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Author Topic: Travel and Perceptions  (Read 13111 times)

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Offline Jumper

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« Reply #25 on: December 05, 2017, 01:26:59 PM »
As far as customer service:
Rude or lacking  - FSU, France, Greece,Brazil,certain Caribbean locations.
Nice- Mexico,  most Caribbean locations, most of europe,and America's hat.
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Offline Boethius

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« Reply #26 on: December 05, 2017, 01:55:56 PM »
I found customer service to be good in France.  In stores, clerks will leave you alone until you are ready to be served, and then their attention will be on you and no one else.  In restaurants, there is no rush to get you out the door.  There are some differences - culturally, the French don't drink coffee until after a meal, so you won't get a coffee, and refills are not free.  Once again, you should start each encounter with a greeting, and always say please and thank you.
After the fall of communism, the biggest mistake Boris Yeltsin's regime made was not to disband the KGB altogether. Instead it changed its name to the FSB and, to many observers, morphed into a gangster organisation, eventually headed by master criminal Vladimir Putin. - Gerard Batten

Offline Jumper

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« Reply #27 on: December 05, 2017, 03:13:57 PM »
Beo, I was mostly tongue in cheek.

While I've had rude encounters in the service industry. It has seemed to me far more an individual basis than a given nationality.

The caveat is I pretty much always find large cities more rude than rural folk,regardless country or culture.


 
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Offline ML

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« Reply #28 on: December 05, 2017, 04:30:45 PM »
The caveat is I pretty much always find large cities more rude than rural folk,regardless country or culture.

Agree there.
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Offline SANDRO43

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« Reply #29 on: December 05, 2017, 05:31:32 PM »
There are some differences - culturally, the French don't drink coffee until after a meal
Quite right, and not the only ones! Coffee, or tea, during a normal meal :(?
Ugh! :shock:

Wine, beer, water, anything NOT containing sugar except in small amounts! I still shudder when I see some young people drinking Coke - or worse, Fanta - at meals.
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Offline ML

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« Reply #30 on: December 05, 2017, 05:41:20 PM »
Coffee, or tea, during a normal meal :(?
Ugh! :shock:

Sandro, I drink 3-4 cups of coffee with many breakfasts.
And USA cups, not those small pansy European cups.
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Offline Boethius

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« Reply #31 on: December 05, 2017, 06:18:04 PM »
A few days after he arrived here, I took the better half to a cafe for coffee (which he doesn't drink, but he had cake).  He was shocked at the size of the coffee cups.  He still remembers that, to this day, and he still finds the size of coffee cups here strange.
After the fall of communism, the biggest mistake Boris Yeltsin's regime made was not to disband the KGB altogether. Instead it changed its name to the FSB and, to many observers, morphed into a gangster organisation, eventually headed by master criminal Vladimir Putin. - Gerard Batten

Offline SANDRO43

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« Reply #32 on: December 06, 2017, 07:15:53 AM »
he still finds the size of coffee cups here strange.
What is stranger yet is the coffee drink itself - little more than brown-coloured water ;D, which is why...
Sandro, I drink 3-4 cups of coffee with many breakfasts. And USA cups, not those small pansy European cups.
...you have to drink so many cups buckets to obtain the caffeine equivalent of our pansy cups ;).

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Offline Sting23

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« Reply #33 on: December 06, 2017, 03:05:49 PM »
FWIW~

The nicest persons/country I met in my travels...

1 The UK
2 Chilean
3 Canadians
4 The Philippines

The rudest.

1 Seoul, SK
2 France
3 Austria
4 Germany

Hmm...I would switch your top picks... UK, Brits were rather rude to me.  Can't imagine how Koreans are rude.  I lived in Seoul for a time.  Very polite, traditional Asian culture.  Literally saw students stand up and bow to a teacher if they would meet in a restaurant. Could be a taxi driver you encountered or someone trying to rip you off!

Offline GQBlues

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« Reply #34 on: December 06, 2017, 03:45:26 PM »
Hmm...I would switch your top picks... UK, Brits were rather rude to me.  Can't imagine how Koreans are rude.  I lived in Seoul for a time.  Very polite, traditional Asian culture.  Literally saw students stand up and bow to a teacher if they would meet in a restaurant. Could be a taxi driver you encountered or someone trying to rip you off!

Yeah, two polarized experience.

The coolest gentleman we've ever met travelling happened in London. The tube was pretty crowded and we had a hard time trying to see which stop we needed to get off from and get to where we needed to go. This was all before the age of GPS, etc.. I asked the guy standing beside us which stop we had to get off to get us to a street we needed to get on. The gentleman smiled and asked exactly where we needed to go to. I told him. He smiled and assured us he'll be happy to let us know. After a few moments, he told us this was the stop we needed to embark off, thus we proceeded. He also got off, turned to us and said to follow him. climbed the stairs, ushered and walked us about a block or two, crossed the street, then pointed at a building sand said, "yes, the building at the end on the left side. That's your destination, I believe. You lads best get on, and do enjoy our lovely city". I said thanks and said it was a nice coincidence that we were going to generally the same place. He said "oh no, but no worries..." as he needs to go back and take the tube again since he's still quite a bit away from home. We just looked at each other and silently uttered, 'wow'. The UK, at least back then, tempered the word 'gentle' in the manner to describe their manners and disposition. The Gentleman.

