Have had very few interactions with "locals" that have not been friendly or helpful. Such as being invited into their home, flowers purchased for my wife (by a female), locals entering our car to ensure we would find our destination by traveling with us there, etc.

What is more amazing is the Americans whom decide that you have to become their best friend when they find you are from the US. If met in the US, they would not give you the time of day. Why do they insist on starting a conversation with me/you? I learn things I do not care about or need to know.

<i> Does anyone ever "meet the locals"?
Posted by: Pegontheroad on May 11, 16 at 3:46pm</i>

All the time. Go to a cafe. Make eye contact. Ask a question. Buy a round. Then try to leave.

It also strikes me that some of you are very unhappy in your daily lives if you truly believe that the only way to live like a local is to schlep toilet paper and struggle merely to exist.

<< Maybe go to church, although not that many Europeans do that these days. >>

I find this comment interesting and wonder where the poster draws this information from.

I go to mass quite often while in Europe and find the churches/cathedrals/basilicas to be quite well populated during services, even in many cases to standing room only.... and this is not during any holy day. Even outside of service times, I always find a number of people stopping into churches for their own private purposes.

Maybe you go to big cities and there might be people.
But around Waterloo where I live you won't find many people attending mass. And there is only one belgian priest left, the 2-3 others that I know are Polish. Not that I care (well, I got one guy fired) but it shows we Belgians are not attending seminars anymore.

On a site that discuss stats, it says less than 5% of the belgian population goes to mass. So going to mass will not enable you to meet 95% of us. That corresponds to what I see around me. I think the situation is the same in France, didn't bother to check for other countries.

Moins de 5 % de la population âgée de 5 à 69 ans se rend encore à la messe du dimanche (ou du samedi précédent) ; seul un mariage civil sur quatre est désormais suivi d’une cérémonie religieuse catholique ; un peu plus d’un nouveau-né sur deux est baptisé.

http://www.o-re-la.org/index.php?opt...mid=85&lang=fr

Church attendance is very low in Switzerland. Having said that, I was in Einsiedeln yesterday and was overwhelmed by the religious pilgrims streaming out of the huge church. It was the annual Portuguese pilgrimage day where devoted Portuguese meet up for Pentecost to enjoy a day of traditions and good conversations. It was quite lovely to feel their excitement, hear their songs and enjoy the vibrancy they radiated.

If you go to Fatima and crawl on your knees, you can meet many new people.

"<< Maybe go to church, although not that many Europeans do that these days. >>

I find this comment interesting and wonder where the poster draws this information from. "

Plenty of actual data on this available on the web.

It is true that in some countries rates of church-going are still quite high - Ireland, Italy and Poland in particular. In the Protestant countries, not so much.

I was principally thinking of the UK, where Americans would be able to understand the sermon. Seems there has been an increase in church-going recently, thanks to immigration, but it is still only 10% and expected to continue to decline. In the Nordic countries it's already down in single digits.

Anecdote: when I moved from the UK to the US I went from a pub on every street cornet to a church on every street corner (admittedly it was NC). Serious culture shock!

I think Edward makes a good point:

"The key seems to be doing stuff the locals do. Locals don't go to the museums and tourist sights, but they do play pool and go to football matches. If you want to meet locals the key seems to be speaking the language and doing whatever ridiculous thing the locals do for entertainment."

When I told a very few workers at the hotel I'd been to Giverny, they didn't know what it was. None had visited Rodin museum.

"When I told a very few workers at the hotel I'd been to Giverny, they didn't know what it was. None had visited Rodin museum."

I have encountered locals at art exhibitions in Madrid, concerts in Barcelona,
opera in Paris etc..
They may not visit the Eiffel Tower
or Prado on a regular basis, but to
suggest that the "locals" have no knowledge of or interest in the culture
and art of their city is false.
Most New Yorkers enjoy what the city has to offer even if some hotel
employee has never been to MOMA.

go where the locals go....

In Switzerland, if you want to meet the locals, you...

