I flew airplanes (KC-135's, to be exact) in the Strategic Air Command back in the day.
We didn't tend to go overseas much, so I thoroughly enjoyed my TDY to the UK and Spain. What I'll never forget was the personalities of the air traffic controllers over there, and how they reflected the national character.
Brits: efficient, polite, professional, good natured; one even took us down to JUST above the water and had us fly up the coast, starting at the White Cliffs of Dover, and gave us......literally.........a guided tour the whole way
French: curt, dismissive, not very helpful or informative ("You kin turn to ze left or ze right.......I do NOT care!")
Germans: fiercely efficient, by the book, authoritarian ("You vill turn LEFT, und you vill turn NOW!!!!")
Italians: Hilarious....very nice, but damned funny. The further east you fly over the Mediterranean, the worse the controllers' English gets. We were second in a two-ship formation, heading into Sicily. The tanker ahead of us requested a particular ILS approach (a type of instrument approach), and the controller comes back with "The ILS-a.......she's-a not a-working!!!!" Thought I'd DIE laughing; sounded like someone imitating an Italian, I swear. :)
Were you ever an instructor?
I've heard some very funny stories about that.
My husband had one tour of duty as an instructor in Pensacola.
During that time, he was training Kuwaiti pilots.
He said that is the only time he wore his oxygen mask while on the tarmac. ;o)
Then, there was the student going through the preflight.
He forgot to close the canopy.
Hubby asked if he forgot anything.
The student said, "No, sir."
Hubby told him to stick his left arm out of the cockpit, and asked what that meant.
The student said, "Left turn, sir".
lol