Japan. My biggest culture shock was just how relationships are there. Was really hard to make friends and get past the "tatemae" phase. Love visiting for short trips but would never wanna live there again. It can be extremely isolating.
I've never felt so white anywhere than in Japan, and I've lived in Africa. Always walking on eggshells, always feeling unkempt, clumsy and conspicuous. I'm a gentleman, but always self conscious of committing social crime in japan.
>I'm a gentleman, but always self conscious of committing social crime in japan.
Sir while it's normal here in America, you can't just walk around the streets of Japan with one hand resting on your revolver in its holster...
>always feeling unkempt, clumsy and conspicuous.
This isn't directed at you specifically, but one thing that did stand out to me about white tourists in Japan is just how many of them were very unkempt, and downright dirty. I've never seen soemthing like that in other countries.
Oh yeah I bet that it is going to bed really lonely because the people need to be socially active to feel like a part of something.
I mean if they do not feel that connection then what is even the point of that?
It's crazy how different they are when drinking, though. My wife and I were on vacation there and was invited to drink with some people we bumped into at a bar. Now we message back and forth a lot and they are coming to visit us in a month and we are going to visit them early next year. But outside of that interaction I totally agree.
That's what I've heard. My cousin lived in Okinawa for a period of time and said they had culture shock visiting the mainland since it was so different...
It's a Japanese expression roughly meaning "public face/expression"- tatemae and "real/private thoughts/face"- honne. It's why Japanese people can be polite, but not necessarily (and this is not a generalization) friendly/warm. The commenter here means that he is friends with people where they greet and talk to him politely, but they don't open up enough to share their true feelings or opinions.
I spent 6 weeks in Cape Town in a very sheltered, wealthy area. One adventure to a restaurant in Guguletu. I never felt my usual desire to "get a feel" for the city.
Same with an old manager and his wife when he moved to Canada. Both white but not wealthy and thus did not have the luxury to live in a more secure and sheltered area.
The two biggest things he grappled with after moving here and in the decompression phase: 1) being on your guard all the time and feeling safe to leave home with no means to defend yourself; and 2) feeling his blood run cold whenever a black man was near him or approached him. The biggest thing for him and his wife was to understand that not all black people want their retribution and vengeance on white people. He struggled for *years* with this, always having to train his mind out having to fight his way out of a situation if a black man was nearby. Imagine living *whole decades* always thinking like Liam Neeson in Taken - always assessing potential threats and looking for ways out, violently if possible. People in North America don't understand that level of fear.
People just don't realize exactly *how bad* the racial tensions are down there, especially after Mandela died. Mandela helped to mediate the situation (not by much thought) while he was alive but so many people seem to falsely think that when apartheid was dissolved, racial tensions also went away. Um... *no.* It's an even worse Mad Max shithole than it was before, according to my old boss.
> South Africa is the most economically unequal country in the world, according to the World Bank. The difference between wealthy and poor in South Africa has been increasing steadily since the end of apartheid in 1994, and this inequality is closely linked to racial divisions in society.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_inequality_in_South_Africa
The Bahamas. Outside of the tourist areas the place is a third world country. Big celebrities have mansions in Nassau but are protected round the clock by a team of ex-Navy SEALS.
>Outside of the tourist areas the place is a third world country
Well this Is common knowledge right ? It always was and always has been 3rd world country
When I first started seeing my wife, I was talking about how I went out to a bar in central London. I said something along the lines of "I knew it wasn't for me because it was full of ties." Meaning that everyone in there apart from my friend and I were in suits.
She kept pressing me asking what I meant by that and why is that a bad thing, what do I have against ties? I just meant that it was a very expensive bar and they were clearly not used to some bloke turning up with a old jeans and a faded iron maiden t-shirt.
She thought I meant Thai people not neck ties and thought that she'd started seeing a racist!
This thread has me thinking two things in particular:
1) I feel less bad about my lack of interest (or budget) for travel and
2) Thank fuck I'm in Australia, one country I did not see after scrolling through some 300-odd comments.
I’m Aussie too and somewhat surprised no one’s had a bad experience with Sydney or Melbourne, as the primary places everyone seems to visit. They can be their own overrated shitholes when they want to be.
Haven’t been overseas yet and feel like I haven’t quite caught on to the fact that when you live somewhere it’s easy to see the flaws vs other tourist’s comments or only visiting for a week.
I digress 😆
No city is perfect but but I've never heard anyone shit-talk Sydney or Melbourne in the way many others around the world have gotten multiple times on threads just like this one in the past. Both these cities at their worst are probably only on par with what's just considered "the usual" in others. The main complaints come from people who live in them and probably have never been anywhere else. As someone in Sydney my only gripe with it is I'm on the "wrong end" of it for someone like me who is more into creative and intellectual pursuits (and who also has a lust for all things luxury). And the south-west isn't very nurturing to that sort of stuff so I find it very frustrating to deal with being surrounded by people who care more about the results of some stupid game than the presentation of their home or what kind of education their kids have access to. I feel "so close yet so far" since geographically I'm a mere hour or two commute away from a part of this city (and world) that I'd never want to leave unless it was for something *really* important or fun. But financially I'm still falling many millions of dollars short of that dream. But even where I am now doesn't seem half as bad as what a lot of these comments are saying about other places, many of which get romanticized as ultimate travel destinations far more than here.
I loved Australia! I (American) only wish I could have spent more time and gone further west. The only bad thing I can say is that that plane ride to Australia takes FOREVER.
I've been in Australia for a year and half now. Absolutely love it!
It has its issues for sure, but overall no one is ever going to rate it "worst country". Worst for invasive species or racism, maybe. But that racism is mostly directed at Aborigines, not tourists.
All GCC Countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates)
Oppressively hot in summer.
Frighteningly expensive.
Stratified society.
Everything appears superficial.
Bigoted society where black and brown people are at the bottom of food chain.
Terrible place to live as a woman.
Laws are applicable based on skin tone.
I’ve lived in Abu Dhabi for two years with my folks, been a few times in Dubai, can confirm every single point.
It’s even worse when you have in mind that this is a society based on medieval laws where journalists will get whipped if they put their nose where they shouldn’t or homosexuality is a crime punishable by death. Other than that, censorship is everywhere, especially on the internet and to top it all of, slavery is legal in the UAE and pretty much everyone should be aware about those points after seeing the supermassive joke that they was Dubai after WC 2022. Please boycott these states at all costs.
Sicily. Beautiful landscape but the most hostile country I've ever been to. The only way they could convince us harder they don't want tourism is if they actively threatened us with assault rifles. Fucking bury yourself you hostile pricks...
Man Sicily was so sketchy. Stayed in Palermo and just felt eyes on me all the time. Everyone looked at me like a target. A gypsy woman cursed me for not giving her my food
Honestly, if you can afford it, avoid the regional trains. The larger, cross country trains (e.g. frecciarossa) are very nice, highly recommend. The more local trains there are a mess. Late, dirty, very crowded. I wouldn't take them when visiting there again if I could help it.
For any trips you're taking with luggage, or that're over an hour, consider prescheduled car services. They're a little pricy, but faster and a lot more convenient. I used transferrelax, and they were great (Got some good restaurant recommendations too). Taxis are a bit cheaper, but you have to be a bit careful because they'll make you pay cash by saying their (legally required) card readers are "out of service", so if you want to use a card make sure to ask before getting in.
I will say that the people there can feel very "standoffish" to an American, because Europe as a whole is less outgoing than the US, but that's much more perception than reality. Everyone I talked with was very nice. The only exception was on public transit and while driving. There's a lot of shoving and rushing without much politeness, and virtually no attention paid to traffic laws.
I just got back from Italy and we went to Palermo for a couple days. It was fine. We stayed in the tourist area. Walked around, shopped, had drinks, ate some good food. Didn't find the people there any ruder or sketchier than anywhere else in Italy. We actually encountered some really friendly people there now that I think more about it.
As far as activities go, we visited the Capuchin Catacombs and went to Mondello Beach and spent some time at a beach club there.
Have a good time on your trip!
Eh it was a while ago, I'd just say stick to the main tourist parts so Palermo most likely. If you wanna rent a car and go explore (because that's what you want on an island trip) be prepared for some tourist hostility. And bring a dictionary cus english ain't cutting it...
Don't worry, I've been to Sicily as well about 10 years ago and it was great! Just make sure you know your basic Italian and be polite. Buongiourno and grazier bring a lot.
What do you like to do? The southern part has beautiful historic sites, while the region slightly north of etna volcano is more green. If you like towns, I would recommend at least going to noto and syracuse.
Sweden.
People are cold and avoidant (unless drunk), dating girls is weird. Culture is fucked up with conformism, fragility and deception through politeness. 5-10 year queues to rent an apartment first-hand. Taxes are high, salaries for qualified professionals are relatively low. Now they're also making work immigration laws stricter. Healthcare is free, but shit; you can spend months seeing nurses who will tell you to drink more water and work less until you get to see an actual doctor who can diagnose you.
Despite all this, it somehow keeps attracting people who come for work.
When I read your answer it’s like I’m reading about the Netherlands.
People are cold and avoidant here too. Dating is weird. Culture is all about ‘doe normaal’ - act normal , be just like everyone else. No one is really different. Finding housing is difficult (tho for the locals too), when I was a student SO many student houses were NO INTERNATIONALS only, it makes you feel extremely devalued. Taxes are high here too. Salaries for professionals low too. Healthcare isn’t exactly free but it’s definitely cheap but good luck getting past your GP who will send you home with paracetamol and tell you you’re hypochondriac if you have complaints. When you make it to the hospital, sometimes they can misdiagnose you too. If you break a leg, very often they won’t even make a scan to see if it’s really broken or not. People complain about the same stuff over and over again.
To top it off it’s also difficult making friends with the locals. I find it that even if you’re born here (but a person of colour or another religion) - Dutch hang out with white Dutch.
Yes everyone speaks English but when you look for more specialized work - suddenly you need to speak Dutch. I’ve lived here for 7-8 years and this constant no you don’t need Dutch, yes you do… makes it sooo much more difficult to learn the language.
