Since we had a post about the most friendliest countries, we should look at countries that have unexpected friendly people, not the usual answers like Ireland, Scotland, Canada, Taiwan, etc. For me it’s Montenegro. Londoners are considered to be cold and rude but I find them to be very pleasant with me.
Germany, went just as brexit was happening, loved the place and people were so friendly, had a few long conversations with people on the bus/train. Also best breakfasts anywhere.
As a German, I can not relate. But I’m happy to hear about your positive experience!
No drama, maybe we were just lucky, i think we are way too much alike always happy to put our cultures down, also great, great grandfather was apparently german so maybe it was just like coming home !
England. I got blind drunk and was stumbling back to a hotel in a western suburb. A group of young men with knives approached me for cash but when I told them to fuck off (not smart, I know) they were so excited to hear my accent they walked me a couple of blocks to the bus station and sent me on my way.
New Zealand. So wanted to stay there. Made Canadians look a little rude. LOL.
As a Canadian, I can declaratively say that our reputation for being polite is bogus. As a whole, we are a shitty, privileged, nasty group of people. Our country is built on colonialism and genocide, so you can only imagine what a shit pot this is.
Ah, don’t be so hard on yourself. I’ve only had great experiences traveling in Canada and I like to think of Canadians as our brothers. There’s good and bad everywhere. I might have had a miserable trip to New Zealand if I had left just an hour later. Who knows.
I don’t think I’m being hard on myself, I think I’m being hard on the general population of Canada. Most people here are just what I said, overprivileged shit pieces
I feel like there’s a big difference between the surface level presentation that people see in Canadians, and then there’s the reality
I think you need to go outside and explore this country more, if you think most people here are shitty. Sure our reputation is a bit of an exaggeration, but on the whole I still know that this country is majority good and kind people
France.
Was there on business, visiting a factory of a large vehicle manufacturer, down in the south east. My god these people were nice. There was a guy who made sure we had everything we needed to get our work done, who would literally jump and run if we needed anything. There were people bringing us mini choco croissants for meetings. They always invited us for lunch and paid for it. There was always coffee for us if we needed it. We had desks to work on, which is a rarity in a factory environment, but they made it possible.
The best part was when we were standing at the line with a special piece of equipment that we had brought, and a guy stopped and said “hey, that looks interesting, what’s it for?” - and then we chatted about that for five minutes, eventually realizing it was time for a meeting. For both of us. Five minutes later, it turns out the guy who casually talked to us tech people was actually the head of their corporate IT. You wouldn’t have been able to tell that he was some higher up because he was so down to earth and friendly and casual. They all were. It was a mighty pleasure working with them.
Yeah I spent a week in south east France. Best trip I have ever been on. People were so nice. Paris was the only unfriendly place and It wasn’t bad.
Netherlands. People there actually smile, it’s crazy
And honestly the US. When I moved to Vancouver Island I started spending a lot of time on the Olympic peninsula and people in that region are ridiculously friendly. Port Angeles is like twice as friendly as Victoria it feels like
If avoiding conflict was a sport, a random person from Seattle would take home gold from the Olympics every four years.
My answer, too. I remember being uncertain how I’d be received as an American. I stopped in a random restaurant once to ask for quick directions. The lady didn’t just give me some “fuck off”/simplistic “go that way” answer, she walked from behind the counter, came around, took the map I was holding out of my hand, and spent SEVERAL minutes explaining to me in perfect English all kinds of helpful info.
I loved that place.
Like you already wrote, Ireland!
It was kinda shocking how openly friendly and relaxed most people there are.
Not a country but a city: Berliners are notorious for being unfriendly but I’ve yet to meet one I didn’t get along with.
I feel this is racist.
Why do you say that? Genuinely asking.
Because we reduce a population made of individuals to anecdotal evidence.
“People from there are like this” is just a problematic way of thinking.
