known who live in Italy tell me that there they forgot they were black.

As an Asian American you have nothing to worry about. Tuscany is full of Chinese migrants and they are treated well. There are also lots of Japanese tourists everywhere in Europe. The only people I can say are sometime treated with some suspicion in Italy are Muslims, especially if wearing the hijab or burka.

Regarding Paris, the person to feel uncomfortable will probably be your white husband, because Paris is a melting pot like New York and he will be definitely in the minority in Paris. In some areas, especially near the Sacre Coeur (Montmartre), he'll probably be the one to stand out, because he'll likely be the only white person.

No one will bat an eye. You will come across many interracial couples, young & old. As previously mentioned, there are many, many tourists from different parts of Asia & around the world. And don't worry about blending in. You will be visiting doing touristy things.

You will likely come across more as being an American than being Asian. Switzerland has a lot of foreign workers in the hospitality industry including a lot of Portuguese workers.

I'm joking about this, but you might get more kidding about Wisconsin cheese vs. Swiss/Italian/French Käse/formaggio/fromage, if that ever came up :-)

Last year in Florence, at a gelateria, two young women (possibly Japanese students), whose first language was clearly not English, were in line right in front of us. When they got to the counter, they immediately ordered their cones in English, without any attempt to ask if the salesperson spoke English, or to try it in Italian that was as bad as ours. We all got served, no problem, but we try to order in the local language, if possible.

Wow, this is wonderful to hear. Thank you all for the information--it was my biggest hesitation with traveling, and I'm glad that my worry was misplaced/unnecessary. Seriously, thank you! I'm so relieved. We will simply do our best to be considerate visitors, and not worry too much about what we "are." And yes, we will definitely try to address people in their language, not ours! :)

As someone quite familiar with rural WI, esp central and northern WI which trends considerably more redneck-y than the Upper Midwest in general, I am pretty sure that you will have no problems in Switz, Italy, and France like in your rural town. You will have a great time!

Chrissy, please report back when you return. This is a question that comes up often enough, it would be good to know your experience.

Yes, I would be happy to share our experience when we return from the trip! :) However, our trip is in Sept 2018, so I'm afraid it will be a while before I can help in that way.

Chrissy, I think your concerns, while understandable, are misplaced, and I think you can happily cross this off your list of things to worry about. Some context...

I am white (v-e-r-y white, of Scandinavian heritage). My wife is Thai (naturalized US citizen).

We live in Seattle. We have traveled all over Europe. I speak Spanish, some French and can fake a bit of Italian. The only European language my wife speaks is English (except in Thai restaurants...).

The only time I can recall the slightest weird reaction we have received in Europe was on our first trip together, about 18 years ago, in a very small town in France. Ironically, we were in a Chinese restaurant, which it turned out was owned by a Vietnamese family (we had been traveling for a few weeks and my wife was craving some Asian food...). The restaurant owner looked at us, looked at her then me, asked where we were from (in English), I said "USA" then he mumbled something about Bill Clinton and his scandals, and started laughing and rambling in Vietnamese. I think he was drunk. He took our order, brought the food (which wasn't very good) and there was no more weirdness. That's it.

We've been to Europe maybe 10-12 times since, all over, big cities, rural areas, tiny towns, etc. We are pretty adventurous, and as best I can tell, racism or weird reactions (beyond being treated like the clueless tourists that we are) has never been an issue for us or for her. Never any comments, odd looks or anything other than polite interactions or neutral disinterest at worse (and we've been to a lot of pretty obscure places that would make rural Wisconsin look sophisticated by comparison...and I've been to rural Wisconsin). I actually find it a bit humorous and entertaining when there's some scammer trying to hustle us (you will see them at major tourist sites) they look at me, look at her, then they start trying their introductory lines in one language after another, not sure what to use on us (I just laugh, shrug and say "no speaka de inglish" as we walk past them).

Something to keep in mind, that I keep re-learning: we all think of America as the great "melting pot" (or "salad", if you prefer, where we get to retain what makes each of us unique). While that's something we Americans can and should be proud of (I am), we are not the only ones who have diverse populations. Maybe it wasn't so true 50 years ago, but I have noticed in my European travels that there's more diversity there than I expected. We just got back from an incredible trip around Sardinia (a large island, part of Italy). In the larger cities there were several times that I noticed groups of ethnic Asian women among the tourists on the streets (it was obvious they were tourists, clutching maps and looking lost). I listened and they were speaking Italian (native Italian, not foreigner-tourist Italian). On other days we were out hiking and I noticed mixed couples (1 asian and 1 white) on the trails, these were not young tourists, they were older Italian couples - you could tell because they were skinny and they chain-smoked...and spoke Italian to each other - LOL).

