Friendliest vs least friendly people?

[NoNukes]

So which countries have you found to be the friendliest, and which the least friendly?

Obviously there is a lot of luck involved, but even so - friendly people can make a huge difference.

My Top 5 Friendliest:

1) Syria
2) Rwanda
3) Ghana
4) Georgia
5) USA

Tragic as the events in Syria are right now, I'll never forget the openness and helpfulness of the people there. The amount of times we got invited for coffee, offered the best seats on the bus or even given free treats in shops is something I'll never forget.

My Bottom 5 & Least Friendly

1) Russia
2) Belarus
3) The Ukraine
4) India
5) Peru

It's a shame to have 3 Eastern European countries in my Bottom 5, but there is something about the mentality in that part of the world that doesn't work for me. I know Russian people can be amazingly generous and hospitable, but I've rarely experienced it myself. Instead I've more got the surly, grumpy and sometimes openly hostile responses.

In my travels around Europe, I have always found the Dutch to be very friendly and accombadating.

 

[idb]

My wife and her sister went to Paris on a business trip and found the French VERY friendly. The following year they went again with my brother in law and I accompanying them, and they found the French to be just the opposite.

I have a friend that has a lot of business dealings with Italians.
He has always considered them arrogant a#@eholes and none of them spoke English.

I went over there a couple of years back and found them perfectly nice.
Before I went I spent a couple of months trying to teach myself a little Italian.
I found that after I'd mangled enough of their language trying to say hello and introducing myself, they almost always started speaking English to me.
When I asked him if he had ever tried to learn any Italian he said 'no'.

It seems he has the old British tourist attitude that if you speak to the fuzzy-wuzzies loud enough they should understand what you're trying to say!

I found exactly the same with the French...I tried to resurrect some of my old schoolboy French and they were always nice in return...in English.
It's just courtesy I think.

I found that the French did not like it when my sister in law attempted to speak French, they preferred that we spoke English.

Yep, I'm certain that's why they spoke to me in English...it wasn't just to be nice, it was to stop the torture to their ears.

 

[Esmeralda]

The French seem to have a bad reputation, but I've never understood why. People have always seemed perfectly nice to me, and my French is fairly terrible!

Aussies are always very friendly, definitely.

My wife and her sister went to Paris on a business trip and found the French VERY friendly. The following year they went again with my brother in law and I accompanying them, and they found the French to be just the opposite.

I have a friend that has a lot of business dealings with Italians.
He has always considered them arrogant a#@eholes and none of them spoke English.

I went over there a couple of years back and found them perfectly nice.
Before I went I spent a couple of months trying to teach myself a little Italian.
I found that after I'd mangled enough of their language trying to say hello and introducing myself, they almost always started speaking English to me.
When I asked him if he had ever tried to learn any Italian he said 'no'.

It seems he has the old British tourist attitude that if you speak to the fuzzy-wuzzies loud enough they should understand what you're trying to say!

I found exactly the same with the French...I tried to resurrect some of my old schoolboy French and they were always nice in return...in English.
It's just courtesy I think.

This is a very good point. If you just try to speak a little of their language, it makes a big difference. People all over the world get annoyed with English speakers who expect everyone everywhere they go to speak English.

 

[Meathead]

My wife and her sister went to Paris on a business trip and found the French VERY friendly. The following year they went again with my brother in law and I accompanying them, and they found the French to be just the opposite.

I have a friend that has a lot of business dealings with Italians.
He has always considered them arrogant a#@eholes and none of them spoke English.

I went over there a couple of years back and found them perfectly nice.
Before I went I spent a couple of months trying to teach myself a little Italian.
I found that after I'd mangled enough of their language trying to say hello and introducing myself, they almost always started speaking English to me.
When I asked him if he had ever tried to learn any Italian he said 'no'.

It seems he has the old British tourist attitude that if you speak to the fuzzy-wuzzies loud enough they should understand what you're trying to say!

I found exactly the same with the French...I tried to resurrect some of my old schoolboy French and they were always nice in return...in English.
It's just courtesy I think.

This is a very good point. If you just try to speak a little of their language, it makes a big difference. People all over the world get annoyed with English speakers who expect everyone everywhere they go to speak English.

