American

I try to avoid using the word American to describe myself whenever I'm in South America. People in South America (and much of Europe) are taught that there is one continent that takes up most of the Western Hemisphere, called "America", while those of us from North America learn that there are two continents, collectively known as "the Americas". In South America (and indeed, much of Latin America) American is used to mean both "from the US" and "from the Americas", while in the US, American can almost never be used to mean "from the Americas" (though one exception is the Organization of American States, which is countries of the Americas). Because my English so heavily affects my French, and because Europeans frequently use American to denote only people from the US, it's a tough habit to break. There is a word for someone from the US, étatsunien, which I have adopted to describe myself and my home country.

This habit recently paid off. I had lunch yesterday at a gratin restaurant, with really good food but slightly higher prices than I would have liked. As I was leaving, the owner and waitress asked me what I was doing in Cayenne (Vacation? No. Mission? Definitely not.), and I told them about my project. They seemed interested in it, and then they asked me where I was from (Germany? Belgium?), and I said I was étatsunien. The owner said that he was really happy I used that word, that it seemed very respectful, and that if I needed him, I should call him and he gave me his card. I will be going back and taking advantage of that offer.