Even if it is positive. Saying all Asians are good at math may seem positive, but it is racist because you imprint one attribute to a whole group and rob people of their individuality.
It’s racist 🤷
No, the only one approaching racism here is you, as you’re the only one equating culture to race. A black German is the same as a white German.
So when I say “all black people are thieves”, that is racist.
So when I say “all Germans are thieves”…if it is not racist, what is it?
I tried to find the correct word or phrase to use, and the consensus seems to be “cultural racism”, so I guess it’s technically a kind of racism, even though it doesn’t directly relate to race. “Culturism” would be a more accurate word, I think.
So it is so similar to racism that people call it cultural racism.
It’s as similar to racism as any prejudice is. It’s just a lazy term coined, I’d bet, for the sake of quick understanding within the context of its era, rather than for semantic accuracy.
Race/ethnicity is an immutable physical characteristic. Culture is a set of norms and attitudes that people choose to (or not) adhere to. Nobody would fly off the handle if you said new yorkers are stand-offish. It’s generally true - even if it doesn’t necessarily apply to the whole.
“Judge people not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Being German is genetics, like being black.
Not even new-yorkes? Then they are not really that stand offish, aren’t they?
But is is okay to judge people by the color of their flag?
You’re tripping dawg. Your argument is weak, which is why you’re trying so hard to twist people’s words into something they’re not.
Culture is a set of norms, attitudes and behaviors. It’s not racist to predict behavior based on whether said people self-identity themselves as members of those cultures. It’s not a difficult concept to grasp, so stop intentionally misinterpreting what people are saying. What you’re doing at this point is trolling, and you know it.
You feel wrong, unfortunately.
Another commenter said it’s technically racism so not really wrong.
It’s not racist.
If you paint an entire population with the brush of the experience/anecdote of one person, that’s generalization.
But this thread is NOT doing that. This thread is only asking people to share their experiences of places they have visited and people they found to be friendly. It is not meant to pass judgement on everyone from that place.
“What are some countries you’ve visited that shocked you with unexpected friendliness?”
Why would you be shocked by friendliness if you didn’t assume they would be unfriendly? Why would you expect them to be unfriendly? Not-racism…
“Londoners are considered to be cold and rude but I find them to be very pleasant with me.”
Translation: So I turns out this assumption I had of people turned out to be not true. So after I learned that lesson I thought I do the same mistake again but from the other direction and in a group setting"
This is not about if it is the right word to describe it, this is about reducing a group to a stereotype and how wrong that is. Call it cultural racism, culturism or some other shit that doesn’t hurt your feelings because you identify with it.
Y’all can afford to visit another country?
Cambodia. Genuinely the nicest, and most helpful, people I have ever encountered all throughout the country. I was told about their general friendliness before, but was blown away by actually seeing it firsthand.
Turkey
People love to make exaggerated statements on the internet for attention but I can say very truly that the spirit of the people changed me inside and it helped start my sobriety journey
China. The people are super nice, sweet, helpful, lovely people. It’s just their government I hate. I don’t know if they hate it too or not since they’re not free to say but I think they’re nice people and they deserve better.
Turkey! I had such a wonderful visit there as a teen in no small part because of the locals we met.
Turkey is an amazing country with amazing people in it
The unfortunate part is their leader is the opposite and is currently holding their country and people hostage
I mean Turks are currently giving Erdogan hell; let’s hope they succeed.
Same with most countries. The people are nice but the politicians are not
Yeah, I would say the same thing about Americans (yes I know you’re Americans too. I think we all know I mean the US). If you meet MAGA on the street in a non-political way, they might be super nice. You might have a great interaction. I have traveled around the world and I maintain that food service personnel in the US are the friendliest. I’m guessing many of them are MAGA.
Food service people are not MAGA for the most part. The owner of the restaurant is probably MAGA and all the servers probably hate him.
Also, American culture, especially in the South is to be kind to people at face value
Taiwan.
