this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2026
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Are you American?
I lived in Wales for a year and I will tell you that I got on quite well with Spanish and Portuguese people the most.
Their "personalities" are closer to American.
Such as they smile when they greet you.
You under estimate how much this matters.
I was pretty sure every welsh person I interacted with , disliked me because they all seemed to be stone faced.
While visiting Germany I encountered the same. Slightly worse. Pretty sure their resting face is an actual frown.
I constantly felt like I was inconveniencing everyone. Even buying a ticket or food.
I knew i wasn't. That it was cultural. But I couldn't shake the feeling that I was disliked at every interaction.
They see the fake friendly smiles as fake and pointless. So they don't do it.
Maybe you could get used to it. But to me it felt like constant social cues that I was not welcomed.
During my year in Wales I mostly hung out with a guy I met on reddit also doing a study program. He was from Portugal and we got on just fine. He was also confused by British etiquette.