What are some countries you’ve visited that shocked you with unexpected friendliness?
Since we had a post about the most friendliest countries, we should look at countries that have unexpected friendly people, not the usual answers like Ireland, Scotland, Canada, Taiwan, etc. For me it’s Montenegro. Londoners are considered to be cold and rude but I find them to be very pleasant with me.
Iran has been by far the most friendly and welcoming people. And I visited -a lot- of places.
Also USA had very welcoming people, I must have been lucky by judging from people online, but in real world, my experience has always been very positive.
This is one of my favorite videos and channels. He rides a scooter around the world. The people in Iran are almost absurdly friendly. I want to visit.
Edit: forgot to post the link.
China. The people are super nice, sweet, helpful, lovely people. It's just their government I hate. I don't know if they hate it too or not since they're not free to say but I think they're nice people and they deserve better.
I’m wasn’t surprised but Mexico.
I was in the waiting room at a dentists office in Ciudad Obregón. Every single person that came in was greeted with a warm hello by every single person in the waiting room.
Netherlands. People there actually smile, it's crazy
And honestly the US. When I moved to Vancouver Island I started spending a lot of time on the Olympic peninsula and people in that region are ridiculously friendly. Port Angeles is like twice as friendly as Victoria it feels like
My answer, too. I remember being uncertain how I'd be received as an American. I stopped in a random restaurant once to ask for quick directions. The lady didn't just give me some "fuck off"/simplistic "go that way" answer, she walked from behind the counter, came around, took the map I was holding out of my hand, and spent SEVERAL minutes explaining to me in perfect English all kinds of helpful info.
I loved that place.
If avoiding conflict was a sport, a random person from Seattle would take home gold from the Olympics every four years.
France. You hear about how they're rude if you can't speak the language, which I can't at all. But everyone I spoke to was totally helpful, polite, and personable. Even most of the people who I interacted with who didn't speak English tried their best to understand and answer my questions.
Turkey! I had such a wonderful visit there as a teen in no small part because of the locals we met.
Turkey is an amazing country with amazing people in it
The unfortunate part is their leader is the opposite and is currently holding their country and people hostage
Same with most countries. The people are nice but the politicians are not
I mean Turks are currently giving Erdogan hell; let's hope they succeed.
I went to rome once, and I found people to be super unfriendly. Like, giving me looks levels of unfriendly.
After a few hours of this I realized the problem, I was wearing a Deicide t-shirt, and rome is christian as fuck. God I'm stupid.
After a quick change people were really nice :D
Yea, even down to the name, Decide has a very "we're the devil worshippers your pastor ranted about" look.
I think the word itself, italian being closeish to latin, evokes the killing of jesus.
not my greatest moment hah
Paris. I've always heard bad things about Parisians but they were cool. The only rude people I encountered were tourists.
Im planning to visit Paris soon in a few weeks so hearing this is really helpful! I don't speak French well and have been trying to get better before the trip. But was worried I'd be treated rudely for it from all the stories I've heard. Glad to know they're just stories
Don't worry! Say "Bonjour" when you go in a place and say "Merci" when appropriate, don't be loud in general, and everything will be fine.
Germany. Namely Northern Bavaria. They love it when you try to speak their language and suddenly you are their friend, they are speaking English to you, and they are buying you beer. Suffice it to say that I made a lot of friends there. An amazing experience.
Cambodia. Genuinely the nicest, and most helpful, people I have ever encountered all throughout the country. I was told about their general friendliness before, but was blown away by actually seeing it firsthand.
New Zealand. So wanted to stay there. Made Canadians look a little rude. LOL.
As a Canadian, I can declaratively say that our reputation for being polite is bogus. As a whole, we are a shitty, privileged, nasty group of people. Our country is built on colonialism and genocide, so you can only imagine what a shit pot this is.
Taiwan.
Germany, went just as brexit was happening, loved the place and people were so friendly, had a few long conversations with people on the bus/train. Also best breakfasts anywhere.
