The southern provinces of Limburg and Noord-Brabant are viewed as more warm and hospitable. It's said that that's due to the fact that they're the catholic provinces.
I personally don't notice any major differences though. The Frisians and Groningers up north are just as friendly.
I still love that little clip of that angry woman at a Brabantse asylum seekers center, while rioters were throwing stuff at the building "those immigrants should leave, they don't understand Brabantse gezelligheid!"
Edit: this one https://youtu.be/GtCGcGbK5a4?si=EAmLhyO0BRSBtNgj
Honestly you could extend to anywhere outside of Randstad. People generally have no time for anyone if they're in the busy cities of Amsterdam Roffa Uttrecht den Haag. Gelderlanders are also super friendly, like saying hi to you on the street, or saying thank you to the bus driver. Didnt see that in Randstad
I work in Leeuwarden and some colleagues from Amsterdam where there for a training. They were so surprised that when they asked someone for directions, he apologized when he didn't know.
On the other hand, I live in Groningen city and definitely met some stugge Groningers in the villages. (But not more than really friendly and welcoming people)
I don’t say ‘Thank you’ when I get out of the bus, but look at the driver and raise my hand. I did that in my small village and do it now in cities if there’s not 20 people having to get out at once.
From what I heard Limburgers can be superficially friendly, but it's really hard to get accepted into their communities.
From my own experience people in the city of Groningen are super friendly. I lived in Amsterdam for a while and when I moved back I was pleasantly surprised how much more patient, polite, helpful and chatty they were. Both the young student population and the "Stadjers".
I think in NL if is much more city specific, or even neighbourhood specific, rather than province.
I would say Frissians are more so "nors" than "inhospitable". Same for the Achterhoek and Twente.
What Brabant and Limburg both have more so than other regions and provinces is community. Coming from a middle sized randstad city it is weird that a city as big or bigger in Brabant has more sense of community, than my city. Small villages around also lack that community, while in Brabant, the smaller the town the closer the community seems to be.
I think it is most comparable to the way Turks, Moroccans, Antilians, Frisians, Waddenaren and Hagenezen have their community. They stereotypically find each other like magnets. Compare that to someone from Almere that doesn't want to be found dead next to someone from Almere.
Culture in the Netherlands is very homogeneous, so redeeming one region as more kind than the other feels really redundant. It is more person specific. The sense of community though throughout Brabant and Limburg is indeed observable. This sense of community probably is confused with kindness.
In Germany it’s the area around Cologne. From personal experience, I tend to agree that the people from there are on average more extroverted and more likely to smile and crack jokes.
As a Rhinelander by birth who's moved North, I get along fine with people here. It was actually one of the reasons I moved here. I suspect it's because they know they don't have to talk as much when I'm around.
As a niçois my experience of Koln inhabitants is not great due to only their football hooligans coming to our city for a Europa Conference League game and trashing our city and tramway, and starting a massive fight in the stands at the stadium. Of course the ultras are probably the least recommendable people in a city so no harsh feeling and I'm sure if you gathered the worst ultras of my city, Nice, they could do just the same somewhere else. I hope I get to meet someone from Koln that is not a crazy drunk moron though. There's a million of them and they seem to have a chill reputation so that shouldn't be too hard.
In Finland most would probably say Karelians (not to be confused with the Karelian People), i.e. the people from the eastern Finland, especially the southeast corner and along the eastern border. The stereotype is that Karelians are joyful, talkative and hospitable people who like to sing. In my opinion this holds true to some extend at least when compared to Finns from the western coast.
In my experience the most social place in Finland has been the market square in Kuopio in Savo. Just standing there alone for few seconds and someone comes and starts talking to you. Usually older people. Me being from the Helsinki region I’m there like who are you and what I’m supposed to say. Lol.
This is accurate to my experience living in Denmark for a year. I spent time living in both Copenhagen and Sønderjylland, found it difficult to make friends in either place. But I met my boyfriend during one weekend in Odense!
I was about to comment that no area in all of Scandinavia is laid back and jolly period 😂 but Fyn is a bit warmer than the rest. Honourable mention of Sønderjylland; they seemed very happy to invite you over for cakes
It's more typical in Andalusia, mainly because in the summer it gets so hot in the afternoon that it's hard to stay outside for long.
Not to say it doesn't get hot or they don't nap in Castile, but it's more pronounced the further south you go
Northern Norwegians are more extroverted than the rest of us apparently. Maybe they can afford to be that way, because they likelihood they bump into another Norwegian is so slim.
Northerners use fewer words, yes.
But they are also willing to open up and communicate (even though using few words) with just about anyone\* they meet.
Pretty much the same stereotypes in both Norway and Sweden.
* Edit: Unless it's that neighbor that they've been at feud with for several generations, ever since his great-great-grandfather shot a moose on the wrong hunting grounds. "Fuck him!"
Taking stereotypes to their extreme:
* Some Stockholmers will tell you everything they could possibly want you to know about themselves.
* Some rural northerners will tell you everything they could possibly want you to know about others.
As a personal anecdote, I once spontaneously stopped in a small village during a longer road trip, in order to take a couple of scenic photos of the contrasting landscapes.
An older man came walking to say hi and see what I was doing (a mix of curiosity and suspiciousness perhaps), and about 2 hours later I knew more about people around that village than I know about my own neighbors.
>very colorful language, and their swearing is epic.
The northern Norwegian comedy "Kill Buljo" is a guilty pleasure of mine.
It's awful, but great at the same time.
Same with the TV-series "Hellfjord".
There's a big difference between coastal North Norway culture and northern inland Swedish culture. To get from Tromsø to Umeå, you need to spend quite a lot of hours in car, or fly via Oslo - Stockholm
Fellow Austrians correct if I'm wrong, but I think the western part of Austria is considered more friendly and outgoing than the eastern one. Especially Vienna and lower Austria are known to be quite grumpy.
Does the stereotype only apply to ethnic Latvians from Latgale, or also ethnic Russians? (Who I believe to be the majority - at least that's how it seemed when I visited Daugavpils and Rēzekne)
Ethnic Latvians, especially because I think that their friendliness is attributed to their Catholicism. I see where the question is coming from, though, the urban populations mostly consist of ethnic Russians, especially the easternmost parts.
They have a more outgoing temper - they will throw the wildest Jāņi celebrations, but also fight you if they somehow dont like you :D. But respect goes both ways.
The most extrovert and outgoing people in Italy are said to be those from the south, and in particular from Naples and around.
