Thanks everyone for sharing this. I am sure that there are so many things i don't know and i am quite happy that people here are so generously to share. I am keen to learn everything.

@Anchor Moy

You are completely right. i personally find Russian to be so controlling, aggressive and unfriendly. I saw a family of Russian when i was on Rabbit island last week. I actually can tell that they are Russian after the minute they walked into the restaurant. I smiled to them and they didn't give a fu*k. They were so isolated. They actually didn't talk to anyone of us.

EdinWigan wrote:It is simple racism

What the woman was expressing wasn't racism. It is exactly what the OP called it; pre judging or prejudice.

Anchor Moy wrote:.. each country told it's people that the other country was full of evil people who want to take over the world.

Except one side was correct (in that one regard as underlined) and the other wasn't. The Soviet Union was nothing if not expansionist from its inception. Which side had to put up walls with armed border guards to keep their desperate citizens from leaving (as opposed to sneaking in)?

Anchor Moy wrote:Things have changed now,

Have they? Putin took Crimea by force and is now taking Eastern Ukraine. He took most of northern Georgia by violent force in 2008. All the former Soviet satellite states are desperate to join NATO and EU to save them from from continued Russian threats of invasion as they strive to move closer to the West, both economically and culturally.

Soi Dog wrote:

Anchor Moy wrote:.. each country told it's people that the other country was full of evil people who want to take over the world.

Except one side was correct (in that one regard as underlined) and the other wasn't. The Soviet Union was nothing if not expansionist from its inception. Which side had to put up walls with armed border guards to keep their desperate citizens from leaving (as opposed to sneaking in)?

Sorry, but I do not believe that the people of either Russia or the US are or were ever evil or that they lie awake imaging how they are going to take over the world. Most of the people of both countries have enough problems to pay the rent, get the food on the table etc.

And yes, things HAVE changed now - in the cold war days Samouth would never have seen a Russian chick and a US guy travelling together through the Cambodian countryside. (Or they would have both been spies. Lol.)You have to remember that the Cold War days were before Sam's time.

If I remember I was trying to give a "simple" answer to Samouth's question about why there would be so much animosity between 2 people (who don't know each other) just because of their nationality. I hope the next question will concern an Israeli and an Egyptian travelling together in a van.

Anchor Moy wrote:I hope the next question will concern an Israeli and an Egyptian travelling together in a van.

They could both be Jews...or Muslims...or Christians, in which case they'd just kill each other something trivial like which sect was better.

Samouth wrote:Thanks everyone for sharing this. I am sure that there are so many things i don't know and i am quite happy that people here are so generously to share. I am keen to learn everything.

Samouth, please take this as a genuine compliment as it's meant as one - excuse me if it comes off as patronising. Until I met you IRL I strongly suspected that you were a westerner pretending to be a Khmer because your command of English is so good, and your awareness of many topics is much broader than most Khmer I've met. It's good to have you on the forum.

StroppyChops wrote:

Samouth wrote:Thanks everyone for sharing this. I am sure that there are so many things i don't know and i am quite happy that people here are so generously to share. I am keen to learn everything.

Samouth, please take this as a genuine compliment as it's meant as one - excuse me if it comes off as patronising. Until I met you IRL I strongly suspected that you were a westerner pretending to be a Khmer because your command of English is so good, and your awareness of many topics is much broader than most Khmer I've met. It's good to have you on the forum.

Thank so much Stroppy Chop. I believe that this is your genuine compliment, but i really don't know if i deserve it. To be honest, i couldn't stop giggling to myself why i realised that you thought i was a westerner. I have never expected this to happen, as i always believe that my writing is not really good and i still make so many mistakes. Not to mention, i also believe that i have a really bad accent. (Last night i was at a friend house joining the party, then i talked to one ethnically Sri Lankan Australian. He told me that he didn't think that i am Cambodian until i told him. He thought that i was from somewhere else where English is a second language. However, i wasn't sure if he really meant it or he just didn't want to upset me ). I agree that i like talking to people, learning from and sharing with them, but i am a really lazy boy. I don't read much. I am happy to be a member here too.