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It's not in their culture to smile for no reason. Get them in private, and there are plenty of smiles, lots of laughter, and genuine heartfelt friendship and caring. Really, it doesn't take much to get Russians to smile.
Location: Segovia, central Spain, 1230 m asl, Csb Mediterranean with strong continental influence, 40º43 N
3,094 posts, read 3,578,743 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rocking chair
British and Dutch people are relatively friendly. Mediterranean people are colorful and exuberant but not so friendly that they seem.
It may be due to some false stereotypes. At least in Spain, we tend to be effusive, extroverted and so talkative with our relatives and friends. It's simply by our manning of acting, our ways of relating.
Otherwise, when talk to strangers is concerned, we usually are more reserved than many foreign people could expected, although extremely cold behaviour are rare, as in other countries tend to be.
It may be due to some false stereotypes. At least in Spain, we tend to be effusive, extroverted and so talkative with our relatives and friends. It's simply by our manning of acting, our ways of relating.
Otherwise, when talk to strangers is concerned, we usually are more reserved than many foreign people could expected, although extremely cold behaviour are rare, as in other countries tend to be.
True that!
When I first brought my then american girlfriend, and now wife, to meet my parents, we were staying a full summer at our house here in Lisbon, Portugal, and she once was behaving like really awkward and she said "Oh my gosh you're grandma was so mad at you!!"
I was like: "What?" Ohh no no... we were just talking normally. ahah
The latest survey I could find was this one for 2013. Iceland came out on top.
TOP 10 FRIENDLY COUNTRIES
1. Iceland
2. New Zealand
3. Morocco
4. Macedonia
5. Austria
6. Senegal
7. Portugal
8. Bosnia & Herzegovina
9. Ireland
10. Burkina Faso
The comments section in the above article are interesting. Most of the comments are negative which just shows people are always going to be contrary and disagree.
My cousin has been to Poland, and she said the people there were really nice. Granted they do drink a lot, but they're nice otherwise.
I can see why Iceland is on top. They're probably excited to get tourists at all - Iceland is in the middle of the freezing ocean. They must love having tourists.
Bosnia doesn't surprise me. I met a Bosnian Muslim guy who was almost too nice - I don't think I had ever seen someone so polite in my life. I had to tell him that I could get the door myself. (We don't have many people from Yugoslavia down here in Brazil, so I was surprised to meet this guy. He was a recent immigrant - he was younger than me.)
In my experience, New Zealanders tend to be very outgoing. The nice ones want to be your friend the minute they meet you. I met a couple of surfers from there on vacation in Florianopolis - they even gave me surfing tips.
To me, nice and friendly are different things. I have a friend who immigrated here from Romania. He's definitely not friendly since he doesn't talk to many people, but once you do get to know him, he's actually pretty nice. Friendly means that you're more cheerful and outgoing.
Still, perception of foreigners depends on your experience with them. I know a girl who thinks that Argentinians are snotty and egotistical because of her experience with them. My experience with Argentinians was mostly positive - I've even got relatives in Argentina.
Norway is the more friendly country in Europe. Very helpful, speak good English and has good taste. Among the more rude countries I have visit would be France. Very few speak English outside major cities so it can be though time on streets, in shops and restaurants. Not to speak English is not a sign of being rude but when they don’t even try it makes me angry. Sure, French is one of the most sophisticated and beautiful languages in the world but one could hope they learned at least a few words of English. English is not my first language and I’m skilled enough to order food in English.
Here in Greece people are very friendly to the point they can be effusive and cross your personal space. I've met people who started talking to me about their personal life since day 1.
Or others might start talking to you while you are in a bus stop or in a cafe. Greeks like to joke around a lot and it's easy to make friends here.
I find northern and northwestern Europeans a little colder. When I talk to them I can't feel the connection I feel when I talk to say other Mediterranean people. They talk about more neutral subjects.
As for Americans I think they're superficially friendly. In Europe it's easier to see who is genuinely friendly.
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