Anyway, so I'd say that while it's certainly true that you will be in the minority (more so than if you were walking around San Francisco), individually and as part of a mixed couple, you will definitely not stick out like a sore thumb and I wouldn't expect you to attract any more attention than any other foreign tourist. Remember, most places you will go, there are a lot of foreign tourists (alas, often too many). The locals are used to seeing all kinds of people, from everywhere.

You will have a great time, and I'm confident you will not need to worry about this at all.

I hope this helps put your concerns in perspective. Good luck and have a wonderful trip! I'm confident you will. :)

. . . but sorry to hear that you had to endure such treatment growing up at home :-(

Have a great trip!

y wife is Asian, we've lived in Europe over 15 years now and she has never once had any issues at all any place we have gone. You'll be fine.

You really won't be seen as Asian unless you recently immigrated. You will be seen as an American and will receive the same treatment (for better or worse) as every other American tourist.

There's this bizarre mentality in America that skin color/features identifies who you are. I don't see that in Europe; the clues they look at are your language/accent, how tall/big/short/thin you are, what clothes you wear, your demeaner. Americans are generally big, unfortunately more around than tall, we wear baggy clothes compared to most Europeans, we're too loud in public places (not the only culture that applies too), and we don't start conversations with hello/pardon me/sir/maam/do you speak English? Instead we'll just ask a question which is often seen as impolite.

I'm not overweight and my clothes are more fitted, so I'm often not seen as American right away. I try not to be loud in public and make efforts to learn what passes for polite where I'm going and stick to it. Once I open my mouth though (with some exception when I was doing an exchange with the German military), my accent gives it away immediately - even if I can speak the language.

Switzerland is a wonderful country to visit (if you have the CHF) and the whole world goes there. Last year foreigners spent 11.6 million hotel-nights in Switzerland. 1.8 million of those nights were spent there by Americans. 4.6 million nights were spent there by Asian citizens - that's 40% of the total. So it's not as though the Swiss have never seen Asians or Americans before. Have you ever once heard or read of a Swiss-on-Asian hate crime? Neither have I.

You probably have a better chance of getting attacked by a mountain goat or a meteorite.

Will you be the subject of a stare or two? Possibly. Swiss of Asian heritage are few in number - something like 5%. You will stick out as non-Swiss in some communities, perhaps. But then, just about every tourist sticks out in one way or another, no matter where s/he travels, and attracts attention under certain circumstances. Will people say rude, stupid things to you? Possibly, as I'm sure there are rude and stupid Swiss people just like everywhere else, but it seems very, very unlikely. And if that were to happen somehow during your very short visit, well, this is isn't "sticks and stones" - just words that will never hurt you anyway and words you have apparently dealt with before. It won't ruin your trip. But honestly, the vast majority of your Swiss contacts will be service workers whose job it is to be courteous to you. If there's a schoolyard bully somewhere in Switzerland, you aren't going to cross his path - and he probably speaks an unintelligible Swiss dialect anyway!

You have had plenty of reassurances, but I will just reinforce that by saying my Asian American daughter-in-law loves traveling in Europe and has had no issues whatsoever. Recent travels include Paris, Switzerland, and Italy.

If you crave Asian food in Switzerland, Mürren has a popular Asian restaurant for dine in or take out:

http://www.tham.ch/chinesisches-restaurant/chinese-food.html

Although billed as “Chinese”’ the owner is from Singapore, and the menu includes a variety of Asian dishes, not strictly Chinese.

Kaeleku - part of our enjoyment in foreign lands is trying new experiences, language being a key part of that. With non-Roman or Cyrillic characters, I'd be completely lost, but I haven't been to a country (yet) where that's been an issue. For us Americans, it's convenient that so many other countries have adopted English, but not everyone speaks it . . . and that's not to say that my English is that great, either. Ask a South African or a Brit!

It may seem dated to you, but walking up to anyone in Italy with whom you don't know they speak English (and, yes, maybe those girls had gone to the same place for gelato every day for the past 6 months, and they knew the person behind the counter, but it didn't seem that way from their demeanor) and immediately launching into English seems presumptuous to me. Communication is the key, so whatever works.

Or perhaps the Japanese ice-cream-lovers understood that Swiss people might speak German or French or Italian as a first language (and probably have studied all of them, plus English) -- but most likely not Japanese.

The Swiss are educated and those in the tourist service business are generally multilingual. That said, RS's language tip:
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/sightseeing/language-barrier

Speak slowly, clearly, and with carefully chosen words.

How true, lots of the service industry workers (hostess, kitchen staff, waitress, receptionists, etc) are Romanian, Slovak, Russian, Czech, Bulgarian, Latvian, Polish, etc. I found that to be exactly case in London on this 11 day trip just ended.