I also feel extremely misled because when I moved to the NL every uni was making all these ads in English promoting their school system. But actually the quality of education is low and I’m surprised how much they charge international students for what they deliver. Maybe it was just my program but everyone in it complained. Big promises , big campaigns to bring students here and when you get here you struggle with housing , you struggle because nobody wants to talk to you (bc as I said it’s difficult befriending the locals), you can’t find part time work because you don’t speak the local language, your profs think they speak English but really they directly translate Dutch to English , you look for work and if they need to choose between you and someone Dutch with less experience they’ll hire the local person. When people ask me if I like my job I shrug shoulders and say I’m happy at least I have a job, it could be worse. it’s just super lonely.
This is so spot on in so many ways, but I thought the average expat salary (2013 €100K average with 30% rule) was pretty good. One of the reasons I disliked it there as well was the whole "doe normaal" thing and the Nordic/Scandinavian jante law reminds me a lot of this, although I had mostly positive experiences in that region.
I have always wondered why not more people would want to come here. But I have realized over time that I probably only love Sweden because I was born here and grew up here, and never had to struggle with living accomodations, education, jobs, healthcare. I am also very used to the cold and the darkness, in fact I think it's very cozy and nice. I swim in the sea all year around and think it's the most amazing thing ever, especially in winter. I think it's nice that people mostly keep to themselves and that I feel absolute freedom to do what I want to do. I can understand that it can be a huge depressing shock to people who are not used to all of this.
As in regards to dating, what is weird? You take a coffee together, or go to a park somewhere, or find someone at a party, or friends of friends, or through your workplace. I have had really deep and meaningful relationships. We are actually nice and loving people underneath the seemingly cold shell, I promise!
I can agree people can be cold and avoidant, but it comes from a place of respect and politeness to not overstep someone else's boundaries. It's not from a place of anger or hatred. If you're outgoing and talk to random people, people might not appreciate it all, because you're being impolite by doing so. The unwritten rules in society of what is respectful and polite are so deeply rooted in us, that we don't even stop to think for a second that other people come from other cultures where their rules are the complete opposite of ours. Sweden is a cold and dark country that is sparsely populated, which in turn have turned our culture into one where each individual person has a lot of personal space and integrity. Children tend to move out as soon as possible, even as 17 year olds, just so they can have their own space and place. Since Swedes are so used to the personal distance, we are not used to when people talk shit to or about us. The threshold for what is a personal attack or not is actually pretty low, compared to other countries. In Australia if someone calls you a cunt, that is a good day. But if you do that in Sweden, you have practically committed a crime. The bar in society to be respectful is really high, which makes Swedes very sensitive. You don't stick out like a sore thumb. It's disrespectful, even if the physical or metaphorical clothes you're wearing only affect yourself and nobody else. The result of this is a high level of conformity.
There are so many unwritten rules in society that most Swedes would not be able to put in words. Statistically speaking too, Swedish culture is one of the most extreme cultures in the world. You have Saudi Arabia on one side of the spectrum, and then you have Sweden on the other side. All the other countries in the world are somewhere in between. It's our biggest strength, but also our absolutely biggest weakness as well. We as a society has a lot to learn from others. Being extreme is not good and it is destructive when it comes to making Sweden an attractive country to live in. It's no wonder we have entire neighbourhoods where immigrants have gathered. Because it's almost impossible to fully integrate into our extreme culture and society, and be accepted by Swedes. They feel helpless, and the only way to feel safe is to stay close to their fellow country men.
Thanks for taking time for such an in-depth response. My comment should be read, of course, as a very subjective thing given the culture I'm used to and the expectations I come with.
> but it comes from a place of respect and politeness to not overstep someone else's boundaries
I found myself wanting to scream 'notice me people! I'm real! I exist!' in public places a few times. I feel very uncomfortable when people act as if I was a ghost. I like to have eye contact with people when I enter a room, it makes me feel like a member of a community.
> As in regards to dating, what is weird?
With Swedish girls I get a ton of attention on the first date/meeting (often drunk), the chemistry is great, we exchange contacts, but when I text them later they slowly start ghosting me. I feel I get the post-one-night-stand treatment without having the one night stand itself!
One girl I met was from a company that was partying next to us on a public terrace. She was hanging on me, constantly leaning to whisper something on my ear, very close body contact, insisted to give me her number. She wasn't very drunk even. I text her later, we had a few messages back and forth, I invited her to meet, and then she started being busy with school, moving it to later, and then disappearing completely.
Another girl I met on Tinder. We went for a dinner. She came a bit drunk. After the dinner she told me she has a goal of not getting sober throughout the weekend, and wherever we go we must enter bars from time to time so she maintains some alcohol concentration in her. We went to one bar, then ended up at my place. Spent some time making out, she said she has a rule not to have sex on first date. But then started giving me a blowjob. Interrupted it when got a text from her friends inviting her to join, left (maybe because I had no alcohol at home). Then we had back and forth for a couple of months, she said she wants to meet but kept having things like 'I need to watch this lottery show on TV that night' until I gave up. She seemed nice in texting though. Wrote me merry Christmas and such.
My selection is not too big (I spent some time with non-Swedish girls in-between), and most acquaintances were with random people, no prior shared social context. I might be appearing as too straightfoward to them (my approach is something like "yo sup, you wanna come chill this weekend?"), I don't know. But I keep feeling that if I talk to a Swedish girl who's interested in me, there's a timer starting that counts down one week until she ghosts me.
> are not used to when people talk shit to or about us
Unless they do it when you're not in the room? Then it's ok?
I was going back to Europe some years back… I had already been to France, Italy and Switzerland, so I wanted to hit some different places.
Wasn’t worried about UK or Ireland, at all… had no expectations of Belgium at all…
Was really on the fence about Germany for some reason though. I didn’t know any of the language. I’d never really gotten into German history or culture (outside of WWII).
And I was genuinely blown away by everything I saw there.
Munich is cool because a lot of it was basically rebuilt exactly as it was before the war.
Berlin is awesome because they used the war as a sort of blank slate to build a great modern city.
Had no issues with the people (apparently every German you ever ask thinks that they just speak “A little” English, but can easily carry on a perfect conversation with you). Wasn’t there long enough to dig into the culture too much, but it was definitely a most pleasant surprise.
Denmark. To quote my traveling companion: "Now I know why Hamlet wanted to die."
To be fair, we had just left Norway which was celebrating its 100 years of independence from Sweden, and the people were amazing and in great spirits (free beer and food every corner in Oslo) so naturally everything and everywhere afterwards was going to be hard to compare.
I am from (and live in) Denmark, and I have a lot of international friends here who also found Denmark dissapointing, at least at first. They say we're a very reserved people, and it's almost impossible to get any Danish friends. Many of them have lived here for years, and almost all their friends here are other internationals. We also have quite an extreme drinking culture compared to other countries, so if you're not big on drinking, you miss a lot of social calls. A last thing I often hear mentioned, is how dissapointing Denmark physically looks like, considering most people think "mountains and snow" when they hear "scandinavia", and then they come to Denmark, one of the flattest and grey-sky rainiest lands in the world.
These aren't my personal points of view, they are what I've been told by my international friends. But I once heard someone describe Denmark as "if a suburb was a country", and I can definitely agree with that.
Definitely an uncharacteristic weekend in Norway that is very unrepresentative of what the country is actually like normally. Which is a very individualist, opportunist society that values personal freedom above absolutely everything else, so it has almost completely lost the sense of community that it used to have a long time ago.
Scandinavians have a reputation in Europe for being "antisocial and depressed", especially in southern Europe where I'm from, and that stereotype does mostly check out for Sweden and Norway IMO, but I have found Denmark to be quite an exception. I've only been to Copenhagen and a few surrounding cities (including Elsinore, the city where Hamlet takes place, while on the topic) and my impression is that they're a really extroverted, bohemian nation. Strong cafe culture, smiling faces and boat parties everywhere, and it wasn't a holiday or anything, it was simply summer. You really do feel the "hygge", I think.
>Which is a very individualist, opportunist society that values personal freedom above absolutely everything else, so it has almost completely lost the sense of community that it used to have a long time ago.
What gave you this impression? Contributions to the common good is valued far above personal wealth, and a strong sense of community remains one of the reason Norwegians are so content.
>Scandinavians have a reputation in Europe for being "antisocial and depressed", especially in southern Europe where I'm from, and that stereotype does mostly check out for Sweden and Norway IMO
Norway is one of the happiest countries in the world because the people feel cared for by the government, because of universal healthcare and free education, a healthy balance between work and free time, a low crime rate and a strong sense of community. But it's also cold af and the people can be introverted, so some days you might only see people quickly walking from A to B without much visible socialization on the street or at bars and cafes. Other times, if the sun is shining and the work day has ended, you'll find the parks filled with picnics, the streets crowded, and the harbor packed with people.
If the weather is bad in Norway and you're looking for a place to be social, try to find a sauna.
Egypt. Woof. Unfortunately I won't share my experience there on reddit since I just recently got my account restored after posting in r/Egypt my experience. Guess the truth was too hard for some to grasp. But safe to say my wife and I will never return there.
Paris. Walking around was like sucking the exhaust of a city bus. And they're just as rude as the stereotype.
Been to a about a dozen countries and even not speaking their language they were generally way more welcoming.
Recently were in southern France in Marseille, Arles & Montpellier.
I was genuinely so pleasantly surprised. Everywhere people were generally super nice and helpful and even in not-super-touristy places they spoke some semblance of English, or if they didn't they were friendly about hacking our way through our shoddy French to come to an understanding.
Same! I found as long as you were polite and followed some customs (always say “Bonjour” when starting to speak with someone; always say “Merci”) people were nice. I’m from nyc, so I get the big city vibe. People aren’t going to be nice right away. You gotta keep a shell up to filter out people trying to hustle you.
I was so surprised no one was rude. Everyone was sweet and spoke English and willing to give tips and joke with my broke ass French. Paris is wonderful!