That is hardly surprising. All non-native English speakers expect to use English in countries in which they do not understand the native language.

Although American, I have only lived 17 of my 57 years (mostly in my 20s and 30s) in the US. I am essentially a tourist when I visit the US these days and I am always surprised by the friendliness of Americans, usually outside the big cities.

Americans as tourists can be very annoying. I live in Prague and there is certainly no dearth of young Americans traveling about. While they are a lot less offensive than the Brits with their binge drinking and stag parties, the constant use of "like" especially by young American girls drives me bonkers. I don't know why, but I feel like gaging them, although of course I never have.

 

[Bleipriester]

hmmm
When I was ten, I learned what it means to be German in the Netherlands. The Dutch children pointed with strange hand signals at us and called us Nazis.

When I was 14 in Protugal, the boys shouted "Cheil Chitler" and "Sheiss Chude". The girls were amazing! Narrow jeans, cigerette in the hand, touching my thighs while having an erotic undertone: "Não voltar para a Alemanha."
When the German TV show finished, we took the German bus to the cinema, where "Saving Private Ryan" runned. Some Portuguese in German uniforms cheered the landing scene.

 

[Bfgrn]

So which countries have you found to be the friendliest, and which the least friendly?

Obviously there is a lot of luck involved, but even so - friendly people can make a huge difference.

My Top 5 Friendliest:

1) Syria
2) Rwanda
3) Ghana
4) Georgia
5) USA

Tragic as the events in Syria are right now, I'll never forget the openness and helpfulness of the people there. The amount of times we got invited for coffee, offered the best seats on the bus or even given free treats in shops is something I'll never forget.

My Bottom 5 & Least Friendly

1) Russia
2) Belarus
3) The Ukraine
4) India
5) Peru

It's a shame to have 3 Eastern European countries in my Bottom 5, but there is something about the mentality in that part of the world that doesn't work for me. I know Russian people can be amazingly generous and hospitable, but I've rarely experienced it myself. Instead I've more got the surly, grumpy and sometimes openly hostile responses.

People do not make wars; governments do.
Ronald Reagan

It is truly sad what is happening in Syria. Have you ever been to Iran? The Persian culture is one of the oldest.

How about Poland?

I have some Russian friends (living in America), they are very generous, appreciative and genuine.

Maybe it's the environment they live in?

The angry people are those people who are most afraid.
Dr. Robert Anthony

I have some Russian friends (living in America)

Transplanted communist former KGB members.

Yea, that's it...

Ironic, of all the countries mentioned on this thread, the most conservative is Russia.

 

[Saigon]

Ironic, of all the countries mentioned on this thread, the most conservative is Russia.

Yes, maybe so!

My feeling is that some of the ex-communist countries are less friendly because communism taught people to fear strangers amd travellers - certainly I was told this by a Latvian, and I can see her point of view.

 

[Esmeralda]

I have a friend that has a lot of business dealings with Italians.
He has always considered them arrogant a#@eholes and none of them spoke English.

I went over there a couple of years back and found them perfectly nice.
Before I went I spent a couple of months trying to teach myself a little Italian.
I found that after I'd mangled enough of their language trying to say hello and introducing myself, they almost always started speaking English to me.
When I asked him if he had ever tried to learn any Italian he said 'no'.

It seems he has the old British tourist attitude that if you speak to the fuzzy-wuzzies loud enough they should understand what you're trying to say!

I found exactly the same with the French...I tried to resurrect some of my old schoolboy French and they were always nice in return...in English.
It's just courtesy I think.

This is a very good point. If you just try to speak a little of their language, it makes a big difference. People all over the world get annoyed with English speakers who expect everyone everywhere they go to speak English.

That is hardly surprising. All non-native English speakers expect to use English in countries in which they do not understand the native language.

Although American, I have only lived 17 of my 57 years (mostly in my 20s and 30s) in the US. I am essentially a tourist when I visit the US these days and I am always surprised by the friendliness of Americans, usually outside the big cities.

Americans as tourists can be very annoying. I live in Prague and there is certainly no dearth of young Americans traveling about. While they are a lot less offensive than the Brits with their binge drinking and stag parties, the constant use of "like" especially by young American girls drives me bonkers. I don't know why, but I feel like gaging them, although of course I never have.

