Happier Abroad Forum Community

Here is my grand collection of quotes and letters from foreigners and immigrants about America that I received. They are uncensored and truthful, which you will never see in the US media.

http://www.happierabroad.com/ebook/Page32.htm

The most amusing aspect of that post was the Czech female commenting on a place she has never been to. Par for the course, I guess.

I lived in Czehia (Czech Republic) for a year and I found Czech to be the most ignorant and arrogant peasants I have ever seen in my life. Czechs are renown all over the world as being rude, and saving their advanced rudeness for the tourists that keep their feeble economy afloat.

This is demonstrated by world tourist data showing the Czech Republic has the lowest "re-visiting" rates imaginable. People visit...but never come back. That about wraps it up. The architecture is stunning, and Prague is alot different then the rest of the country, but were anyone to ask me if they should go to the Czech Republic I would offer a firm and resounding NO!

The Czech tourism department is in a blind panic and literally spells it out, STOP BEING RUDE TO TOURISTS! Wont happen though, and as far as I'm concerned it couldn't happen to a nicer crowd. Lets not forget the Czechs were the first to ELECT communists back into power and send those reps to the EU parliament.

I know personally at least three immigrants hates living in America and they are just here just to make enough money to get by, get their U.S. citizenship and leave America. Two of them already have done it and soon the third one will leave as well. All three of them says if they knew what America was like before immigrating, they would never waste their time filing immigration papers and set foot in America. All three of them says lack of culture, high taxes(they live in NYC area), racial tensions, the coldness and superficialness of Americans are driving them away.

Im with ya on that, my wife and I have but one goal. Get her American passport then get the hell out of America ASAP. I could (and will) write up an entire webpage devoted to reasons to leave America.

Grunt wrote:Im with ya on that, my wife and I have but one goal. Get her American passport then get the hell out of America ASAP. I could (and will) write up an entire webpage devoted to reasons to leave America.

The more one travels to different countries, the more one realizes there are better places to live than the USA. Most Americans never travel to other countries. They simply travel within the US and never see what life is like in other countries.

Living in the US most of my life, I always found it odd how if you tried to make a conversation with people, they'd think you were weird.

Tygro wrote:Living in the US most of my life, I always found it odd how people are always asking "Hi, how are you?" When in reality they couldnt care less how you are actually doing. I just found it to be such a fake "custom". If you tried to make a conversation with these same people, they'd think you were weird.

I agree. Most people in America who ask you how are you doing, don't really give a rat's ass how you are really doing.

Actually everyone in this nation is being brainwashed and propagandized 24/7 in our society to not care for others.

It's called "moral breakdown" by design!!!

chismah wrote:Actually everyone in this nation is being brainwashed and propagandized 24/7 in our society to not care for others.

It's called "moral breakdown" by design!!!

Tell us more about this design and who are the architects?

Check out this touching heartfelt letter from a Russian immigrant in America, where he exposes his true feelings. He gave me his permission to post it. It contains a link to his photo too, so you can see that he's not a bad looking guy. If only more immigrants came out like this huh?


"Hi Winston,

Yes I was - thank you for asking. I also wanted to share a bit of the reaction I had after accidentally finding your site.

I read your 'happier abroad checklist', then looked at your photos and gallery of 'approachable faces' and I cried.

You see, I, myself am an immigrant - I came to america from the former soviet union when I was 9, and I never really fit in, in many of the ways you describe that you did not. I was always friendly, open, took interest in people, wanting to talk about meaningful things, etc, etc. I never got along with groups of people - people in groups always acted strange I though, very exclusive. I would always have a few friends (the weird ones) but those friends would often prefer the company and acceptance of their group to genuine interaction.

I spent a long time reminding myself that "It's not me, it's them", but I think over time I had started to forget. At some point I got into game and made some interesting and unpleasant discoveries - you can be friends with girls.. only if you seduce them. Otherwise, it's as if no one has any use or understanding what friendship means.

I've lived in NYC most of my life (though i've moved around just a bit), but it doesn't seem to be that much different regardless of the city. I'm currently in Boston, which seems to be a bit nicer.. but only because it has more college students that haven't been totally poisoned by american life.. yet.

For some reason, just as you said, I never thought things were different anywhere else. The though of leaving the country never even occurred to me - after all, everywhere but america is ruled by cannibalistic gestapo governments, right?

What's odd is that by most measures, I *should* be doing fine and living a 'full' life. I'm 30 years old, reasonable looking http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6132/5929 ... d157_z.jpg , practice martial arts, own my own business, socially apt (this took practice) and am, more then anything else, someone who works very, very hard to be a good, descent, honorable human being.

The pickup artists say "become awesome, and people will be attracted to you".. but apparently you need to become awesome in a very specific way. I've gotten very good at making friends and connection and can get dates.. but still, it takes so much work and the people here.. they are wooden, stiff, and their eyes are empty. That is, unless they are foreigners. Then there is no effort required, things flow naturally and smoothly, just like you say, there is this feeling of real connection, like the person is present with you, and everything is great.

My best friend is French, two of my most enjoyable girlfriends have been Filipinas. Why then, has it never occurred to me to leave the country? Fear of the unknown and the subconsciously ingrained idea that this is the best of all possible places. The first one has to be fought on ones own.. but figuring out the second one, that I really have to thank you for.

So, I am planning my escape. I think I'll check out the Philippines first. Do you still live there?