I was part of a junior team competing in the Asian martial arts competition. There were quarters appointed to every participants/nations. True, Koreans, like Japanese, do in fact bow. But unlike the Japanese, who do it for every one as a sign of respect and courtesy, Koreans apparently, based on my first hand experience, do not. Maybe, we felt at the time, they didn't have the same respect for us (Filipinos). There's much to describe very distinct differences in the manner they treated us vs everyone else that isn't worth rehashing.

BTW, I meant to add Russia on equal measure with France for slot #2.
« Last Edit: December 06, 2017, 03:49:50 PM by GQBlues »
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Offline ML

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« Reply #35 on: December 06, 2017, 03:53:51 PM »
What is stranger yet is the coffee drink itself - little more than brown-coloured water ;D, which is why......you have to drink so many cups buckets to obtain the caffeine equivalent of our pansy cups ;).

In my case, I am not drinking coffee to obtain caffeine but rather for the taste/flavor.
Perhaps I am unusual, but I have to drink a lot of fluid with every meal.  Feels like food does not properly 'wash down' into my stomach if I don't drink a lot of fluid.
Coffee with breakfast, tea with lunch and various items (beer, wine, tea, water, etc) with dinner, depending on . . .
A beautiful woman is pleasant to look at, but it is easier to live with a pleasant acting one.

Offline Sting23

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« Reply #36 on: December 06, 2017, 04:00:43 PM »
Yeah, two polarized experience.


I was part of a junior team competing in the Asian martial arts competition.  Koreans apparently, based on my first hand experience, do not. Maybe, we felt at the time, they didn't have the same respect for us (Filipinos). There's much to describe very distinct differences in the manner they treated us vs everyone else that isn't worth rehashing.


Well, I guess there's good and bad people in every country.  You bumped into such a person in the UK... I'm Asian too so I could blend in easy in Korea. But when people heard me speak English they were shocked.  I had people invite me for drinks on the street.   

I think because you were in a competition they may have tried to intimidate you.  There's many Filipinos in my home city, they are quite friendly, moreso than other Asian groups.

Offline Sting23

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« Reply #37 on: December 06, 2017, 04:02:59 PM »
In my case, I am not drinking coffee to obtain caffeine but rather for the taste/flavor.
Perhaps I am unusual, but I have to drink a lot of fluid with every meal.  Feels like food does not properly 'wash down' into my stomach if I don't drink a lot of fluid.
Coffee with breakfast, tea with lunch and various items (beer, wine, tea, water, etc) with dinner, depending on . . .

I drink coffee every day for the taste, not the caffeine.  But I drink espresso based, not brew.  So the amount is actually very small.  And I"ll usually have a Coke with a meal too.

Offline mhr7

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« Reply #38 on: December 06, 2017, 04:08:57 PM »
I drink coffee every day for the taste, not the caffeine.  But I drink espresso based, not brew.  So the amount is actually very small.  And I"ll usually have a Coke with a meal too.

If not for the caffeine, I'd never drink coffee. Instant is just fine with me in the morning.
"After your death, you will be what you were before your birth." - Schopenhauer

Offline Sting23

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« Reply #39 on: December 06, 2017, 04:13:49 PM »
If not for the caffeine, I'd never drink coffee. Instant is just fine with me in the morning.

I'm a coffee connoisseur (snob) so I refuse to drink instant.  I can barely tolerate Starbucks anymore now that they use automated machines.  10 years ago they were drinkable, with baristas making each shot.  I tried Mcdonalds iced coffee once to see how it tasted and threw it out after the first sip.

Offline GQBlues

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« Reply #40 on: December 06, 2017, 04:28:11 PM »
I'm a coffee connoisseur (snob) so I refuse to drink instant.  I can barely tolerate Starbucks anymore now that they use automated machines.  10 years ago they were drinkable, with baristas making each shot.  I tried Mcdonalds iced coffee once to see how it tasted and threw it out after the first sip.


For health, sanity, future offspings and legacy, don't ever do that again. Just like those flavored yogurt dispenser in those ice cream parlors, they hardly, if ever, completely clean them out. Had food poisoning last time I had McCafe.
« Last Edit: December 06, 2017, 04:30:52 PM by GQBlues »
Quote from: msmob
1. Because of 'man', global warming is causing desert and arid areas to suffer long, dry spell.
2. The 2018 Camp Fire and Woolsey California wildfires are forests burning because of global warming.
3. N95 mask will choke you dead after 30 min. of use.

