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I think it's true, how you are treated in asian countries has a lot to do with where you come from
I even notice when going to asian restaurants here in the USA, they treat a white customer different than an asian customer
Westerners / white customers expect a lot of service, like to talk, tend to leave a tip, sometimes a big tip, thats probably why they get treated better than some locals or asian customers , because they're seen as a walking ATM.
one of the main reasons I think Filipinas are friendly is most of them are looking for a westerner to marry them to help them or their families get out or so maybe you can help sponsor their brother / sister, etc
almost every one of them I met online / forums, are always looking to meet a foreigner to marry them, that could explain the friendliness
thats why the poorer the country the friendlier the people, your their ticket out
Not going to be friendly when a Japanese goto China or a Chinese goto Japan.
No, Japanese are generally nice to everyone, including Chinese - even though some Chinese tourists are very rude and misbehave in foreign countries.
But it's true that many Chinese are not friendly towards japanese, because they are just stupid racist (they will explain that it's because of WW2 atrocities but hey - we are in 2016, Japanese are not the same, they have apologized many times and they paid the price for their mistakes, so move on).
Foreigners are hard to be an treated as insiders in east Asia, without speaking the language fluently and having East Asian look. Societies exclude people unable to speak the language fluently and having foreign looks. East Asia not include multi ethnic countries such as the Phillippines, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stringerbell
Obviously this is opinion based and its hard to generalise but I'm moving to Asia for another teaching English stint and would love to hear some opinions...
Which countries are most open?...most friendly?...most genuine and easiest to become an insider?...least xenophobic?...that kind of thing...
And then feel free to share where you have been which seemed the exact opposite...
I am from England, UK and Europe can't be grouped. The countries are so different from each other. Upon returning from Czech Republic a week ago my girlfriend and I both filled up our vehicles on the way to work. I phoned her later in the day and said I realised how much more friendly and polite the member of staff was compared to those on holiday and she said she experienced exactly the same thing at her petrol station. We don't often put on a face in the UK, if we do it is because we are pissed off at something else that has happened and making sure we don't give people the tail end of our bad mood. As a rule though we are miserable in winter months. Spring and Summer strangers will say "hi" and smile just passing by but this doesn't really happen in Autumn and Winter. With shorter daylight hours and cold weather we become less friendly but still remain polite.
I have been to Greece, Spain, France, Holland and briefly Czech Republic. Out of those the only particularly friendly one was Holland and had a good laugh with locals. However, I have never met a German I didn't like and have never met and Israeli who didn't want to argue.
New Zealand had by far the rudest people I have met but strangely all of the rude ones were female (both to me and my girlfriend). The men were nice though. It actually spoilt the holiday, I would never go back and I felt there was no character there and that the only time that was fun was when spending a fortune on activities. To top it off I had never been to my neighbour Scotland and when I did go it was far more beautiful and 11000 miles closer.
Asia I felt like Thai's were out to rip me off and occasionally friendly, Vietnamese pretty friendly and a lovely vibe overall and Cambodia was a lot more edgy and yes, you do need to be more cautious of your belongings there for snatch theft but they are so friendly (although a little crazy) and no it isn't just for money. I would not buy anything and often after conversation I was often given the item trying to be sold for free as a new friend (which of course I gave money afterwards, I'm not a tight wad but I didn't let them know that was going to happen) Same for beggars, you can keep saying no money at them and walking away, or you can actually talk to them and they soon forget about begging and they have a great whacky sense of humour. As for people in general guest house workers, restaurant staff - all fab. I have often been at beach bars drinking and they would bring a big tray of free food for us all, or a huge jug of happy shake to share. We had spent our money and just having drunken end of night conversations, they had nothing to gain, the money already spent. It is really easy to strike up long lasting friendships with Khmer's but sadly you get a much more spoilt country compared to it's neighbours such as littered beaches and forests disappearing to illegal logging.
So for me Cambodia is friendliest but I am yet to go to Pakistan and Iran which are supposed to be some of the worlds friendliest people.
I have been to Korea as well, twice, my childhood friend actually lives there. Not good! They are as much racist as any white supremacist!
Absolutely. Besides being openly and outrageously racist and making fun of people for no reason they have money, status and appearance as their top values in life. A pathetic culture if you ask me.
Friendliest, and most polite Asian country I have traveled to is Japan. Now, as a permanent resident I've made some very good to great relationships with people in business and in my neighborhood.
It takes awhile to get to know people but I have the time. If you plan to visit, learn a little Japanese. It goes a long way.
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