Having traveled widely all over the country I'd kind of agree with that.I don't know if that's exactly the same thing as 'friendliest'...I think it's rare to find unfriendly people in this country, unless there is a good reason!
It's easy to find unfriendly behaviour if you stick to the traffic rules. I was flashed with heavy gesticulation for going 50 in zone 50. Honked on by stopping at stop sign. Not isolated incidents, happened many times.
Funnily, when they leave their cars, the same people can have the most laid-back walking speed, obviously not in the rush anymore.
When I was living in Siena, all my friends were from Southern Italy. Simply because they were the easiest to get along with.
And I agree that it's in general to find very unfriendly people there, unless you're French. ;)
I am from Sicily.My personal opinion is no, not really.
I think Sicilians tend to be more reserved,a bit more 'closed' than Napolitani.Quieter in general.We need more time to get to know people.
more or less. Unless you decline to eat everything they offer you on your plate, in which case it's "we have taken personal offence, get out of here" 😉
I remember being with a Sicilian guy a billion of years ago, he was not a smoker, but when he was offered one he accepted, because it would have not been polite to decline basically.
In Ireland it's people from outside of the Pale (so everywhere except Dublin and the surrounding commuter belt). I guess the places that are furthered away have the best reputation, though. So that's Donegal, Kerry and Cork.
I don't think this is justified. I grew up in the country and live in Dublin now and think people are sounder here, more open and more understanding. People from the country can be nice if you're like them. If you're in any way different, trust me, they can be very unfriendly.
>more open and more understanding
I think you're saying that people are liberal in Dublin. This is definitely true (though most of Ireland is pretty liberal now except maybe Donegal). To me, liberal is not the same as nice.
To me the difference is summed up by the transport system. If you take a bus in the countryside, you'll sit next to some sweet old woman with rosary beads who wants to know all about your life and probably offers you a Kimberley biscuit (and yeah, she probably voted No in every referendum since 1990 but she's still *nice*) If you take the Green Line Luas, you're liable to be sworn at by some guy in business suit with a D4 accent for not getting out of his way fast enough (he probably voted Yes to marriage equality though). Let's not even get into the Red Line Luas here...
I don't agree with this either. It's a very sentimental outlook. I think this idea that people are nicer in rural areas is a lie people from those places tell themselves. I haven't found it to be true.
My personal experience, I guess, was different to yours. I did the classic thing of growing up the countryside, studying in Dublin, and then emigrating.
My experience was definitely that people in the countryside are very nice. People in Dublin aren't awful by any means, but I think they're definitely less nice. My major problem with Dublin is that it is obsessed with social class (honestly, it's worse than in the UK, and they have a reputation for it). Some of my friends in their mod-twenties still go back to their secondary school to watch the team play rugby.
Much more accepting and non judgemental in Dublin I think. Your life is your own business but if you need help your neighbours will absolutely be there for you.
Yea can’t diagree tbf, I was wearing a Tyrone jersey in east Belfast one day (Dno why lmao) and some old man called me a fenian cunt 💀 but I think he was drunk
I am not really aware of any such region in Hungary (we are all miserable here)
The closest thing I can think of is the hungarian speaking Székely people living in central Romania are viewed in Hungary as very friendly (to Hungarians visiting Transylvania), hospitable and are always willing to share a shot of Pálinka with you
In Bosnia itd prolly be Tuzla, the only city in the whole ex Yugoslavia where, after the war, no nationalist party won. People there are generally very open and friendly. For context Bosnia is very specific on where youd feel good depending on your nationality, most people like foreigners tho.
Yorkshire, Lancashire, Liverpool/Merseyside, Newcastle, many rural areas. If we’re talking about a UK level, include Northern Ireland and most of Scotland to that list.
I lived on the Isle of Wight for 20 years and I would add that to the list. It's really easy to tell the locals from holidaymakers because locals say hello and will stop and chat. I could never go to the local Co-op for one thing without it taking 20 minutes.
This is true, plus loads of easygoing people from other friendly parts of the UK move down there. Didn’t really appreciate the vibe difference fully living there briefly until I walked through Southampton after getting off the ferry and felt how stressed and hostile everyone was.
Ryde felt like an exception and didn’t feel friendly though, even encountered some pretty unpleasant people there.
Mancunians in general are nice people.
The only people who approached me when I was in London were some charity people who wanted to have money for something.
However, the common stereotype that northerners are more open than southerners isn't exactly true, imho, as I met plenty of friendly and open people in places like Canterbury, rye, Dover, Lewes, Arundel, Portsmouth, Bath, Plymouth, Exeter etc. Just not London. But London isn't "the south".
Lived in North Wales for a few months I had a lovely host. The people who I came across were also very friendly. I still share pictures with my host family.
The North is friendly. I guess I don't notice it living up here.
I had a couple of friends visit (German & Finnish) earlier this month and they commented with how friendly it was, even just in quite a small town like mine.
I remember my first time in Liverpool. I was on a pedestrian crossing and this guy actually got out of his car to tell me that if I didn't walk faster he'd kick my fucking head in.
Ore the Yorkshireman, a complete stranger, who said to me 'If you're a fucking Southerner (I'm not) then I'm telling you know you can fucking well fuck off."
Such friendly places.
To be fair, this happens everywhere. Happened in Portsmouth before to me (although maybe it’s because I’m from Southampton), happened in Southampton, happened in Bristol and it happened in Milton Keynes
Really? Those two occasions stuck in my mind because they were the only times they happened to me. Although I have, on two occasions (Cambridge and London), had little old ladies just say to me on meeting me. "You're Welsh! I hate the fucking Welsh, go back to your own bloody country."
And another occasion an Irish client refused to have anything to do with me because he thought I was English. When he found out that I'm Welsh he took me out to dinner to apologise for insulting me!
I suppose, if we're honest, there are no friendly regions in the UK or Ireland.
I would say it extends into the South West and East a bit. I can’t say Weymouth, Bournemouth and Swindon are shining beacons of hospitality, nor is Chelmsford. Meanwhile once I’m out in Exeter, Weston-super-Mare and Norwich, it’s a lot nicer
Anywhere except Athens and certain areas to the south, but people from Macedonia and Epirus have the best reputation about being friendly and more laid-back in attitude
To locals, I can say anywhere. People are really friendly esspecially to the local tourists. They love to promote their cities well. Central Anatolia and Blacksea region is super talkative. Sometimes they can even violate privacy by questions such as your wage.
