I'd always heard that in Naples there was a lot of garbage in the street and lots of garbage burning on the outskirts of the city ... and it was true 🤠 but I liked the city anyway, I'm not one for high standards 🤠

Always surprised by how much variety there can be within a country, both large and small, where seemingly opposite stereotypes can be true. USA: most stereotypes are at least somewhat true about one state or region but totally untrue about others. If you go to New York and then Texas its like they are different worlds with little discernible cultural or social connection. Italy: North Italy is wildly rich and feels like a hub of money and culture. Southern Italy is breathtakingly gorgeous but you do feel like the poverty and organized crime are an issue. Ireland: Dublin feels like a rich tech hub smashed into an old world European city, but rural Ireland feels like its stuck in the early 1900s.
France: Parisians are kind of rude, but the rest of the country is super nice. Other observations: Canada: Native born Canadians are shockingly rude. I feel like the Canadians are nice stereotype should be amended to they're more quiet than Americans, but not any less likely to be rude. Bahamas: Everyone is rude. Everywhere else in the Caribbean everyone is always nice, but this was the one exception where everyone was consistently rude.

Venice, Italy. Nothing prepares you for that. Right as you exit the train station : BaDaBoom, => You are surrounded by water. No calling uber. So you'll be like dang, none of those " Venice is so romantic" documentaries told me I need to become a sailor with 2 luggages 🤣😆😂

Germany is greener than I expected.

Stereotypes are there for a reason. Usually they are exaggerated, but true.

I was pleasantly surprised by Prague’s architecture when i visited a few years ago. Had no idea the city would be so beautiful.

Beirut, Lebanon - Beautiful, classical and just an amazing place to be Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Singapore for half price Bali, Indonesia - Such grateful and gracious people Ushuaia, Argentina - A bit touristy, but so interestingly remote Marrakesh, Morocco - Not what you're picturing with respect to Africa

really curious to hear from stackers who have been to argentina.

i don’t have an automatic picture that pops into my head when i think about it, which makes me think the country is likely surprising to others like me.

Sad to say it, I have never left my country

You really know how to ask the right questions, don't ya.

I ve noticed du to movies, documentaries, news, music... my vision of countries are not the reality

it is only when i travelled to the country that my mind totally flipped to another perspective (Good One) :)

When I was studying Japanese, I was indoctrinated by books cautioning that the Japanese have a honne (authentic self) and tatemae (public self). It is difficult to gain access to the Japanese’s inner hearts and honest thoughts because they are culturally conditioned to keep up appearances and say the polite thing. There’s another concept called omoiyari in Japanese, which refers to considering the feelings of other people. When Japanese people are empathetic to their interlocutors’ emotions, they would mask their true feelings.

So when I began my life in Japan under the Japan Exchange Teaching Programme, I was somewhat apprehensive about whether I would be able to navigate cultural norms because I am as straight as an arrow. What you see is what you get. I have little inclination to soften my messages; I think couching hard truths is a waste of time. So I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to assimilate into Japanese society.

After living there for some time, I realised that the distinction between honne and tatemae has been grossly exaggerated by the textbooks. Japanese people do speak their minds freely. Surely their direct speech may be considered as circumventing difficult topics by non-Japanese, but in no way are they lying. We just gotta remain sensitive to cultural and contextual cues.

I loved my time in Japan tremendously. Even married a Japanese lady to boot.