Is Vienna the WORST City for Making Friends?

[@DatingBeyondBorders]

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I posted since I have been traveling and filming around Europe. Hope you like the style of this video! More to come 🎉

[@belakitajka5741]

Will there be any Budapest/Hungary stuff coming? :)

[@DatingBeyondBorders]

Yes 😁

[@belakitajka5741]

@@DatingBeyondBorders Köszönöm :D

[@bojanstoicevic5374]

Luckily there are a lot of ex-Yu people living in Vienna 😅

[@compashinpei]

As someone who has stayed in many countries. I have to say Austrians are some of the most humble, polite, and faithful people I’ve met. Yes, they may seem “introverts”. But that does not mean they are mean or they do not care about you. In fact, they are very caring people. I’ve stayed in countries where people seem very friendly but I’ve been scammed by people who I thought they were friends. Austrians would never do that. They never abuse you or ditch the plans like people from certain countries that considered “friendly” (I’m not going to say which ones)

[@chetyoubetya8565]

A dog is faithful to yet try having a conversation with one.When you are an adult you choose a way to act and trying to say that's what we do is rubbish.

[@AureliaIlva]

@compashinpei I agree with you

[@moloids]

Look at the election results last week. Still at least 30% are xenophobic. More like at least 60% if you don't impress them with $$$

[@ungeimpfterrusslandtroll7155]

@@chetyoubetya8565 That's nonsense, dogs are not faithful in a real sense.

[@hanipasha8859]

Friendly country: Do you mean US, UK, Germany?

[@thirstwithoutborders995]

I am Austrian, but grew up abroad. And the thing about why Austrians are difficult to become friends with is because they take their friendships very seriously. Friends are not people you hang out with and go to dinner with, but people who help you move, whom you can talk to about very personal things... and that kind of friendship just takes time to develop and time to maintain, so you automatically have fewer of them. Also, Austrians often work hard during their working hours and due to a culture of volunteering and joining clubs (Vereine) that have regularly scheduled appointments and then spending the Saturday on shopping, cleaning and Sunday with the family/finally relaxing, it is not like we have abundant free time. And all of that multiplies once you have kids and their schedules to think of. I really wish I could become even surface level friends with everyone I meet, because I love the cultural exchange, but I only have one truly free evening a week.

[@TheLastAngryMan01]

Yes. As someone who has lived here for nearly 15 years, locals tend to have their high school and university friends and don’t see the need to make connections outside of those groups. Sad but true! The other thing is that people here are freaked out by strangers talking to them. There are other cultures in Western Europe that are very relaxed about this (Spain, Ireland, UK) but a lot of people in Vienna think you are crazy if you engage them in conversation in a pub or some other shared space. One final thing: in Vienna, people can live in the middle of town and genuinely expect to have the peace and serenity of a country village. A pub I know is right in the center of the city, close to the ring. It hasn’t been able to play its tv on the upper floor for years because someone moved in to the apartment upstairs, decided that it was too loud and got a court order to prevent any audio visual media being played. This would only happen here and perhaps in Germany.

[@PastaSauce.]

Love Austria but I could never live there. The Uk isn’t the best but I love how outgoing we are as people. I’ll walk down the street and it’s fine to talk to strangers.

[@keinplanb7369]

As an Austrian, I have to say that these interviews are not representative. Whether you find friends depends a lot on yourself, how old you are, whether you work in a company with a lot of people your own age, whether you actively go to parties and festivals. There are many prejudices among Austrians against foreigners and there are also many prejudices against Austrians, as I can read here in the forum. To find friends here, you have to be active. Nevertheless, real friendships with Austrians are not superficial.

[@Ricardo-cp2lu]

I've never met anyone who has prejudices against Austrians.

[@lordarryn2834]

​@@Ricardo-cp2lui do, but i am half austrian 😂

[@Ricardo-cp2lu]

@@lordarryn2834 I'm brazilian, I've nevet met anyone with a bad image of the Austrian people or the country. Maybe it's different in some countries.

[@estebanmunoz7486]

I’ve been living here for almost three years and I have no complaints… it may be difficult to click with the Austrians at the beginning but once you do it… they are amazing. I have nothing but admiration for Austria and love for Graz and its people.

[@MathieuDeVinois]

As an Austrian who is introverted but also extroverted sometimes I meet a lot of strangers. I do have to say they can be overwhelming. It’s like when you open up a little they want it all. And you become their daily guide, entertainer and problem solver for everything in a second. They don’t see that you have a job, family or other responsibilities. In return you get nothing back instead of feeling exhausted. I sometimes wonder if it’s so easy for them to make friends with other strangers. Why don’t they invite me to their meet ups. Why don’t they try to entertain me a little. Teach me how to be more social and small talk able? - That’s a very general prejudice. People are different. Two Rumanians I know became something I would consider friends. But it took time and certainly me knowing I can trust them. It’s not a one way street. So, I can claim that it’s possible to make friends in Vienna. And that it’s difficult marking friends in general. It’s easier when in a group setting like school or maybe university for a longer period. Once out from such organisations it’s getting even tougher.

[@hagenanon9484]

Yes thats the point exactly many times. You show them a little friendliness and they kick in your door. Thats likely what happened to the indian girl in the video that complained about being ghosted. I think these foreigners may too desperately be seeking for friends and in the process scaring away the careful viennese people.

[@MathieuDeVinois]

@@hagenanon9484 sure, additionally it bothers me that strangers often have no sense for time. It’s like they are always late on purpose. I mean, they don’t even call or write that they are late what would be just fair if one is late for more than 10 minutes.

