It's like how I used to think Simon LeBon was singing about me in "Rio". (And we didn't make love until the aughts.)

Anyway.

Alas, I am not a Young American - and as I was reminded yet again at my first-ever personnel-development course - obliquely called "Communication Course" - I apparently am a LOUD AMERICAN.

The course, I guess, is being taught to us to help us communicate with different types of people. The night I went, we all took a self-describing test which placed us within basically one of four groups and then we had to hold a meeting across our opposite group.

Easy. As. Pie.

Except when it got to my turn, as I was about to launch into a brilliant presentation which would surely turn them to my way of thinking, I was told to lower my voice.  WTF?  Lower my voice?  I can't lower my voice - you people have to raise your listening.  I'm American!  We speak loudly and carry a loud-ass stick. We saved you people in WWII!

The thing is, compared to other countries, we are loud - but we never hear it because we're just around each other all the time. You never really notice it until you are in another country and a group Americans come into your hearing range and you think, "Ah, there's my people!"  

So yeah, anyway, when in Rome, and in this case, Amsterdam, another one of my cultural adjustments will be the attempt to keep my voice lower and speaker slower. Also apparently you also can't really be self-promoting and brag about yourself - somehow self-confidence and salesmanship is somehow bad. Not sure how many more personality traits I can cut from myself, but I can work on it. (Mick Jagger never seemed to have a problem with me when we made love in the 90's, but whatever.)

The thing I have to remember is that I am really awesome and if anyone can learn how to fit in with these Dutch people, it's ME. AMERICA!!! F YEAH!