I listen for the accent. Once I detect it's not native British, you can bet it is from east of the Oder River. There are times I ask where the person is from or what language they are talking with a colleague, say in the kitchen of the B&B where you are having breakfast, if I can't detect the language.

No concerns here in France on interracial marriages. If you look for it, you'll see tons of Asians traveling and studying in Europe. I've seen Asian-Americans traveling in France and Germany...no big deal. One other thing....You don't need to blend in.

The Japanese women had it correct. Only Americans and Brits are so
weird and guilty about speaking to people in English. The rest of the
world sees English for what it is - the lingua franca. In any area
that a Rick Steves tourist is likely to go, 90-95% of the people speak
English fluently, including all the other foreign tourists. Anybody
who has the money to travel to Italy - whether Russian, Chinese,
Hungarian, Frenc .... etc.

The Hawaiian and I agree twice this month. The only caveat is if the situation is relaxed, and after good communication has been established, then, sure, give their language a try. I get a lot of good laughs from locals when I try Hungarian.

True, on the guilt or hang-up about asking if a local speaks English in a RS recommended tourist area or sight. Those in the service industry will speak English, if not fluently, then enough to answer your questions.

Yes, it is the lingua franca for the rest of the world. Have you seen Indian or Asian tourists, the Mandarin Chinese, Koreans or Japanese speaking French or German in Vienna, Paris or Berlin at a hotel check-in, train station ticket office, restaurants, or souvenir shops? Never, They always use English, basic level, at that, with exception of the Indian tourists who are fluent.

Better still, if you can effectively convey what you want to say in French, Italian, and German, etc, then do it, much better results. I would never use that broken English technique.

I think Kaeleku was talking about a "type" of tourist. Not so much a nationality.

Regarding the use of English as the lingua franca - I was watching the Italian version of the Amazing Race last night (we were in Venice). The contestants were in Japan, in a residential neighborhood of (I think) Osaka. How were the Italians communicating with the Japanese? About 1% Japanese "polite phrases". The rest- English.

Only Americans and Brits are so weird and guilty about speaking to people in English. The rest of the world sees English for what it is - the lingua franca

I think there is a key difference here. When Americans and Brits go abroad and speak to people in English, they are relying on the fact that other people have bothered to learn their language as a second language, even though many native English speakers only speak one language. There is a certain arrogance involved in going to another country and relying on everyone there to speak your language and Feeling guilty about this only shows that people acknowledge this fact.
There is also invariably going to be a difference in skill between someone who speaks English as their native language and someone who speaks it as a second language, which can lead to some odd social dynamics.
When non native English speakers communicate with each other in English as a lingua franca, there is a level playing field.

MOST, Americans only speak one language. 237 million only speak English. Out of 325 million thats a pretty good number which explains why:

If you speak 3 languages you are trilingual
If you speak 2 languages you are bilingual
If you speak one language you are ..........................drum roll ................................... American.

If the person from Wisconsin wants to be monolingual, then stay that way, that is your privilege, while every person s/he encounters in Europe who speaks 2-4 languages or more will just confirm that stereotype Americans are monolingual. That Wisconsin person will have to depend on his interlocutor to have a certain level of English to communicate with him, or the desire to do that, if you've never met any European, regardless of nationality who knows "some" English but does not desire to use it with you, bottom line ...you're stuck. I've met French and Germans on the trips over the years who insisted on speaking French or German otherwise they were not interested in talking.

The last two trips confirm my belief that everyone in the service/tourist industry or in general speaks some English is a myth.

I agree with Kaeleku. Many people in Europe speak multiple languages out of convenience. You drive a few hundred km (or less) in any direction and you are in a different country with a different language.
The proof is that the Europeans who speak more languages (or who speak English well) tend to be the ones who live in small countries with small populations, like the Netherlands, or Greece, or Denmark, etc.
If you travel to big countries, like France, Italy, Spain, Germany, where the need to know other languages is less compelling, you are more likely to find monolingual folks who don't speak as many languages, and who don't speak English that well.
I don't fault Anglophones for speaking English only, they don't need to know too many languages, they already speak the lingua franca they need.
If I think about it, I'm the same way with my Italian. The Italian language is basically the Tuscan dialect. Centuries ago, they decided that the unifying language for the Italian people should be the Florentine dialect spoken by learned people. So basically when I speak Italian, I'm speaking my local dialect. It is the Romans, or Milanese, or Neapolitans, or Sicilians, etc. who had to learn a foreign language (Tuscan) as their lingua franca.
I didn't think about it before. But we Florentines are the "Ugly Monolingual Americans" of Italy.

My step granddaughter is doing her masters, first year Stuttgart, second year Copenhagen. All classes are taught in English. What does that tell you??

@ Elaine...Is that with the Erasmus program? Their program has international students attend courses in various universities in Europe with English as the means of instruction.

In Norwegian universities classes are in English also.