- go hiking/biking and when resting, strike up a conversation.
- go to the local festivals and ask a few questions.
- go to the local pubs/bars
- go to the local badi (outdoor swimming area)

Many Swiss have never been to the Matterhorn or the Jungfraujoch but most have been hiking in the mountainous areas near their home.

I go to Mass every Sunday, and it always seems to me there's a good turnout. I assume many of the people are immigrants, but they sill count. Ireland and Poland, of course, but also Riga, Wernigerode, Dresden, Berlin, London, Vienna.

Numbers have undoubtedly fallen, but many people still go.

10% of the population is a small minority. It is in no way "many".

It would be unwise to think that the people you meet in British pubs represent a good cross-section of the local population. There are many of us who only visit pubs when we want something to eat, and it is often a pub a long way from where we live.

Churches in Britain have been in decline for many years, and many have bee demolished, converted into housing, or changed into mosques, temples or gurdwaras. Now it is the pubs that are closing, and are being converted into homes or convenience stores. You may not notice this in the centre of London, but it is very true of suburban England. People drink less than they used to, and they drink more at home.

Curiously, my friend who is a Paris native and has a Ph.D. in Oceanography (so not a country bumpkin) told me that he has never been to the Louvre. He loves Centre Pompidou. He is 40 year old.

When I lived in London, lo these many years ago, I didn't visit any of the tourist sights. It wasn't until I went back with an American husband in tow that I went to the Tower, Westminster Abbey, etc.

I would also point out that, while on the Myers-Briggs scale a majority of Americans are extroverts, a majority of Brits are introverts, and may be less inclined to react favorably to overtures from complete strangers.

The locals have the luxury
of visiting the famous museums or sights any time .
Or not.

Most tourists try to see and do as much as possible in a short time.

The locals have the luxury
of visiting the famous museums or sights any time .
Or not.>

I was shocked at how nearly no one in my ex French in laws - about 30 or never went to Paris even though they were just an hour by train away (Orleans) and few had ever gone to the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, etc. And they were mainly educated middle class.

In the US, HomeAway started the whole "live like a local" attitude towards travelling. It was a brilliant marketing tool - you rent an apartment anywhere in the world, bring the whole family, and just stay at home, but probably without the benefit of having your car. It was cheaper and much better because you could all huddle together around the campfire, so to speak.

I think for many open-minded people, this worked well, because they didn't just stay home, but got out and mingled as much as possible with people from other cultures. People took the time to try to learn some of the culture and to communicate in the country's language, instead of expecting that everyone would automatically speak their language.

But then the herd mentality kicked in - especially in Paris - and the fantasy of "living-like-a-local-in-a-typical-Parisian-apartment" became the rage (said apartment having been redone to the nines to fulfill some decorator's Parisian fantasy). Since none of this had any basis in reality - except perhaps the size of the apartment and amount of stairs - many people ended up not benefiting from the experience of visiting a foreign country, precisely because they just "stayed home" and stuck to the same routines they followed every day. Nobody seems to go back out, once they get back "home" - the family eats vaguely foreign food, never misses an episode of their favorite TV series and keeps in contact with friends on social media. Someone pops down to the corner bakery for morning croissants, et voila - the "locals" awake.

People always seem to strike up conversations with me - in French or English - and if I overhear someone who needs help, I'll ask if they'd like some advice. I've made many lasting friendships from casual conversations. But many Anglophones have been taught to distrust anyone who speaks to them in their language, which is a shame.

I checked some statistics and about 25% of the people who visit the Met Museum in NYC are from the area. 67% of people who attend Broadway shows are from out of town. And I would guess 1% of the people who have visited the Empire State Building are NY'ers and are only there because of an a visitor.

It depends on the sight. I would assume the percentage of NY'ers that visit the Frick or the Cloisters is higher.


We lived in a NYC burb for a while and a few would only go into Manhattan, if they were with us, because of a multitude of fears.

So there is reverse snobbery, lack of interest, and fear that keeps the numbers down, at least in NYC.