Offline SANDRO43

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« Reply #41 on: December 06, 2017, 05:41:28 PM »
I go to McDonald's for a cheese burger about once a month. Fortunately, here they have an espresso machine to make their coffees ;D. Costs €1, as in any other bar.
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Offline ML

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« Reply #42 on: December 06, 2017, 06:00:21 PM »
In independent taste tests, McDonalds has beaten Starbucks.
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Offline CaptB

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« Reply #43 on: December 09, 2017, 04:50:15 AM »
"Travel perceptions of other nations." I guess this discussion would have to be divided into "travel related perceptions"........and folks in their own element.....which is also part of "your" travel........................perception. I have bee to Russia 8 times.......3 weeks each time........the second to the last visit........marriage to a Russian.......14 yeas and counting. My "first" impression of Russians.....first visit.......cold and rude.........at the airport (customs).......and on the streets. No one smiles much. No one says "hi" to strangers. When "you" say "hi" to someone you have not been formally introduced to.....you may not get any response/aknowlegement.........back. When I was first traveling to Russia.......this was my impression. But that is only on the streets (I am not restricting my comments to "travel only" situations). On my first trip in 1999....these were my observations.....in public. But I learned quickly.......that one a Russian gets to know you......things change. They can be the friendliest.....most ingratiatingly folks on earth. The difference between a Russian friend and American friend..................................................In America........your friend loses his job......and his wife leaves him.......he knocks on the door of his "friend"........who answers. The friend says.......lets go out to tomorrow night.....and sort things out. The "Russian" friend will say...."come on in (at 3 am)...................he calls his boss and says he can't make it to work today........they have a piva.....vodka......etc. etc............and talk all night.


My personal experience with Canadians (many Canuk friends) and Australians.......like our cousins. Canadians in particular....are not even thought of as "foreigners" by most Americans. No.......they are not thought of as "Americans"..........just not "foreign". I love Aussies.........just like me........a little eccentric, confident, easygoing.......always pulling your leg........but good mates...........humorus/sarcastic.........but only in fun. That being said I have had great friends from England, Ireland, Wales, Caribbean, Germany, Iraq, Iran, China, Philippines, several African countries, Mexico, Cuba and several more countries. When you understand a (foreign) friends "culture and history" then you will understand their mannerisms out in public.......as opposed to to how they are......with friends and family.....at home.


Are russians a little "cool and pushy" out on the street..........yes.........but a better "friend".......you will not find. My observations only.


Capt B
"A Yooper in Moscovia"

Offline Boethius

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« Reply #44 on: December 09, 2017, 03:57:14 PM »
In independent taste tests, McDonalds has beaten Starbucks.


Starbucks' Pike Place roast is better than McDonalds coffee, as are their anniversary blends.  However, most Starbucks roasts are bitter, as they are over roasted.



After the fall of communism, the biggest mistake Boris Yeltsin's regime made was not to disband the KGB altogether. Instead it changed its name to the FSB and, to many observers, morphed into a gangster organisation, eventually headed by master criminal Vladimir Putin. - Gerard Batten

Offline ML

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A beautiful woman is pleasant to look at, but it is easier to live with a pleasant acting one.

Offline BdHvA

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« Reply #46 on: April 15, 2018, 07:40:47 AM »
What an amusing thread.

Speaking some of the language is a decided help in contact.

Let me start by saying Paris is not France. The French that I have met in the Campagne tend to be both firm viewed/opinionated and rather formal but pleasant.

I have found the northern Germans cold, unpleasant and bigoted, those in the south are much more like the café mentality that one finds in Italy and along the shores of the Middle Sea.

One on one, Russians are interesting and curious. The same holds true for those who consider themselves Ukrainian.

The Belgians like beer and frites (aka French/Steak fries) and have a good humour, both the Flemish and Walloons . 

While I could comment on other nations I really do not have enough first hand knowledge.
« Last Edit: April 15, 2018, 07:45:21 AM by BdHvA »
Experierence is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you. A. Huxley

Online krimster2

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« Reply #47 on: April 15, 2018, 08:05:01 AM »
Germany wasn't united into a single nation until 1871
before that the region was composed of independent states each with their own unique culture/history
southern Germany is mainly Bavaria,
beer in Bavaria is classified as a basic foodstuff even available at work!
I used to work at the Grundig TV factory in Nuremberg, we had beer for lunch in the cafeteria and in vending machines!
didn't quite have those amenities in Hamburg!!!
as you have noted, Sud Deutsch are generally mellower, probably 2 liters mellower. if it's around lunch time...




Offline msmob

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« Reply #48 on: April 15, 2018, 08:20:02 AM »

While I could comment on other nations I really do not have enough first hand knowledge.


I question your knowledge of Germans ( north v south )

I find the Bavarians and their neighbours in the Tirol to be charming on the exterior, but many are THE most racially bigoted people - and that was LONG before open borders...


Offline BdHvA

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« Reply #49 on: April 15, 2018, 08:46:32 AM »

I question your knowledge of Germans ( north v south )

I find the Bavarians and their neighbours in the Tirol to be charming on the exterior, but many are THE most racially bigoted people - and that was LONG before open borders...

My expierence is the opposite.

But it based on regatta and work related contact. Tirol's (Austrian) are a strange fish, and I have spent a fair bit of time there  sliding and slipping on two pieces of plastic in the winter. 

As I understand the greatest support for Hitler came from those North of Frankfurt a Main during the Nazi period. But Hitler was from the South, in fact Austria.

I guess we have different expierences - lets agree to disagree.   
Experierence is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you. A. Huxley

 

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