OP-Have a wonderful trip. I found that like the US their are idiots everywhere, so while you might get a few looks, don’t sweat it.

As being polite and asking if someone speaks English is a courtesy I use, except when in a line marked for English speakers. I’ve received smiles and compliments from trying the local languages before switching to English. While English may be the world language, knowing another language opens up a whole other world.

Have a wonderful trip.

@ Elaine...a pity. That course in Stuttgart should be taught in German.

The Swiss are educated and those in the tourist service business are generally multilingual.

But most people you meet in the tourist industry in Switzerland are not Swiss! They are most likely Eastern Europe, Spanish or Portuguese. Generally speaking the education objective in Europe is that you learn three languages to A2 level, meaning you can do most of your daily business through each language. For most people that means English/German/French plus two others.

Others are right that you probaly will not have a problem.

Is this like asking whether I would have a problem in Europe because I am East European-Jewish according to heritage? Maybe some people in the USA think I look Jewish, while others will just classify me as white. I am reformed to secular according to religion, now; I don’t wear a yamulka or any sort of traditional clothing or religiously identifying jewelry. I don’t have an opinion about whether the posters question is silly or reasonable. The first jews in Europe were taken to Greece and Italy, by Romans, to be slaves; and then over the centuries Europeans vascilated between toleration of Jews and subjecting them to expulsions, forced conversions, pograms or anti-Jewish riots. There was genocide during World war II when the nazi killed and enslaved millions of Jews, and some non Jews; but they also hated all foreigners, especially poles, and anybody not “aryan”, and usually anybody not blond haired, blue eyed. Now Europe’s former Jews are being replaced with muslus. I went to London, and Italy, without a problem. There have been attempts to classify Europeans into 6 or 10 races; if I didn’t know any better, I would say, that Americans typically only classify people as black, white, or Asian, while Europeans, at least in the past, are way pickier, paying attention to hair and eye color and nose shape; I heard that Europeans may be able to distinguish a Jewish person while Americans are much more likely to classify me as “white”. I also read that now there are some kinds of laws against pro-nazi messages in Germany and Austria and maybe in other countries. My family and some Jewish people are irrationaly afraid to visit Europe; small Jewish comunities still live in Europe.

It is extremely unlikely you will get attacked or robbed, in Europe, because you look asian; assume people who like to travel, for example on this forum, will be less racist or biased than average.

Since you intend to go in late summer, ie Sept, you can bet you will see tons of Asians in Europe, especially at the frequented tourist sights, tons of Asians in Vienna, London, Prague. Everyday at the train stations in Vienna, Berlin, Paris etc you can be sure you will see Asians, especially the Mandarin Chinese.

Interesting article on languages:

The Guardian view on languages and the British: Brexit and an Anglosphere prison Editorial

The upshot is that the UK is mired in the relegation zone of European
linguistic proficiency. Across the European Union, just over half of
all students (51%) study two or more foreign languages. In Finland,
France, Romania and Slovakia the proportion studying two or more
languages is 99%, and in Luxembourg a heady 100%. In Britain, by
contrast, the figure is a dispiriting 5%.

@Fred: Just a regular Masters in Environmental engineering. Her classes in Iceland were in English. She looked at Nadters programs in Copenhagen and Amsterdam, all programs were in English.
Lucky for her since she is monolingual.

@ Elaine...By teaching in English the program can attract as many international students, British, Chinese, Korean, Indian, US, Latvian, Spanish-speaking, Greek, etc as possible The only way they can do that is to drop any language requirement. I recall years ago (if it is still done) that participating in a French university study program required knowing French first or putting the foreign student applicant through a French language placement test...lovely.

This past summer's trip to Vienna I sat a table at lunch in a restaurant among 3 millennials (in one of those shared table situations), a Polish girl, an American guy judging by his accent and idiom usage, and a Mandarin Chinese girl. The US guy didn't want me sitting with them, which was plain to see, although a chair and space at the table were available, (I took the seat at their table anyway), they never knew I was from here, never said a word to me, since they only heard me talking German to the waitress. The waitress knew enough English to take the orders from an English language menu, In spite of the snooty attitude of two of them, minus the Polish girl, to their credit all three were fluent in English, talked among themselves in fluent English. They didn't know I was eavesdropping on their entire conversation.

Bottom line is that they were all students having studied or were engaged in work -related courses in various European universities currently or in the past, or needing the necessary visas to enter a country, say Finland, the UK, etc, and English was the medium of instruction.

European colleges teaching foreign students in English is nothing new. More than a few years ago my daughter (she would not want me to say how many years, but she now has a child that is a college graduate) spent a semester at Cologne University. All of her classes were in English even though she had taken German in high school and had a German minor in college. She had fun while traveling listening to Germans talking about her and then responding to them in German.