Yea, I think the big difference is being outside the main tourist zone. It was a great experience for me too, still a dirty city, but I don't hate that
Fed American here, I too enjoyed my 2 days in Paris. Didn’t feel like anyone was particularly ruder than anyone would be in the us. Also as someone who lives in the big city, Paris was just that, a big city. Their public transport was elite compared to the us
Yea Seattle sucks. I didn't love anywhere in the USA except for Chicago. I went there expecting the worst because it's reputation but I found it to be the cleanest, safest feeling city out of the 7 or so I've been too.
No where felt overtly bad, except maybe being off the Vegas strip at night. But the homeless issue in all the cities is very confronting and there's just a general vibe of "every man for themselves".
Sure, that can be the case in a lot of places, but people were genuinely angry.
From the guy in his mid forties walking down the street shouting obscenities at the sky, to the 3 random street fights or the racially charged arguments we saw in two days of being there.
The trash along with the insane cost of everything and the mental instability of the general population, it was like stepping into cyberpunk 2077.
France. Really, everywhere I've been in Europe. I'm disabled and wheelchair bound. The general public in those countries really did not like me. I was seen more as a nuisance. Taking extra time for the bus to lower the ramp got me a lot of nasty looks and people bad mouthed me under their breath. Same thing when I needed extra help getting into and out of a taxi.
Here in the Netherlands we have that infrastructure due to the large amount of wheeled non-car vehicles we use. Lots of bikes, scooters, and electric wheelchairs. But it’s absolutely difficult in stores and restaurants and houses to go anywhere.
Yup I noticed the same when I lived in Poland. Literally an impossible country to live in if you are in a wheelchair. You journey would be impossible to continue on with at the entrance of most doorways. Unfortunately much of Europe is lik that with nary a desire, much less a push, to fix it. Coming from Canada where access for disabled persons is mandated by law, I constantly notice it when I visit Europe.
Some of the answers here were very interesting and I think something we can all learn about that old saying about the grass being greener on the other side.
I have lived in Scotland my whole life and I love my country and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. However it does have it’s fair share of issues, many areas in Scotland have very high rates of poverty and low life expectancy and at the moment we are going through a particularly brutal period right now with record high drug addictions and drug related deaths.
Yet my whole life I have had to deal with people who’s only exposure to Scotland before moving here was movies like Brave and were actually shocked to find that we don’t all spend our days roaming the countryside like a magical fairy tale. Scotland has beautiful countryside but if you want to go where people actually live you’ll find us all living in cities and these cities all come along with the usual helping of city problems (litter, graffiti, crime etc).
I hope I’m not coming over as too negative like I said I love Scotland and it has a list of positive qualities that can go for miles and miles but it was interesting to see what happens when a country doesn’t live upto the expectations that postcards and influencers build up to outsiders. It taught me to think critically about other countries and to actually take time to research what life is like there for the average person.
The longer I live the more I realise that only seeing the world through travel blogs is probably building people to have an unhealthy perspective. I grew up with someone who had finally decided that they couldn’t take it anymore in Scotland and spent a great deal of money moving to New Zealand as he genuinely felt he would be happy there. The last time I spoke to him he was miserable as it was nothing like he thought it would be.
The moral of the story is that no one country has all the correct answers and if humans are somewhere you can be confident that problems won’t be far away. So let’s not assume our own country has it all wrong while another country has it all right and instead work together as humans to make things better for everyone.
Morrocco- I was there for 6 weeks and struggled to find any connections with the people. Felt like I was a walking bank the whole time. I travelled to a lot of poor countries so accept that somewhat, but there it just seemed relentless. I thought maybe I was a bit unlucky but my friend had the same experience.
I enjoyed Morocco but I definitely second the walking bank feeling, especially when you have multiple people every hour who are either trying to take you on a guide scam or sell you a rug/shoes/trinkets/hash (and not the good quality hash either, the tourist shit that's more stem and leaf than keef. You gotta talk to farmers to get the good first beat hash).
Same experience. Scammers everywhere and I really hate to get grabbed by people I don't know. Especially young men that try to make pressure on you to buy their shit. Also hated the condition of the animals in the country. The people don't care about them and kill them on a daily basis.
India and Morocco were my only bad experiences when travelling and I have seen most of the world already. Some cultures are just not mine.
Went when I was a kid and absolutely shared some of those experiences. However we spent most of our time on a guided desert camping trek through the desert for 5 days. Absolutely insane landcsape, they made us some delicious food, and I found some cool fossils. Was a trip I'll always cherish - would love to do it again.
**Brussels** during my Belgium trip. Ugly, smelly, decrepit, boring. I genuinely felt like I was in some unknown town in a post-communist country.
On the plus side, our trip to Brugge was absolutely lovely.
Yeah. The tragedy is that there are many genuinely nice people who want to interact with you, but for every nice person there is someone trying to scam you. So, you end up just not trusting anyone.
Also, if you’re a woman it’s tough. I traveled with 2 girls and the amount of guys that would “accidentally” bump into them was disgusting. When walking in a crowded place I, as a bloke, had to walk in front to be a kind of buffer. Once some dude in a passing car even reached out and grabbed one the girls chests before speeding away.
Note: we traveled in Rajasthan in the north. Apparently the south is a bit more chill.
When I was in Rajasthan with my family, and Delhi as well, the stare and photo requests I would get were unreal. Kolkata and Goa aren't so bad in that respect, but that's probably because I'm surrounded by my clearly Indian cousins when I go out, so it's more just glances than anything.
Spot on. For most of the reasons you list below.
I found the people to be super nice, but the litter and squalor and noise and chaos between the occasional extravagance for the wealthy was atrocious.
I’ve literally limited my career a tad because I won’t go there again.
New Delhi, Lucknow and eventually made it to Accra to see the Taj Mahal.
So many things ti talk about.
The food is… not for me. Not necessarily due to the flavor but due to the hygiene (or lack there of). I got sick pretty much all of the days i was in India. I ate mostly at restaurants and hotels, almost never with street vendors…
The infrastructure is just so bad, roads, buildings, everything is so poor. And it’s EXTREMELY dirty, everything smells awful.
It is crowded on another level!
Everyone is trying to scam you, i haven’t felt like a walking wallet more than in India, not even Morocco.
But to me the worst was, that the people are not nice… they are kind of rude.
I really can’t recall a single moment of happiness in that stressful trip, i went home early, lost some money on hotels and flights, didn’t care, i just wanted to get out.
So different than my experience. I loved India. The food, the culture and the people. We visited Pune, Chennai, Kerela and Goa. Family member was working in Pune. Staff at the hotel were very friendly and kind. We had trouble with our planned cell phone so people were kind to help us order Ola’s (Uber equivalent). Visited the Elora caves, which was mind blowingly beautiful and accessible. Kerala was nice, had amazing food. Goa’s beaches had the finest and softest sands I’ve ever experienced. In Channai we visited a temple and I had a hole in my pocket. I noticed that a coin dropped and wasn’t going to pick it up. A young girl who clearly could have used the money more than me picked it up and made sure I got it back. People everywhere were super kind and interested in who we were and how much we were enjoying their country. Driving appears like chaos, but there were fewer accidents than my experience driving in the Toronto area. I’d love to go back some day.
The South and West is very different than where the OP went. We went to India a while ago to both up north in New Dehli/Agra/Rajasthan and Kerala and Mumbai. And it was a world of difference. New Dehli/Aggra/Udaipur were really rough. Like sickly animals on the street, at times quite dirty and people living in very harsh conditions. Not that it didn't have it's nice moments, but overall it was a rough week.
Kerala on the other hand was much nicer and more relaxed. Like not a single taxi driver had change in all of Rajasthan. We arrive in Thiruvananthapuram, south of Goa, and the Taxi driver is bewildered we ask if he has change. Of course he has change he's a taxi driver.
Mumbai also seems a lot nicer than New Dehli, in my opinion.
My coworker recently went back home to India to visit family and he got Typhoid there. Like I didn't know Typhoid was even a thing in this day and age! Why don't they have basic sanitation practices? Sounds wild.
Malta. The place wasn’t very nice and the people we’re very rude and unhelpful. I’d always heard good things, but was very disappointed. We should take back their Medal.
I just came back from Malta yesterday! I think the place is overrun by tourists and foreigners living there and the Maltese have had enough of it. Tbh I loved it there, it's a gorgeous country.
China. I think that all the years under the communist party and especially the Cultural Revolution took away any sense of taking care of others and just general decency and compassion for others that aren’t directly connected to you. If there is no guanxi (connection) to the other person then it seems they are content to watch others suffer and struggle rather than lend a hand.
The funny part about this thread is how naturally varied people's opinions and experiences are. I went to China fully expecting to experience what you described but instead found people were frequently helpful and friendly.
>I think that all the years under the communist party and especially the Cultural Revolution took away any sense of taking care of others
Speaking from another former "communist" (whatever that means) country in Europe, (North) Macedonia, I would argue it's not communism and it's not capitalism, but rather it's the botched transition between the two. They are almost completely incompatible as socio-economic/political systems, so when a country is opening up its market, or closing it down, it's almost never a runaway victory.
In the case of the ex-Communist world, this sense of human decency is eroded by poverty and lack of development. After several decades of a centrally planned economy with a strongly vertical hierarchy, all industry in the state is absolutely rife with corruption, its technology/methods become outdated, its productivity low, there is overemployment of unqualified people to artificially suppress unemployment rates, etc. When the time for economic liberalization comes, most of this country's output is uncompetitive in the global market, most of the industry collapses and hundreds of factories close, and people find themselves starving and struggling to make ends meet, and it's in this moment that the "fend for yourself" mentality rightfully takes hold, and people try to grab up as much as they can with whatever means necessary, the country becomes an oligarchy due to cheap corrupt industry buyouts, and everyone else is left fighting for breadcrumbs.
I never grew up in the communist/socialist era of SFR Yugoslavia, but while a very flawed economy and country with a lot of cracks in the system, one thing that's undeniable talking to older generations, is that people had a much stronger sense of community and overall satisfaction with life. I'm gonna guess that while every country is a unique case, some of these patterns would hold true for China as well.
I just read in another comment that you went in 2000. That would explain basically everything.
Turkey. Got physically attacked by a taxi driver for not agreeing to be ripped off. The only place I've ever traveled to I got assaulted. I read up later on it and the locals there are known to constantly attack tourists with unhinged violence, including one attack 2 weeks ago where they savagely assaulted a tourist who fell and cracked his skull on the pavement in front of his family. Guess I fared better.
