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Originally Posted by Trimac20
Haven't been to Europe yet so I can't comment from personal experience. I'm sure you have more knowledge in that area.
I've spent a month in Vietnam, and two weeks in Thailand, and I actually found the two countries very different. Theravada Buddhism is practised in Thailand, whereas Mahayana Buddhism is in Vietnam. Having been to China I felt Vietnam was pretty similar to Southern China. Communist slogans everywhere, broad, orderly boulevards, a lot of austere, grey architecture in the cities. The people in northern Vietnam especially look pretty Chinese (although I can often tell the 'Vietnamese look'). The food is very different to Thailand - not as highly spiced and sweet.
Thailand seems like a hybrid between India and China but has it's own identity. The traditional architecture is very different - i.e. the pagodas. The pagodas and temples in Vietnam are pretty much the same as you'd find in China or Korea. Both are similar in having markets and street-food but so does every country in Asia. Vietnam has a lot more shop-houses, most people ride motorbikes or scooters, whereas in Thailand there are more cars. There are no tuk-tuks in Vietnam. Both seem very capitalist but Vietnam is still a socialist state. The general feel of Vietnam is more like China but it's too distinctive to really be that similar to anywhere. Thailand has more in common with Malaysia and Cambodia in my opinion. Thailand and Malaysia are very touristy as well.
I know Thailand very well, but I admit I probably did not know Vietnam as much as I thought.
I don't think Thailand is very similar to Malaysia.
Thailand is mostly Buddhist while Malaysia is actually mostly Muslim.
Also, Malaysia has many more people of Chinese and Indian descent over there than Thailand. Thai architecture and Malaysian architecture seem pretty different.
Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur has a much lower population of 1.6 million compared to Thailand's Bangkok which has 12 million. The population size of Bangkok is more similar to the population sizes of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam.
There are actually some cultural differences between the US and Canada as we have more Hispanics and African Americans so the cultural influences are different.
Hispanics are not a large population in most US States (are there huge populations in say Minnesota or Dakotan, New Hampshire?). Don't they tend to be in large populations in a few states such as Florida & California? (and NY of course).
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Originally Posted by
I know Thailand very well, but I admit I probably did not know Vietnam as much as I thought.
I don't think Thailand is very similar to Malaysia.
Thailand is mostly Buddhist while Malaysia is actually mostly Muslim.
Also, Malaysia has many more people of Chinese and Indian descent over there than Thailand. Thai architecture and Malaysian architecture seem pretty different.
Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur has a much lower population of 1.6 million compared to Thailand's Bangkok which has 12 million. The population size of Bangkok is more similar to the population sizes of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam.
Just the feel of the two places was similar. It depends on where in the country but Bangkok and KL both being major tourist cities seemed similar. Malaysia has more British colonial architecture. I know culturally and demographically they are different in many ways. From religion, food, history.etc. Surprisingly, 30-40% of Thais have some Chinese ancestry, including many prominent politicians, the royal family and many business-people. It's just they're so integrated they're basically Thais now.
Official figures aren't often very accurate when talking about Asian cities. The greater KL area has an estimated 8+ million people. KL itself feels almost as big and probably more bustling than Bangkok does. HCM's city core didn't feel like that of a big city, but it has many other neighbourhoods. Hanoi doesn't feel like a very big city despite it's population. You'll have to visit Vietnam to see how different it really is from Thailand.
I think Qatar was almost part of the UAE, but decided against it.
I'm into geography, but I may not be well-traveled enough to give a great opinion. Although I'd think San Marino is probably a good deal like Italy. I mean the government system is different, but there's bound to be plenty of cultural overlap. Are St. Lucia and Grenada very different? Are any of those Lesser Antillean nations better examples of similarity?
I was just thinking about this today, Canada and the US are so similar in many ways, including similar sounding accents, common language, similar sports interests, food, shopping, TV interests, Movie interests, Music interests (not so much politically).
?
Some examples. Yes, politics is incredibly different. Canadians on most issues are in general more to the left. Alberta is their most conservative province but it's probably about as liberal as the average blue state. The one thing I dislike about Canadian politics is they tend not to question authority as much - but then again, I feel like their authority deserves more respect than authority does in America.
I don't think the Canadian accent really sounds that similar actually. Maybe to an Australian it does, but i think the pitch of it, some of the vowels, and the rhythm of it is quite distinct from the way Americans outside of the upper Midwest talk. Some especially strong Canadian accents can even sound as foreign as a continental European accent, but most of them sound only 'semi-foreign' to me.
Common language is more or less true, of course with the exception of Quebec and parts of New Brunswick. However I think the fact they are bilingual is quite a major difference; of course, America could almost be considered bilingual in Spanish at this point.
Similar sports interests? Hmmm. Not really. I mean hockey is king in Canada, here in America, it's not that popular. The CFL is pretty big, but it's nothing compared to the NFL. Football is religion in America, in Canada, some people like it, that's all. Basketball is a shared thing; basketball was actually invented by a Canadian, though he invented it when he lived in America. I'd give the point to Canada.
Food is actually somewhat different. Canada doesn't have quite as much fast food, though it still has a lot. Poutine is a big dish in Canada that almost nobody in America has eaten or likely even knows about. The portions are also much smaller there generally speaking, the Grand Slam at Denny's in Vancouver is not grand at all. There's also a lot of brands unique to Canada and a lot of US brands you can't find up there. You'd be surprised at how different the stock of a 7-Eleven in Canada is!
Shopping is pretty different too. I didn't recognize hardly any of the store names up there. They do have Safeway though.
TV interests? No idea. I do think they mostly watch American TV there. But then again, doesn't most of the world? Same with movies and music.
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