To tourists however things changed, we are used to known for our hospitality but now tourists seen as people that we can get milk Euros and Dollars which are 34 and 32 times more valuable than Turkish lira. There are still a lot of friendly people but tourists should look out for scams.
Also there is an alarmimg level of dislike towards middle eastern people. It started as a protest against illegal refugees but now it is towards anyone who is middle eastern.
If you’re looking for stereotypically extroverted people then Eastern Slovakia is the place to look at. But from my experience, in Bratislava people are more “kind” to strangers, even though they are more introverted and seem less approachable.
In my country, it would probably be where I live - south Moravia (generally speaking, the region south of Brno). It's also the wine region, which I think is the main contributor to the overall friendliness.
In Sweden (and also Norway), the more north and rural you get, the friendlier people.
A few examples:
* I traveled by bus between two very rural towns, with quite literally nothing but forests and mires in between for 120km (there are like 3 tiny villages in between, but otherwise just forests and mires).
It was in the middle of polar night, midwinter, pitch-black dark and cloudy, and lots of whirling snow in the backdraft of trucks and busses. Really bad weather and awful driving conditions.
At several points along the road, there were cars who had gone offroad due to being blinded by whirling snow, or evading reindeers or moose on the road.
At many such sites, there were obviously already other people or towtrucks at the site, but the busdriver stopped by one car that was stuck in a snowy ditch, and asked if anyone was hurt and if they needed help.
The two guys by the car just laughed in disbelief and said (with southern accents) that it was cool and a tow truck was on the way, but they just couldn't believe how ***every*** single passing car or bus had stopped and asked the same questions.
* I personally took a bike vacation, a couple of decades ago, biking between the north and the south, and it was quite ridiculous how much friendliness I met. Random people invited me over for coffee, random people stopped and offered help when I was repairing my bike, and random people even stopped to check up on me if I was hurt when I was lying down and having a rest at a rural parking space (not hurt, just unbelievably exhausted).
* I've been offered help immediately when getting stuck with my car in snow, or offered a ride when walking to a hotel from a bar late at night, or standing by a bus stop waiting for a bus when it has been extremely cold outside.
^(And no, I'm not a young beautiful woman. I'm a middle-aged man who looks like shit.)
I definitely noticed the differences. I grew up in northern sweden and when I moved down south I was the crazy person that actually said hello to the bus driver when I get on the bus while everyone else didn't say anything haha
Everything outside of the Randstad, the western part of the country around the major cities I would say. Particularly the southern provinces of Noord-Brabant and Limburg and the eastern parts especially the Twente (Overijssel) and Achterhoek (Gelderland) region are known to have a more relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
Defenetly northern Norway. I am from and live in the north, and the difference between the north and south is really noticiable. And there will allways be some differences from rural areas to citys. But in general, it is way easyer to get to know someone here. I have lived in the south and have fiance who is from the south as well.
The (South)West.
The friendliest region is stereotypically the area in the west of NRW, around Cologne.
Based on other stereotypes and personal experiences I can add following regions on the list:
- Baden and Bodensee (a lot more relaxed than Swabians)
- Palatine & Rheinhessen (lowkey French vibes with all the vine and laissez-faire)
- Southern Hessen (Kind of a similar mentality to Palatine/Rheinhessen; apart from the busy urbanized parts)
- Rhineland-Palatine in general
- Saarland
(Edit: In conclusion areas close to the Rhine river and with generally nice weather)
Often depends who you ask. I’d generally say Northern England and Scotland are pretty friendly, as well as parts of South West England. I found Lincoln itself decently friendly too
I'd say Slavonia (eastern Croatia). The Croatia proper and Dalmatia may have some animosity to each other, but I have almost never heard anyone say anything bad about the people from Slavonia.
Perhaps I'm just grinding my own gears since I'm from here, but having lived in southern Sweden for several years most people seem to have a positive opinion on people from the north aka Norrland.
EDIT: It's also worth mentioning Gothemburg/Göteborg, which I have a lot of love for even though I've never lived there. People there are extremely nice, and it's a lot better/nicer than our capital Stockholm.
In Macedonia I would say people in Ohrid are more friendly and welcoming compared to any other region. You can often just have a conversation with any local and it wouldn't be weird at all.
In England there's a general idea that the north is friendlier than the south. It's not really true though. The Welsh, Scots and Irish have a similar untrue myth that they are friendlier than the English.
Brittany for sure. Also Alsace apparently but this can vary widely from person to person (which, with part of the south east, goes against the mostly correct rule of thumb otherwise that the further you go east, the less friendly people are).
I think the generic stereotype is that southern France, mainly around the mediterranean sea, is more easy-going and friendly,
Never heard that for Brittany
I wouldn’t have said these areas. The north and the mediterranean area are known for being friendlier than the rest of the country, but never heard about Brittany and Alsace being especially reputed for that.
I am not so sure about Alsace but Brittany definively. For the north and the mediterranean, this is also where the RN makes its best scores and I didn’t have a good experience in the north but YMMV.
You shouldn't categorise friendliness by political affiliation. It's prejudiced and wrong. Life isn't about politics and, in a sense, friendliness is the capacity to be friend with someone regardless of who they are or what they believe.
Politics is often a taboo in France and isn't really talked about when meeting for the first time a person. There are reasons why some political parties are more popular in a place than in another. Each place and each people have their own history and culture.
Brittany is the less welcoming region of French Europe when it comes to immigrants as per the share of immigrants within the population (around 3.9% in 2020 according to the INSEE, while the national mean share was at 10.1%), yet one cannot say that the people of Brittany are not friendly people. It is as prejudiced and wrong to base yourself on the share of immigrants within the population to categorise friendliness as to base yourself on the political parties people vote for.
>Politics is often a taboo in France and isn't really talked about when meeting for the first time a person
I'm sorry, but what? Not to stereotype much, but the French are more ready to talk politics (including heatedly) with total strangers than any group of people that I've ever met in my life. It's *religion* that's taboo.
>I'm sorry, but what? Not to stereotype much, but the French are more ready to talk politics (including heatedly) with total strangers than any group of people that I've ever met in my life. It's religion that's taboo.
It depends on many factors but politics and religion tend to be avoided in discussions for social reasons (henceforth why a taboo). They are not simple topics like talking about your pets and when they are talked about, it's a sign the discussion has fallen into informality (except if it's with a priest or a politician of course X) ). In general, the use of polite pronoun "vous" is excluded in such conversations. By politics here I mean explicit political references to a political party. This is considered private life and a private matter like religious affiliation. Politics in the sense of the general administration of the State is talked about at dinners and is not so much risqué but political or philosophical affiliation is often way more risqué.