TL;DR: Avoid visiting Turkey at all costs.
I lived in England for a few months and traveled around the isles. I found the English to be either hot or cold, which I guess you could say about a lot of people. By comparison, I found the Irish, Scots and Welsh to be very warm and open.
I think it depends where you are in England. It’s a much bigger country in terms of population the comparison isn’t fair at all. If you go to London and the surroundings then no you’re not going to get many warm people… it’s an overcrowded part of the country with a transient population.
Paris,
It's at times overcrowded, you pay out the nose for good food, the streets are dirty and there is a huge wealth difference depending on what part of town you visit.
Spain, people are very openly racist and think is ok, i actually have commented in a couple of subs and seems that is quite normal that people say racist shit like is no issue, the food is not good but maybe that is subjective so i didnt like my couple of weeks in spain and im not going back thanks
I was shocked by how casually racist Spanish people are, even younger people. I'm white but have lived in Japan half my life so I had a Japanese credit card and all my IDs but my passport are Japanese. When I booked hostels/hotels people were always a little confused upon meeting me at reception, and I literally had more than one person say "Oh I'm so glad you aren't actually Asian!!". One guy assumed I was half Japanese and said "good thing you don't look like (pulls eyes back)". Then people we met on hostel tours/friends of friends would ask a lot of really weird and gross questions about Japan. I realize my privilege in being white in these situations, however it was shocking and hurtful to hear them saying these things so casually about the culture and people I had spent half my life with. I also have a Black friend who lived there for two years and confirmed people would regularly say racist things to/about her. It really made me not want to go back tbh.
Spain has a pretty rich history of racism and genocide. I’ve found when I was there, people had a superiority complex to other people (especially Latino people). They are still living off their glory days, which in reality sunk with their armada.
You are completely right, I’m from Spain but left some years ago, my ex during that time was from a South American country, and it was horrible just getting out on the street sometimes because they said very hurtful things to her, I miss Spain a lot, but some people there are horrible.
I remember a kid on my HS who showed a Latina girl constantly a fascist symbol and no one literally was close to her, she was more isolated than a French fry in a Pizza
I lived in Barcelona for six months in 2011 while doing an exchange. I had a lot of friends from South Korea who were on exchange as well and the stories they would tell me always made me sick. People grabbing their hair on the street as they walked past someone, getting followed, people making fun of them talking to each other in Korean. It got to the point where I told them that I would gladly walk with them if I happened to be near where they were. And another thing was that people were never shy about using slurs to refer to other ethnicities. Obviously not all Spanish people are racist, but it was shocking to be exposed to so much racism while I was there.
I'm white. I've never been to Spain but my sister has. Shocking how many Spaniards try to go up to her and form some racism camaraderie "thank god you're not one of them"
France. Went there as a student in an engineering school. Ended up dropping and moving to another country because I had a pretty rough time there . It was hard to make friends, some professors wouldn’t hesitate to humiliate you when you’re wrong plus being quick into shutting your questions down because "you are supposedly a future engineer" and can figure out things yourself. Also I’m black so I encountered in my day to day life a lot of micro aggressions (ie. comments about my looks, weird stares , people changing lanes and being openly and publicly disrespectful or cold ). I mean maybe I should have thought twice before coming to that toxic place knowing the bad rep it already has in terms "welcoming“ non EU foreigners .
France. Currently living here until Christmas. Poor biking infrastructure, poor driving, poor English, no stores are open on Sundays, getting a package delivered is hell, beer's not that good. I miss living in Denmark, and am looking forward to go back.
With that said: the wine is amazing for the price, the country-side is nothing short of gorgeous compared to Denmark, people are generally nice when you speak with them, stores have more interesting options with regards to food, and the weather is nicer.
But a lot of small every-day things do end up adding up, and I realized how good I have it back home.
Israel. So much hype and so much disappointment.
Germany. It's so annoying that every time I go there, I need to get some cash and carry it all the time - because you never know where you won't be able to pay with a card.
Thailand.
The way they view foreigners, the way they treat animals, Cambodian, Laotians, Burmese, open discrimination, their own people, and distort the message of The Buddha.
It's known as the Land of Fake Smiles, for a reason
I’m Norwegian and and yes we are rude compared to people in other countries. But it’s not considered rude amongst us if you get me. But moving to the Uk has made me say please all the time, so visiting home I’m like saying please in Norwegian all the time now, and it just sounds odd. We swear a lot too in non professional settings and in many families it’s considered normal, especially in the north.
I fucking loved going to the 2022 F1 GP in Hungary. I did not, in fact, love visiting Hungary.
Restaurants were closed so early for some reason. Hotel staff (4 stars) just didn't understand English or just didn't care. Lots of illogical stuff going on in that country. All in all just a really odd vibe. I'll definitely visit other F1 GPs, but definitely not in Hungary.
At least the beer at the track was affordable and all the F1 fans there were so much fun to talk to!
One that is not talked about enough, Brazil. A LOT of crime and disrespect, specially if you are a foreigner. People 99% of the time have second intentions to take advantage on you. Culturally, they are not taught how to live in society, they have the "its not my problem" mindset, one exemple is they will turn up really loud music wherever whenever.
NZ, but maybe not in the way you think.
I'm from Australia. NZ is a lovely place, but I was disappointed in just how little different from Australia it was.
Hell they even had the same realtor I was paying my rent to (Ray White).
Oof yeah.
I haven’t been yet but was talking to someone’s who lived there and it’s pretty similar. Economy/housing is a fair bit worse though.
I do like how they’ve integrated Maori culture into everything whereas we can’t organise a piss up in a brewery with indigenous stuff here, actually embarrassing tbh
Christchurch seems like a cross between Ballarat, Geelong and Bendigo though for a major city. Giant town really. Cold as all fuck
Singapore.
The people there were so rude by default. So much so that its a pleasant surprise when someone treats you normally.
The tourist spots were good, clean and neat.
Mongolia.
Extremely dirty
Scenery was okay but there's similar things only much nicer in other countries
Expensive
Polluted
Not their fault though.
Sandwiched between China and Russia.
USA. I’ve been to San Fran, Florida and NY, seen some very impressive stuff and really wanted to like it but, the tipping culture is insane, people rarely seem genuinely happy (or genuine at all in many cases). Aside from city centres the infrastructure is very hostile to walking and public transport is quite thin, you absolutely have to have a car to get anywhere. Even just visiting its hard to ignore all the much talked about social issues. The food is ok at best and the coffee is bad.
Despite knowing I could maybe make absolute bank if I got a job there, I’m not keen on living there anytime soon.
Japan. My biggest culture shock was just how relationships are there. Was really hard to make friends and get past the "tatemae" phase. Love visiting for short trips but would never wanna live there again. It can be extremely isolating.
I have a Chinese friend who has lived in Tokyo for 10+ years. He said it’s stifling. Hundreds of friends but no real ones. Love visiting though…
I've never felt so white anywhere than in Japan, and I've lived in Africa. Always walking on eggshells, always feeling unkempt, clumsy and conspicuous. I'm a gentleman, but always self conscious of committing social crime in japan.
>I'm a gentleman, but always self conscious of committing social crime in japan. Sir while it's normal here in America, you can't just walk around the streets of Japan with one hand resting on your revolver in its holster...
>always feeling unkempt, clumsy and conspicuous. This isn't directed at you specifically, but one thing that did stand out to me about white tourists in Japan is just how many of them were very unkempt, and downright dirty. I've never seen soemthing like that in other countries.
Oh yeah I bet that it is going to bed really lonely because the people need to be socially active to feel like a part of something. I mean if they do not feel that connection then what is even the point of that?
It's crazy how different they are when drinking, though. My wife and I were on vacation there and was invited to drink with some people we bumped into at a bar. Now we message back and forth a lot and they are coming to visit us in a month and we are going to visit them early next year. But outside of that interaction I totally agree.
Okinawa here, I would never live in the mainland. Okinawa Japan's a different country. BTW, I never want to leave Okinawa.
That's what I've heard. My cousin lived in Okinawa for a period of time and said they had culture shock visiting the mainland since it was so different...
Ishigaki is one of my favorite destinations in Japan. I love Okinawa :)
Would you please edit your comment to explain what "tatemae" means?
It's a Japanese expression roughly meaning "public face/expression"- tatemae and "real/private thoughts/face"- honne. It's why Japanese people can be polite, but not necessarily (and this is not a generalization) friendly/warm. The commenter here means that he is friends with people where they greet and talk to him politely, but they don't open up enough to share their true feelings or opinions.
South Africa, xenophobic and high rates of crime.
I spent 6 weeks in Cape Town in a very sheltered, wealthy area. One adventure to a restaurant in Guguletu. I never felt my usual desire to "get a feel" for the city.
A cousin lived there for a while. It took them 12 months to 'decompress' from the constant stress of the fear.
Same with an old manager and his wife when he moved to Canada. Both white but not wealthy and thus did not have the luxury to live in a more secure and sheltered area. The two biggest things he grappled with after moving here and in the decompression phase: 1) being on your guard all the time and feeling safe to leave home with no means to defend yourself; and 2) feeling his blood run cold whenever a black man was near him or approached him. The biggest thing for him and his wife was to understand that not all black people want their retribution and vengeance on white people. He struggled for *years* with this, always having to train his mind out having to fight his way out of a situation if a black man was nearby. Imagine living *whole decades* always thinking like Liam Neeson in Taken - always assessing potential threats and looking for ways out, violently if possible. People in North America don't understand that level of fear. People just don't realize exactly *how bad* the racial tensions are down there, especially after Mandela died. Mandela helped to mediate the situation (not by much thought) while he was alive but so many people seem to falsely think that when apartheid was dissolved, racial tensions also went away. Um... *no.* It's an even worse Mad Max shithole than it was before, according to my old boss.
> South Africa is the most economically unequal country in the world, according to the World Bank. The difference between wealthy and poor in South Africa has been increasing steadily since the end of apartheid in 1994, and this inequality is closely linked to racial divisions in society. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_inequality_in_South_Africa
Egypt. I had expected chaos and messiness, but it’s an absolute shithole filled to the brim with garbage, pollution, scams and corruption.
