At some point next year, I want to go on a trip after talking to someone who's from the Netherlands. What are some of the best places to visit if I can't stand heat and love trains?

Can we come back please ?

What sports are popular in your home country that aren't Football?

tgags123 : this used to be a big thing before Covid. Germany had super cheap stuff so a lot of people would drive there to buy groceries. Even people from the Netherlands came here to Belgium to buy cheaper stuff. These days the price differences on most products aren't noticeable enough for it to be worth driving for 2 hours. My family lives right next to the German border though and they still go there to buy stuff like alcohol for cheap prices.

tgags123 : There are plenty of rivalries between European countries. I'd say that's one of the primary aspects of European culture. You have to be able to be the butt of many jokes from all over the continent while also being able to make fun of everyone else. It's not just about sports either (though that does flare up during international football seasons of course). Most of it is purely about mocking classic stereotypes for a laugh. French people have no hygiene, British people have big rotting teeth, etc. My country Belgium and the Netherlands have a long history and make fun of each other all the time, but in reality the relationship between both countries is super strong and it's more a sibling rivalry than anything. Of course there are some countries especially in former Yugoslavia that have issues with each other due to still recent wars and conflicts, which is obviously more serious.

zanderlex : if you love sitting at train stations more than trains, Germany is a shout since every train there is delayed by an average 38 minutes. Switzerland is expensive but has beautiful train rides. You can also take an undersea train below the English Channel, of which you won't see much but it's still a cool experience. If you want to emulate Jetlag you can just train hop across Schengen and see where you end up.

RavusRat : I have an offer for you. You can come back but as a result football is never going to come home. Most irritating fans out there

Also cycling is huge here in Belgium (probably because we are one of the best at it lol). Tons of people will line the streets or sit at the TV screen glued watching a race. F1 has also massively picked up popularity mainly due to Max Verstappen's recent dominance (a sort of shared star with Belgium and the Netherlands).

Furret : I mean, most of our clubs are foreign owned anyway at this point. And honestly, I kinda enjoy the mediocrity that is our ability to not win any international tournament.

tgags123 : France is heavily looked down on by essentially all Europe. Not sure what is the origin of all of that, but I have my own experience to understand why it turned out to be a continental thing. We also tend to say that Africa starts below the Pyrenees because of how different Spain is from the rest of Europe (sorry, Portugal), but I'm not sure if it's only said here or it's a thing elsewhere too.

Other than that, I don't think there's anything serious beyond mocking for all the social and cultural differences. Many stereotypes about people from a certain country or culture exist, for example we call the Germans blockheads for being so stubborn, and regional accents or traditions are exacerbated for comical purposes. Same with the clothing and other things, like linking Scots to only wear tweed skirts, and other small things like the climate.

There are also tons of rivalries between cities or regions in the same country. For example, Madrid and Barcelona have an extremely tough rivalry, which has extended through most of Spain due to the failed process of independence of Catalonia. I think there are several more examples like that around Europe, but regarding country versus country I'm not that sure.

zanderlex : If you can't stand heat, don't worry. As a Spaniard, I can tell you the heat in the rest of Europe is bland. Not sure if humidity in some regions can be as high as where I live, but in any case heat won't be a problem even in August.

As for trains, I have very limited knowledge about the rest of Europe in that regard other than the places I've visited and whose trains I've used. I do know many countries have amazing train rides, for example in England, Germany and Switzerland, but I don't have much details about routes or anything.

RavusRat : Only if you accept at least one of the following conditions: Adopt driving to the correct side of the road, use the metric system, fund an expansion of exporting Scottish whiskey, reduce tea consumption by 53.6%.

I'd say that tennis and MotoGP are the most popular sports behind football, both because of the many stars we've had in them and how they've made us dream and enjoy each moment. Formula 1 has reduced its popularity from the mid 2000s due to Alonso not having a replacement (nor needing it lol) and the increased boredom of the sport in general.

