I suppose at home I'll sometimes say I'm going to the bathroom if I'm going to the toilet that's in the bathroom, otherwise that I'm going to the toilet if it's the downstairs one: it'd be a bit strange to call that the bathroom too, because it isn't one.

What happened in Barcelona?

Just a lot of instances of people trying to scam us, people ignoring us because we didn't speak Catalan, lots of, uh, I'm not sure that's the proper way of saying it in English, but lots of people rudely pushing you aside in the streets when you're in their way, etc. Lots of sun as well but because of all that I think it's a very cold city. Madrid's much better.

edit: I realise I shouldn't judge this city based on my own short experience there (again, only a week), I'm sure there's plenty of nice people there but the first impressions were just really negative.

I lived in Barcelona for 4 years and I loved the city. Never had any problems and I was living abroad with a bunch of friends at 16.

EDIT: I agree with NYC too. I went for a week and the people were lovely.

London isn't a friendly place, all the power walking and groaning and the hmphinh and the looking for the time. I'm glad I don't need to go back.

Did you pass out on the keyboard for a second here?

revolutionfilms' signature always makes me think he's French.

I wish, they have the best music

I'm not even going to fix that

We in Portugal are most definitely friendly toward foreigners, at least in general. From what I head, it's one of the positive aspects that are associated with Portuguese. If you ever come to visit, you will find that a lot of people speak English, and most will be glad to help. There's just one thing that some of us have problems with, and that would be thinking that we are the same as Spain. If you come to Portugal and start speaking Spanish with people (unless it's your natural language), most likely you will be met with some contempt... It is generally viewed as extremely ignorant. Avoid it

It's due to the historic feud bettween Portugal and Spain I believe... We have a lot of sayings and the general population doesn't really view Spain in a positive light.


Which leads to my question: In your country, is there any kind of animosity towards another specific country/people? Something deep inside the people I mean.

Being English, there's supposed to be an eternal feud with the French, as well as the Scots (which could be problematic given they make up the bulk of my ancestry), Irish (likewise, to a lesser extent), the Germans for WWII, BMW and their sausages and pretty much anyone else who looks at us funny. Or exists. Most of it is good-natured, though, except for anyone daft enough to believe the tabloid press.

I think it depends person to person and family to family. I was born in the southern US, Memphis TN specifically, but my mother is from the northern part. Here in Memphis there is a bit of racial tension mostly between the black and white community. It's not bad per se, but it does rea it's head from time to time. But I think my mum dating a black man since I was a child and her general indifference to race has made me indifferent as well. I do hold contempt for 'Southern Living' though. I find that 'simple trailer life' dross to be the bottom rung of society personally. But uh, I'll shush before I ramble on about it negatively.

Ofc that here in Portugal it is mostly like that too Nobody will behave differently to someone for being Spanish, except maybe in the more rural areas... Which makes me curious if Spanish people have this about Portuguese as well.

Oh and here's another one. Do you English people learn in school about the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance (oldest active alliance in the world) and the multiple times that England has helped (and harmed) Portugal during history?

I didn't learn about it, please elaborate

I never learned about it in school either. In primary school I was mostly taught about medieval ways of living and different cultures, rather than history per se, then in secondary school we covered WW2, briefly touching on WW1. What we didn't learn in school I went and found out for myself. Later on in 16+ college, I did history for A-Level and covered Nazi Germany, Russia 1800-1930, British history from about 1700-1900, and Irish history. That was probably the most comprehensive history education I had, and I'm glad I took the subject. It was hard, but I was pleased with my mark.

Other bits of history I've found out for myself, but I confess I've no clue about Spain/Portugal, really.

Sadly not. I'm quickly realising that I'm lamentably ignorant about Portugal.

No, we don't. We mainly learned about WW1 and WW2, life in the middle ages, the industrial revolution and the rise and fall of the British Empire, with some ancient history like Rome and stuff thrown in there occasionally. I think Portugal is only mentioned in football to be honest.

Oh yes.... very much so. There are still, sadly, a lot of issues between the deep south (TN, GA, SC, NC, VA, etc.) whites and blacks. You'll also see some pretty nasty feelings towards Cuba or Mexico depending on where you live. (And who you talk to.) It's sad, really, but ignorance dies hard.

God, me too. But I feel that way about a lot of the countries discussed here. You guys seem to have a better understanding of the world at large then Americans. We really are pretty dang self-centered and like to "bury our heads in the sand", huh?

This made me LOL. I actually love the idea of a simple life, taking things slow, less stress, less technology. I do not however, wish to do it in a trailer park.

And quick question: Do any of you have any tips on how to help me learn a second language? I'm swaying between German and Japanese but I'm pretty sure I'm going to try Japanese first. I've heard that you can put sticky notes on different objects you see everyday with the words on them to help associate the item with the new word, but do you guys have any other ideas? (As most of you seem to speak at least two langauges.)

Warning: this is kind of big, but I felt like I should give some kind of explanation here Read if you are interested, and sorry for any inaccuracies!


