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Most Czechs seem to insist they are not in Eastern Europe and are Central instead.....I don't think of the Czech Republic as a depressing place and the poeple I know from there come across a\.s very Western compared to people I've met from Russia or Ukraine.Based only on people I've met, Czechs in general are more friendly and outgoing and cheerful, while people further east like Russian, Ukrainians, Poles, and Serbs are either more dour and drab, or more confrontational and hostile. Also most Russian immigrants I've met in the U.S. are not very proud to be Russian or Ukrainian and never have anything good to say about their country (even Salvadoreans and Nigerians are prouder of their home countries).
Eastern Europe does have a VERY depressing connotation to me, especially cities like Moscow, Kiev, Chisinau, Minsk, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Bucharest, and Budapest. Same with Lituahia, Estonia and most Russian cities. When I think these places, I think about the crumbling Soviet style buildings, the gray weather, the drab architecture, the history of the Cold War and the history of WW2 and the Holocaust. The only times Poland has ever been mentioned ever in school for me was regarding World War II, the German invasion, and the concentration camps. The only times Russia has ever been mentioned in school before for me was in association with Communism, the Russian Revolution, Lenin, Stalin, WW2 and the Cold War particularly the Cold War and the arms race with America. (Actually the only times Czechoslovakia was mentioned too was involving WW2 and the Iron Curtain which is why many Americans still think its Czechoslovakia and not the Czech Republic and Slovakia.) War is also the first thing to come to mind with the Balkans like Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, etc. In Western Europe, Belfast, Northern Ireland comes across as very depressing for the same reason. I've also heard northern England is a depressing place.
The worst cities in the world though are probably obviously Baghdad, Kabul, Pyongyang, Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez, Gaza City, Beirut, Tehran, Riyadh, Mecca, Port au Prince, and Mogadishu.
Now its not "sad", but I think there is an emptiness to Amsterdam with its legalized marijuana, promotion of drug use, prostitution, Red Light district, etc.
Czech Republic and Estonia are considered to be developed nations by the UN nowadays. Estonia is by far the most successful ex-Soviet state and has done so much better without the Soviet Union.
Czech Republic has done very well for itself too and is far wealthier then Hungary or Ukraine or Belarus which are all poor and depressing... though to be fair Budapest is pretty attractive.
Here is Tallinn, the capital of Estonia:
Tallinn Old Town is actually a World Heritage Site
I once saw a short documentary about a guy who went through Finland trying to get somebody to laugh, and couldn't. He even got people to tell Finnish jokes, and they didn't even laugh at their own jokes.
Yeah, Pyongyang by far. It's Orwell's 1984 nightmare come to life. Never been there though. (lucky me)
The whole country is depressing. They show more about it on TV these days as their leader has died and the population is mourning his death, also in a ridiculously artificial, ritualized way.
The whole country is depressing. They show more about it on TV these days as their leader has died and the population is mourning his death, also in a ridiculously artificial, ritualized way.
North Korea is actually funny in its patheticness like Kim Jong Il's love of American movies and his attempted trip to visit Disneyland Tokyo in disguise. Now I know Kim Jong Il was a brutal dictator like Saddam Hussein but with his personality it was impossible to take them seriously.
The recent footage of Pyongyang and their communist parades looked straight out of documentary footage of the former Soviet Union with the Red Army soldiers marching through Red Square. Poverty is widespread in North Korea nad over 1 million people have starved to death recently, there are serious shortages of food and basic medicines. The government is among the most repressive and the society is so closed that many North Koreans don't even know what South Korea or other democratic and First World countries are like, they are much more isolated than the former USSR, East Germany, even more isolated than Cuba or Vietnam.
Recently the North Korean government was riled up over a South Korean church group placing a Christmas tree within sight of the border fearing this would spread Christianity and dissent in the North. At least Iran, Saudi Arabia (women cannot drive and cannot be with a man who is not a relative, all religions other than Islam are banned), and Somalia are warmer than North Korea even if they are bad in everything else. Afghanistan has gotten better since the end of Taliban rule, hopefully their defeat will be completed soon.
North Korea is actually funny in its patheticness like Kim Jong Il's love of American movies and his attempted trip to visit Disneyland Tokyo in disguise. Now I know Kim Jong Il was a brutal dictator like Saddam Hussein but with his personality it was impossible to take them seriously.
The recent footage of Pyongyang and their communist parades looked straight out of documentary footage of the former Soviet Union with the Red Army soldiers marching through Red Square. Poverty is widespread in North Korea nad over 1 million people have starved to death recently, there are serious shortages of food and basic medicines. The government is among the most repressive and the society is so closed that many North Koreans don't even know what South Korea or other democratic and First World countries are like, they are much more isolated than the former USSR, East Germany, even more isolated than Cuba or Vietnam.
Recently the North Korean government was riled up over a South Korean church group placing a Christmas tree within sight of the border fearing this would spread Christianity and dissent in the North. At least Iran, Saudi Arabia (women cannot drive and cannot be with a man who is not a relative, all religions other than Islam are banned), and Somalia are warmer than North Korea even if they are bad in everything else. Afghanistan has gotten better since the end of Taliban rule, hopefully their defeat will be completed soon.
Hehe, most dictators and other extremists are hypocrites. Some of the Nazi leaders for instance secretly loved and collected records of Jazz music by black American musicians, but officially they considered them inferior humans and their music was forbidden.
I don't agree on the way you lump North Korea together with Iran, South Arabia and even Somalia, though. There are huge differences, not just in climate
Well Saudi Arabia is also a very repressive state with strict Islamic law. People are still beheaded publicly and have their hands cut off and stoned publicly for things like adultery and petty pickpocketing and burglary. Yes I am tough on crime but the Rudy Giuliani and Texan justice kind, not the sharia kind! Also women have no rights in Saudi and cannot even leave the country without a husband's permission.
I think in terms of pure misery, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Iraq are the absolute worst worst places on Earth. Afghanistan has not seen a day of peace since the Soviet invasion in 1979, that was followed by the civil war with its tribes and warlords until the Taliban took over, during which there was still war plus Taliban rule. Somalia has been in constant chaos and true anarchy since the early 1990s. Iraq has been at war since 1980, although the war didn't really hit home since it was mostly fought in Iran and life in IRaq was still okay until 1991 and Desert Storm. Then there was the decade of sanctions, plus the 2003 invasion, and then the sectarian warfare that continues today.
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