[@JonVonD]

As an Austrian I feel like our culture in general is more difficult to enter into without a pre-determined circle. As is the case in Germany, many peoples' friend circles are dictated by things like families and people that you either went to school with or went to university with. For a lot of Austrians it already can feel sometimes like a lot of "work" to keep up with these circles because we are taught to "care after" friendships (Freundschaft muss man pflegen) and so the whole concept of flippant "oh yeah they're my friend because we both like this band" type of relationships doesn't always fit in with that. For adults moving to a new country it can be quite difficult to enter into those kinds of circles. I have family that lives on the country side but in Vienna I moved here as an adult so I didn't really have any friends or a social circle until I 1) changed jobs (going into the office and getting to know people in person slowly and 2) got a dog (shared interests and people you see all the time in the Hundezone. This was a lot different than Canada, where I lived for half as much time and made easily 3-4x the amount of "friends", but after moving away, I never heard from well over 90% again. In Austria the people you make friends with are really "solid", but it takes time.

[@yonathanasefaw9001]

My country Canada is a really nice place but there is a loneliness epidemic going on and I am starting to feel it.

[@davormijatovic7999]

Like in every western country

[@hanipasha8859]

When you feel alone watch conjuring part 1 and Sinister on full volume. That night you will feel like you are not alone.

[@eichkater6928]

@@davormijatovic7999 because of smartphone use

[@ungeimpfterrusslandtroll7155]

The reason is really simple, everything here is organized, even in free time. If you want friends, you have to join a club or some other organized activity. People, most of the time have a plan when they leave the house and go from point A to point B, with their own who have the same interest. I'm from the countryside, people here are from childhood on in musicclub, soccerclub, voluntary firefighters, judo and a million other things. Many grown cultural traditions going back sometimes hundreds of years and they are the same in most parts of the country. It bonds people in a strong way in my opinion. Everything is planned and that's a good thing, it is the reason Austria is a clean country, where compared to many other countries everything is functioning and clean, even compared to most other European countries but especially when i look at the nationalities in the video. Nothing here is locked up to anybody but i think it is good that if you wanna be part of it you need at least a little bit understanding of the country and also put in a bit of effort.

[@pat564]

Austrians don’t need lessons from foreigners. Austrians have traditions of the highest standards. If foreigners can’t respect that they can leave. I need this video because I am a Austrian citizen born in Canada.

[@MsViolena]

As an Austrian, I totally agree, it´s hard to find friends here. Most friends I found as an adult are from abroad. I think the austrian mentality is often that they assume that people from other countries won´t stay long and/or have different interests than austrians typical do. (Racism can unfortunately also be a reason, but is obviously not always the reason) We don´t really do smalltalk, unless we´ve met a person a couple of times. And we also do this to other Austrians too. My family moved 50 years ago from a different part of Austria to where I grew up, I lived here for 30+ years (some other places inbetween) and we still are "die Zu'greisten" (newcomers). So don´t feeld bad if you don´t find austrian friends, it really is a cultural thing here to stick with the know and familiar 😅

[@franciscofernandes2190]

After living 11 years here (not in Vienna but in Austria), I have gathered as many Austrian friends as foreign ones. Still, indeed, the first years were not the easiest, also because getting friends in a busy adult life is, in most cases, already complicated. The main reason is that Austrians like to stuff their schedule with activities, leaving limited time for unplanned events and, since culturally they should be welcoming to friends, they would feel weird to introduce you to people you don't know as they see that as awkward - they don't even introduce their school friends to their working friends for the same reason. How to crack the code? - Be proactive in organizing events ahead and invite people - especially sportive activities as Austrians like them and feel like it is a safe space (if they do not know what to say, they will just keep doing the activity); - Try new stuff that typically Austrian people like; - Invite them to your place first; they will feel complied to return back; - Open yourself and go deep into the conversations, and don't be scared to talk about topics that in your country are uncomfortable to talk about with your friends; Once you have an Austrian friend, they will be the best friends you have ever had! I wouldn't trade an Austrian friend for anything else nowadays: they are caring, are super spontaneous if you need their help, will remember important dates, and never forget about you.

[@chetyoubetya8565]

Most adults lives are complicated yet in most countries that does not stop people from establishing friendships.

[@heinrichrahm1531]

First paragraph is so true when my brother did his military service and his military friends and school friends went to the same club he just didn't go because it would be too awkward

[@travelacademy3441]

I lived there one month with A woman from Greece and we met one guy Austrian and His girlfriend Hungarian and in same day come to our home and after on week we travel all to Greece, we had friends in one hour

[@suvisantini9712]