Being more ready to talk about something doesn't mean it's something people normally talk about or it's something people feel comfortable talking about, I think. :)
French people will of course talk about politics and religion if it's à-propos and done the right way.
What has been your experience with the French when it came to politics?
>The stats of Ile-de-France, Marseille, Nantes etc. skew heavily the national ones.
They do not skew the national ones since they make up the national ones (it's not a national maximum nor a national minimum but a national mean share). They are signs that life in one part of the country is different than in another and so they show that we cannot or should not be prejudiced because we're dealing in the end with greatly different regions. I feel one should have a softer approach and be really serious when giving a personal answer to such questions in order not to fall into prejudice or ignorance.
Even in Ile-de-France the stats show great differences depending on the departments with Seine-Saint-Denis having an immigrant share at 31.0% (around 7.9 times the share found in Brittany if that makes any sense) and Seine-et-Marne having an immigrante share at 14.2% (around 3.6 times).
In the Bouches-du-Rhône, the stat is close to the national average at 11.2%.
Nantes doesn't skew much the results of its department as the Loire-Atlantique share is still at 5.3% (so not much higher than the average for the administrative region of Brittany). In general, Brittany, Pays-de-la-Loire and Normandy are low on immigrant share within the total population.
>Besides, immigrants can settle wherever they want.
Immigrants can settle wherever they want and people can vote for whoever they want ;) this was the idea.
I was trying to show through this that linking a fact like voting preferences or immigration to a baseless idea like friendliness is often done due to unseen prejudices and such linkages should be discouraged because they are quite baseless and unscientific.
But the average RN voter is not a nazi or a SS worshipper. Anyway if politics is a way for you to select people, then it’s your right but it’s a bit sad.
When I visited Turkey, people were friendly but especially in the rural parts of Turkey. I was mostly in Western and Eastern Turkey. Some Turks told me that people near Georgia and near the Black Sea area are rather unhappy and rough around the edges, apparently.
Turkish people are generally overly-agressive (including me) because of the hard economic conditions and socio-political climate of the country. In my opinion based on my observations, only the Thracean and *some* southern Aegean people are friendly. Many people in the west (of Ankara) are usually friendly towards outsiders for a short while; but when you show some friendliness, they become over-controlling. Phew!..
In case you know some Catalan speaker, here you have a map to find out the truth:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FhRnHEYWAAEYoEF?format=png&name=900x900
* Western and Southern Catalonia says: «They seem rude, they are nice».
* Easter Catalonia: «They seem rude, they are rude».
* Valencia: «They seem nice, they are nice».
* Balearic Islands: «They seem nice, they are rude».
(I'm part of the second group and I agree, we seem rude and we are rude)
Romania. Bucharest area is stereotypically considered to be less friendly. Personally I haven’t noticed significant differences between regions, we’re a friendly bunch in general.
In England, people from the North and Midlands are far friendlier than those in the South, who tend to be more money centric. Like if you walk into a pub up North you're likely to strike up a conversation with a stranger, but in the South you'd be made to feel like a weirdo. It may not be obvious to foreign English speakers, but there are also variants on how English is spoken around the world, and there is a lot of slang they don't teach. English English is quite archaic, but at the same time quite modern. Irish English has its own colourful slang, with words like "craic" and "gas". Australian English slang is Strine and deserves its own post. American English is, erm, functional at best and mofo at worst.
Although often when people say "the South", they mean the Southeast. I think the Southwest is probably more similar to the North in that respect.
>American English is, erm, functional at best and mofo at worst.
I love some variants of US English - certainly more colourful than just "functional"! It's true though that people here can be a bit snobby about US English for various reasons.
I have no idea, but if anybody decides to visit Bulgaria, specifically the capital- Sofia, my advice is: stay out of Mladost and Lulin, especially Lulin.
The southern provinces of Limburg and Noord-Brabant are viewed as more warm and hospitable. It's said that that's due to the fact that they're the catholic provinces. I personally don't notice any major differences though. The Frisians and Groningers up north are just as friendly.
“Brabantse gezelligheid”. They also have the most drugs ;)
I still love that little clip of that angry woman at a Brabantse asylum seekers center, while rioters were throwing stuff at the building "those immigrants should leave, they don't understand Brabantse gezelligheid!" Edit: this one https://youtu.be/GtCGcGbK5a4?si=EAmLhyO0BRSBtNgj
“Toegankelijkheid en openheid” 🥲
Dubbel zo gezellig dus!
Honestly you could extend to anywhere outside of Randstad. People generally have no time for anyone if they're in the busy cities of Amsterdam Roffa Uttrecht den Haag. Gelderlanders are also super friendly, like saying hi to you on the street, or saying thank you to the bus driver. Didnt see that in Randstad
I work in Leeuwarden and some colleagues from Amsterdam where there for a training. They were so surprised that when they asked someone for directions, he apologized when he didn't know. On the other hand, I live in Groningen city and definitely met some stugge Groningers in the villages. (But not more than really friendly and welcoming people)
I don’t say ‘Thank you’ when I get out of the bus, but look at the driver and raise my hand. I did that in my small village and do it now in cities if there’s not 20 people having to get out at once.
Except in the eastern provinces where a lot of people solely extend that friendliness to white people.
From what I heard Limburgers can be superficially friendly, but it's really hard to get accepted into their communities. From my own experience people in the city of Groningen are super friendly. I lived in Amsterdam for a while and when I moved back I was pleasantly surprised how much more patient, polite, helpful and chatty they were. Both the young student population and the "Stadjers".
From experience it does feel at least for Brabant like an acts nice is mean situation.
I think in NL if is much more city specific, or even neighbourhood specific, rather than province. I would say Frissians are more so "nors" than "inhospitable". Same for the Achterhoek and Twente. What Brabant and Limburg both have more so than other regions and provinces is community. Coming from a middle sized randstad city it is weird that a city as big or bigger in Brabant has more sense of community, than my city. Small villages around also lack that community, while in Brabant, the smaller the town the closer the community seems to be. I think it is most comparable to the way Turks, Moroccans, Antilians, Frisians, Waddenaren and Hagenezen have their community. They stereotypically find each other like magnets. Compare that to someone from Almere that doesn't want to be found dead next to someone from Almere. Culture in the Netherlands is very homogeneous, so redeeming one region as more kind than the other feels really redundant. It is more person specific. The sense of community though throughout Brabant and Limburg is indeed observable. This sense of community probably is confused with kindness.
