08.12.10 - 9:05 am

excerpts taken from the 2012 olympic guidebook. meant to improve guest relations between employees of the olympics games and the international guests they will be attending to.

i wonder how much of this is true, apparently the britons did some research prior to publishing this.

Mexicans: Avoid discussing poverty, immigration, earthquakes or the Mexican-American war with visitors from Mexico � they prefer to chat about history and art.

Canadians: Likely to be quite annoyed about being mistaken for Americans, keep an eye out for maple leaf pins or badges on tourists' clothing.

Chinese and Hong Kong: May find winking or pointing with an index finger rude, while mentioning failure, poverty or death risks offensive. Chinese visitors may be unimpressed by landmarks just a few hundred years old.

Middle Easterners: Likely to be demanding with staff and are not used to being told what they can't do.

Indians: In general an impatient lot, and like to be quickly attended to. The more affluent they are, the more demanding and brusque they tend to be. Indians also don't like being touched by strangers and may be suspicious about the quality of British food.

Argentinians: Brush off common Argentine jokes about a person's clothing or weight.

Belgians: Take offense at people snapping their fingers.

Australians: Fond of coarse language.

Americans: They can appear informal to the point of being very direct or even rude and won't ever hesitate about complaining.

Japanese: Consider prolonged eye contact impolite and smile to express a range of emotions � not simply to show happiness.

Polish: Likely to be hurt by stereotypes that imply they drink excessively.

French: Notoriously picky in restaurants.

Britons: Are honest and efficient but not the most pleasant.

Brazilians: Don't like being asked personal questions.