First impressions of countries you've visited.

I thought it would be fun to write a little bit of your first impressions when you arrived to a country you have never been before.

Only rules are: 1. Keep it short for each country. 2. Don't be offensive ( you can be sincere but polite)

Brazil: was amazed by the beach, but felt a bit insecure.

Peru: very poor, but people were extremely friendly and curious.

Cuba: I liked the environment and landscapes a lot, but I got the feeling that locals were willing to use tourists as a way to escape the country.

Uruguay: felt like a more peaceful Argentina.

France: I enjoyed the Notre Dame cathedral a lot, was surprised to see how ethnically diverse it was

China: I was surprised about how much people ignored traffic laws. I was amazed at the Chinese characters and how misterious they looked.

Spain: I loved the buildings of Madrid and how well preserved all historical sites were, it looked like it was much wealthier that it actually is.

Netherlands: the landscapes look surprisingly rural, but very pleasant. People were very tall and everyone was riding bycicles. The sun went down at 23:00.

Germany: almost no historical buildings. Everything looked new, didn't make me feel I was in Europe.

Belgian: loved the designs of the small houses. They had their own unique identity.

Israel: very high airport security. I was surprised by how expansive the irrigation system was. The food was very good.

Phillipines: I didn't like the cities, but I loved the small coastal towns. The weather was surprisingly mild.

Taiwan: I went there after living in china for a long time. It felt like a warmer ( weather wise and people wise ) version of china. The traditional characters everywhere fascinated me. People's accent is cute.

United States: I was in los Angeles after COVID. It felt extreme. Extreme opulence next to extreme poverty. Huge cars next to tents. Everything felt bigger.

South Korea: the first time in Asia I felt like it was in a foreign country. Couldn't understand anything written. Felt lost. People had great hair, but everyone was wearing super conservative without any colors.

Japan: was surprised about the showers and toilets. People spoke very different from the movies and the animes. The cities were extremely clean.

Cambodia: loved the temples and coastal areas. I was much more poor than other countries in south east Asia .

India: I was surprised by the amount of cows on the road. The temperature was scorching. The food was vegetarian but amazing.

Malaysia: It was much more developed than expected. Also with many foreign workers.

Thailand: it looked like all of Europea moved there. Have never been to such a touristic place. I really enjoyed it though.

Singapore: the architecture was beautiful. Vertical gardens everywhere. The city seems designed to protect the people from the rain and the sun. Chinese spoken with a huanan accent everywhere.

South Africa: was in Durban. It was a lot wealthier than expected. Very few poor people. Very pleasant weather. The food was really heavy.

From what can assertian Braveheart was a fairly realistic depiction of English people.

If you ever visit the UK avoid it, go to Ireland or Scotland. Make sure to call it Edinburo.

I'm assuming by first impression you mean like the first genuine impression of the country? And not what my impression was at the airport of the country I was visiting? OK going by that standard:

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• Japan: damn I'm like the tallest person in this country.
• Germany: really wet
• Austria: really wet, but green. SO GREEEEEEEEN!
• Switzerland: clean, shiny, nice.
• France: it smells really good and really bad.
• England: wow, look at all those brick buildings (for context, I live in California where, due to earthquakes, brick structures are very rare).
• Italy: gelato, gelato, gelato, mortadella, gelato, pizza, pizza, gelato.
• Vietnam: I can see why sex tourism is a thing.
• Lichtenstein: I don't see why everyone stores their money here, this country is the size of an American county and not that *sees banks* Oooooooooooooh I get it now.

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Please keep in mind these are my first impressions, not the sole or lasting impressions.

@mrbojangles25: yes, just the first impressions and anything you found interesting.

Just want people to share the experience of finding yourself in a new country for the first time.

yeah TC, LA is an absolute liberal shit hole

@sargentd: It didn't feel like a shit hole. But It was definitely a place of strong contrasts.

I remember walking the walk of Fame, next to the Chinese theater, and going to a near by McDonald's where people were selling drugs at the door on broad daylight.

I went to Dallas not long afterwards. Also saw people on very poor health for what it appeared to be heavy drug abuse.

On the good side though, the hamburgers were really great, people were extremely friendly and despite being a country renowned for racial conflict, most people seemed to be hanging out in racially mixed groups.

On the most shocking side, the size of the coke they gave me with my hamburger in Dallas was like two liters.

I sent a picture to my brothers because I thought they wouldn't believe me.

Overall it felt like a place where everything is bigger, that has really suffered socially from being exposed to drugs and that could use better public transport.

Canada: Cold, dark, lot's of driving.

Switzerland: Foggy, couldn't see a thing.

Holland: Cold, dark, bustling in the city. Lot's of bicycles. We rented ourselves some. I've been to Amsterdam twice.

France: Everybody in the hostel was an asshole. Except for the Muslims. That's mostly what I remember. Read the Hunchback of Nortre Dame. But didn't visit it, saw it from the window of my subway car. We spent all our time at the Louvre.

Spain: Spent three months there. Stayed with a Spanish person. Ate snails and drank beer.

Japan: I was very young when I visited. I was cute and the schoolgirls thought I was cute. I remember that.