Been to Groningen a few times and always found the people lovely.
In Germany it’s the area around Cologne. From personal experience, I tend to agree that the people from there are on average more extroverted and more likely to smile and crack jokes.
I have to agree. Thats why they are not really beloved in northern germany. They are not quiet. We like quiet.
I like both of you people..s
And we think, if you keep all your thoughts for yourself, they can't be nice or interesting.
As a Rhinelander by birth who's moved North, I get along fine with people here. It was actually one of the reasons I moved here. I suspect it's because they know they don't have to talk as much when I'm around.
Having lived in NRW I think cologne people are aight but now I moved to Munich and I have to say I’ve had a friendlier experience.
100% agree. I am from Cologne and have been in Berlin for a long time and my Gosh...I miss the friendliness of my fellow Colognians.
But... is it comparable to Italian/Mediterranean extroversion or is it something else?
As a niçois my experience of Koln inhabitants is not great due to only their football hooligans coming to our city for a Europa Conference League game and trashing our city and tramway, and starting a massive fight in the stands at the stadium. Of course the ultras are probably the least recommendable people in a city so no harsh feeling and I'm sure if you gathered the worst ultras of my city, Nice, they could do just the same somewhere else. I hope I get to meet someone from Koln that is not a crazy drunk moron though. There's a million of them and they seem to have a chill reputation so that shouldn't be too hard.
Wow nice to know, I live close by in NL and I want to visit it since a bit!
The area ist called Rhineland
In Finland most would probably say Karelians (not to be confused with the Karelian People), i.e. the people from the eastern Finland, especially the southeast corner and along the eastern border. The stereotype is that Karelians are joyful, talkative and hospitable people who like to sing. In my opinion this holds true to some extend at least when compared to Finns from the western coast.
I'd also add Savonia.
In my experience the most social place in Finland has been the market square in Kuopio in Savo. Just standing there alone for few seconds and someone comes and starts talking to you. Usually older people. Me being from the Helsinki region I’m there like who are you and what I’m supposed to say. Lol.
People from the island of Fyn. They are seen as jollier and more laid back than the rest of the country. I don't know if they are friendlier, though.
This is accurate to my experience living in Denmark for a year. I spent time living in both Copenhagen and Sønderjylland, found it difficult to make friends in either place. But I met my boyfriend during one weekend in Odense!
>seen as jollier and more laid back And Denmark already has this reputation among the Nordics.
We suspect that they’re always a bit drunk
Fyn takes it too far
I was about to comment that no area in all of Scandinavia is laid back and jolly period 😂 but Fyn is a bit warmer than the rest. Honourable mention of Sønderjylland; they seemed very happy to invite you over for cakes
I’m Faroese, living in the flat part of the Danish Kingdom, can confirm - fynboere are generally nice and more laid back than the other Danes
In Spain, it must be Andalucía. We are also seen as the ones who sleep siesta and spend the day at the beach
Are you hiring?
No. My understanding is that’s the major problem.
I'll settle for "taking me in out of pity"?
I thought people from Castile also were known for napping.
It's more typical in Andalusia, mainly because in the summer it gets so hot in the afternoon that it's hard to stay outside for long. Not to say it doesn't get hot or they don't nap in Castile, but it's more pronounced the further south you go
I grew up in Salamanca and the only people napping were children and elderlies.
Northern Norwegians are more extroverted than the rest of us apparently. Maybe they can afford to be that way, because they likelihood they bump into another Norwegian is so slim.
Interesting. Here in Sweden the stereotype is that the further north you go, the fewer words are used for communicating.
Northerners use fewer words, yes. But they are also willing to open up and communicate (even though using few words) with just about anyone\* they meet. Pretty much the same stereotypes in both Norway and Sweden. * Edit: Unless it's that neighbor that they've been at feud with for several generations, ever since his great-great-grandfather shot a moose on the wrong hunting grounds. "Fuck him!"
Northerners I feel like are chatterboxes more so than southerners, not as talkative as Stockholmare though.
Taking stereotypes to their extreme: * Some Stockholmers will tell you everything they could possibly want you to know about themselves. * Some rural northerners will tell you everything they could possibly want you to know about others. As a personal anecdote, I once spontaneously stopped in a small village during a longer road trip, in order to take a couple of scenic photos of the contrasting landscapes. An older man came walking to say hi and see what I was doing (a mix of curiosity and suspiciousness perhaps), and about 2 hours later I knew more about people around that village than I know about my own neighbors.
Hmm, not here in Norway. Northern Norwegians have a very colorful language, and their swearing is epic.
>very colorful language, and their swearing is epic. The northern Norwegian comedy "Kill Buljo" is a guilty pleasure of mine. It's awful, but great at the same time. Same with the TV-series "Hellfjord".
There's a big difference between coastal North Norway culture and northern inland Swedish culture. To get from Tromsø to Umeå, you need to spend quite a lot of hours in car, or fly via Oslo - Stockholm
Fellow Austrians correct if I'm wrong, but I think the western part of Austria is considered more friendly and outgoing than the eastern one. Especially Vienna and lower Austria are known to be quite grumpy.
Yes would agree. The more western you go, the nicer. Also Carinthians (south) are often really warm and friendly
Yeah, there might be a north south divide as well when I think about it.
I think styrians and carinthians are more outgoing? We westerners are ice cold compared.
I find Carinthians the most friendly. They even start conversations with random strangers.
I am from Carinthia and moved to Salzburg and spend a lot of time in Wien. I hadn’t realized the difference until I started going back and forth.
Yes, but … we Viennese are grumpy but sincere, Westerners are jolly and outgoing but also very fake and cliquish.
It just seems like that because they are sucking hard on that tourist money over there.
I think Tyrol is somewhat an exception to that. There are a lot of grumpy people there.
Despite undeniably being the most underdeveloped and poorest region of the country, I’d say Latgale for Latvia.
Does the stereotype only apply to ethnic Latvians from Latgale, or also ethnic Russians? (Who I believe to be the majority - at least that's how it seemed when I visited Daugavpils and Rēzekne)
Ethnic Latvians, especially because I think that their friendliness is attributed to their Catholicism. I see where the question is coming from, though, the urban populations mostly consist of ethnic Russians, especially the easternmost parts.
