For me Ireland and Taiwan, how about some others

  • Mearuu@kbin.melroy.org
    26·
    17 days ago

    Thailand and Vietnam have such kind and welcoming people. I am constantly impressed by the gestures I see.

    Just today me and my girlfriend were standing on the side of the road in Thailand waiting to cross. There was no crosswalk nearby but cars saw that we wanted to cross and stopped both lanes for us go. We did not signal in any way or step into the street. They just saw people in need of something that they could help with. Nobody behind them honked or became impatient.

    There are so many more examples…

    I’m American.

  • AlecSadler@sh.itjust.works
    171·
    17 days ago

    I feel like it matters what race you are :(

    My [white] friend has touted some of the friendliest places, but me being Korean…nope. A large number of places are very cold and passive-aggressive.

    That said, not typically violent like America, but still not exactly welcoming.

    • TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee
      5·
      16 days ago

      UK is super nice to white people, Koreans go there and get milk thrown on them.

      Philippines super nice to white people, Koreans go there and get yelled at.

      Taiwan super nice to white people, Koreans go there and… actually I never went with Koreans. and fwiw there’s so much bad blood between China and Korea that it probably bleeds over into Taiwan

      Um, maybe… Japan? Deep irony but that might be the nicest place to Koreans now…

      oh, duh, Turkiye

  • bitofarambler@crazypeople.online
    151·
    17 days ago

    Vietnam, Thailand, India, Guatemala, Taiwan is a good call.

    in Vietnam, someone literally ran out of their house while I was stopping to adjust my headphones in order to invite me to breakfast at his home.

    he had a tiny orchard in his front yard and we shared mango, dragonfruit and pancakes.

  • superkret@feddit.org
    13·
    17 days ago

    Finland and Chile, definitely.
    They’re also astonishingly similar.
    Chileans are like the Scandinavians of South America.

  • CrazyLikeGollum@lemmy.worldEnglish
    12·
    16 days ago

    Ireland is probably the friendliest I’ve been too. The Irish are great people.

    Rome (I know, not a country, but I can’t comment on the rest of Italy) is probably the least friendly place I’ve been to. Romans are assholes. It’s a very cool city, but the people, especially outside of tourist traps suck.

    The Japanese are very polite, respectful, and helpful (almost to a fault) but I’m not sure if I’d generally describe them as friendly.

    • Sergio@slrpnk.net
      3·
      16 days ago

      Romans are assholes.

      First time I’ve heard this. People in Rome are like people in NYC: busy with their own lives, unwilling to take any BS, but generally helpful if you really need it.

    • triptrapper@lemmy.world
      2·
      16 days ago

      I frequently hear this stereotype from people who haven’t been to France. I specifically hear that the French are rude to anyone who doesn’t speak French. My experience was that they can be rude to Americans who assume everyone will speak English. I would do my best to have a conversation in French, and the locals would usually take pity on me and switch to English.

      I’m not denying there are unfriendly French people, but I would expect anyone to get tired of tourists who don’t make any effort to speak the local language.

      • Sergio@slrpnk.net
        2·
        16 days ago

        Also, I think mainstream Americans expect people to be bouncy and grinning all the time or else they say you have resting bitch face and a case of the Mondays. In a lot of cultures, grinning at a complete stranger is condescending and makes you look foolish.

    • AstralPath@lemmy.ca
      1·
      16 days ago

      As a Canadian, I spent eight months living in France a couple years ago. Had nothing but great experiences with people. I had one pharmacist be a little snooty with me. But other than that, they were very helpful regardless and very nice.

      What I realized is that they place a lot of value in their native language and it’s very important to them to speak it clearly and properly whenever possible so they won’t usually hesitate to correct you.

      The vast majority of people were stoked that we were speaking French at all. It’s really changed my perspective on the French language in my own country for the better, to be honest. I just get it now.

      • slaneesh_is_right@lemmy.orgEnglish
        3·
        17 days ago

        People in the very south of France ar super nice from my experience. One thing to know about french people is that they don’t like to speak anything but french, even if they could.

        • jenni007@lemm.ee
          42·
          16 days ago

          The number of people that speak English in France is rapidly increasing. On the other hand, if you do not speak the language of the country you are visiting, you shouldn’t rate it for friendliness.

  • vvilld@lemmy.world
    6·
    16 days ago

    Friendliest country I’ve ever been to was Cuba. Everyone was incredibly nice and helpful with anything we could want. Malaysia was a close second.

    Least friendliest was Belgium, but I went as part of a school exchange trip, so I was pretty much always in a large group of mostly teenage Americans with a few teachers. Understandable why people might not have been as friendly.

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 @pawb.socialEnglish
    6·
    17 days ago

    I live in the US and have been to Canada, Mexico, Ireland and Germany.

    Only one of these places have I ever been randomly called a faggot from a moving vehicle while just minding my own business on more than one occasion, and it wasn’t any of the countries I don’t live in.

  • zxqwas@lemmy.world
    6·
    16 days ago

    Most friendly: Namibia probably.

    Least friendly: UK.

    Some context: Live in Scandinavia, and been in all those countries. Other countries I’ve been to: Chile, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium (technically, walked across the border from Netherlands), Austria, South Africa, Zambia, Kazakstan.

  • rustyfish@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    16 days ago

    Definitely Scotland. They are antithesis to the English. Super friendly and welcoming. I have been around a lot in Europe never have I been struck by the German nature after I returned from Scotland.

  • atro_city@fedia.io
    71·
    17 days ago

    Really depends on the skin color of the person visiting and where they are visiting in that country. A non-white visiting most West-European cities will be mostly fine, but if they go out to the country-side, things can be very different.

    I watched a documentary of an Indian boy adopted to a Swiss family who then went back to India to visit. He had a terrible time in Switzerland due to racism and nearly as an awful time in India, because he couldn’t speak the language and people thus assumed he was a Pakistani spy.

    • OutlierBlue@lemmy.caEnglish
      1·
      16 days ago

      What kind of shitty spy wouldn’t learn the language of the people he was sent to spy on?! Can’t overhear secrets if you don’t understand.