I believe the main issue is that a lot of people in other countries are superficially friendly, smiling and do chit chat with pretty much everyone but then often dont have ride or die hard friends. I saw this when being in indonesia, where at first it seems that everyone likes everyone and they have so many friends but then their pride comes in between and they can't ask their friends to help them with serious issues. In Austria friendship is almost like a marriage, you consider your friends wisley and also invest into them. Its not just randomly chatting and waisting time so you dont feel alone, but to build the relationship and have things which you can do together. This is way it is so important to not just exist as a person but also have a passion, a job whatever where you strongly identify yourself with and then are able to find the right people. Also I disagree that you can make friends through drinking. That guy who said that is either into superficial contacts or only knows these ways. Drinking makes people loosen up and talk but dont mistake it as being friends with them. Another things I saw in this video is that foreigners here often feel its friendship if people smile and talk to you. NO thats just politness. You also wont make friends by randomly talking to random people on the street. People are afraid of giving away their numbers. you need to be part of something in order to meet other people through your friends group at free events. So you always have to kinda invest into something. My plan on becoming friends with Austrians: You need to be part of something in order make friends which often means you need to pay a bit. - go to university: its easier to be part of friends there, and then go to student parties, events etc and meeting friends through them.. like become part of circles - take on a hobby which is group related: Austrians love sports and outdoor activities. So maybe volleyball, be part of a skiing course (though I understand if that is too expensive), play soccer, or become part of an acting group, etc - start to get comfortable with making plans and doing out door activities: austrians really love to go for a hike with picknick or a walk or to go swimming or camping. Dont try to meet them in a bar or a club, they wont consider you to be serious and you wont become part of their inner circle. - undestand their humor: sarcasm and quite mean humor is a viennese thing but overall their attitude tends to be a bit more rude and straight forward everywhere. - dont expect to make friends with anyone over 40 as these people usually really have a harder time accepting anyone who doesnt look austrian. Younger people mostly wont care. One caviat: the only group in society that is mostly open for foreigners is the educated one. If you dont speak english very well or german and be very edcuated in best case studied something and have a decent job, these people wont interact with you. Lower social groups tend to have already a language barrier and often are more prejudiced as tthey interact with foreigners in low wage jobs and obviously sparks hatred - Younger people are easier to get to know as they have more time and are also more exposed to different looks and cultues. - As a guy pick your goal: if you want to just make friends dont you ever try to hit on the girl. If you want to date an austrain girl..well that would take a whole differentt strattegy but overall: be smart and educated, speak perfect english and or german, dont ask her out randomly on the street, dont ask any girl you like just through looks to give you her number. The only way you can get to know girls is either dating apps or much more successful university and being good in your field, job or hobby. Other than that forget it -be aware that friendships are taken serious here so if you made it dont just dissappear..stay invested. Contact them regulary, and you can once the relationship is built also show them some parts of your culture. Hope that helps!

[@MathieuDeVinois]

I am with you except of the part where you call all Austrians over 40 racist. With 40 you just have a tighter schedule and more responsibilities than with 30. You got your fair share of bad relationships no matter with Austrians or other people. You just don’t want to bother with what could be an additional problem. Also chances are you already have a circle of friends and no additional space for more people. How many people around you, you can really take care of?… also it doesn’t help being called racist, unfriendly etc.. all the time. People in general tend to favour people wich don’t insult them constantly. - I am 41 although most friends I have are about 30. Also a good share of my friends is foreign. So I do see their struggle. But I also see that expectations are very different.

[@suvisantini9712]

@@MathieuDeVinois yes that is correct, people in their 40s usually have family and a lot of pressure through job, eldely parents, childcare and having to earn money and managing everything so they probably wont have a lot of time to invest in friends and that is usually the case in almost all countries..not just austrian specific. And yes totally agree it aint helpful when people call every act racist even if it was maybe just a disinterest in someone specifically as personalites and characters didnt match. I think thats also what I was trying to point out that you can't have more than 5 really close people, you will have to spend some time with work colleagues, work and you usually are very aware about how much freetime you have and with whom you wanna spend it and often random superficial talk can be not fullfilling. I see a huge difference in italy fe where people randomly invite almost strangers to have dinner with them and that is beautiful however its not austrian culture.

[@MoAdan28]

Na you can hit up with a girl you interested in public as long as you are respectful and considerate about her boundaries and after she said no learn to walk away from it. You never know if she says yes to it this applies to the rest of the 1st worlders. Might be east or hard like Germany. Reserved but honest which is what I don’t mind the most rather than southern of England where it’s completely impossible to chat to another one without some form of connection in my experience.

[@suvisantini9712]

@@MoAdan28 there have been many "respectful" dudes asking for my number and when I was a teenager I felt bad for saying no, so I gave it to them texted two sentences and then never replied or blocked them as it was just weird and only based upon the fact that they liked how I looked. Yes its a difference if you meet her once a week at uni or at a sports club and after a couple of weeks of interacting you ask her out. But just because you like how she looks is not a way to get a girlfriend. Thats bar life. As I said before those people who go clubbing are a whole different world, usually only interested in sex and there it will be easier to at least get laid. You however have to be outstandingly good looking then, as this interaction is only based upon looks, so most dudes wont suceed. And an austrian girl, usually doesnt go out with a foreigner unless she can see that he is somewhat of a quality dude. When I think about immigrants, those who ask girls on the street are usually middle eastern arab dudes..and no if you want to make friends, just dont ask random people on the street. Go to spain or italy for that. Having said that, in case you look western and speak perfect english or german, it might be a different scenary and more possible than if you ask in broken english or german and the girl can smell he is living on governmental money and probably thinks of western girls to be all whores..

[@MoAdan28]

@@suvisantini9712 Well I’m an immigrant, and can speak perfect English and is from England but from Africa like Somalia. But men always go for looks that’s the no1 factor and second is personality no man would ever consider a woman not attractive and simply just going for personality and going for places that doesn’t exceed their masculinity. There’s KZbinrs that are Africans and are happily married with Eastern European girls or just guys straight up approaches cos it’s all about numbers and how easy would you get them and if you can take them into dates cos believe me girls say one thing and do is another thing totally two different things.

[@tobiojo6469]

Awesome video

[@ninasm]

Austrians aren't nice. They're just not. I am Austrian by passport, but was born and raised in South Africa, when I moved here, it was ok for me to make friends, because I look Austrian, know German, have a Austrian surname and am very open, but I realized the kids who weren't in that positio n had a hard time. I found that unfair. And in the years to come, I always heard by every foreigner: Nina, you're the only Austrian friend I have. Me: Well, I'm not really Austrian. Disappointment on the other side.

[@neoreign]

So they're xenophobic?

[@zaranski1889]

​@@neoreign what do you think?