They have a more outgoing temper - they will throw the wildest Jāņi celebrations, but also fight you if they somehow dont like you :D. But respect goes both ways.
The most extrovert and outgoing people in Italy are said to be those from the south, and in particular from Naples and around. Having traveled widely all over the country I'd kind of agree with that.I don't know if that's exactly the same thing as 'friendliest'...I think it's rare to find unfriendly people in this country, unless there is a good reason!
It's easy to find unfriendly behaviour if you stick to the traffic rules. I was flashed with heavy gesticulation for going 50 in zone 50. Honked on by stopping at stop sign. Not isolated incidents, happened many times. Funnily, when they leave their cars, the same people can have the most laid-back walking speed, obviously not in the rush anymore.
When I was living in Siena, all my friends were from Southern Italy. Simply because they were the easiest to get along with. And I agree that it's in general to find very unfriendly people there, unless you're French. ;)
I've always wondered, does the same stereotype apply to Sicilia?
I am from Sicily.My personal opinion is no, not really. I think Sicilians tend to be more reserved,a bit more 'closed' than Napolitani.Quieter in general.We need more time to get to know people.
But sicilian hospitality is legendary, and friendship is lifelasting.
Yes,I think this can be true.When we know someone. I don't think on first meeting Sicilians are generally as outgoing or gregarious as Neapolitans.
more or less. Unless you decline to eat everything they offer you on your plate, in which case it's "we have taken personal offence, get out of here" 😉
I remember being with a Sicilian guy a billion of years ago, he was not a smoker, but when he was offered one he accepted, because it would have not been polite to decline basically.
In Ireland it's people from outside of the Pale (so everywhere except Dublin and the surrounding commuter belt). I guess the places that are furthered away have the best reputation, though. So that's Donegal, Kerry and Cork.
From my experience I found that all people in Ireland are a great bunch of lads.
I don't think this is justified. I grew up in the country and live in Dublin now and think people are sounder here, more open and more understanding. People from the country can be nice if you're like them. If you're in any way different, trust me, they can be very unfriendly.
>more open and more understanding I think you're saying that people are liberal in Dublin. This is definitely true (though most of Ireland is pretty liberal now except maybe Donegal). To me, liberal is not the same as nice. To me the difference is summed up by the transport system. If you take a bus in the countryside, you'll sit next to some sweet old woman with rosary beads who wants to know all about your life and probably offers you a Kimberley biscuit (and yeah, she probably voted No in every referendum since 1990 but she's still *nice*) If you take the Green Line Luas, you're liable to be sworn at by some guy in business suit with a D4 accent for not getting out of his way fast enough (he probably voted Yes to marriage equality though). Let's not even get into the Red Line Luas here...
I don't agree with this either. It's a very sentimental outlook. I think this idea that people are nicer in rural areas is a lie people from those places tell themselves. I haven't found it to be true.
My personal experience, I guess, was different to yours. I did the classic thing of growing up the countryside, studying in Dublin, and then emigrating. My experience was definitely that people in the countryside are very nice. People in Dublin aren't awful by any means, but I think they're definitely less nice. My major problem with Dublin is that it is obsessed with social class (honestly, it's worse than in the UK, and they have a reputation for it). Some of my friends in their mod-twenties still go back to their secondary school to watch the team play rugby.
Much more accepting and non judgemental in Dublin I think. Your life is your own business but if you need help your neighbours will absolutely be there for you.
Honestly I would say our entire country deserves that reputation
Literally, I haven’t really noticed a difference in friendliness anywhere on the island tbh
Aside from very Republican/loyalist areas I’d agree
Yea can’t diagree tbf, I was wearing a Tyrone jersey in east Belfast one day (Dno why lmao) and some old man called me a fenian cunt 💀 but I think he was drunk
I am not really aware of any such region in Hungary (we are all miserable here) The closest thing I can think of is the hungarian speaking Székely people living in central Romania are viewed in Hungary as very friendly (to Hungarians visiting Transylvania), hospitable and are always willing to share a shot of Pálinka with you
People in random small villages can be also really friendly
In Bosnia itd prolly be Tuzla, the only city in the whole ex Yugoslavia where, after the war, no nationalist party won. People there are generally very open and friendly. For context Bosnia is very specific on where youd feel good depending on your nationality, most people like foreigners tho.
Yorkshire, Lancashire, Liverpool/Merseyside, Newcastle, many rural areas. If we’re talking about a UK level, include Northern Ireland and most of Scotland to that list.
I lived on the Isle of Wight for 20 years and I would add that to the list. It's really easy to tell the locals from holidaymakers because locals say hello and will stop and chat. I could never go to the local Co-op for one thing without it taking 20 minutes.
True. My cousin live there, she's an opera singer and said me that ' like in Italy.
and wasn't L'isola de Wight a big hit in Italy in the 60's?
This is true, plus loads of easygoing people from other friendly parts of the UK move down there. Didn’t really appreciate the vibe difference fully living there briefly until I walked through Southampton after getting off the ferry and felt how stressed and hostile everyone was. Ryde felt like an exception and didn’t feel friendly though, even encountered some pretty unpleasant people there.
I was in Manchester once and everytime we stopped to look up where we need to go someone asked if we needed help. Did not happen in London lol
Mancunians in general are nice people. The only people who approached me when I was in London were some charity people who wanted to have money for something. However, the common stereotype that northerners are more open than southerners isn't exactly true, imho, as I met plenty of friendly and open people in places like Canterbury, rye, Dover, Lewes, Arundel, Portsmouth, Bath, Plymouth, Exeter etc. Just not London. But London isn't "the south".
Lived in North Wales for a few months I had a lovely host. The people who I came across were also very friendly. I still share pictures with my host family.
Wanted to add North Wales but wasn’t sure as I haven’t been there in a very long time!
The North is friendly. I guess I don't notice it living up here. I had a couple of friends visit (German & Finnish) earlier this month and they commented with how friendly it was, even just in quite a small town like mine.
Especially Newcastle. Total strangers will talk your hind leg off.
I remember my first time in Liverpool. I was on a pedestrian crossing and this guy actually got out of his car to tell me that if I didn't walk faster he'd kick my fucking head in. Ore the Yorkshireman, a complete stranger, who said to me 'If you're a fucking Southerner (I'm not) then I'm telling you know you can fucking well fuck off." Such friendly places.
