I'm Gina Smith

I spent the last week in Mougin, near Nice, in the South of France.

Though I've been to Europe -- my family is in Yugoslavia and Germany -- France was a first. Here are some interesting things I noticed.

- All the men wear hair products. Mousse, I think. Gel?

- All the women have long hair down or in loose, messy buns. For once, I don't feel disheveled.

- Everywhere, you are either hearing Cole Porter covers (usually Mel Torme) or Supertramp!

- The people in the south of France are so totally friendly. This reminds me of the American South, where I grew up -- where it is considered rude not to greet a stranger, anyone and everyone, with a hearty Bonjour or Bon Soir! (When I moved to Boston from Florida, I said Good Morning to people on the street and they literally scattered. Probably assumed I was nuts.

- There is a town named Mougin with ancient Roman walls and medieval homes. Art galleries. Bistros. Not a tourist shop in the whole place. Picasso spent his final years there.

- It is absolutely gorgeous here. I thought my home now, San Francisco, was the most beautiful place on Earth with its panoramic views and mountains, ocean, Bay. Sorry, SF, but the South of France is SF plus one.

- People tip very little here. Literally. I kept being told to leave only a 2 euro coin as a tip for everthing, no matter how much it cost!

- WIFI is free everywhere. Even in the ancient towns.

- Monaco looks like paradise. You could eat off the streets. You can sit in front of the palace. I have never seen so many Ferraris in my life, in front of the famous casino (the one from all the James Bond movies) in Montecarlo. Literally, 200 Ferraris in a parking lot.

- I heard a couple complaining that they were shocked that a restaurant wouldn't serve them dinner after 11! I was surprised they wouldn't even give me an appetizer until 7:15 p.m. I knew they ate late here, but sheesh.

- Following on that thought, I woke up early today to take my plane back home (am writing from Nice Airport now) and at 7 a.m. there was not a single person at breakfast. When I left at 8:30, I checked, and still no one had woken up.

- Various types of ham, a lot like prosciutto, seem to be the mainstay of most meals.

- There is a pizza place on every corner. They love that Italian food, I suppose. I didn't see a single Starbucks and only a sign for a Macdonalds that was "coming soon." Somehow I doubt this.

- I speak German and Spanish quite well and guess what, when I couldn't communicate in French with the locals, I found they could speak one or the other, too.

- They don't speak fondly of Proust here. That surprised me.

- Of course, everyone smokes. Ashtrays everywhere. Coming from California, this looked so surprising to me. But do you know what they are smoking: Marlboro Red. No warning label.

- The weather feels a lot like San Diego in early spring. A little brisk. But the palm trees, etc., let you know you're in the Riviera.

- All women wear scarves.

- People kept calling me Madame. To be honest, I wish they'd said Mademoiselle.

- In all, I love it here! I have heard stories about the French being brash, disdainful of those who butcher their language, hating Americans. Maybe in Paris (I have no clue). But not here. Maybe it is the southern thing -- in France or in the US -- that helps make people more relaxed and a whole lot friendlier.

- Off to my flight. I'll post some pics.

The Ugly American.

(CNN) -- When travel author Beth Whitman was in Vietnam, she witnessed a group of young American male travelers rough-housing in the streets outside of the Rex Hotel.

Americans traveling to sites around the world like the Blue Mosque in Istanbul should be respectful.

 In their youthful, loud exuberance, they ended up ripping each other's shirts as they horsed around.

"I thought to myself that those shirts probably cost maybe 20, 30, 40 dollars apiece, and here you are in a culture where the people may not be even making that much on a monthly basis.

"It's that sort of thing, just not being aware how off-putting that can be to the local culture."

Such behavior, while seemingly harmless, can help to cement the moniker of "the ugly American," which came to refer to loud, rude and thoughtless behavior of U.S. citizens abroad.

The term came about as a result of the book "The Ugly American," and more than 50 years after its publication, those from the United States continue to battle an image of arrogance and nationalism.