Also, I'm a photographer - do you think I'd be able to put my skills to use there? If you are interested, you can check out my work at : http://www.sashavolk.com/

Thanks again,
--Sasha"

Winston, all of the fundamental ideas mentioned here on HappierAbroad were already very well known and discussed among Mexican immigrants in the United States - for decades. Except for them it's "Happier Back Home." They rarely share these opinions with outsiders, perhaps because they know Americans would find them insulting.


- It is incredibly common for Mexican immigrant men to talk about going back to Mexico to find a good wife. I personally know plenty of Mexican guys who flat-out refused to date Mexican-American women ("pochitas") in the U.S., and got girlfriends and wives in Mexico instead. Even many Mexican men who've spent all their high school and college lives in the U.S. still go to Mexico to find girlfriends and wives. (With so many women available in those American schools, why do you think they would STILL go back to Mexico to date women?) The reasons they mention are incredibly similar to the ones found here on the HappierAbroad forum.

- They often reminisce about the much more slower-paced life of rural Mexico as opposed to the stressful, fast-paced life of the United States. As immigrants, they often have to move many times to find jobs, whereas in Mexico, they can "let the days go by under the sun," so to speak.

- Mexican immigrants believe American culture turns many of their children into hoodlums and gangsters. In Mexico, Chicano and "cholo" culture are thought of as American. Americans blame this phenomenon on poor parenting, which of course the Mexicans do not agree with.

Thread Necromancer!

Funny to read my own post 4 years later. I no longer wish to escape America as much as I used to. Probably has something to do with our successful escape from Montana, no doubt. Virginia is no paradise, but it sure as hell aint Montana.

For now we want to move back to New Hampshire and fully retire. Since I have become much more involved in volunteer work over the last 2 years, I am much more hopeful. I have also realized, as my wife did long ago, that I thrive on battle, not the peace of the pasture. I would most likely go insane from boredom if we moved overseas permanently.

In the end, I am American, and I plan to go down with the ship. Better to die on your feet than live on your knees, I suppose. Besides, there are so many homeless, suicidal, and troubled veterans I can help. It is a great feeling to reach back and help pull a comrade over an obstacle.

Check out this letter I received from a German immigrant who got annoyed while reading the quotes from foreigners and immigrants page I put up. What do you think? Is she trying to be politically correct? I don't get her point. She doesn't prove me wrong about anything.

Dear Winston,

My name is Laelia and I am a German who moved to the States a few years ago. I stumbled across your article "What immigrants and foreigners say about America that you never hear in the US media" which I found (for the lack of a better word) simply annoying.
I find that anyone who makes an over all perception of a people to be rather ignorant. There is so much more to a country than your first visit there and the differences in culture that you have observed. Disliking a certain custom or a certain town, even a certain person is absolutely not a reason to create an overall bias against a culture. I understand preferring, say, a European life style versus an American one, but that shouldn't cause you to be so outrageously vocal AGAINST a certain place. It's simply rude.
There is plenty in the states that leaves to be desired, but that is true everywhere one should travel. I don't understand how people can take one view of an entire country! It drives me up the wall. Yes, there are differences in culture. BUT the US does HAVE a culture, unlike what many of your articles suggest. I will be the first one to admit the states have problems; huge, annoying problems that need to be addressed, but no country is perfect.
The states is a new country, barely over 200 years old. It has developed from hundreds of others cultures to form its own. There is a strong sense of community (most places; it's a big country) and a strong sense of nationalism as well. Just because people are proud of their country (some even blind and stupidly following) doesn't make them all idiots. In Germany, people generally don't fly the flag or blatantly wear German symbols because we're taught that it is offensive to others. I guess it was because of our history that we are taught this why. But I find someone's love of their country quite beautiful and nostalgic like one's love for the house they grew up in. I don't understand how someone could simple hate a place. It isn't the place or the people that make it what it is, it is YOUR attitude toward it.
Also, the states aren't just a consumer society. Greatly? Yes. The US is a country founded on people looking for opportunity. There is a focus on success, but success to many Americans is simply being happy. Everyone you quoted in the article seemed to believe Americans all view success as proportional to money. And that is simply not true. Even so, there is more to PEOPLE more to a NATION then whatever it is that is different from yours.
I live in a small town in the rural US, unlike the old city where I lived in Germany. There are differences in that nature as well as the customs, but that does not mean the entire country is like the small town I live in.
These things I've said go for every country, every culture. Xenophobic, close-minded people are so terribly frustrating, but you find them in every bloody corner of the earth. Not just the US.
I simply felt the need to express my discomfort with that particular article. I do not wish to change your, or anyone else's, view of America, but to share what I find as a flaw in your perception of other countries. Ironically, the very thing many of your sources cited for their dislike of America is the same thing they are going by being close-minded.

Thank you for your time,
Laelia H
An Annoyed German

She probably loves America because her value shot up by about +2 points when she stepped off the plane. There's absolutely no content in her reply it's amazing. She just rambles on and on about how every place is special and has good things about it. What she doesn't get is that we've been saying all along that countries have different positive and negative qualities.

Repatriate wrote:She probably loves America because her value shot up by about +2 points when she stepped off the plane. There's absolutely no content in her reply it's amazing. She just rambles on and on about how every place is special and has good things about it. What she doesn't get is that we've been saying all along that countries have different positive and negative qualities.

Of course she loves it here, she's living in the capital of Feminism and enjoying every single bit of it.