Ask Lemmy

I did a short stay in Sri Lanka as a young adult, it was a formidable experience. I remember a different, more considerate sort of kindness in people compared to my home town/country

Japan. The cavet? Know some Japanese.

Most people in Japan grow up learning some English. But they almost never use it in their day to day after highschool. So it's a point of issue, maybe even a little embarrassment, for them to "start" a conversation. I've found that the better you are at Japanese, the more willing the Japanese are to want to connect with you.

Unless they're drunk. In my experience, social drinking some how blows away the shyness barrier. Go to a pub, especially in a rural town, and you will be bombarded with questions. You're a novelty, maybe? Not sure. But booze does makes things easier it seems.

Keep going back for some reason. Not sure why. :)

Taiwan. Clerk at the shoe store didn't have what I wanted in my size. She went to the other shoe stores nearby searching for me without telling us. We found out when we asked why it was taking so long.

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.

Iceland and nowhere even comes close. I heard newfoundland will beat it though, one day I'll visit.

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.

Mongolia.

Every single people I met were nice and friendly. Even when they don't speak english, they will try anything to help you, or find someone that speak english.

I'm a white American.

Most friendly: Portugal. They seem to be a happy bunch in general, and they all seemed excited to have visitors. Lisbon, Cascais, Lagos, and all the little towns in between.

Least friendly: Iceland. They could just be less open and emotionally expressive with strangers, but unless it was a business transaction I was frequently ignored when I said hello and people seemed uninterested in having a conversation.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Taiwan for sure. What lovely people.

Australia, they are all just Koala friendly.

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

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.

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.

Germany is very nice, most people I met were more than happy to help my with practicing my German

China, Taiwan, and just EA Chinese people in general are beyond nice. This past trip made me see how straight forward and warm hearted they really are and such strong family values.

Regarding the people, disregarding officials and leadership? Iran. Such lovely, welcoming people.