Written by William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick, the novel chronicled American foreign policy and diplomacy failures in a fictitious developing nation. In the book, the American ambassador to the country is portrayed as crude and inept.

That enduring legacy has not been easy to shake, and even the U.S. president knows the score.

During a recent trek to Turkey, President Obama said in his remarks at the Tophane Cultural Center in Istanbul that he knows the "stereotypes of the United States are out there."

"Sometimes it suggests that America has become selfish and crass, or that we don't care about the world beyond us," he said. "And I'm here to tell you that that's not the country that I know and it's not the country that I love."

Whitman, the author of the "Wanderlust and Lipstick" guides and publisher of "Traveling with Kids," often gives lectures and workshops -- many geared toward female travelers -- and speaks on the importance of Americans being stellar representatives of their homeland while abroad.

How to not be an 'ugly American'

There are some ways to not be considered an "ugly American'" when traveling.

1) Research the area and its culture before you travel to your destination. Read guidebooks to learn about the region.

2) Learn some basic words in the language of the region you are traveling to. Don't expect everyone to speak English.

3) Travel with a desire to experience the local cuisine. Don't expect to get a hamburger.

4) Don't flash around money or expensive items like cell phones and cameras.

5) Try to really experience the culture. You are less likely to offend if you understand.

-- Travel experts Chris Baker and Beth Whitman

"It's about being respectful of the country and the culture, treating the people respectfully and not flashing around your money and your material possessions," Whitman said. "It's up to every individual to be that ambassador and portray their country well."

Author Ann Hulbert wrote a piece for The New York Times Magazine a few years ago about her desire not to be mistaken for an ugly American when her family traveled to Istanbul and the Turkish coast.

Hulbert took the step of vetoing one of her teenage son's T-shirts, worried that the message on it, "The Fighting Quakers. Beat them 'til they reach consensus," might be misunderstood in the Muslim country.

"I think that when you are a big and powerful country, it's easy for the rest of the world to feel that you don't deal with the kind of consideration and humility that other people do," said Hulbert, who researches the areas she visits prior to her trips. iReport.com: Ever been to the Netherlands? Share your travel pics

Christopher P. Baker, who is a Cuba travel expert and award-winning author of the best-selling guidebook "Moon Cuba," said he has concerns about what will happen if and when travel restrictions are completely lifted from that country.

He recalled two years ago when he was reviewing one of Havana's first five-star hotels that had just opened. Standing in the lobby with one of the hotel's executives, he witnessed a man, dripping wet from the pool and wrapped in a towel, emerge from the elevator.

The man walked through the bar, down the stairs and into the marble lobby just as the staff tried to intercept him, Baker said.

"I heard them say, 'We don't allow guests in the lobby dressed this way,' and the man said, 'Yeah, I know' in this deep American brogue," Baker said. "Behavior like that is not necessarily common to Americans, but it's the type of thing that can give Americans a bad name."

Manners and lifestyle expert Thomas P. Farley runs the site What Manners Most and said Americans tend to be seen as free-spirited and not nearly as guarded as natives of some of the other countries -- as evidenced most recently by first lady Michelle Obama putting her arm around Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.

"That's something that maybe sent shivers up the spine of a lot Britons, but in the final analysis, people really looked at that as a nice gesture and something very American to do," said Farley, who added that travelers should be as respectful in other countries as they would be if they were in someone else's home.

The Obamas may actually be aiding in changing the perception themselves.

Travel writer Beth Whitman said the mere election of President Obama has helped to improve America's reputation worldwide.

"It helped to change how we are viewed, but the real key is the behavior once a person arrives in a country," Whitman said. "Some of [the ugly American perception] will exist no matter who is in office, and that's why everyone has to take responsibility for being the very best representative of their country that they can."

American Airline pilot shoots a bird at Brazilians, arrested.

Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage

How do you say "hot head" in Portuguese?

SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - An American Airlines pilot was arrested at Sao Paulo International Airport after making an obscene gesture while being photographed by Brazilian immigration officers, police said.

