Skal vi til Singapore?

Not only was today a beautiful day (a bit cold, but SUNNY and crisp), I was greeted quite unexpectedly as I was leaving my apartment.

First, I suppose it is important for me to share a tidbit about your typical Norwegian apartment building atmosphere. It is rare that anyone is even cordial when passing in the hallway or on the stairs. Most people just keep on walking; Norwegians find no reason to be unnecessarily friendly towards strangers. A girl that I used to work with at Poesi (she left for another job) told me that she has only seen her neighbor a few times, and all of them have been awkward to say the least. There was one particular incident that really exaggerates the issue at hand--one time, both Ida (my ex-coworker) and her neighbor were opening their doors to leave at the same time. As soon as her neighbor saw her, she gasped in shock and slammed the door.

Personally I have never experienced anything as extreme as the case of Ida's freaky neighbor, and I don't predict that that is a normal reaction for Norwegian cohabitants of a common building. I would say however that the norm is silence. Polite silence.

So this morning when I heard a hearty 'Good Morning!' (in English mind you), I was completely surprised. The greeter was a small Asian lady that, to digress a bit, smelled really nice. I had smelled her all the way down the stairs and was wondering who it was in front of me that clicked her boots so loudly and had to have bathed in a bucket of fresh spring flowers with a touch of tangerine juice on top. I was so taken aback that I just smiled and opened the door to leave. As I stepped through the door she said 'After you,' as if she had been holding it for me. 'Wow, what a beautiful day,' she continued as we walked towards the street. I agreed a bit hastily (wow, I have become more Norwegian than I realized) and started to make my way to school. I was going to be late. Something, I'm not sure what, made me stop and go back. I whirled around and asked her where she was from. This time it was her that was surprised. 'Singapore,' she answered. I asked her some more questions and learned that she is visiting a friend that lives a floor above me and that she will be here for ten days. And then she continued to tell me all about Singapore. 'It's in Asia...and it's a uh...first class society if you know what I mean. Like Oslo, but the standard of living is lower so there is more room for shopping.' She went on and on a bit, assuming that I had never heard of the place before (thank goodness she told me that Singapore is in Asia, I thought it was in that country Africa where it is really sunny).

Despite the fact that she assumed ignorance on my part, I was strangely attracted to this woman. She was so genuine and kind and I admired her for some unexplainable reason. We talked for awhile longer and she started to insist that I come to Singapore to visit. She was going to give me her address so that I could come and stay with her. 'I love it when people can come get to know my country,' she explained. Basically I had just met this woman and she was offering to be my hostess in Singapore. Cool.

I really had to get to school so I told her to come by my work tonight. Maybe I will see her, maybe I won't. Maybe I will stay with her for some time in Singapore someday, maybe I will never see her again. Either way, the interaction was as bright and cheery as the sun that greeted my face on the icy walk to school.