[@Limpi43]

2:09 and 2:35 I don't want people (who I don't know) smile at me (who they don't know) when we have no connection/ interaction; it's creepy. Do I look silly? Are they making fun of me? Are they laughing at me? Is there something wrong with them? Are they lunatic? 4:28 "...call in the middle of the night..." Yes, that is a friend. And I bet my life that I'd have more chance getting one in Austria than Canada, USA, Latin America or any 'warm and friendly' countries. As the brazilian girl explain it at 7:03 perfectly. 5:39 Austrians don't do small talk. 6:21 "This small talk culture is completely missing still in Austria, but in my opinion what they do in the U.S. as well is a little bit on the surface, it's not deep conversation..." And exactly that is the reason why they don't. It's nothing just shallow, meaningless noisemaking, not worth spend any minute of their precious time on it. 8:20 Planning for 1-2 weeks ahead and "How should I know what I'm supposed to do in two weeks." People don't have lots of free times; they work, do chores, have their activities/interests, have relatives, might even relationships, ergo their days are very likely already scheduled from morning to evening. The reason why they plan for two weeks ahead is to reduce the chance that people make any schedule for that day and they all could come together. The 'let's do something tomorrow' only works with people have nothing to do tomorrow and/or don't have to wake up for work the day after.

[@John055TO]

Had the same experience in Switzerland when I moved out of the city area even though I was 100% fluent in German. I also realized that after 12 years there I (and my wife) had only been inside of three Swiss people's houses. We understood their need for stability and "Ordnung" overrode any type of spontaneity, but we also noticed that Swiss and Austrian families stayed very small and tight so perhaps the unfriendliness was very much cultural and not personal. But I seriously wonder if the friendliness aspects are taken into account when the city surveys ranked Vienna, Geneva and Zurich so high up on the list. Thanks for the video.

[@TheThingIs415]

No they are not taken into account. The often cited meecer study is done with business expats who live in their own bubble. Other studies rate vienna at the top for friendliness, the surveys done in the tourism industry (hospitality), the thing is the staff gets paid to treat the guests nice.

[@klimtkahlo]

I imagine that like all European countries, (Austrian) natives are overwhelmed with all the immigration. It is a feeling I have been seeing in many European countries. When I lived in Austria I never saw this many foreigners as in this video. And I lived in a college dorm!!!

[@AudioVideo_IT]

This is not the case. I do hate the government to let criminals in with a refugee status without having or checking the passports and their possible criminal background. This is worsening the situation for good people with Turkish or Arabian background, too. But regular immigrants who keep the environment clean, do not disturb others and do not have language barriers are generally not treated worse than Austrians itself. Making friends here is harder than on most other places. But your real friends do have a close relationship with you and will help you if you are in trouble.

[@TheThingIs415]

@@AudioVideo_ITyeah it is the same in Switzerland for example.

[@ralphpichler6635]

I agree I love Vienna and I am Native Austrian, when I went to Thailand for the first time I was super surprised to see that people from other cultures are way more open. But still you definitely can meet super cool and nice people here as well :)

[@milksmoothie]

Wonderful video❤

[@squaretriangle9208]

When you see the weird clown on Mariahilfer Straße you know things aren't that good😂 I'm from Vienna and it's tough for locals, too but I think there is an objective difference between locals and expats when it comes to the need of meeting new people and form new friendships, locals often know their family and friends since a longvtime and haven't the same interest to get to know new people, but it's true we Viennese haven't got the collective memory of being foreign ourselves, so lack the empathy of how this feels 😢 on the other hand, most of the expats are complaining so they have settled into the local culture beautifully😂

[@janbeklen6855]

As an Austrian, it's not easy to make freinds here, thats true. But the freindship you hav, will be strong and worthy. I lived in Russia and in Georgia. In Russia it is harder to create a friendship and if you smile on the street for no reason, people think you are creazy. Georgia was easy but i missed the quality. So if you consider to find a friend easily, than it will also go away easily.

[@tj2375]

I would say that one of the hardest countries to make friends is Portugal. There are many countries where the culture is that your friends are the people you met when you're a child at school. After that you just don't have the chance to make friends. In those countries locals have that problem as well.

[@zaranski1889]

Nuh uh

[@migueloliveira2848]

From my experience (in Lisbon), being a local in Lisbon it’s very hard to make true friendships with foreigners. Not only because they stay for a limited time but also they tend to have more superficial friendships (party, drinks) Etc . I think it’s the same pretty much everywhere. Foreigners tend to befriend foreigners. Also depends of the place, probably easier to befriend locals in smaller, less touristed places. Also helps if you’re white european (or an attractive person), I would assume.

[@Kabirio93]

I live in Budapest and I have the same situation. Most of the foreigners wanna get wasted and party hard. It seems like is very hard in general to find people that just wanna go for a walk and avoid the hustle and bustle of getting wasted every weekend.

[@Zeioth]

When you go somewhere is important to understand the local culture. You can buy a plane ticket, but you cannot buy belonging to a place.

[@renebautista1580]

Austria is the only place I've found extremely hard to make friends, I actually went for a girl and she was so nice and polite, but... Extremely polite, almost like robotic, she was amazing, but... I think cultural differences wouldn't let us be together, we're more spontaneous and fun oriented, they're more focused and polite... They're nice people, but just really hard to find likeminded people

[@funkydanis1278]

For many expats biggest problem is not to understand that English is not the local language 😢

[@m.8829]

Depends on your race, skin color and ethnicity.

[@jujulechow]

Loved it ❤

[@leuritalhambra8890]

I was raised in Austria and I can wholeheartedly support that guys statement in 7:30. People really don´t accept you if you slightly look different. It´s really weird if you think about that. If you open up some newspaper on a random day you will most probably read something about the "integration of migrants". All they do is demand integration, but embracing people with outside roots or getting out of their bubble to befriend people with another background is something many can´t get themselves to do. It´s really important that people start to put a little effort into that.

[@klimtkahlo]

I spent a year and a half in Vienna and I found Austrians lovely and easy to make friends with. Extremely caring! My co-workers helped me with everything: doctor appointments, shopping, driving me to other places. This was 20 years ago and I still keep in touch with a few of them! They invited me to their homes. Best time of my existence honestly! LOVE Austrians in general!