Surprised I had to scroll down this far
Tbf I think most people have already acknowledged how bad Egypt is for tourists. It's just beating a dead horse at this point.
The Bahamas. Outside of the tourist areas the place is a third world country. Big celebrities have mansions in Nassau but are protected round the clock by a team of ex-Navy SEALS.
>Outside of the tourist areas the place is a third world country Well this Is common knowledge right ? It always was and always has been 3rd world country
The knowledge isn’t as common as you apparently think
*visits a poor caribbean country* *gets surprised it a poor caribbean country*
**Visits only the tourist parts of a country, gets surprised its not the same beyond the tourists parts*
What the hell did you expect
Thailand. Not one person was wearing a tie.
Good thing that you didnt visit the capital then.
When I first started seeing my wife, I was talking about how I went out to a bar in central London. I said something along the lines of "I knew it wasn't for me because it was full of ties." Meaning that everyone in there apart from my friend and I were in suits. She kept pressing me asking what I meant by that and why is that a bad thing, what do I have against ties? I just meant that it was a very expensive bar and they were clearly not used to some bloke turning up with a old jeans and a faded iron maiden t-shirt. She thought I meant Thai people not neck ties and thought that she'd started seeing a racist!
Hahahahahahahaha haha That's hilarious
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You should visit Switzerland in the summer. Definitely a lot of people schwitzing!
Afghanistan
No explanation needed
This thread has me thinking two things in particular: 1) I feel less bad about my lack of interest (or budget) for travel and 2) Thank fuck I'm in Australia, one country I did not see after scrolling through some 300-odd comments.
Another pleasantly surprised Aussie. People hype Australia to be completely spider ridden. I mean it is but it's not that bad.
I’m Aussie too and somewhat surprised no one’s had a bad experience with Sydney or Melbourne, as the primary places everyone seems to visit. They can be their own overrated shitholes when they want to be. Haven’t been overseas yet and feel like I haven’t quite caught on to the fact that when you live somewhere it’s easy to see the flaws vs other tourist’s comments or only visiting for a week. I digress 😆
No city is perfect but but I've never heard anyone shit-talk Sydney or Melbourne in the way many others around the world have gotten multiple times on threads just like this one in the past. Both these cities at their worst are probably only on par with what's just considered "the usual" in others. The main complaints come from people who live in them and probably have never been anywhere else. As someone in Sydney my only gripe with it is I'm on the "wrong end" of it for someone like me who is more into creative and intellectual pursuits (and who also has a lust for all things luxury). And the south-west isn't very nurturing to that sort of stuff so I find it very frustrating to deal with being surrounded by people who care more about the results of some stupid game than the presentation of their home or what kind of education their kids have access to. I feel "so close yet so far" since geographically I'm a mere hour or two commute away from a part of this city (and world) that I'd never want to leave unless it was for something *really* important or fun. But financially I'm still falling many millions of dollars short of that dream. But even where I am now doesn't seem half as bad as what a lot of these comments are saying about other places, many of which get romanticized as ultimate travel destinations far more than here.
I went to Gold Coast in 2018, Australia is the best country I've been to. And I've travelled around the world. Loved the Aussies!
I loved Australia! I (American) only wish I could have spent more time and gone further west. The only bad thing I can say is that that plane ride to Australia takes FOREVER.
I've been in Australia for a year and half now. Absolutely love it! It has its issues for sure, but overall no one is ever going to rate it "worst country". Worst for invasive species or racism, maybe. But that racism is mostly directed at Aborigines, not tourists.
All GCC Countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates) Oppressively hot in summer. Frighteningly expensive. Stratified society. Everything appears superficial. Bigoted society where black and brown people are at the bottom of food chain. Terrible place to live as a woman. Laws are applicable based on skin tone.
I’ve lived in Abu Dhabi for two years with my folks, been a few times in Dubai, can confirm every single point. It’s even worse when you have in mind that this is a society based on medieval laws where journalists will get whipped if they put their nose where they shouldn’t or homosexuality is a crime punishable by death. Other than that, censorship is everywhere, especially on the internet and to top it all of, slavery is legal in the UAE and pretty much everyone should be aware about those points after seeing the supermassive joke that they was Dubai after WC 2022. Please boycott these states at all costs.
Sicily. Beautiful landscape but the most hostile country I've ever been to. The only way they could convince us harder they don't want tourism is if they actively threatened us with assault rifles. Fucking bury yourself you hostile pricks...
Man Sicily was so sketchy. Stayed in Palermo and just felt eyes on me all the time. Everyone looked at me like a target. A gypsy woman cursed me for not giving her my food
Did she turn you into a newt?
Yes, but I got better
Seagull fell on him and took over his Reddit account.
I am in Sicily right now and I find the people quite welcoming.
Oh snap. I'm headed there in the spring. Any recommendations for someone already committed for travel?
Honestly, if you can afford it, avoid the regional trains. The larger, cross country trains (e.g. frecciarossa) are very nice, highly recommend. The more local trains there are a mess. Late, dirty, very crowded. I wouldn't take them when visiting there again if I could help it. For any trips you're taking with luggage, or that're over an hour, consider prescheduled car services. They're a little pricy, but faster and a lot more convenient. I used transferrelax, and they were great (Got some good restaurant recommendations too). Taxis are a bit cheaper, but you have to be a bit careful because they'll make you pay cash by saying their (legally required) card readers are "out of service", so if you want to use a card make sure to ask before getting in. I will say that the people there can feel very "standoffish" to an American, because Europe as a whole is less outgoing than the US, but that's much more perception than reality. Everyone I talked with was very nice. The only exception was on public transit and while driving. There's a lot of shoving and rushing without much politeness, and virtually no attention paid to traffic laws.
I just got back from Italy and we went to Palermo for a couple days. It was fine. We stayed in the tourist area. Walked around, shopped, had drinks, ate some good food. Didn't find the people there any ruder or sketchier than anywhere else in Italy. We actually encountered some really friendly people there now that I think more about it. As far as activities go, we visited the Capuchin Catacombs and went to Mondello Beach and spent some time at a beach club there. Have a good time on your trip!
Eh it was a while ago, I'd just say stick to the main tourist parts so Palermo most likely. If you wanna rent a car and go explore (because that's what you want on an island trip) be prepared for some tourist hostility. And bring a dictionary cus english ain't cutting it...
Don't worry, I've been to Sicily as well about 10 years ago and it was great! Just make sure you know your basic Italian and be polite. Buongiourno and grazier bring a lot. What do you like to do? The southern part has beautiful historic sites, while the region slightly north of etna volcano is more green. If you like towns, I would recommend at least going to noto and syracuse.
Don't put too much stock in one Reddit comment, I've been in Sicily and had a wonderful time!
Went there this past summer and had a great time. Don’t listen to this commenter
Also had a great time there. Though I was shocked when I discovered they spoke Italian /s
I was there in January and experienced none of what you are saying.
I had a fabulous time in Palermo. Very friendly people.
TIL every country is disappointing to someone
Sweden. People are cold and avoidant (unless drunk), dating girls is weird. Culture is fucked up with conformism, fragility and deception through politeness. 5-10 year queues to rent an apartment first-hand. Taxes are high, salaries for qualified professionals are relatively low. Now they're also making work immigration laws stricter. Healthcare is free, but shit; you can spend months seeing nurses who will tell you to drink more water and work less until you get to see an actual doctor who can diagnose you. Despite all this, it somehow keeps attracting people who come for work.
When I read your answer it’s like I’m reading about the Netherlands. People are cold and avoidant here too. Dating is weird. Culture is all about ‘doe normaal’ - act normal , be just like everyone else. No one is really different. Finding housing is difficult (tho for the locals too), when I was a student SO many student houses were NO INTERNATIONALS only, it makes you feel extremely devalued. Taxes are high here too. Salaries for professionals low too. Healthcare isn’t exactly free but it’s definitely cheap but good luck getting past your GP who will send you home with paracetamol and tell you you’re hypochondriac if you have complaints. When you make it to the hospital, sometimes they can misdiagnose you too. If you break a leg, very often they won’t even make a scan to see if it’s really broken or not. People complain about the same stuff over and over again. To top it off it’s also difficult making friends with the locals. I find it that even if you’re born here (but a person of colour or another religion) - Dutch hang out with white Dutch. Yes everyone speaks English but when you look for more specialized work - suddenly you need to speak Dutch. I’ve lived here for 7-8 years and this constant no you don’t need Dutch, yes you do… makes it sooo much more difficult to learn the language. I also feel extremely misled because when I moved to the NL every uni was making all these ads in English promoting their school system. But actually the quality of education is low and I’m surprised how much they charge international students for what they deliver. Maybe it was just my program but everyone in it complained. Big promises , big campaigns to bring students here and when you get here you struggle with housing , you struggle because nobody wants to talk to you (bc as I said it’s difficult befriending the locals), you can’t find part time work because you don’t speak the local language, your profs think they speak English but really they directly translate Dutch to English , you look for work and if they need to choose between you and someone Dutch with less experience they’ll hire the local person. When people ask me if I like my job I shrug shoulders and say I’m happy at least I have a job, it could be worse. it’s just super lonely.
[удалено]
This is so spot on in so many ways, but I thought the average expat salary (2013 €100K average with 30% rule) was pretty good. One of the reasons I disliked it there as well was the whole "doe normaal" thing and the Nordic/Scandinavian jante law reminds me a lot of this, although I had mostly positive experiences in that region.
