Americans are known for their patriotism and pride in their great country.
But there’s one scenario in which some US citizens may not be so quick to admit where they’re from — when they’re travelling abroad, and want to blend in.
According to behavior experts, we are the nationality that is perhaps the easiest to spot before we’ve even opened our mouths.
Over the years, intelligence officials made it their work to determine what it was that made Americans seem so Americans to help undercover officers keep their cover behind enemy lines.
And one — Joe Navarro, a former FBI spy catcher and body language expert — has revealed to DailyMail.com exactly what researchers have found these characteristics to be.
Americans tend to dress less formally than many other cultures, Mr Navarro said.
From the way you dress, to the way we hold flowers, he’s told us what you should tweak if you’re trying to fit in.
Mr Navarro has made a career out of interpreting and understanding people’s body language — a skill he said he began curating when he and his family moved to the United States from Cuba when he was a child.
‘I’m here as an observer. I’m examining the human zoo,’ he said, explaining his profession.
He noted that the US is an incredibly diverse place, and that the cultural differences within the country make it difficult to draw conclusions about Americans as a whole.
However, in his work abroad and in his personal experience identifying spies, he’s found that certain themes keep appearing.
There’s nothing wrong with seeming American, Mr Navarro says. But he believes the best way to travel is to blend into the culture you’re entering, he said.
This might keep you safe and ensure you have the most authentic experience you can while abroad.
Hand signs and signals
Certain hand gestures which are inoffensive in the United States can be shocking to other cultures. Crossing your fingers is explicit in Vietnam
Mr Navarro says something as simple as the way a person carries a bunch of flowers can offer clues as to where they are from.
When surveilling someone suspected of spying on the US, Mr Navarro and his team saw their mark leaving a store with a bouquet of flowers. The man let the flowers hang by his side, pointing down — a telltale sign that he was not the American he was posing as.
Americans, he said, usually carry the flowers upright, like a bridesmaid at a wedding. People from Eastern Europe tend to carry flowers downward, so that the water flows towards the petals.
Later, when confronted with this information, the spy confessed to Mr Navarro.
Other hand and body movements could give you away too.
For example, if you want to wish someone luck while travelling in Vietnam, and you show them that you are crossing your fingers for them, you might be in for a rude awakening.
In the country, that hand signal is said to resemble female genitalia, and is somewhat like the middle finger in Western countries.
Social media users have brought the idea of an ‘American lean’ to the masses — to describe a way that Americans stand that they say makes them stick out from Europeans.
Users like Tiktoker rachaelsulli, explained that when Americans stand idly, they tend to shift their weight from one leg to the next or find a wall, railing or counter to lean on.
She said that in Italy, where she’s based, people tend to stand up straight when they’re waiting around.
Sneakers, caps and shorts
People in different countries wear athleticwear, but mainly reserve it for the gym, according to Mr Navarro
Americans tend to be much more casually dressed than other cultures, Mr Navarro said.
In many of his travels — to Milan, Budapest and even rural Russia — people tend to dress much more formally than Americans do, with an eye for fashion.
For example, he said that American men often bring shorts on their summer vacation, which is a dead giveaway of their nationality.
Baseball caps, athleisure, large reusable water bottles and old, dirty tennis shoes are other common American accessories that are usually only seen in the gym in European countries.
Makeup style makes a difference too. In many European countries, wearing false lashes, acrylic nails and contour would look out of place, he said, and could clue people in to your American citizenship.
The loudness of your voice — and whistle
Foreigners sometimes think of Americans as loud. Acting as a cultural mirror might help you blend in, he said.
Mr Navarro has taught many workshops overseas, and has said that in almost every country he’s ever been in, someone asks him: ‘Why do Americans talk so loud?’
While he doesn’t think this holds true for every American, Mr Navarro said that many foreigners view Americans as loud and brash. This could have to do with American culture, which lacks the emphasis on community that runs through other cultures.
If a child was whistling while walking down the aisles of a grocery store in America, it’s likely no one would say anything about it, he said.
By contrast, he said, in a country like Japan, strangers will tell you when you’re doing something impolite and ask you to stop.
‘There are societies where culture and the group are more important than the person — and then you have America,’ he says.
‘People are taught to see themselves as distinct individuals.’
A good rule of thumb is to become a mirror of your environment, Mr Navarro said.
‘At the agency, you have to fit in. So whatever culture you’re in, you mirror that culture,’ he said.
For example, in many countries in Latin America, people tend to be a bit more touchy than Americans may be used to — greeting each other with a kiss on the cheek, touching each others arms and shoulders when speaking, he explained.
If you’re travelling there, it might do you well to adopt some of those mannerisms.
By contrast, in Nordic countries, people hardly touch at all causally, so Mr Navarro said he’s careful to keep a respectful distance from his colleagues.
The same goes for speaking volume. If you’re an American abroad, if you consider the volume of those around you, you’re less likely to stick out.
This might seem odd, or fake, but Mr Navarro said being a cultural mirror is the key to, ‘being your best self, because the trick is to fit in, not to be dismissed, ignored or ridiculed or made fun of or be thought of as gauche.’