The pilot, identified as Dale Robin Hirsch, raised his middle finger at police to protest new Brazilian security measures that require U.S. citizens to be fingerprinted and photographed upon entering the South American country.

Brazil implemented the policy on Jan. 1 in retaliation for a similar U.S. program that requires those foreign visitors who need visas to have their fingerprints and pictures taken on arrival in the United States.

"He made an internationally known obscene gesture when he was being photographed by the Federal Police," Federal Police agent Wagner Castilho told Reuters. He said the other crew members were denied entry after refusing to cooperate with security officials.

The incident came just one day after Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva personally appealed to President Bush to suspend visa requirements for each other's nationals and thus fingerprint checks.

Castilho said the pilot will be charged with disobeying authority. A judge will decide whether Hirsch, 52, will be deported or tried in Brazil.

Hijab is hip in Jakarta

Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage

Islam's All-Enveloping Hijab Is Hip in Indonesia

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Forget the stereotype image of Muslim women draped from head to toe in all-enveloping robes, or girls shrouded in modest white veils.

In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, the Islamic Hijab is hip, particularly among the rich and upwardly mobile.

A walk through upscale shopping malls like Plaza Senayan in the capital Jakarta is a real eye-opener.

Women are covering up, but with a dazzling array of chic, colorful and often body-hugging Islamic clothes, often complemented by the latest accessories.

Many smart department stores have opened separate sections for Islamic clothes and stores offer an assortment of magazines and books dedicated to design and Islamic dress for the modern woman.

"Islamic dress has gone upper class," says fashion designer Mira Aviva Zaki on the sidelines of her show at Jakarta's Hilton Hotel.

Although most Indonesians have long opted for a relatively liberal interpretation of the Muslim dress code, the basic rule of covering the body from head to toe still applies.

I was in Malaysia a year ago. Here is a photo I took:

What do Florida, New York and the Taj Mahal have in common?

Thanks to spanglemonkey, here is the list of the top 10 of the top 50 places the BBC says we all need to visit in our lifetimes.

BBC - Holiday - 50 Places

1 The Grand Canyon
2 Great Barrier Reef
3 Florida
4 South Island
5 Cape Town's Golden Temple
7 Las Vegas
8 Sydney
9 New York
10 Taj Mahal

It seems bizarre that the Taj Mahal and Florida are mentioned anywhere near each other in any list anywhere. But I am from Florida, which is how I know to suspect that probably the Sunshine State's powerhouse tourist board lobbied hard for this mention. (That explains the inclusion of Florida, and the absence of Paris and Bali from this list. Non?)

It's Iftutu in Zulu.

Back when I used to travel to NYC from San Francisco once a week -- this whole story is in an earlier post somewhere -- I kept a notebook with me. I'd get the cab driver to tell me a few things in his native language. How to count. Simple greetings. Songs and rhymes and prayers, whatever seemed relevant.

I still have this notebook. Yet another notebook on my messy desk that I won't throw away. (But if you ever notice that I can have a lengthy polite conversation in Urdu, this is why. Lots of Urdu-speaking cab drivers!)

In that spirit, in case you ever need to know how to say "turtle" in a bunch of different languages, carry the following list where ever you go. We're blogging now, baby.

Afrikaans - Skilpad
Muskogee Creek - Locv
Arabic - Fakroun
Polish - Zolw
Chinese - Gui, Wangba
Portugese - Tartaruga, Cagado
Czech - Zelva
Russian - Czerepakha
Dutch - Schildpad
Spanish - Galápago, Tortuga
English - Turtle, Tortoise
Swahili - Kobe, Kasa
French - Tortue
Swedish - Sköldpadda
German - Schildkröte
Thai - Tao
Hindi - Kacchua Tsalagi
Cherokee - Saligugi, Daksi
Indonesian - Kura-kura
Turkish - Kaplumbaga
Italian - Tartaruga
Vietmanese - Danh tõ
Japanese - Kame
Zulu - Ifutu