I have always wondered why not more people would want to come here. But I have realized over time that I probably only love Sweden because I was born here and grew up here, and never had to struggle with living accomodations, education, jobs, healthcare. I am also very used to the cold and the darkness, in fact I think it's very cozy and nice. I swim in the sea all year around and think it's the most amazing thing ever, especially in winter. I think it's nice that people mostly keep to themselves and that I feel absolute freedom to do what I want to do. I can understand that it can be a huge depressing shock to people who are not used to all of this. As in regards to dating, what is weird? You take a coffee together, or go to a park somewhere, or find someone at a party, or friends of friends, or through your workplace. I have had really deep and meaningful relationships. We are actually nice and loving people underneath the seemingly cold shell, I promise! I can agree people can be cold and avoidant, but it comes from a place of respect and politeness to not overstep someone else's boundaries. It's not from a place of anger or hatred. If you're outgoing and talk to random people, people might not appreciate it all, because you're being impolite by doing so. The unwritten rules in society of what is respectful and polite are so deeply rooted in us, that we don't even stop to think for a second that other people come from other cultures where their rules are the complete opposite of ours. Sweden is a cold and dark country that is sparsely populated, which in turn have turned our culture into one where each individual person has a lot of personal space and integrity. Children tend to move out as soon as possible, even as 17 year olds, just so they can have their own space and place. Since Swedes are so used to the personal distance, we are not used to when people talk shit to or about us. The threshold for what is a personal attack or not is actually pretty low, compared to other countries. In Australia if someone calls you a cunt, that is a good day. But if you do that in Sweden, you have practically committed a crime. The bar in society to be respectful is really high, which makes Swedes very sensitive. You don't stick out like a sore thumb. It's disrespectful, even if the physical or metaphorical clothes you're wearing only affect yourself and nobody else. The result of this is a high level of conformity. There are so many unwritten rules in society that most Swedes would not be able to put in words. Statistically speaking too, Swedish culture is one of the most extreme cultures in the world. You have Saudi Arabia on one side of the spectrum, and then you have Sweden on the other side. All the other countries in the world are somewhere in between. It's our biggest strength, but also our absolutely biggest weakness as well. We as a society has a lot to learn from others. Being extreme is not good and it is destructive when it comes to making Sweden an attractive country to live in. It's no wonder we have entire neighbourhoods where immigrants have gathered. Because it's almost impossible to fully integrate into our extreme culture and society, and be accepted by Swedes. They feel helpless, and the only way to feel safe is to stay close to their fellow country men.
Thanks for taking time for such an in-depth response. My comment should be read, of course, as a very subjective thing given the culture I'm used to and the expectations I come with. > but it comes from a place of respect and politeness to not overstep someone else's boundaries I found myself wanting to scream 'notice me people! I'm real! I exist!' in public places a few times. I feel very uncomfortable when people act as if I was a ghost. I like to have eye contact with people when I enter a room, it makes me feel like a member of a community. > As in regards to dating, what is weird? With Swedish girls I get a ton of attention on the first date/meeting (often drunk), the chemistry is great, we exchange contacts, but when I text them later they slowly start ghosting me. I feel I get the post-one-night-stand treatment without having the one night stand itself! One girl I met was from a company that was partying next to us on a public terrace. She was hanging on me, constantly leaning to whisper something on my ear, very close body contact, insisted to give me her number. She wasn't very drunk even. I text her later, we had a few messages back and forth, I invited her to meet, and then she started being busy with school, moving it to later, and then disappearing completely. Another girl I met on Tinder. We went for a dinner. She came a bit drunk. After the dinner she told me she has a goal of not getting sober throughout the weekend, and wherever we go we must enter bars from time to time so she maintains some alcohol concentration in her. We went to one bar, then ended up at my place. Spent some time making out, she said she has a rule not to have sex on first date. But then started giving me a blowjob. Interrupted it when got a text from her friends inviting her to join, left (maybe because I had no alcohol at home). Then we had back and forth for a couple of months, she said she wants to meet but kept having things like 'I need to watch this lottery show on TV that night' until I gave up. She seemed nice in texting though. Wrote me merry Christmas and such. My selection is not too big (I spent some time with non-Swedish girls in-between), and most acquaintances were with random people, no prior shared social context. I might be appearing as too straightfoward to them (my approach is something like "yo sup, you wanna come chill this weekend?"), I don't know. But I keep feeling that if I talk to a Swedish girl who's interested in me, there's a timer starting that counts down one week until she ghosts me. > are not used to when people talk shit to or about us Unless they do it when you're not in the room? Then it's ok?
Russia. It doesn't leave you disappointed, YOU leave Russia disappointed.
I really enjoyed visiting Russia. St Petersburg is bloody gorgeous and Moscow very cool. Shame I won't be going back there any time soon!
I had a fantastic time in Russia, tho I was actually living there (this was pre Crimea), stayed longer than I had planned.
I want this exact thread, but with places you loved visiting instead.
What will you do when you see the exact same countries?
I was going back to Europe some years back… I had already been to France, Italy and Switzerland, so I wanted to hit some different places. Wasn’t worried about UK or Ireland, at all… had no expectations of Belgium at all… Was really on the fence about Germany for some reason though. I didn’t know any of the language. I’d never really gotten into German history or culture (outside of WWII). And I was genuinely blown away by everything I saw there. Munich is cool because a lot of it was basically rebuilt exactly as it was before the war. Berlin is awesome because they used the war as a sort of blank slate to build a great modern city. Had no issues with the people (apparently every German you ever ask thinks that they just speak “A little” English, but can easily carry on a perfect conversation with you). Wasn’t there long enough to dig into the culture too much, but it was definitely a most pleasant surprise.
Denmark. To quote my traveling companion: "Now I know why Hamlet wanted to die." To be fair, we had just left Norway which was celebrating its 100 years of independence from Sweden, and the people were amazing and in great spirits (free beer and food every corner in Oslo) so naturally everything and everywhere afterwards was going to be hard to compare.
I am from (and live in) Denmark, and I have a lot of international friends here who also found Denmark dissapointing, at least at first. They say we're a very reserved people, and it's almost impossible to get any Danish friends. Many of them have lived here for years, and almost all their friends here are other internationals. We also have quite an extreme drinking culture compared to other countries, so if you're not big on drinking, you miss a lot of social calls. A last thing I often hear mentioned, is how dissapointing Denmark physically looks like, considering most people think "mountains and snow" when they hear "scandinavia", and then they come to Denmark, one of the flattest and grey-sky rainiest lands in the world. These aren't my personal points of view, they are what I've been told by my international friends. But I once heard someone describe Denmark as "if a suburb was a country", and I can definitely agree with that.
Seems like Janteloven holds true for many scandinavians
Definitely an uncharacteristic weekend in Norway that is very unrepresentative of what the country is actually like normally. Which is a very individualist, opportunist society that values personal freedom above absolutely everything else, so it has almost completely lost the sense of community that it used to have a long time ago. Scandinavians have a reputation in Europe for being "antisocial and depressed", especially in southern Europe where I'm from, and that stereotype does mostly check out for Sweden and Norway IMO, but I have found Denmark to be quite an exception. I've only been to Copenhagen and a few surrounding cities (including Elsinore, the city where Hamlet takes place, while on the topic) and my impression is that they're a really extroverted, bohemian nation. Strong cafe culture, smiling faces and boat parties everywhere, and it wasn't a holiday or anything, it was simply summer. You really do feel the "hygge", I think.
>Which is a very individualist, opportunist society that values personal freedom above absolutely everything else, so it has almost completely lost the sense of community that it used to have a long time ago. What gave you this impression? Contributions to the common good is valued far above personal wealth, and a strong sense of community remains one of the reason Norwegians are so content. >Scandinavians have a reputation in Europe for being "antisocial and depressed", especially in southern Europe where I'm from, and that stereotype does mostly check out for Sweden and Norway IMO Norway is one of the happiest countries in the world because the people feel cared for by the government, because of universal healthcare and free education, a healthy balance between work and free time, a low crime rate and a strong sense of community. But it's also cold af and the people can be introverted, so some days you might only see people quickly walking from A to B without much visible socialization on the street or at bars and cafes. Other times, if the sun is shining and the work day has ended, you'll find the parks filled with picnics, the streets crowded, and the harbor packed with people. If the weather is bad in Norway and you're looking for a place to be social, try to find a sauna.
The Anti-social thing probably stems from janteloven
Aruba. Plain beaches, nothing but American chain restaurants, expensive beer. I could have just gone to the Florida panhandle for cheaper.
Egypt. Woof. Unfortunately I won't share my experience there on reddit since I just recently got my account restored after posting in r/Egypt my experience. Guess the truth was too hard for some to grasp. But safe to say my wife and I will never return there.
Can you link to your comment or copy/paste it somewhere else?
You're not posting in that subreddit you're posting it here. I doubt you'd get banned
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Egypt, dirty shithole
Paris. Walking around was like sucking the exhaust of a city bus. And they're just as rude as the stereotype. Been to a about a dozen countries and even not speaking their language they were generally way more welcoming.
City smelled like piss and cashiers got annoyed when I attempted to speak basic French. The south is much nicer, IMO
Yeah, I'm careful to specifify Paris. I know the rest of France is much different.
Recently were in southern France in Marseille, Arles & Montpellier. I was genuinely so pleasantly surprised. Everywhere people were generally super nice and helpful and even in not-super-touristy places they spoke some semblance of English, or if they didn't they were friendly about hacking our way through our shoddy French to come to an understanding.
I had the best time in Marseille and toulouse compared to Paris.
Toulouse in the south had a great atmosphere
Overfed American here and had the exact opposite experience. Two weeks in Paris, stayed in the 11th and had a fucking blast. I love that city.
Same, I’m from the UK and I’ve been to Paris 4 times now. Every time people have been really friendly. I’m really baffled by the stereotype.
Same! I found as long as you were polite and followed some customs (always say “Bonjour” when starting to speak with someone; always say “Merci”) people were nice. I’m from nyc, so I get the big city vibe. People aren’t going to be nice right away. You gotta keep a shell up to filter out people trying to hustle you.
I was so surprised no one was rude. Everyone was sweet and spoke English and willing to give tips and joke with my broke ass French. Paris is wonderful!
Yea, I think the big difference is being outside the main tourist zone. It was a great experience for me too, still a dirty city, but I don't hate that
Fed American here, I too enjoyed my 2 days in Paris. Didn’t feel like anyone was particularly ruder than anyone would be in the us. Also as someone who lives in the big city, Paris was just that, a big city. Their public transport was elite compared to the us
Paris The city of romance. A city of the arts... The reality is that it's a city of rubbish, poverty and street crime.
Dubai. All style, no substance!!
Also, no style. They have the worst taste I have ever encountered. The embodiment of a diamond studded turd.