Well, it goes way back... the first instance of cooperation that I know of between the two countries was when in 1147, British crusaders stopped in Portugal along the way to the Holy Land, where they helped (paid help, obviously) our first king, D. Afonso Henriques, conquer the city of Lisbon (which is now our capital) from the Moors. However, the treaty itself only started in the 14th century, during the crisis of succession here. England provided military support to the would-be king (who married an english princess to seal the treaty btw), a bastard son of the last King. I believe this might be when the British first started to have a hand in wine commerce (Port wine) in the North of the country.

Ofc, there's no particular reason you would have learned about that above, since it only really matters to Portuguese. Internationally though, the alliance was important during the Napoleonic Wars, since Portugal was the only country that continued trade with England after the napoleonic blockade, loyal to their alliance. Subsequently, Napoleon had Portugal invaded, and England came to help. With the joint forces of Portugal and England, they managed to free Portugal and then Spain. In the meanwhile, our royal family fled to Brazil, to get away from the war (which was pretty bloody I assure you) and enjoy some holidays.

Of course that the British benefited a lot with this one... they mantained a presence in Portugal, to the point that it could be considered that the UK was governing us, for approximetly 13 years. Beresford was the head of it all, IIRC, putting english officials in political places. Portugal lost it's colonial commerce exclusivity, and numerous of portuguese soldiers had to fight in some of the UK's wars. We managed to pull out of it with a Liberal Revolution in 1820, which marked the return of our royal family and the expelling of the British, aswell as the start of a liberal monarchy.

The British helped again during the Portuguese Civil War in the 19th century, by siding with our Liberal Party, led by D. Pedro II (the king that fred Brazil btw). And then during the spliting of Africa by the european countries, the British presented an ultimatum to Portugal, demanding that it disoccupied the territories from Angola to Mozambique, since they wanted to build a railway from Cape Town to Cairo. That was harsh... and contributed to the fall of our monarchy, that we surrendered to the UK terms.

Then again, internationally, we Portuguese entered the WWI at the request of the UK, sending a lot of troops to Central Europe, Flandres, iirc (which btw, were left there with little support, around 10 000 died). It had heavy economic and political consequences, and contributed to the fall of the democracy and the institution of a militar dictatorship. Then, in WWII, we managed to stay out of the war, and our dictator convinced Franco from Spain to do the same. However, we provided military bases to the Allies in our Atlantic islands.

That is pretty much all that I can remember about it. I can see why it isn't much of a big deal to anyone that is not portuguese, even the british



This does not surprise me in the least, unfortunately

ps: Sorry for the big post!

I'm not British but I found that fascinating to read. Thanks for the great post

Well obviously I don't call it a bathroom in public places, but in a house it is a bathroom.

Yes, I did. But not in school, I did a lot of reading history outside of school.

Really? I've only been there for a week, but I was really surprised by how polite and friendly everyone was. Now Rome on the other hand... The Hungarian guys working at our hotel where very friendly, and so were most of the tourists I ran into, but the Italians I've met were an incredibly rude and unfriendly bunch. Except for one old granny that I met on a bus, she was nice.

As for us Dutch people, I think that as a rule most people here are friendly and helpful, but come across as incredbly rude because they act loud and obnoxious. Not because they're unfriendly though, just because they don't have any manners and don't know better. Many Dutch people I know would disagree on that though, I suppose I notice it because of my upbringing by my Belgian mother. Flemish people are usually more reserved than the Dutch, and better behaved, but also very friendly.

Depends on what part of the country you are in. Generally the more rural the area the nicer the people. Yeah, there are a few bigots but that stereotype about the South is blown way out of proportion.

London was the most unfriendly place I've ever been. I'm an American, mind you, and I went there in 2003 at the start of the Iraq War. Lots of protests. That could be a reason, but, in general, the people there were uniformly rude. In particular,I remember getting kicked out of the lobby of the Metropole when I waiting to meet a guest. That and an office building. Don't ask.

People in Rome and Venice seemed ambivalent. Not unfriendly, but not terribly interested in talking to tourists.

People in Barcelona and Amsterdam seemed very nice; although 2/3rds of the people I met there were fellow tourists.

And people in Jamaica rock!

Edit: This is anecdotal, of course.

I have no idea. I don't know anyone personally that think's it's that awesome. But for those who do...it's sort of an artsy thing perhaps, up there. Plus W. Coasters tend to be into the whole forest and ocean nearby/at your door is awesome, thing. Oregon & Washington are pretty nice places to visit/go camping in, with some gorgeous territory, but I personally wouldn't want to live there. My memory of Oregon is driving through and almost every rest-stop & general campground was basically a motorhome park. Also, McDonald's. A lot of McDonald's.

That's because of the constant rain. They have seasonal mood disorder all year 'round. HAHAHA.
...actually, my sister-in-law moved up there a while back, and she finds everyone very friendly. But very difficult to find work at the moment.

(Generally speaking) I think it's usually pretty hard to judge friendliness of an area based on a limited or brief personal experience. Need to live there a while. Also, what seems rude to one person isn't always meant to be/seen as rude by the locals. Culture stuff.