South Korea: Seoul. Bustling, lot's of bicycles and pollution. We left, right when protests became riots.

Guam: I lived for six years as a child. There were pretty spots to swim. Never saw a snake, but I hear the island is infested now.

Dallas is another liberal shit hole

The big cities suck in America. Many who have been in them for a while are leaving. Small town America is where it's at. The big cities have too many drugs, which results in homelessness and crime. Lots of undocumented people as well.

Racism in America is no where as a big of a problem as the media portrays it. People get along just fine for the most part. But most big cities here are hurting right now and it shows.

@sargentd: Small town American where the people are poor and need government assistance?

@sargentd: Stop derailing the thread.

Sweden - so many blondes

Denmark - so many bicycles

England - Look the other way! Chill your beer more, you wankers. Fish & chips.

Scotland - I expected more kilts.

Ireland - green, green and green. Sheep everywhere!

Germany - I am alive! (Birthplace)

Hungary - The goulash is just like mom's

Czech Republic - cheap food and beer, that bridge!

Austria - Sacher torte! Pretty countryside. Order. Imperial.

Liechtenstein - land of castles

Belgium - land of bureaucrats, that beer!

Netherlands - flat, canals, windmills, prostitutes & cheese?

France - Le parking, wine all the time, unless it is coffee and a cigarette all the time

Luxembourg - which is more expensive: Lunch or a Rolex?

Spain - it is hot, like really hot. Thank God for Sangria

Portugal - possibly the nicest people on the planet

Italy - guys with machineguns on every corner (right after the terrorist attack on Rome airport)

Switzerland - very pretty, very snobbish, very expensive

Vatican City - everything is prohibited, but that chapel!

Greece - This is way hotter than Spain. Baklava.

Turkey - Black tobacco sucks, a wad of bills to buy a coffee, that Blue Mosque!

Serbia - Smiling is prohibited!

China - contrast of old and new, millions of identical bicycles, the air pollution is real,

South Korea - building cranes everywhere, kimchi is not for me

Aruba - windy, desert like

Antigua - island of contrasts (wealth, vegetation, landscape) Beaches!

St Lucia - lush green, hilly, desperately poor, but friendly and safe

Mexico - not sure I want to leave the resort, Aztec stuff is cool

Bahamas - beautiful beaches, very friendly people, very safe

Dominican Republic - white sand, rum, rum, and more rum

Jamaica - never leave the resort unless on escorted trip, nighttime is gunfight time

USA - just like Canada

Bahamas: Super chill and friendly people. Very walkable. Lots of hustles going on. Beautiful beaches.

Haiti: The most beautiful mountains I've seen in the Caribbean contrast harshly with the poverty. The people there hustle hard hard hard to make a dollar. A bit aggressive.

Scotland: The people were far friendlier than I expected, super hospital. Cold, but not too cold and a bit damp. Loved the fish and chips, never have had them as good since then. Wish Irn Bru was cheaper here, too.

Bahamas: Super chill and friendly people. Very walkable. Lots of hustles going on. Beautiful beaches.

Haiti: The most beautiful mountains I've seen in the Caribbean contrast harshly with the poverty. The people there hustle hard hard hard to make a dollar. A bit aggressive.

Scotland: The people were far friendlier than I expected, super hospital. Cold, but not too cold and a bit damp. Loved the fish and chips, never have had them as good since then. Wish Irn Bru was cheaper here, too.

@sargentd: well those were simply my first impressions and I can't really comments further since I haven't been there any more time.

Maybe you can also add your first impressions of places you have visited.

Canada - Strict customs and cooler weather. Lots of trees.

Mexico - hot, huts, beaches, cheap beer, ran down, tourism.

Germany - I went to Heidelburg and it was literally a land of Castles, beautiful. Stopped in to get a few drinks and a gyro.

Kuwait - Hot, sandy, everyone is rich as shit... Ferraris, Lambos, and other high end sports cars and BRAND NEW infrastructure and buildings in rapidly growing cities. #oil

Iraq - well... I have mixed feelings, but personal issues aside. What I remember is extremely hot, sand everywhere, cold at night with high wind, lots of livestock in city limits, music over loudspeakers, mosques, power lines running everywhere.

Nobody would be interested in reading it, so why bother with such a long list. I can achieve the same effect - exposing myself as a show-off and a judgemental twat in just these two sentences, and go enjoy a nice cup of tea instead

@sancho_panzer: On the contrary, I've read all the posts from in this thread. There's no reason to think I won't read your list. But whatever.

@DEVILinIRON: I reserve my right as a judgemental twat not to believe you would.

@sancho_panzer: OK

@sancho_panzer: I have been reading all the posts and quite enjoying it.

I was worried though, that It would come out as showing off, since some people use travelling as a way of showing their wealth.

If it helps at all with that , I can say that I am not wealthy at all, live in a very small apartment and currently making math to see if I can afford to have a kid. I have just travelled a lot because of work.

I will also assume that whatever you post is not about showing off.

@nirgal: Don't you judge me! It would definitely be showing off. It is, after all, a very long list.

@sancho_panzer: just put the most interesting ones

@nirgal: My whole aim was to save some time, let everyone know it's a long list, and enjoy a lovely cup of tea. I won't be tricked here.