[@chetyoubetya8565]

As an adult that is a choice

[@ungeimpfterrusslandtroll7155]

That's simply a lie nothing more. And how in the world is it the job of the for example the Japanese to embrace my culture and not the other way around when i go there as a migrant. We embrace people with outside roots but we want Austria to stay Austria. People here demand nothing what they wouldn't do themselves if they went to a different culture.

[@leuritalhambra8890]

@@klimtkahlo May I ask where you are from?

[@leuritalhambra8890]

​@@ungeimpfterrusslandtroll7155 "that´s simply a lie nothing more." It is the truth, even when you don´t want to realise it. And where did I say that Austrians need to embrace my culture!? I said they need to embrace PEOPLE with culturally different BACKGROUNDS. In my case it´s not about culture, as you can´t guess which culture I belong from the outside. I also don´t do anything different than what is "culturally" seen as Austrian. I speak the same and think more or less the same. The main difference is my name and the way I look (not my clothers, but my skin, face etc). Many Austrians are full of prejudice and like to stay in their culturally/genetically clean bubbles. Most Austrians are xenophobic and if you don´t look 100% like them you will have a hard time to make friends as the guy in the video said. I know the guy from other videos and he seems very cultured and friendly. But anyways, my main message for this is that integration won´t work if the people who put in the work aren´t accepted, because most of them didn´t ask to live here. And who needs to do the "accepting", AUSTRIANS! So if you like that migrants work here and create a work force by birthing babies that Austrians aren´t willing to, but don´t want to include them in social life, than you will have many problems in the long run.

[@schurlbirkenbach1995]

I am natural born Viennese and when I had to deal with expats I often had the impression, that they were not too much interested to get contacts outside of their international bubble.

[@ungeimpfterrusslandtroll7155]

It is pretty obvious that most of them don't even do anything. They just hang around and complain that nothing happens. If you really search for Austrian friends here, all you have to do is join some activity.

[@michaelgrabner8977]

Viennese are always very friendly, polite and very kind and ready to help IF you let them be grumpy. (disclaimer = that statement is Viennese humour, but also true)

[@juliabsr]

I was born and raised in Vienna. I moved to Canada 2 years ago and I have to say that I made more friends in Canada than during my whole life in Austria

[@pat564]

Where in Canada do you live? I am born and live in Canada but also Austrian citizen.

[@juliabsr]

@@pat564 in Vancouver

[@pat564]

@@juliabsr same as myself. Maple ridge to be exact. Would you be open to meeting for coffee or lunch? I am seriously considering on moving to Graz or Vienna to live. I’d like to get feedback on what it is like.

[@juliabsr]

@@pat564 my husband and I are visiting our families in Vienna right now. We will stay here for a few months. We are open to meet for a coffee when we’re back. But as a side note I wouldn’t recommend moving to Austria!

[@pat564]

@@juliabsr what are your reason not to move to Vienna ? Is it because of the politics? FPÖ?

[@AB-kc2wm]

I love Austria as a Country! Really beautiful! one ! My German husband showed me that they are really nice when you are there as a tourist… but not so nice to have you as a friend! They are just faking that you are welcome. I don’t care as a Brazilian and I will spend the best winter holidays there,I don’t need friends,just a great service! ❤️🇧🇷

[@zaranski1889]

Nois br sabe como interagir com estranhos, e agir com estranhos como um veio psicopata não seria a solução 🔥

[@neuneu3455]

100% i fake it all the time because the true is not allowed to say.

[@mcheddadi]

it's hard being human.

[@TravelToumi]

Thats a very good video and sums up the feeling that lots of Internationals and austrians with international mindest have. Everytime i come back to my hometown vienna I feel a kind of sadness that Im back in my cold and egoistic country where there is not even a random smile but somehow aggressiveness if you stay on the wrong part of the elevator or you need a little bit longer to pay your grocery’s in the line. Also this reflects the political choices where people live in a country where they have everything from social housing and good health care and culture (most liveable city in the world) but still vote far right political to the top because they have the „feeling“ that the city is going down which is absolutely not the fact.

[@klimtkahlo]

I am just rewatch the video and you see all the people interviewed smile while the interviewer keeps really seriously making eye contact! Funny! Definitely cultural!

[@johnjohannesjuan]

Friendliness: I feel there are 2 regional cultures when interacting with strangers in Austria. The initially unfriendly, cold but at its core honest approach that pervails in Vienna, but also in parts of Lower Austria, Tyrol, Burgenland and Styria. And the superficially friendly but beneath the surface wary and distrusting of strangers in Carintiha, Upper Austria and Salzburg, as well as tourisity places in all regions. I prefer the first of the two variants. (Notice how I didn't mention Vorarlberg because I don't konw.) Of course, this is an over-generalization, individuals can be entirely different. Making friends: It tends to be quite hard in Vienna: 1. It's in friendliness culture region 1 (see above) 2. People living in your area can be of a completely different generation and have different life goals (e.g. University students live all over the city or even within the metro area meaning you won't run into people you know from work or Uni that frequently) 3. Closed groups at events: If you go to any semi-public event (concerts, club meetings, nature excursions) it is very likely that most people going already come with a group of friends and family and have no desire to really mix with others. If you come alone, at most you get to chat with a few people but you'll likely won't have any lasting connection going beyond that singular event. (I am not talking about dating or hooking up at a club here.) 4. Migrant communities: (I am really not anti-immigration.) Many migrants tend to be more friendly to strangers than Viennese who have lived there for generations. But it tends to be quite difficult to make friends within a tight migrant community if you are not part of that community. 5. Commuters: Many acquaintances e.g. from work are only in Vienna for their job and they commute back home to Burgenland or Lower Austria daily, with commuting times of someteimes well over an hour. It's really difficult to have any closer connection to them as their actual lives are "back home". Depending on the place you work at and the leisure activities you do, those could be the vast majority of people you encounter on a daily basis. 6. Well-functioning public services: This may sound weird, but if the services you require at a daily basis work well and are atleast somewhat affordable, you will have less reason to talk to your neighbours and people around you, to form action and protest groups etc. Those would all be instances where you'd get to know people better and meet the same people repatedly, potentially making friends along the way.