To somewhat close the top 5 I'd say cycling should get the last spot. We have La Vuelta and we've had several prominent stars even if lately we lack any true leader.

I have some questions about how Europe views East Asia, in general.

How does Europe view that area of the world? Here in the United States, it is a very split opinion with Japan (post WWII) being viewed as an "iconic" place, while China is looked down on. What are the general perceptions across the pond, in your view.

Are there any countries that Europe is "obsessed" with? Over here, Japan is a very popular topic due to Anime, Video Games, and more. Americans (in my experience) tend to see Japan as a mystical wonderland.

How much media attention is spend talking about relations over there? Recently in the US, all East (and south east) Asia countries are HEAVILY covered on the news. Is it the same over there, or are there other focuses?

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions!

Barathemos : Japan is quite an iconic place for everything it's gifted us with: anime, technology, cuisine, culture... It's by far the most famous Asian country and many people want to go there for a variety of reasons.

Other than that, I'd say the view is bland. China has some negative fame for politics and such, while South Korea is seeing a noticeable rise thanks to its film, series and music industry, and certain bits of cuisine are also hitting hard. The rest of the continent is kind of an unknown land, even though most of it belonged to European kingdoms or countries until not so long ago.

I'm sure that the vision of United Kingdom will be much deeper, though maybe not precisely better. With everything they controlled up until the very late stages of the 20th century they know much more than the rest of Europe.

As for any countries we're obsessed with, if we don't count or obsessive hate towards France, I don't think there's anything else. Japan, for all things mentioned before, could be the only one. Other than that, I'd say the only obsession is with other European countries not your own, like how we all admire Italy for its cuisine and history (while making fun of their way of speaking xD).

Since Europe is not such a potent entity, even if some don't agree with this reality, news in Asia are covered like just the rest of the world. China and its overpresence wherever you look at seems to always be on the spotlight, but it's more about their products and services rather than their politics. The rest of countries have minimal presence on the news, unless special events happen (mostly catastrophes, sadly).

Barathemos: Generally, I would say the view is a similar one to that of the US in terms of it being viewed as a somewhat "exotic" and there being tons of Japanophiles similarly to the US. If anything I think the view might be more positive here. Given that European countries have not directly fought the Japanese, we lack the same post WW2 stigma.

As for China, much of the same exoticism still applies. Though I would say, it's less common to find people obsessed with the culture in the vein of Japan or South Korea. As I would imagine is also the case in the US.

I think people mostly fall into either being indifferent (because China is less open about their actions on the international stage, and thus stay out of sight for a lot of people). Alternatively, view the country more similarly to Americans. I feel like most Western European countries are inclined to take the US's side in regards to rivalries with Russia and China, owing to their long allegiance with the US, economically, militarilly and even culturally because we import a lot of American media and trends. People identify with the US in a way they generally don't with these countries.

Particularly with Russia, this is amplified even further by their apparent expansionism in Eastern Europe, which drives public fear and in turns drives us closer to the US. China is probably not viewed entirely favorably by a lot of people either, given their apparent expansionism towards Taiwan. National sovereignty is a constant hot button question for a lot of Europeans given the situation with Russia, and because many of us live in smaller nations where the borders have historically been contested during ww2, or in some cases even more recently. Thus we have developed a heightened sensitivity to these types of conflicts.

Although I will say the situation has started to change noticeably ever since Trump took office, and his administration started desroying PR with European countries. Particularly by expressing some seemingly expansionist views as well (wanting to take control of Greenland for one). Whether that is leading to a change in how China is perceived I'm not entirely sure to be honest. But it wouldn't surprise me if it's a contributing factor behind why some people might view the country with more favor.

As for media coverage, we spend more time covering the US (and Trump particularly) than any other foreign country. With Russia being the closest 2nd and then other European countries. More recently the Middle east and Israel - Palestine conflict specifically has seen a lot of coverage as well, with support for Palestine growing. With all of these other situations going on, I don't think South East Asia is paid as much mind in the public media generally. Of course it's hard to avoid China completely, particularly in an economic context.