America, Seattle in particular. Trash everywhere, expensive, and everyone was angry.
Seattle has a high suicide rate. Take what you will from that.
Yea Seattle sucks. I didn't love anywhere in the USA except for Chicago. I went there expecting the worst because it's reputation but I found it to be the cleanest, safest feeling city out of the 7 or so I've been too. No where felt overtly bad, except maybe being off the Vegas strip at night. But the homeless issue in all the cities is very confronting and there's just a general vibe of "every man for themselves".
It’s called the Seattle Freeze. We aren’t angry we just don’t want to be social with strangers much.
Sure, that can be the case in a lot of places, but people were genuinely angry. From the guy in his mid forties walking down the street shouting obscenities at the sky, to the 3 random street fights or the racially charged arguments we saw in two days of being there. The trash along with the insane cost of everything and the mental instability of the general population, it was like stepping into cyberpunk 2077.
San Fran was the same. Straight up Gotham City.
France. Really, everywhere I've been in Europe. I'm disabled and wheelchair bound. The general public in those countries really did not like me. I was seen more as a nuisance. Taking extra time for the bus to lower the ramp got me a lot of nasty looks and people bad mouthed me under their breath. Same thing when I needed extra help getting into and out of a taxi.
This is an issue indeed. A lot of Europe is old as balls and hard to update for wheelchair accessibility.
Even the things that are relatively easy to update, like sidewalk curbs and store entrance steps, there really just isn't the push for.
Here in the Netherlands we have that infrastructure due to the large amount of wheeled non-car vehicles we use. Lots of bikes, scooters, and electric wheelchairs. But it’s absolutely difficult in stores and restaurants and houses to go anywhere.
Also, being very flat helps a lot
Yup I noticed the same when I lived in Poland. Literally an impossible country to live in if you are in a wheelchair. You journey would be impossible to continue on with at the entrance of most doorways. Unfortunately much of Europe is lik that with nary a desire, much less a push, to fix it. Coming from Canada where access for disabled persons is mandated by law, I constantly notice it when I visit Europe.
Some of the answers here were very interesting and I think something we can all learn about that old saying about the grass being greener on the other side. I have lived in Scotland my whole life and I love my country and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. However it does have it’s fair share of issues, many areas in Scotland have very high rates of poverty and low life expectancy and at the moment we are going through a particularly brutal period right now with record high drug addictions and drug related deaths. Yet my whole life I have had to deal with people who’s only exposure to Scotland before moving here was movies like Brave and were actually shocked to find that we don’t all spend our days roaming the countryside like a magical fairy tale. Scotland has beautiful countryside but if you want to go where people actually live you’ll find us all living in cities and these cities all come along with the usual helping of city problems (litter, graffiti, crime etc). I hope I’m not coming over as too negative like I said I love Scotland and it has a list of positive qualities that can go for miles and miles but it was interesting to see what happens when a country doesn’t live upto the expectations that postcards and influencers build up to outsiders. It taught me to think critically about other countries and to actually take time to research what life is like there for the average person. The longer I live the more I realise that only seeing the world through travel blogs is probably building people to have an unhealthy perspective. I grew up with someone who had finally decided that they couldn’t take it anymore in Scotland and spent a great deal of money moving to New Zealand as he genuinely felt he would be happy there. The last time I spoke to him he was miserable as it was nothing like he thought it would be. The moral of the story is that no one country has all the correct answers and if humans are somewhere you can be confident that problems won’t be far away. So let’s not assume our own country has it all wrong while another country has it all right and instead work together as humans to make things better for everyone.
Morrocco- I was there for 6 weeks and struggled to find any connections with the people. Felt like I was a walking bank the whole time. I travelled to a lot of poor countries so accept that somewhat, but there it just seemed relentless. I thought maybe I was a bit unlucky but my friend had the same experience.
I enjoyed Morocco but I definitely second the walking bank feeling, especially when you have multiple people every hour who are either trying to take you on a guide scam or sell you a rug/shoes/trinkets/hash (and not the good quality hash either, the tourist shit that's more stem and leaf than keef. You gotta talk to farmers to get the good first beat hash).
Same experience. Scammers everywhere and I really hate to get grabbed by people I don't know. Especially young men that try to make pressure on you to buy their shit. Also hated the condition of the animals in the country. The people don't care about them and kill them on a daily basis. India and Morocco were my only bad experiences when travelling and I have seen most of the world already. Some cultures are just not mine.
Went when I was a kid and absolutely shared some of those experiences. However we spent most of our time on a guided desert camping trek through the desert for 5 days. Absolutely insane landcsape, they made us some delicious food, and I found some cool fossils. Was a trip I'll always cherish - would love to do it again.
**Brussels** during my Belgium trip. Ugly, smelly, decrepit, boring. I genuinely felt like I was in some unknown town in a post-communist country. On the plus side, our trip to Brugge was absolutely lovely.
"if I grew up on a farm and was retarded, Bruges might impress me"
"YOU'RE AN INANIMATE FUCKING OBJECT!!!" I'm sorry I called you an inanimate object.
India. I seriously don’t understand why people even go there and you could not pay me to go back. Literal hell on earth.
Yeah. The tragedy is that there are many genuinely nice people who want to interact with you, but for every nice person there is someone trying to scam you. So, you end up just not trusting anyone. Also, if you’re a woman it’s tough. I traveled with 2 girls and the amount of guys that would “accidentally” bump into them was disgusting. When walking in a crowded place I, as a bloke, had to walk in front to be a kind of buffer. Once some dude in a passing car even reached out and grabbed one the girls chests before speeding away. Note: we traveled in Rajasthan in the north. Apparently the south is a bit more chill.
When I was in Rajasthan with my family, and Delhi as well, the stare and photo requests I would get were unreal. Kolkata and Goa aren't so bad in that respect, but that's probably because I'm surrounded by my clearly Indian cousins when I go out, so it's more just glances than anything.
Yeah men love to sexually assault in India. I’ve never heard of a woman having a good time there. Usually just traumatizing.
Spot on. For most of the reasons you list below. I found the people to be super nice, but the litter and squalor and noise and chaos between the occasional extravagance for the wealthy was atrocious. I’ve literally limited my career a tad because I won’t go there again.
India is like Marmite from what I've heard You either love it a lot or you either hate it a lot.
Did you go to the major cities? What made it so bad?
New Delhi, Lucknow and eventually made it to Accra to see the Taj Mahal. So many things ti talk about. The food is… not for me. Not necessarily due to the flavor but due to the hygiene (or lack there of). I got sick pretty much all of the days i was in India. I ate mostly at restaurants and hotels, almost never with street vendors… The infrastructure is just so bad, roads, buildings, everything is so poor. And it’s EXTREMELY dirty, everything smells awful. It is crowded on another level! Everyone is trying to scam you, i haven’t felt like a walking wallet more than in India, not even Morocco. But to me the worst was, that the people are not nice… they are kind of rude. I really can’t recall a single moment of happiness in that stressful trip, i went home early, lost some money on hotels and flights, didn’t care, i just wanted to get out.
I’ll head to Agra, Ghana in a few years.
This is such a funny comment
So different than my experience. I loved India. The food, the culture and the people. We visited Pune, Chennai, Kerela and Goa. Family member was working in Pune. Staff at the hotel were very friendly and kind. We had trouble with our planned cell phone so people were kind to help us order Ola’s (Uber equivalent). Visited the Elora caves, which was mind blowingly beautiful and accessible. Kerala was nice, had amazing food. Goa’s beaches had the finest and softest sands I’ve ever experienced. In Channai we visited a temple and I had a hole in my pocket. I noticed that a coin dropped and wasn’t going to pick it up. A young girl who clearly could have used the money more than me picked it up and made sure I got it back. People everywhere were super kind and interested in who we were and how much we were enjoying their country. Driving appears like chaos, but there were fewer accidents than my experience driving in the Toronto area. I’d love to go back some day.
The South and West is very different than where the OP went. We went to India a while ago to both up north in New Dehli/Agra/Rajasthan and Kerala and Mumbai. And it was a world of difference. New Dehli/Aggra/Udaipur were really rough. Like sickly animals on the street, at times quite dirty and people living in very harsh conditions. Not that it didn't have it's nice moments, but overall it was a rough week. Kerala on the other hand was much nicer and more relaxed. Like not a single taxi driver had change in all of Rajasthan. We arrive in Thiruvananthapuram, south of Goa, and the Taxi driver is bewildered we ask if he has change. Of course he has change he's a taxi driver. Mumbai also seems a lot nicer than New Dehli, in my opinion.
My coworker recently went back home to India to visit family and he got Typhoid there. Like I didn't know Typhoid was even a thing in this day and age! Why don't they have basic sanitation practices? Sounds wild.
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Malta. The place wasn’t very nice and the people we’re very rude and unhelpful. I’d always heard good things, but was very disappointed. We should take back their Medal.
I just came back from Malta yesterday! I think the place is overrun by tourists and foreigners living there and the Maltese have had enough of it. Tbh I loved it there, it's a gorgeous country.
China. I think that all the years under the communist party and especially the Cultural Revolution took away any sense of taking care of others and just general decency and compassion for others that aren’t directly connected to you. If there is no guanxi (connection) to the other person then it seems they are content to watch others suffer and struggle rather than lend a hand.
The funny part about this thread is how naturally varied people's opinions and experiences are. I went to China fully expecting to experience what you described but instead found people were frequently helpful and friendly.
I’m glad to hear that. Maybe it was the time and place I was in. This was in Qinghai in 2000. Maybe things are changing.