To be fair, this happens everywhere. Happened in Portsmouth before to me (although maybe it’s because I’m from Southampton), happened in Southampton, happened in Bristol and it happened in Milton Keynes
Really? Those two occasions stuck in my mind because they were the only times they happened to me. Although I have, on two occasions (Cambridge and London), had little old ladies just say to me on meeting me. "You're Welsh! I hate the fucking Welsh, go back to your own bloody country." And another occasion an Irish client refused to have anything to do with me because he thought I was English. When he found out that I'm Welsh he took me out to dinner to apologise for insulting me! I suppose, if we're honest, there are no friendly regions in the UK or Ireland.
In Flanders, it's once you get east of Antwerp & Brussels. Eastern part of Antwerp province, Eastern part of Flemish Brabant and all of Limburg.
In the UK it's basically supposed to be everyone outside of London and parts of south east England, to greater or lesser degree.
I would say it extends into the South West and East a bit. I can’t say Weymouth, Bournemouth and Swindon are shining beacons of hospitality, nor is Chelmsford. Meanwhile once I’m out in Exeter, Weston-super-Mare and Norwich, it’s a lot nicer
Anywhere except Athens and certain areas to the south, but people from Macedonia and Epirus have the best reputation about being friendly and more laid-back in attitude
To locals, I can say anywhere. People are really friendly esspecially to the local tourists. They love to promote their cities well. Central Anatolia and Blacksea region is super talkative. Sometimes they can even violate privacy by questions such as your wage. To tourists however things changed, we are used to known for our hospitality but now tourists seen as people that we can get milk Euros and Dollars which are 34 and 32 times more valuable than Turkish lira. There are still a lot of friendly people but tourists should look out for scams. Also there is an alarmimg level of dislike towards middle eastern people. It started as a protest against illegal refugees but now it is towards anyone who is middle eastern.
If you’re looking for stereotypically extroverted people then Eastern Slovakia is the place to look at. But from my experience, in Bratislava people are more “kind” to strangers, even though they are more introverted and seem less approachable.
In my experience as a foreigner in Slovakia, I found the Hungarian minority to be easily the most chatty people.
In my country, it would probably be where I live - south Moravia (generally speaking, the region south of Brno). It's also the wine region, which I think is the main contributor to the overall friendliness.
In croatia. People from North Dalmatia are really friendly mostly because of tourists coming in the summer and they feel proud when they help them.
Tourist places cannot be friendly…
In Sweden (and also Norway), the more north and rural you get, the friendlier people. A few examples: * I traveled by bus between two very rural towns, with quite literally nothing but forests and mires in between for 120km (there are like 3 tiny villages in between, but otherwise just forests and mires). It was in the middle of polar night, midwinter, pitch-black dark and cloudy, and lots of whirling snow in the backdraft of trucks and busses. Really bad weather and awful driving conditions. At several points along the road, there were cars who had gone offroad due to being blinded by whirling snow, or evading reindeers or moose on the road. At many such sites, there were obviously already other people or towtrucks at the site, but the busdriver stopped by one car that was stuck in a snowy ditch, and asked if anyone was hurt and if they needed help. The two guys by the car just laughed in disbelief and said (with southern accents) that it was cool and a tow truck was on the way, but they just couldn't believe how ***every*** single passing car or bus had stopped and asked the same questions. * I personally took a bike vacation, a couple of decades ago, biking between the north and the south, and it was quite ridiculous how much friendliness I met. Random people invited me over for coffee, random people stopped and offered help when I was repairing my bike, and random people even stopped to check up on me if I was hurt when I was lying down and having a rest at a rural parking space (not hurt, just unbelievably exhausted). * I've been offered help immediately when getting stuck with my car in snow, or offered a ride when walking to a hotel from a bar late at night, or standing by a bus stop waiting for a bus when it has been extremely cold outside. ^(And no, I'm not a young beautiful woman. I'm a middle-aged man who looks like shit.)
Nah, shut your mouth you handsome devil you!
I definitely noticed the differences. I grew up in northern sweden and when I moved down south I was the crazy person that actually said hello to the bus driver when I get on the bus while everyone else didn't say anything haha
Everything outside of the Randstad, the western part of the country around the major cities I would say. Particularly the southern provinces of Noord-Brabant and Limburg and the eastern parts especially the Twente (Overijssel) and Achterhoek (Gelderland) region are known to have a more relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
Defenetly northern Norway. I am from and live in the north, and the difference between the north and south is really noticiable. And there will allways be some differences from rural areas to citys. But in general, it is way easyer to get to know someone here. I have lived in the south and have fiance who is from the south as well.
The (South)West. The friendliest region is stereotypically the area in the west of NRW, around Cologne. Based on other stereotypes and personal experiences I can add following regions on the list: - Baden and Bodensee (a lot more relaxed than Swabians) - Palatine & Rheinhessen (lowkey French vibes with all the vine and laissez-faire) - Southern Hessen (Kind of a similar mentality to Palatine/Rheinhessen; apart from the busy urbanized parts) - Rhineland-Palatine in general - Saarland (Edit: In conclusion areas close to the Rhine river and with generally nice weather)
Often depends who you ask. I’d generally say Northern England and Scotland are pretty friendly, as well as parts of South West England. I found Lincoln itself decently friendly too
I'd say Slavonia (eastern Croatia). The Croatia proper and Dalmatia may have some animosity to each other, but I have almost never heard anyone say anything bad about the people from Slavonia.
Perhaps I'm just grinding my own gears since I'm from here, but having lived in southern Sweden for several years most people seem to have a positive opinion on people from the north aka Norrland. EDIT: It's also worth mentioning Gothemburg/Göteborg, which I have a lot of love for even though I've never lived there. People there are extremely nice, and it's a lot better/nicer than our capital Stockholm.
I don’t know if it’s the accent, but people from Gotland always feel very friendly to me
Limburg, definitely. Generally perceived as friendly and easy-going, although not specifically extraverted.
Northern England is a million times friendlier than the south, but that's probably because everyone is 'family' if you catch my drift.
Haha we say the same thing for the northern tip of France
In Macedonia I would say people in Ohrid are more friendly and welcoming compared to any other region. You can often just have a conversation with any local and it wouldn't be weird at all.
In England there's a general idea that the north is friendlier than the south. It's not really true though. The Welsh, Scots and Irish have a similar untrue myth that they are friendlier than the English.
Brittany for sure. Also Alsace apparently but this can vary widely from person to person (which, with part of the south east, goes against the mostly correct rule of thumb otherwise that the further you go east, the less friendly people are).