[@tobiasgoldman]

Wow, as a Swede this sounds like they made a video about Sweden, or at least Stockholm. Stockholmers are super duper serious, and view humor and smiles with grrat suspicion. I usually don't look at people in public (unless they ate fellow dog owners) since they just stare without saying hi or smiling, or even nodding hello.

[@DatingBeyondBorders]

I have a video about Sweden on a similar topic ☺️

[@woldoseroldofoldo]

The friends thing is also related to your age. Most expats come to Austria in their late 20s or later, which is the age where for most people there other things than making superficial strawfire friendships with people that also tend to complain about Austria all the time. Im Austrian married to a Brazilian and I have had dozens of friends from latin america, only 2 of the remained. The rest turned out to be extremely onesided (only taking) or suffered with mental deseases which is very common under expats. The latter is a sad thing but we also have to take care to not get contaged with that. So better stick with a tight high quality friend circle than a big low quality one, with ppl that have nothing in common. I have to also add that the austrians that I know are doing a lot to support and help people from other countries

[@Ricardo-cp2lu]

Interesting, because the Braziians I know who've been to Austria (I'm also Brazilian btw and I've live in Germany for 2 years) thought the Austrians were much friendlier and easy going than other central european countries, specially Germany. It was also my opinion when I visited Vienna. I felt Austrians were so much better to talk and to interact than Germans and I've felt much better in the city, despite being of German descent myself.

[@woldoseroldofoldo]

Me as an austrian found the brazilians very difficult to approach. Even after 5 years doing a lot of stuff with them (hiking, rafting, dnowboarding,shroomtripping in forests, biking, travelling etc.), I will be always the one that has to start. They never come up with ynything or they just dont invite me. Now I ve cut off 80 % of my brazilian pseudofriends and let them remain in their depressive complaining bubble.

[@Komnenit]

Why would you claim that expats display more mental issues than others?

[@woldoseroldofoldo]

@@Komnenit social adjustment,social isolation in expat purpose bubbles, stress due to uncertainty, stress with all kinda stuff, facing an overaged introvert culture, cooold dark long winters, missing their friends and family etc etc

[@RedNotice90]

Sweet video

[@osagiee.guobadia-secondytc4624]

To me, Austrians can make friends, no matter what. They can interact with who they meet and talk to. When they come to New York, they will make friends. 😀

[@Csakbetksszmok]

I live in Vienna 7,5 years now (Hungarian btw), and I never understood this complaint. Maybe I'm not that loud, not eating sunflower seeds etc. : D

[@jagodic6796]

you cant generalize "Austrians"... vienna people are totally different mentality than tyrol people. you could group austrian into "city people (left leaning, academics)" and "farm people (right leaning, hard workers)".

[@ArmandoBellagio]

After watching this video I realise that Austrian mentality is basically the same as here in Germany.

[@captn_hanky]

Der Wiener ist grantig, weil er zwar überall schöne Gebäude um sich hat, aber in keins rein darf.

[@neoreign]

Making friends is easy, at least for me. All these countries are the same, go out in the weekend and get acquainted with people AFTER they're lit. Most of these lot have the personality of a toad, indians who are super outgoing are not going to mesh with these toads. Learn to READ people!

[@TheThingIs415]

Vienna doesnt have many Native Austrians, might be that they have an Austrian passport but mostly they are from Germany, Turkey, Ex Yugoslavia, Hungary. About 70% are not real Austrian. Austrians can be found on the countryside. Similar to Zurich in Switzerland.

[@moloids]

With their torches and pitchforks...

[@canchero724]

Do you think those villagers would be welcoming of outsiders? Traditionally, village people hate being forced to live with people from different cultures and I don't think it would get any better for an English speaking expat to try and meet real Austrains in the villages

[@moloids]

@@canchero724 simple: they will love people that spend money with them - and I don't mean change. If a rich person moves over and pays them well they will eat out that person's hand. They will make fun of tourists behind their back, but still milk them and even do funny dances for some good cash.

[@TheLastAngryMan01]

@@canchero724Given that many of them vote for the FPÖ, I guess not?

[@davianthule2035]

As a person from ireland whos been living in central europe for years Id definitely say vienna folks are on the friendlier side by german standards honestly, I suspect the issue is more so that spontaneous contact is less desired here and vienna is very urban, i.e don't bother people on the street please. Vienna folks however are lovely if you chat them up in a bar or a social place like that, where its appropriate to meet folks, ive had no problems getting social media contacts etc for new friends via bar hops like this, there are also alot of social outings/groups, like the wine hikes too.

[@Roberto-wt7kr]

Indeed, but nothing compared to the Irish.

[@ninasm]

I am afraid I cannot agree. :-/

[@alexskywalker664]

This is Sweden 🇸🇪 💯

[@smit5590]

You should make videos of my home country 'New Zealand' 🇳🇿

[@zaranski1889]

Basically the opposite lol

[@kbbarton1]

Hope you will make a video about the UK!

[@notconnected3815]

Being grumpy and sarcastic is part of the culture in Vienna. But it's also kind of honest when you say what's bothering you, isn't it? That being said, it's hard to find real friends ANYWHERE! You can't trust everyone, right? Especially when dating, where you have particularly high hopes for someone ...