I was on a tram in Prague one time and two young American women got on, college students I think. It was summer and my impression was they were traveling. They began talking, in English, and every other word was fuck. I imagined they thought most people didn't understand them because they spoke English, but most people everywhere know what fuck is. I was so annoyed with them. Their behavior was so crass.

I realize it is not surprising that English is widely spoken and that non-native English speakers depend on using it when they travel. My point was that people in many countries are very annoyed that NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS never bother to learn, at least to some extent, the language of the country they are visiting.

 

[Rocko]

People do not make wars; governments do.
Ronald Reagan

It is truly sad what is happening in Syria. Have you ever been to Iran? The Persian culture is one of the oldest.

How about Poland?

I have some Russian friends (living in America), they are very generous, appreciative and genuine.

Maybe it's the environment they live in?

The angry people are those people who are most afraid.
Dr. Robert Anthony

I have some Russian friends (living in America)

Transplanted communist former KGB members.

Yea, that's it...

Ironic, of all the countries mentioned on this thread, the most conservative is Russia.

Does every thread have to be a battle of liberal and conservative?

 

[Esmeralda]

Ironic, of all the countries mentioned on this thread, the most conservative is Russia.

Yes, maybe so!

My feeling is that some of the ex-communist countries are less friendly because communism taught people to fear strangers amd travellers - certainly I was told this by a Latvian, and I can see her point of view.

I have been to Hungary a few times and to the Czech Republic for a summer. I found the people in both countries to be quite nice. Also been to Slovakia, Albania (spent a summer there), Croatia, and Montenegro. No problems. Like I said, you can find grumpy people everywhere.

Talking about the French, I just remembered a Canadian woman talking about how rude the French are and she related an incident she had when she arrived in Paris and how completely rude the ticker seller was in the Metro station. That led me to think abut my recent trip to Paris. The first day I was there I went to the Metro ticket window. I was going to be there 2 weeks, so I wanted to get the best deal for two weeks. The man there spent so much time explaining all the options for me and helping me choose what I wanted, I was surprised. I travel a lot and the people who sell tickets at those type of places are rarely that patient and helpful. If people are rude or impatient in those kind of jobs, it is usually because they are very busy or have been swamped all day before you got there, or they've been dealing with a lot of rude travelers or tourists for hours. It isn't because they are inherently unpleasant people. That's my opinion.

 

[Esmeralda]

Transplanted communist former KGB members.

Yea, that's it...

Ironic, of all the countries mentioned on this thread, the most conservative is Russia.

Does every thread have to be a battle of liberal and conservative?

Some people are just dumb enough to think so. Their whole world perspective is about conservative and liberal. They live in a two dimensional universe.

 

[Saigon]

I have been to Hungary a few times and to the Czech Republic for a summer. I found the people in both countries to be quite nice. Also been to Slovakia, Albania (spent a summer there), Croatia, and Montenegro. No problems. Like I said, you can find grumpy people everywhere.

I've enjoyed all of those countries, too, and also Romania, Moldova etc. Possibly it is because cities like Budapest and Prague have experienced plenty of tourism, or possibly it is a cultural aspect of Russia, but the problems seem to start further east.

 

[Esmeralda]

I have been to Hungary a few times and to the Czech Republic for a summer. I found the people in both countries to be quite nice. Also been to Slovakia, Albania (spent a summer there), Croatia, and Montenegro. No problems. Like I said, you can find grumpy people everywhere.

I've enjoyed all of those countries, too, and also Romania, Moldova etc. Possibly it is because cities like Budapest and Prague have experienced plenty of tourism, or possibly it is a cultural aspect of Russia, but the problems seem to start further east.

Who knows? Maybe they were always like that.

 

[idb]

Yea, that's it...

Ironic, of all the countries mentioned on this thread, the most conservative is Russia.

Does every thread have to be a battle of liberal and conservative?

Some people are just dumb enough to think so. Their whole world perspective is about conservative and liberal. They live in a two dimensional universe.

I thought it was quite funny though.

 

[Unkotare]

Consider what the folks you considered "unfriendly" thought of you at the time.

 

[sfcalifornia]

I have a friend that has a lot of business dealings with Italians.
He has always considered them arrogant a#@eholes and none of them spoke English.

