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What kind of relationship do you have with your neighbours?

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  1. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by shri:
    And for a few hours, it was also nice to not hear about France, Monaco and all things Australian.

    Just saying... goes both ways....
    All the power to you , brother!


  2. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by dpmlicious:
    That is lovely, @ren32. A nice counter to balance out the horror stories we often read.

    Interesting observations, @Fiona in HKG. Have you tried saying Hi to the French in French? I wonder if they'd respond then. When I was in Paris, many people, including strangers, were quite friendly.
    Actually yes!!!! I got a 'roast beef' glance LOL

    The Italians and Germans and Chinese seem to be OK with English
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  3. #23

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    Kids help.
    We know plenty of people in our building, mostly thru the kid.

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  4. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mat:
    Kids help.
    We know plenty of people in our building, mostly thru the kid.
    Tends to be through the dogs in my building And through kids who like dogs
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  5. #25

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    @Skyhook

    One day I wish you go and live in France and we will see. And when you do it, please live like the majority, ie on less than 2K euros a month.
    Monaco, Nice, of course of course. Monaco 50.000 peeps and now one on minimum wage. Nice, golden retirement area for rich french and the likes.

    Pleas go to bethune for a month and we talk again or Saint Denis, cos you know this france also.

    Dont get me wrong I like France and granted on average we probably know more our neighbor than some HK people but please stop selling it as the perfect ad. Like all places it's great and shit at the same time. Tourists (even extended tourists like you) tend to only see the good

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  6. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by dpmlicious:

    Interesting observations, @Fiona in HKG. Have you tried saying Hi to the French in French? I wonder if they'd respond then. When I was in Paris, many people, including strangers, were quite friendly.
    Considering they live in Hong Kong I'd presume those grumpy Frenchies speak English. I wouldn't bother with going out of my way to be accomodating to them.

  7. #27

    @Fiona in HKG, what is a 'roast beef' glance? Is that a saying translated into English? Sounds delicious but probably is more of a negative look? =D

    Quote Originally Posted by Char Siu King:
    Considering they live in Hong Kong I'd presume those grumpy Frenchies speak English. I wouldn't bother with going out of my way to be accomodating to them.
    It is definitely your choice to not be accommodating to other people. I wasn't suggesting that anyone needs to go out of their way to make someone feel more welcome or to try to talk to their neighbours. I was simply asking whether someone had tried and if they got a similar reaction.

    While in Paris, my friend told me that the locals would be more friend if I spoke some French to them. I was wondering if maybe that was the case with her neighbours. I've also found that some people from other cultures seem fascinated and genuinely happy when you say a few words in their language. However, I realize it might be annoying to some, which might have been the case here.

    I'm ethnically Chinese(Singaporean)-Korean. My first language is English and, unfortunately, I have limited Chinese and Korean communication skills. I also don't like any emphasis on nationalities and don't identify with either backgrounds. I dislike it when people find it important to ask me where I'm from and spew out random words in a language I don't really speak, after I already told them I don't use those languages. About the same feeling I get when people think they are complimenting me by telling me I'm great at communicating in my first language. However, I know they are trying to be friendly. I wouldn't really like having a stranger say "ni hao" or "anyong" to me in the US.

    I also wouldn't be surprised if anyone of any nationality, locals included, ended up just wanting to keep to themselves after living in Hong Kong for a while, especially if people poke fun of their nationality.
    Last edited by dpmlicious; 24-05-2016 at 06:20 PM.
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  8. #28

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    Quote Originally Posted by dpmlicious:
    While in Paris, my friend told me that the locals would be more friend if I spoke some French to them. I was wondering if maybe that was the case with her neighbours. I've also found that some people from other cultures seem fascinated and genuinely happy when you say a few words in their language. However, I realize it might be annoying to some, which might have been the case here.
    Around the world this is normally the case but the French are famous for looking down on foreigners trying to (poorly) speak their language I've never had any issues with this myself in France though.

    As for Roast Beef - BBC NEWS | UK | Why do the French call the British 'the roast beefs'?
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  9. #29

    That's for the article. Laughed while trying to think of food-based names someone might invent to call me.

    Yes, there seems to be many negative stereotypes of the French. I have yet to meet someone who is actually like that, but I guess I haven't encountered that many French people.

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  10. #30

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    Quote Originally Posted by Fiona in HKG:
    Tends to be through the dogs in my building And through kids who like dogs
    No kids, so that rules out some potential of a social life.
    Maids/ helpers walk the dogs here and my husband and I walk our own dog. Maids say hello, are nice but some of their dogs are not and my pup is still impressionable hyper stage even though he got neutered last week. Anyway, my neighbour and us share outside house tools etc. our landlords live in our village and we get along with them very well. It is just keeping the balance. Neither my husband or I care if we aren't best buds with our neighbours as people come and go here. Hard to keep up with the moving ins and moving outs. But so far all good. In fact, I like the dynamics. Locals, expats or varying nationalities. Their customs and ours.
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