As a German, I can not relate. But I'm happy to hear about your positive experience!
France.
Was there on business, visiting a factory of a large vehicle manufacturer, down in the south east. My god these people were nice. There was a guy who made sure we had everything we needed to get our work done, who would literally jump and run if we needed anything. There were people bringing us mini choco croissants for meetings. They always invited us for lunch and paid for it. There was always coffee for us if we needed it. We had desks to work on, which is a rarity in a factory environment, but they made it possible.
The best part was when we were standing at the line with a special piece of equipment that we had brought, and a guy stopped and said "hey, that looks interesting, what's it for?" - and then we chatted about that for five minutes, eventually realizing it was time for a meeting. For both of us. Five minutes later, it turns out the guy who casually talked to us tech people was actually the head of their corporate IT. You wouldn't have been able to tell that he was some higher up because he was so down to earth and friendly and casual. They all were. It was a mighty pleasure working with them.
Yeah I spent a week in south east France. Best trip I have ever been on. People were so nice. Paris was the only unfriendly place and It wasn't bad.
Y'all can afford to visit another country?
Like you already wrote, Ireland!
It was kinda shocking how openly friendly and relaxed most people there are.
Yeah, I would say the same thing about Americans (yes I know you're Americans too. I think we all know I mean the US). If you meet MAGA on the street in a non-political way, they might be super nice. You might have a great interaction. I have traveled around the world and I maintain that food service personnel in the US are the friendliest. I'm guessing many of them are MAGA.
Food service people are not MAGA for the most part. The owner of the restaurant is probably MAGA and all the servers probably hate him.
Also, American culture, especially in the South is to be kind to people at face value
Turkey
People love to make exaggerated statements on the internet for attention but I can say very truly that the spirit of the people changed me inside and it helped start my sobriety journey
For me it was Russia when I spent aroubd 9 days there (in and around Moscow). The people were genuinely friendly and there we not the scammers/tourist traps like in most of Europe and Asia.
The markets were as interesting as any I've been to in Asia/North Africa.
Back when the world is simpler (because I was young and ignorant mostly) Moscow shocked me too. Had to study there for a few years and despite their gruff outward look they are some of the friendliest I've met at that time.
Only exception is riding the metro/tram during rush hour. Those babushkas aren't playing around and will tackle you down
I must say its 20 odd years ago that we went, I'm sure the world was a simpler place
England. I got blind drunk and was stumbling back to a hotel in a western suburb. A group of young men with knives approached me for cash but when I told them to fuck off (not smart, I know) they were so excited to hear my accent they walked me a couple of blocks to the bus station and sent me on my way.
I feel this is racist.
Why do you say that? Genuinely asking.
Because we reduce a population made of individuals to anecdotal evidence.
"People from there are like this" is just a problematic way of thinking.
Even if it is positive. Saying all Asians are good at math may seem positive, but it is racist because you imprint one attribute to a whole group and rob people of their individuality.
It's racist 🤷
You feel wrong, unfortunately.
Another commenter said it's technically racism so not really wrong.
It's not racist.
If you paint an entire population with the brush of the experience/anecdote of one person, that's generalization.
But this thread is NOT doing that. This thread is only asking people to share their experiences of places they have visited and people they found to be friendly. It is not meant to pass judgement on everyone from that place.
"What are some countries you’ve visited that shocked you with unexpected friendliness?"
Why would you be shocked by friendliness if you didn't assume they would be unfriendly? Why would you expect them to be unfriendly? Not-racism...
"Londoners are considered to be cold and rude but I find them to be very pleasant with me."
Translation: So I turns out this assumption I had of people turned out to be not true. So after I learned that lesson I thought I do the same mistake again but from the other direction and in a group setting"
This is not about if it is the right word to describe it, this is about reducing a group to a stereotype and how wrong that is. Call it cultural racism, culturism or some other shit that doesn't hurt your feelings because you identify with it.