I went over there a couple of years back and found them perfectly nice.
Before I went I spent a couple of months trying to teach myself a little Italian.
I found that after I'd mangled enough of their language trying to say hello and introducing myself, they almost always started speaking English to me.
When I asked him if he had ever tried to learn any Italian he said 'no'.

It seems he has the old British tourist attitude that if you speak to the fuzzy-wuzzies loud enough they should understand what you're trying to say!

I found exactly the same with the French...I tried to resurrect some of my old schoolboy French and they were always nice in return...in English.
It's just courtesy I think.

This is a very good point. If you just try to speak a little of their language, it makes a big difference. People all over the world get annoyed with English speakers who expect everyone everywhere they go to speak English.

That is hardly surprising. All non-native English speakers expect to use English in countries in which they do not understand the native language.

Although American, I have only lived 17 of my 57 years (mostly in my 20s and 30s) in the US. I am essentially a tourist when I visit the US these days and I am always surprised by the friendliness of Americans, usually outside the big cities.

Americans as tourists can be very annoying. I live in Prague and there is certainly no dearth of young Americans traveling about. While they are a lot less offensive than the Brits with their binge drinking and stag parties, the constant use of "like" especially by young American girls drives me bonkers. I don't know why, but I feel like gaging them, although of course I never have.

LOL

Can you imagine what it's like living here and listening to it? Drives me nuts too.

 

[sfcalifornia]

Bummer about India!! I'm sorry you didn't have a good experience there. I had a wonderful time there and I have to say, as an amateur photographer, the Indians made THE BEST photo subjects. They love having their pics taken. No doubt, southern India is much easier to travel around than northern India. The hawkers and beggars in northern India around the sights drove me nuts.

I had a great experience in India, but the people weren't as much a part of making it special as the sites and general intensity of the country were. I do think India is a must-see because there is nowhere like it, but part of what makes it so special is also how tough it can be.

I was only in the north, so I may have chosen the wrong end of the country, but the hawkers were certainly terrible. But in general I also found people argumentative and so set on ripping tourists off that every transacation started to seem like a battle to the death!!

Yes, I know exactly what you mean. I felt the same way in Vietnam a bit too.

But really, do go to Kerala in southern India if you can.

 

[Saigon]

SFC -

I have been to Viet Nam twice, both during the 1990's, and at that stage people were very friendly and welcoming. I really enjoyed the people. But even by the second trip I noticed that it was sliding more towards the Thai style of a kind of faux-friendliness with a fairly relentless, must-sell drive behind it. That can be very, very tiring.

I can understand that it is tough in markets, but the "please come and see my shop" routine is hard work in some cities. I am polite to the first hundred!! I think Accra, Cairo and Istanbul are the worst markets for that.

 

[Political Junky]

I've been lucky traveling, and got along with most. I like the French people, for the most part. I thought the German people were helpful, but encountering them as tourists in other countries, they can be rude.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Strangely enough the friendliest people I ever met traveling were the FRENCH.

But when I ran a youth hostel in Boston, the friendliest visitors were the Aussies.

Before a trip that included France, I had a doctor tell me that all French people were rude and nasty. I found just the opposite to be true and that doctor was always rude to his staff.

Once in a while, I have come across someone who was rude or unfriendly but, for the most part, I think that people treat you just the way you treat them.

Esmeralda

I realize it is not surprising that English is widely spoken and that non-native English speakers depend on using it when they travel. My point was that people in many countries are very annoyed that NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS never bother to learn, at least to some extent, the language of the country they are visiting.

I agree. When I had to have emergency health care, not one person I had to deal with did not speak impeccable English. That was the emergency room, the clinic, the doctor, the pharmacy and so on.

We once stepped into a beauty salon in Paris to ask for directions to an ATM that my phone said was right under our feet. A young woman left what she was doing and came out on the street to help us. She spoke English, of course and at one point, actually apologized that her English wasn't better.

People in other countries are just like us - just trying to live their lives as well as they can. (That's true of illegals too.) Just be respectful and friendly and that's likely to be what you will get back.

Thinking about this - one man who was rude was at a tourist stall on the Seine river in the shadow of Notre Dame. He was rude. No other word for it. OTOH, he had to deal with tourists all day!