Cyprus-Forum.com

[Angel12]

Hi, I'm so glad to find this post. I too have had the same experiences with Cypriots but to top it off, I had gone there to live with a Cypriot man! I went there blindly optimistic, no job in place, no family or friends.. I'd been in a relationship with this guy for 3 years (meaning the relationship was about me flying to Cyprus as much as I could, him never leaving Cyprus "for work reasons") and eventually culminating a permanent move for me there. As you can imagine, I was immersed amongst Cypriots, his family and friends. I was really pleasant and happy and kind with everyone, if a little shy, and the realisation of how different the culture and Cypriot mentality was was a slow, painful one. I started in Cyprus so happy and eager and enthusiastic, I was incredibly loyal to my ex, it had cost me a fortune, and I left one year later exhausted, insecure and very unhappy. Anyway... I had not made any real friends there as I was working in an abusive badly-paid job (Cypriot company, Cypriot workers mostly) and much of our spare time was spent together and/or hanging around my ex's family and friends. I was there a year and, since our break up, not one of these people have contacted me or reached out to me following the split. Infact I have been treated as if I never existed, like trash, like a criminal!? During my time there, there were plenty of comments about me but no one actually bothered to talk to me, truly welcome me or help me find my feet a little. I just found it really odd and disheartening. I offered to take Greek lessons, my ex said he didn't want me becoming 'Cypriot'.. I felt I was being observed, rather than embraced, and my ex would pass on comments to me about what everyone was saying and a lot of these were negative. I never could get my head around how much people talk!! About others!?! And my ex was actually passing on private details about us for his friends' and family's opinions.. I'd just never experienced anything like it, I felt I was at school! I also really didn't think our living together was an issue but of course I slowly realised it was, it's not the best for a girl's reputation. No one visited our house and some of his family were downright frosty with me. It left me very worn out and feeling rubbish and my ex was not rushing to put a ring on my finger! Anyway.. I don't mean to offend any Cypriots but looking back I wish I'd been a little more protective of myself and surrounded myself with more English people or at least those with a little more worldly experience, open-mindedness and who are not part of any gang or live by gang rules - sorry, it's just the way I see it. The break up resulted in massive personal and financial losses for me while I think my ex got a pat on the back. Yes, Cypriots can be kind but it is fleeting and I felt insincere, there was a lack of genuine interest in anyone's culture or background or interests other their own - and there was only so much hanging around in coffee shops, bars, dinner tables gossiping I could take! Make sure you have people around you who genuinely have your back, if you are a foreigner in Cyprus or relying heavily on Cypriots. And PS - I am actually half Cypriot!! Think thats why my ex got with me in the first place! But I feel 100% English having been raised in the beautiful English countryside, my Cypriot father was mostly absent!

[johnny1]

you couldnt have said it better.im half cypriot to...and i can honestly say that cypriots are about the scum of this planet...my father told me..never trust a cypriot...how true

[yialousa1971]

[repulsewarrior]

...maybe in Cyprus you can meet the worst a Society can offer, because there is as well, the best that Society can offer.

Cyprus may seem unfriendly, i think that has more to do with the Urban culture in the world of Free Markets, than it has to do with Cypriotness, it may be that Cypriots appear more obnoxious because they are good at this lifestyle that places individual pursuits above what is custom.

[marios47]

Hey I found this topic extremely interesting and I want to share my opinion as well.
I was born and raised in Cyprus by 100% Cypriot parents.

I'm 21 and I'm studying in the Czech republic.
I always thought that our behavior as a society is really strange. Pushing away everyone, not wanting to embrace people dissimilar to us and condemn everyone that is not a Cypriot. The racism against the gays, blacks, chinese... you name it. Even the Greeks that we are so culturally similar. I have a few friends that were approached by gays and their first reaction was to beat them up. Like they have to pay for being gay. Other are when a guy approaches a girl that I'm talking to they will say: Let's beat him up. For what? Because he was talking to a girl I was talking to. Other incidents are swearing at black people like Pakistanis and telling them to get off our island. These have been common behaviors I was exposed to and still am.

Another big issue is church. YOU DIDN'T GO TO CHURCH FOR XMAS? then you shall rot in hell. There is no other religion, nor atheism is accepted because the man in the sky is watching over us and making sure we stay racist. And don't even bother opening a discussion about this subject. I did that a lot of times and concluded that most people go to church because they 'have to' not because they need to. And most of my fellow citizens will confess that they don't really believe in God but they go to church to keep their parents happy and the neighbor's mouths shut.

