British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

Re:British man banned from US because of text to American gi... by hnarn on Wednesday May 22, 2019 @06:40AM (#19979724)

Does your definition or "friendliness" assume that you speak the local language? Because if the answer is yes, I have no doubt you can find equally friendly (and rude) people in Eastern Europe as you can in Beijing, London, Cairo or New York. You may have a different opinion but I believe that there is a basic level of humanity anywhere in the world, and that this level often has an inverse correlation with material wealth.[1] That being said, if you can't use mutually intelligible words for things, people tend to become a bit reserved. That's something that's true everywhere in the world.

If you assume an English speaker traveling around, I would argue it's not a fair comparison to equate the friendliness of a stranger in Russia with the friendliness of a stranger in the United States, for example -- not only because of pure language reasons, but also for simple reasons of historical, educational, and cultural context. Not that finding a rude American is hard, mind you. I'm speaking from experience as an ESL speaker who has been there several times :-)

(But, to answer your question, no, I have unfortunately not been to EE/CIS -- but I have been to China, which I think is a strong contender.)

[1]: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/save/why-poor-pe...

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Re:British man banned from US because of text to American gi... by golergka on Wednesday May 22, 2019 @08:36AM (#19980450)

I was born and live in Eastern Europe. I have also lived in Israel for a few years, and have visited other countries for significant period of time.

People here are much less trusting and are much more aggressive to others. It is actually LESS visible if you're a foreigner, because people are also concerned with self-image, and don't really perceive you as a threat or a contender for anything.

As an American who doesn't speak Russian, you'll get a much better treatment from stranger on a street than another Russian would.

> I believe that there is a basic level of humanity anywhere in the world, and that this level often has an inverse correlation with material wealth.

Every possible crime statistics contradicts this. Poor countries in general view violence as something more normalised than advanced ones.

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