[@ViennaRobert]

Austria isn´t hard to make friends and they aren´t unfriendly either... they just don´t put up with a lot of expat crap. M;any expats live here for 10+ years and can hardly speak german on an A1 Level.. That alone isolates... plus many expats (especially from the diplomatic side ) behave really badly and viennese just don´t put up with that.

[@ninasm]

I am afraid I cannot agree. :-/

[@pthethird]

Wow. I´m the fourth generation of our family in Tyrol and never thought it takes seven generations to be a real Tyrolean. Hmmm, maybe that's the reason why I live in Vienna XD

[@Ufu4847]

I am surprised by the answers. Austrian people in general are more spontaneous than people know, more than Germans in my experience. I went to Austria to snowboard and an Austrian guy approached me and asked me if we could snowboard together (I am a guy btw). Again, this is my anecdotal experience.

[@unrealfighter4085]

Yuji is 💯 right

[@Aintbegone]

Would have been interesting to know, if they spoke the language or not. A lot of Austrians speak English just fine, but still I think that is a huge issue if you do not speak German at all or just very basic.

[@clairegroenink3362]

Omg, I didn't know Austrians were just like Norwegians! You could basically just swap Austria/Austrians for Norway/Norwegians and the video would still be 100% true!!

[@michelleg7]

I hate flakiness it bugs the crap out of me, if you can't make it or not interested just tell me. That shit doesn't work with me ever. People always talk about directness and how Europeans like that kind of thing but then when it comes to honesty or not really interested it they flake. That is a bit pathetic.

[@neoreign]

That's a white people thing though. 2 faced, you don't know which way they're coming or going, speak out of one tongue and do something completely different. And the flakiness, because again, they don't care lol they always have an agenda.

[@seba117]

Depends on the country. People from Northern Germany are very direct, Austrians not so much (but depends a lot on the region also) and Italians even less. Often there are big differences inside the same country, let alone between countries. Europe is huge and is home to very different countries and mentalities.

[@michaelgrabner8977]

Alone that you lump together all Europeans as if Europe were 1 country with 1 mentality tells me you don´t have the slightest clue about Europe in general. Now I hope my honest meant directness does not offend you, because if "yes" that would be now pathetic as well.

[@chetyoubetya8565]

Ok I keep hearing in the US and Canada the people are having surface conversation yet when you meet someone new are you supposed to just go into your deepest feelings about things??How do you ever get to know someone if it does not start with a surface conversation?Face it your country as well as many Scandinavian countries have really poor social skills and that is the plain truth and it makes me laugh when you always try to justify it.

[@stamureanbianca1689]

It would be interesting to come to Romania 😊

[@neoreign]

Romania? lol

[@Kabirio93]

I think people from Romania are so kind and sweet. I also personally really like the accent. The language is melodic like italian. Bucharest is one of the ugliest city I ever been tho.

[@stamureanbianca1689]

@@Kabirio93 You can visit in Romania cities like Oradea, Cluj, Timisoara, Iasi, Sibiu are much more beautiful than Bucharest

[@jagodic6796]

austrians make friends thru hobbies. e.g. skateboarding, climbing etc... you go to a sports venue regularly and then you connect automatically with the locals and you have friends. most sports attract people of similar character so you find the right friends thru your sport.

[@merlionsin8129]

First of all, you must reduce the gap by speaking the local language (in this case German). Arriving as a foreigner and expecting everyone to smile and friendly to you? Who do you think you are? Brad Pitt?

[@neuneu3455]

That's probably the smallest problem. What bothers more is that they get their money just like that and many have to work every day for less.

[@mikii863]

I live in austria since 2007 i have zero austrian friend

[@TheSentinel909]

"I think it's kinda.... Ughhh" - queen

[@coolvania]

“Expats” why not just call them by the proper term “immigrants”

[@zaranski1889]

THIS

[@praterstrizzi79]

I hate to say it - but being Viennese i HAVE to say it straight: If you can't find friends in a city of 2 million people or a metropolitan region of roundabout 3 million.... It might be you😛 just saying...

[@DrTel]

sounds a lot like Hungary

[@toomuchinformation]

Austro-Hungarian Empire.

[@belakitajka5741]

I dont know, maybe because Im Hungarian im biased, but i think we are more friendly then Germans, Austrians, and more open then Slovaks and Polish (they are friendly but more reserved) but ofc less then thr Balkans or Italy. Imo ofc

[@DrTel]

@@belakitajka5741 I'm Hungarian too, I disagree, we're a fucking gloomy bunch for sure

[@Kabirio93]

​ @belakitajka5741 I live in Budapest. Yes, hungarian are much more friendly but also very pessimistic and negative. They also vote the same guy for ages and they complain about..Its like a loop :D

[@belakitajka5741]

@@Kabirio93 The negativity and pessimism cames from a very unlucky history. Every time we joined someone in a war they lost. We lost to Mongolians, the Turks, and actually we started to make allience with the Turks just before they were defeted by the rest of Europe:D lost every revolution ,ww1,ww2, got on the wrong side of iron curtain etc im afraid for NATO:D we even joke with my friends Hungary should sell its service, that you can pay us to join the other side and they will surely loose And goverment thing to be fair has been heavily influenced, the rules were changed after 2010 that they could get 2/3 in the parlament with 40% in 2014 etc. This year just in Budapest the election laws were changed, different from the rest of the country because they loosing in Budapest by their own rules.

[@EvansTiffany-j9h]

Hammes Harbors

[@hideoussails1783]

The editor is getting a little bit too carried away with the jarring clicking sound

[@jklmnoqr]

Vienna is the worst? People I know who have lived in Seville, Spain would disagree with that. Even other Spaniards have extremely negative things to say about Seville--the people are all smiles but later they discovered the falseness/phoniness of the people. Once they get what they want from you or don't find you 'useful' anymore, they COMPLETELY drop you. That has generally been the consensus. Better to try Madrid.