Before I even came to the Czech republic I heard rumors from a lot of my friends about how awful Czech people are. About how closed minded they are, how unfriendly they are and what a terrible place it is to live. Cypriot students that have NEVER EVEN MET a Czech person and still, they hate them. They say things like: 'They have a weird look on their face when they look at me on the bus' or 'You can feel that people are not nice just by walking down the street' or 'some Czech guy spitted on the ground in front of me.' Things that don't make sense and just generalize.
This is every conversation that Cypriots have in Czech republic: 'Blah, blah,blah... Czechs suck, czech republic suck, we are better than them, they are taking advantage of our money' ...EVERY TIME !
The funny thing is that they chose to come here and study here. No one is forcing them to be in a country they don't like but still, they are here complaining about everyone around them and not looking at the constant negative behavior that i pushing other people away.
I have met extremely nice Czech people and some not so friendly(waitresses, bar staff). I don't expect everyone to be jolly and polite all the time but I am trying to be a realist.

To be honest I don't plan on living in Cyprus. Only to visit my family.

[formaturew]

hello, I'd like to put in my 2 cents

first of all, for the girl that says 'cypriots dont understand that women and men can be friends, they all want to get in my pants'. you are such a cliche. You probably wont listen to what I have to say so I will use other peoples words, as Oscar wilde so poetical put it, “Between men and women there is no friendship possible. There is passion, enmity, worship, love, but no friendship.” And as my highschool buddy friedrich Nietzsche once said to me after a few glasses of vino, "A woman may very well form a friendship with a man, but for this to endure, it must be assisted by a little physical antipathy."


as for the rest of you that characterize cypriots as barbarians and unevolved, you are just generalizing and projecting the bad behaviour of a few on a whole race, its like when one black guy steals something and suddenly all blacks are thiefs, give me a break. When I used to work in cyprus I met the people that you are describing, but they used to be foreigners, and now I am abroad and the same thing goes on here. I have suffered bullying, betrails, backstabbings and anything you can imagine from armenians, polish, dutch english spanish people etc.

this phenomenon is called 'people are all pieces of shit' the sooner you accept that the sooner you will be on the path to happiness, realize that people are not born good and loose their way. People are born bad and have to find the right way. So Just keep looking, and when you find a person that is worthy of your friendship then keep them close.

as a sidenote, some of you are probably just looking out of your own heads, have you ever stopped to think that it might be you and not everyone else? if you are in a room alone thinking 'why is noone talking to me', maybe everyone else is in the other room talking about how you keep avoiding them, it happens to me, I am shy by nature, so I dont talk to people which they mistake as me being snobish. Also have you considered the fact that you really might not be as good a person as you think you are and that is why people do not want to hang out with you?

You have right my friend.. I am from Greece and i have good friends here.. I also have good frends and in other countries...

The whole thing is about people.. Not the nationality of them.. In Every country you will see the asshole and the good one.. Make your choices.. I see people her In Cyprus hates me because i am Greek. I also found people like me..

It is a close society of course but it is a small country..

Love is our relegion..

DO NOT LOOK the others nationality.. WE ARE ALL PEOPLE.. WAKE UP!!

[Svetlana]

Having lived in Cyprus for many years, I have had many experiences with Cypriots, occasionaly bad - but generally good. What has come across is that those Cypriots who have spent time abroad are far more open to friendships with 'foreigners' and much more open minded . Cyprus is a small island and it can be very insular, like all of us, Cypriot people are conditioend by their upbringing.

[HalfBlack]

BLA BLA BLA, WASTE OF TIME, cYPRIOTS ARE STUPID AND NOT WORTH YOUR TIME ! END OFF

If this is your typical attitude then why are you so surprised that no Cypriot wants to be your friend?

You're a typical westerner with a typical western attitude and it shows in all your aggressive ALL CAPS postings on this site. You're impatient, rude, illogical and you're generalizing an entire race because a few of their men wanted to get in your pants, denying a friendship with you. News flash: here in England and other western countries it's the same. Having gone to college here and university I can tell you that most young men only made an effort with a girl if they wanted to get into her pants, they don't want friendship and it's the same in western countries all over. You clearly haven't gone to any college (and it shows with your illiterateness and general lack of education) so I assume most of your knowledge of the world comes from your mother's anecdotes and movies rather than real encounters, statistics and experiences.