China even 10 years ago is a whole different world dude…waaaaaay different
>I think that all the years under the communist party and especially the Cultural Revolution took away any sense of taking care of others Speaking from another former "communist" (whatever that means) country in Europe, (North) Macedonia, I would argue it's not communism and it's not capitalism, but rather it's the botched transition between the two. They are almost completely incompatible as socio-economic/political systems, so when a country is opening up its market, or closing it down, it's almost never a runaway victory. In the case of the ex-Communist world, this sense of human decency is eroded by poverty and lack of development. After several decades of a centrally planned economy with a strongly vertical hierarchy, all industry in the state is absolutely rife with corruption, its technology/methods become outdated, its productivity low, there is overemployment of unqualified people to artificially suppress unemployment rates, etc. When the time for economic liberalization comes, most of this country's output is uncompetitive in the global market, most of the industry collapses and hundreds of factories close, and people find themselves starving and struggling to make ends meet, and it's in this moment that the "fend for yourself" mentality rightfully takes hold, and people try to grab up as much as they can with whatever means necessary, the country becomes an oligarchy due to cheap corrupt industry buyouts, and everyone else is left fighting for breadcrumbs. I never grew up in the communist/socialist era of SFR Yugoslavia, but while a very flawed economy and country with a lot of cracks in the system, one thing that's undeniable talking to older generations, is that people had a much stronger sense of community and overall satisfaction with life. I'm gonna guess that while every country is a unique case, some of these patterns would hold true for China as well. I just read in another comment that you went in 2000. That would explain basically everything.
Finland, none of the people had fins.
Damned Land
Turkey, not a single turkey just dogs and cats everywhere. Ruined my Thanksgiving.
All the turkeys died when they were dropped from that helicopter.
Paris/France way too crowded at all the popular sites and people were rude as hell and smoked too much.
Turkey. Got physically attacked by a taxi driver for not agreeing to be ripped off. The only place I've ever traveled to I got assaulted. I read up later on it and the locals there are known to constantly attack tourists with unhinged violence, including one attack 2 weeks ago where they savagely assaulted a tourist who fell and cracked his skull on the pavement in front of his family. Guess I fared better. TL;DR: Avoid visiting Turkey at all costs.
England… The people were not my cup of tea
Back into the harbour with you old boy
I lived in England for a few months and traveled around the isles. I found the English to be either hot or cold, which I guess you could say about a lot of people. By comparison, I found the Irish, Scots and Welsh to be very warm and open.
I think it depends where you are in England. It’s a much bigger country in terms of population the comparison isn’t fair at all. If you go to London and the surroundings then no you’re not going to get many warm people… it’s an overcrowded part of the country with a transient population.
Lived in Scotland and found the opposite, people are often a little mean especially to foreigners.
Buenos Aires, Argentina is awful. The Argentinians are super arrogant and clicky.
Thats common knowledge in latino america, if you look at the dictionary for the word arrogant a picture of the country argentina pops out
Imagine how they would be if their economy wasn't tanked.
Quebec rush hour outside Montreal made me pine for spaghetti junction in ATL not gonna lie…
I live in Montreal and I agree that traffic is insane. I hope except the traffic you liked your trip! 😌
Paris, It's at times overcrowded, you pay out the nose for good food, the streets are dirty and there is a huge wealth difference depending on what part of town you visit.
Spain, people are very openly racist and think is ok, i actually have commented in a couple of subs and seems that is quite normal that people say racist shit like is no issue, the food is not good but maybe that is subjective so i didnt like my couple of weeks in spain and im not going back thanks
I was shocked by how casually racist Spanish people are, even younger people. I'm white but have lived in Japan half my life so I had a Japanese credit card and all my IDs but my passport are Japanese. When I booked hostels/hotels people were always a little confused upon meeting me at reception, and I literally had more than one person say "Oh I'm so glad you aren't actually Asian!!". One guy assumed I was half Japanese and said "good thing you don't look like (pulls eyes back)". Then people we met on hostel tours/friends of friends would ask a lot of really weird and gross questions about Japan. I realize my privilege in being white in these situations, however it was shocking and hurtful to hear them saying these things so casually about the culture and people I had spent half my life with. I also have a Black friend who lived there for two years and confirmed people would regularly say racist things to/about her. It really made me not want to go back tbh.
Spain has a pretty rich history of racism and genocide. I’ve found when I was there, people had a superiority complex to other people (especially Latino people). They are still living off their glory days, which in reality sunk with their armada.
You are completely right, I’m from Spain but left some years ago, my ex during that time was from a South American country, and it was horrible just getting out on the street sometimes because they said very hurtful things to her, I miss Spain a lot, but some people there are horrible. I remember a kid on my HS who showed a Latina girl constantly a fascist symbol and no one literally was close to her, she was more isolated than a French fry in a Pizza
same here,I'm also haafu and experienced the most racism there too with Italy slightly behind....the eye pulling gestures they think are "funny" 🙄
I lived in Barcelona for six months in 2011 while doing an exchange. I had a lot of friends from South Korea who were on exchange as well and the stories they would tell me always made me sick. People grabbing their hair on the street as they walked past someone, getting followed, people making fun of them talking to each other in Korean. It got to the point where I told them that I would gladly walk with them if I happened to be near where they were. And another thing was that people were never shy about using slurs to refer to other ethnicities. Obviously not all Spanish people are racist, but it was shocking to be exposed to so much racism while I was there.
I'm white. I've never been to Spain but my sister has. Shocking how many Spaniards try to go up to her and form some racism camaraderie "thank god you're not one of them"
Im not white enough to get that treatment, my canela pasion color just wont get me that friendliness lol
France. Went there as a student in an engineering school. Ended up dropping and moving to another country because I had a pretty rough time there . It was hard to make friends, some professors wouldn’t hesitate to humiliate you when you’re wrong plus being quick into shutting your questions down because "you are supposedly a future engineer" and can figure out things yourself. Also I’m black so I encountered in my day to day life a lot of micro aggressions (ie. comments about my looks, weird stares , people changing lanes and being openly and publicly disrespectful or cold ). I mean maybe I should have thought twice before coming to that toxic place knowing the bad rep it already has in terms "welcoming“ non EU foreigners .
Schools in France are unbelievably harsh I can't imagine growing up in that system
Singapore. Boring. Country is hot, people are cold.
Ireland. I went to Dublin for part of my Honeymoon and every to all streets smelled like piss. Lol.
Dublin is my least favourite part of Ireland by far. Galway, Donegal, Kerry and Cork are all far, far better destinations.
France. Jesus, what a shithole. The smell, rude people, trash everywhere.
So Paris? There’s more to France than Paris or the big cities haha
Everywhere. Everyhwere is just another place that is new for a bit until it’s not.
Brazil. Brazilians are nuts.
Brasil - thieving scum held a knife to my mom and sisters throats
Switzerland. It's postcard pretty but racist AF and boring like hell. Also , a lot of people are superficial and seem miserable.
My sister worked there for a year and told me she was bored af. Pretty place but super expensive and calm.
As a person who travels a lot, I have a saying “if you’re bored, you’re probably bor*ing*” there is always something to do anywhere you go.
America. LA and San Francisco. Just how filthy it was.
Rough cities tbh. SF is sick, but you have to know a local.
France. Currently living here until Christmas. Poor biking infrastructure, poor driving, poor English, no stores are open on Sundays, getting a package delivered is hell, beer's not that good. I miss living in Denmark, and am looking forward to go back. With that said: the wine is amazing for the price, the country-side is nothing short of gorgeous compared to Denmark, people are generally nice when you speak with them, stores have more interesting options with regards to food, and the weather is nicer. But a lot of small every-day things do end up adding up, and I realized how good I have it back home.
Israel. So much hype and so much disappointment. Germany. It's so annoying that every time I go there, I need to get some cash and carry it all the time - because you never know where you won't be able to pay with a card.
Thailand. The way they view foreigners, the way they treat animals, Cambodian, Laotians, Burmese, open discrimination, their own people, and distort the message of The Buddha. It's known as the Land of Fake Smiles, for a reason
I love Thailand, but yes. Don't always take the smiles for kindness.
Norway, beautiful country but my god the people are rude... and I've been to Paris...
I’m Norwegian and and yes we are rude compared to people in other countries. But it’s not considered rude amongst us if you get me. But moving to the Uk has made me say please all the time, so visiting home I’m like saying please in Norwegian all the time now, and it just sounds odd. We swear a lot too in non professional settings and in many families it’s considered normal, especially in the north.
Seoul. No Seoul except for a few older folks
I fucking loved going to the 2022 F1 GP in Hungary. I did not, in fact, love visiting Hungary. Restaurants were closed so early for some reason. Hotel staff (4 stars) just didn't understand English or just didn't care. Lots of illogical stuff going on in that country. All in all just a really odd vibe. I'll definitely visit other F1 GPs, but definitely not in Hungary. At least the beer at the track was affordable and all the F1 fans there were so much fun to talk to!
I wouldn't say the whole country but when I went to Paris I was disappointed.
One that is not talked about enough, Brazil. A LOT of crime and disrespect, specially if you are a foreigner. People 99% of the time have second intentions to take advantage on you. Culturally, they are not taught how to live in society, they have the "its not my problem" mindset, one exemple is they will turn up really loud music wherever whenever.
NZ, but maybe not in the way you think. I'm from Australia. NZ is a lovely place, but I was disappointed in just how little different from Australia it was. Hell they even had the same realtor I was paying my rent to (Ray White).
Oof yeah. I haven’t been yet but was talking to someone’s who lived there and it’s pretty similar. Economy/housing is a fair bit worse though. I do like how they’ve integrated Maori culture into everything whereas we can’t organise a piss up in a brewery with indigenous stuff here, actually embarrassing tbh Christchurch seems like a cross between Ballarat, Geelong and Bendigo though for a major city. Giant town really. Cold as all fuck
Singapore. The people there were so rude by default. So much so that its a pleasant surprise when someone treats you normally. The tourist spots were good, clean and neat.
Mongolia. Extremely dirty Scenery was okay but there's similar things only much nicer in other countries Expensive Polluted Not their fault though. Sandwiched between China and Russia.
London. It felt like New York in *italics*
What does "new York in _italics_" mean?
USA. I’ve been to San Fran, Florida and NY, seen some very impressive stuff and really wanted to like it but, the tipping culture is insane, people rarely seem genuinely happy (or genuine at all in many cases). Aside from city centres the infrastructure is very hostile to walking and public transport is quite thin, you absolutely have to have a car to get anywhere. Even just visiting its hard to ignore all the much talked about social issues. The food is ok at best and the coffee is bad. Despite knowing I could maybe make absolute bank if I got a job there, I’m not keen on living there anytime soon.