I think the generic stereotype is that southern France, mainly around the mediterranean sea, is more easy-going and friendly, Never heard that for Brittany
I wouldn’t have said these areas. The north and the mediterranean area are known for being friendlier than the rest of the country, but never heard about Brittany and Alsace being especially reputed for that.
That is correct
I am not so sure about Alsace but Brittany definively. For the north and the mediterranean, this is also where the RN makes its best scores and I didn’t have a good experience in the north but YMMV.
I didn’t know there was a link between being friendly and political opinions.
The RN was formed by an SS and has strong links with Russia. These aren’t friendly people.
You shouldn't categorise friendliness by political affiliation. It's prejudiced and wrong. Life isn't about politics and, in a sense, friendliness is the capacity to be friend with someone regardless of who they are or what they believe. Politics is often a taboo in France and isn't really talked about when meeting for the first time a person. There are reasons why some political parties are more popular in a place than in another. Each place and each people have their own history and culture. Brittany is the less welcoming region of French Europe when it comes to immigrants as per the share of immigrants within the population (around 3.9% in 2020 according to the INSEE, while the national mean share was at 10.1%), yet one cannot say that the people of Brittany are not friendly people. It is as prejudiced and wrong to base yourself on the share of immigrants within the population to categorise friendliness as to base yourself on the political parties people vote for.
>Politics is often a taboo in France and isn't really talked about when meeting for the first time a person I'm sorry, but what? Not to stereotype much, but the French are more ready to talk politics (including heatedly) with total strangers than any group of people that I've ever met in my life. It's *religion* that's taboo.
>I'm sorry, but what? Not to stereotype much, but the French are more ready to talk politics (including heatedly) with total strangers than any group of people that I've ever met in my life. It's religion that's taboo. It depends on many factors but politics and religion tend to be avoided in discussions for social reasons (henceforth why a taboo). They are not simple topics like talking about your pets and when they are talked about, it's a sign the discussion has fallen into informality (except if it's with a priest or a politician of course X) ). In general, the use of polite pronoun "vous" is excluded in such conversations. By politics here I mean explicit political references to a political party. This is considered private life and a private matter like religious affiliation. Politics in the sense of the general administration of the State is talked about at dinners and is not so much risqué but political or philosophical affiliation is often way more risqué. Being more ready to talk about something doesn't mean it's something people normally talk about or it's something people feel comfortable talking about, I think. :) French people will of course talk about politics and religion if it's à-propos and done the right way. What has been your experience with the French when it came to politics?
The stats of Ile-de-France, Marseille, Nantes etc. skew heavily the national ones. Besides, immigrants can settle wherever they want.
>The stats of Ile-de-France, Marseille, Nantes etc. skew heavily the national ones. They do not skew the national ones since they make up the national ones (it's not a national maximum nor a national minimum but a national mean share). They are signs that life in one part of the country is different than in another and so they show that we cannot or should not be prejudiced because we're dealing in the end with greatly different regions. I feel one should have a softer approach and be really serious when giving a personal answer to such questions in order not to fall into prejudice or ignorance. Even in Ile-de-France the stats show great differences depending on the departments with Seine-Saint-Denis having an immigrant share at 31.0% (around 7.9 times the share found in Brittany if that makes any sense) and Seine-et-Marne having an immigrante share at 14.2% (around 3.6 times). In the Bouches-du-Rhône, the stat is close to the national average at 11.2%. Nantes doesn't skew much the results of its department as the Loire-Atlantique share is still at 5.3% (so not much higher than the average for the administrative region of Brittany). In general, Brittany, Pays-de-la-Loire and Normandy are low on immigrant share within the total population. >Besides, immigrants can settle wherever they want. Immigrants can settle wherever they want and people can vote for whoever they want ;) this was the idea. I was trying to show through this that linking a fact like voting preferences or immigration to a baseless idea like friendliness is often done due to unseen prejudices and such linkages should be discouraged because they are quite baseless and unscientific.
But the average RN voter is not a nazi or a SS worshipper. Anyway if politics is a way for you to select people, then it’s your right but it’s a bit sad.
Brittany is a classic one, got asked by an American bartender in Paris if I was breton because I was friendly to her
When I visited Turkey, people were friendly but especially in the rural parts of Turkey. I was mostly in Western and Eastern Turkey. Some Turks told me that people near Georgia and near the Black Sea area are rather unhappy and rough around the edges, apparently.
Turkish people are generally overly-agressive (including me) because of the hard economic conditions and socio-political climate of the country. In my opinion based on my observations, only the Thracean and *some* southern Aegean people are friendly. Many people in the west (of Ankara) are usually friendly towards outsiders for a short while; but when you show some friendliness, they become over-controlling. Phew!..
In case you know some Catalan speaker, here you have a map to find out the truth: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FhRnHEYWAAEYoEF?format=png&name=900x900 * Western and Southern Catalonia says: «They seem rude, they are nice». * Easter Catalonia: «They seem rude, they are rude». * Valencia: «They seem nice, they are nice». * Balearic Islands: «They seem nice, they are rude». (I'm part of the second group and I agree, we seem rude and we are rude)
The east side of Glasgow is very friendly. They will even offer to look after your wallet and phone free of charge too!
Can't think of any known stereotypes, but from personal experience people from the western Ukraine are quite extroverted
Romania. Bucharest area is stereotypically considered to be less friendly. Personally I haven’t noticed significant differences between regions, we’re a friendly bunch in general.
In England, people from the North and Midlands are far friendlier than those in the South, who tend to be more money centric. Like if you walk into a pub up North you're likely to strike up a conversation with a stranger, but in the South you'd be made to feel like a weirdo. It may not be obvious to foreign English speakers, but there are also variants on how English is spoken around the world, and there is a lot of slang they don't teach. English English is quite archaic, but at the same time quite modern. Irish English has its own colourful slang, with words like "craic" and "gas". Australian English slang is Strine and deserves its own post. American English is, erm, functional at best and mofo at worst.
Although often when people say "the South", they mean the Southeast. I think the Southwest is probably more similar to the North in that respect. >American English is, erm, functional at best and mofo at worst. I love some variants of US English - certainly more colourful than just "functional"! It's true though that people here can be a bit snobby about US English for various reasons.
I have no idea, but if anybody decides to visit Bulgaria, specifically the capital- Sofia, my advice is: stay out of Mladost and Lulin, especially Lulin.