I see most people here complaining about the Greek Cypriots are western people, mostly Americans and English. I hope you guys realize that all the world over your groups are not exactly viewed favourably. You have a reputation for being obnoxious, loud, rude and drinking too much. The fact Cypriots even make an effort with you guys is testament to their kindness, other nationalities might not be as patient. I'm not speaking about the general English/American population (whom like any population from any culture or nationality have good eggs and bad eggs) I'm speaking about the English/American who go abroad, the typical English/American tourist.

The fact most people in this thread fail to understand the differences between western and middle eastern cultures and worst, refuse to even take the time to understand these differences, probably reveals why they are not making friends.

You type of idiots are the same people who would go to an East Asian country and then come back crying about how you were mistreated because you refused to follow their etiquette (and their etiquette for politeness and what is proper has some significant differences from western culture).

Look in the mirror. The Cypriots aren't the problem, your own ignorance is however.

I'm half Cypriot and half black. I am treated well by the Cypriots, they consider me one of their own and I don't know why one user here seems to think they hate Greeks, they are Greeks. They have a respect for Greeks from Greece. What they don't like is the Greek government who turned their back on them.

[repulsewarrior]

...welcome, HalfBlack

[SolarCOmplex]

Marc, do not work your brain out it is very simple, Cypriots are an isolated society, they do not like foreigners even if they tried to show different, I moved here almost 5 years ago, I spent the 1st two years trying to fit in among Cypriots, I as a girl did not find it hard to be surrounded by Cypriot guys only to end up disappointed that each single one of them does not know or understand that it is ok to be friends with a girl, they all try to get into my pants wether they chooses the being friends way or not.. Results are they have no respect for foreign woman and as their mentality is way behind cave people every female in front of them is a shagable material.. You know the biggest shock for me was after when I made a statement that I ain't interested in them sexually, one after one disappeard ( and I wasn't bothered ppl like that are not worth it ) and the girls!!!! Stuck up fake beauty push for no reason most of them ain't rich and living on loans yet they think they are better somehow! I managed to make two girlfriends and both lived abroad so they know that racism is. Ot the way forward.

This is simply ridiculous. Men in western countries like Britain and America are the same, most young men only want to know a girl if they think they'll get into their pants as a result. This is not restricted to Greek Cypriots. British men are the same, so are American men etc.

What can be said as truth is that there are some men who can have girls as friends and not be interested in them sexually but others are only interested in girls for sexual reasons, this can be said for all men. You cannot generalize the entire Greek Cypriot population because of the few young men you met were only interested in getting into your pants.

The fact you think only Cypriots are like this reveals your general ignorance of not only the western world but inexperience with men. Your comments also reveals you're the one with the closed mind.

Now Most of my friends are Brits (an open mind is a bless in an ignorant island) I no longer even bother giving Cypriots another chance, never met anyone is closed minded or a bit on the stupid side as this place..

This is funny because you're being closed minded in your own statement here, calling all Cypriots stupid because the men weren't interested in having a rude and clearly ignorant and illiterate person like you as a friend.

Brits have a bad reputation world-wide as do Americans for their attitudes, culture and own ignorance of any society and custom that does not relate to their own western culture. You are continuing to reinforce that stereotype by not understanding the Cypriots.

Perhaps, like the others in this thread bad mouthing the Cypriots, you should look in the mirror. All of you bad mouthing the Cypriots generally sound like detestable people and sound like you never made friends in your own native countries. Blame yourself for that rather than an entire race.

To conclude, you think Cypriots are bad and that your own group is better, come to Thailand, the only men you see with those young working girls are mostly white men, some from all over Europe but most from England and America. What does that say about your own people?

Should I assume all westerners are sex tourists and ugly obese desperados because of the ones in Thailand? No because most are not. They are a minority of westerners and it is a generalization to say all westerners are like that. Likewise, not all Cypriots hate foreigners (it's a minority that do) and not all are only interested in foreign women only for sex (in fact most Greek Cypriots would rather have a Greek woman, no offence but western women have a bad reputation for being loose which is probably the fault of your western culture propagating this "be open minded and a free spirit" nonsense and not teaching youth about consequences and STD'd).

Also the Greek Cypriots do not hate Greeks (I would know, I go to Cyprus without any problems from them). Perhaps take the time to learn about the history of Cyprus and its people before you mouth off? From your slang I can see you were born and raised in England, well I've been in England since a child living in London. I've never met a more unfriendly people. You clearly came from a village probably from the South West but here in London, everyone is so miserable. Even the most obnoxious Greek is better company than any Londoner. So next time you're in Cyprus enjoying Greek hospitality but additionally being ignored for your rudeness, think about how it could be worst. You could be getting mugged or stabbed on the London Tube just for daring to look at someone!