House of Pacific Relations - Hall of Nations — Attraction in San Diego

I was very excited to visit as I love to travel and learn about different places and different cultures. I have to say this was very disappointing: it was as if each of the nations present were frozen in the 1950s. The representations here did not flatter any country. (Take China for example. The house for China didn't even have the Chinese flag - why not? I have lived in China for some time and feel it's a nation full of rich history and culture, reduced down to some sad looking knick knacks, a couple of books, and fortune cookies, which did not even originate in China!!!). And the presentations felt as if they were made as an elementary school project. Having said that, besides a couple terse volunteers, most of the volunteers were friendly and doing their best. Perhaps I am being too harsh, as I think it's a good idea, but I do think this place could really be improved upon, i.e. better food, better educational material, and actually representing the countries...

These are houses decorated with things of every country and I loved every single one of them. My favorites were the Turkish house, the Korean house, the American house, the UK house (they have a Harry Potter section and you can take a photo in a newspaper that says “Have you seen this wizard”), the Swedish house (they sell some beautiful postcards), the Korean house (they show you how to write your name in Korean and have some beautiful postcards and stamps) and the Mexican house.

They had some amazing singers they day I went, ambience is amazing.

The gift store was nice, not that expensive compared to all the touristic places visited. I don’t know but I think it’s better to buy things in every house rather than in the gift store because that way you support each house (most of the things they give you are free and you can decide if you want to donate or not).

Also some houses give you stickers, you can...

I visited the international cottages for the second time on January 26th, and I truly appreciate the effort you put into promoting diversity, inclusion, peace, and acceptance of different cultures, especially in a world that feels so fragile right now. However, I must express serious concern and give a low rating for the fact that the House of Israel is being allowed to "promote" their views on the war in the Middle East. I fear this could foster division and hatred towards a specific ethnicity, which is deeply troubling. Isn't the whole purpose of the international houses to unite people, to bring us together regardless of culture, skin color, or where we come from? I firmly believe this undermines the goal of what you are trying to promote with the cottages.

On a positive note, House of Korea and House of Puerto Rico were...