[@DatingBeyondBorders]

Interesting 🤔

[@MathieuDeVinois]

On the other hand I miss the time I had in Spain. People were so friendly and open minded. It’s been a short but great time. But also it’s probably about age too. If I would go to Spain now probably no one would approach me. As a young person eine can literally start a conversation everywhere. Airport, train etc… as an adult one is like a ghost. Just approached by NGOs begging for money …

[@EleutheriosKaralis-yq9vl]

And what exactly they want from you?

[@EricLincoln-b2q]

Brayan Glens

[@TheThingIs415]

7:06 is the Brazilian lady on Instagram?

[@zaranski1889]

Nah

[@littlebrit]

Austrians are Eastern Europeans who speak German. You need a lot of alcohol to make friends. But don't go to a bar because they sometimes don't wash glasses.

[@carolinecerovski7358]

How can Austrians be Eastern European when Austria is located in Central Europe?

[@michaelgrabner8977]

A "littlebrit" feels the need to give a random statement but with no geographical knowledge + no historical knowledge at all. Austria is in the middle of geographical Central Europe. And even when we speak in "historic political terms" when looking at the past when Europe was divided by the "iron curtain" into Eastern Block + Western Block then Austria was a block-free state at the western side of the iron curtain.. And your nonsense about glasses is not even worth to tinker with because you totally disqualified yourself already in your first sentence.

[@serkanyavuz4809]

Thats more East Germans

[@littlebrit]

@@michaelgrabner8977 I am disqualified and I get it.

[@jamespaterson81]

Dare Gateway

[@PollyMontelle-v4c]

Hoeger River

[@HillCara-r9g]

Aglae Land

[@SinclairBarnard-s2s]

VonRueden Throughway

[@AnnettChoy-s1k]

D'Amore Locks

[@DelorasHarmer-q7q]

Jackson Mountains

[@mechsikaner]

Small talk is a waste of time...we are efficient ;-)

[@estebq2762]

So how do you brake the ice?

[@עומרבןנעים-נ2פ]

The brazillian lady was beautiful

[@izil1fe]

Munich is worse.

[@OwenWinfred-i9u]

Monserrat Port

[@moloids]

I had a few close Austrian friends. They were a complete pain in the arse. Never again!

[@tobiasgoldman]

It's fun to hear all these Latin Americans complain about the lack of warmth, when they come to Europe. What did they expect, for it to be a wealthy and well functioning Latin America?

[@IsaacAthena-o9i]

Schaden Locks

[@TroyLaird-g1k]

Zieme Ports

[@Nousinvisibles]

German society is like this, I had a German partner, he was severely abusive towards me and I was fired from a dozen jobs, I had a very bad German friend who abused me very badly and I think people have very different experiences, some people have good experiences, others have experiences like me. I also came to Austria 20 years ago and I am still subject to a lot of racism, but for the newcomers, there are many possibilities thanks to social media. This is German society, they just get new people to replace old people after mistreating them. If given a choice, I would not come to a German speaking country again

[@kristallklar3687]

Mistreating old people? What do you mean by this?

[@Nousinvisibles]

@@kristallklar3687 I moved here many decades ago, I mean me. We didn't have social media, we were subject to severe discrimination. But things didn't improve for us, we are still subject to same levels of discrimination and social exclusion. Instead of improving living conditions for us, we were just replaced by new immigrants who don't have the same hangups. I wish it was not like this

[@neoreign]

@@Nousinvisibles I'm so sorry for your suffering I mean that. Everything you said, is exactly what's happening to Indians in Canada. They are bringing them in by the boatload (3 million Indians) to work retail, and services jobs. On top of that, every discriminates against them online and now things are happening in real life. It used to be just online, now it has gone outside. This is why these countries bring in immigrants who will not fight back, who are vulnerable, who don't have much say. To use them for labor, to prop up the economy then get rid of them, rinse and repeat.

[@Nousinvisibles]

@neoreign thanks! Yes, I read about Canada being like this but I thought it was fake news since Canadians always have this image of being the better Americans. Generally Germans are very open to refugees from war torn areas and less welcoming to economic migrants. One can see refugees in high positions everywhere, a 28 yr old Syrian man recently became elected mayor of a German town. Turks were economic migrants but they have integrated very well, they hold political positions, run companies etc. But Indians are unable to integrate even though Indians have been migrating to Germany since 70s, I used to know a Malayali Indian man who studied in Germany in 70s and was working as a German national for the UN. It is unclear why their children don't stay, become politicians or run companies

[@neoreign]

@@Nousinvisibles That's exactly it, it is an 'image' but not real. Canadians are FAR FAR worse than Americans. In American the problem is the police and if you are poor and educated. Indians are neither of those things, they are economic migrants so they would do well in America. In Canada, it is completely different, we're also starting to have suicides among Indians and a lot of Indian businesses are closing down. There are also boycotts on major retailers where Indians work, which means soon those retailers will either close down or start layoffs. I truly believe despite all of this indians will succeed, first of all there's just too many of them and they are in every position now. They will be secluded from other mainstream society but I think in generation or two this will change if they persevere. Lastly, Canadians hate refugees and economic migrants equally but where refugees are less visible (they put them in shelters at the end of town) the indians like i said are very visual. They are at every club, bar, they work everywhere etc. I've had a few experiences with Germans, the girls are fine, the guys, i didn't get a good impression of them.

[@MrIzmirli35]

They will always smile at you, but if you are not from here, they will definitely talk behind your back and swear at you. They can never be friends. There will always be distance between you. This has been proven by research.

[@lxportugal9343]

4:05 mmmmh 🙂

[@willyhwang1059]

sounds like a sad place to be

[@zaranski1889]

In the cities yes

[@МэлорЗыков]

Crawford Manors