What is in a question? It can be a gentle (or harassing) inquiry of small talk, the start of an interaction or relationship. Other times it is a means for assessing pricing, customer need. In asking the question the speaker is making it clear, you stand out, an outsider. What follows can be a welcome or a conversation, negotiation or problem. The responses to and the guesses made reflect tourism trends and economics, colonial histories and modern trade relations, migration patterns and immigration policies..
In Japan people seldom spoke to us outside of the necessities of commercial transactions. Not that the Japanese are cold or unfriendly but rather because in an automated, electronic world we could survive with a relatively high degree of autonomy and by default isolation. We were also in the start of our journey and did not actively seek the company of strangers. On the few occasions we were asked about our home the reply was usually, “Oh, I have been to Whistler (or Banff or Niagra Falls or PEI.
Travelling by train through Russia, folks would gradually enter into conversation and ask the question. The shared experience of surviving cold and snow, isolation and wilderness forming a bond.
In Vietnam the question “Where are you from?” was shouted from stalls and shop doors followed by guesses of “Germany?”, “France?”. When we engaged in conversation there was always a cousin, an aunt or uncle, a brother living in Calgary, Vancouver or Winnipeg. In Bali we were asked if we were British or Dutch. In Singapore we were ignored. Malaysia we were presumed French.
In Sumatra we were a novelty. While the region is accustomed to pairs of backpackers, surfers and divers, a family with two fair haired boys was unusual. Here we were often asked to pose with folks for photos and it was here we learned to return the question. What we learned was that most people were from somewhere else, be it another town, province, island or country.
Thailand it was “Hi Germany! Hi Netherlands?” shouted in English from message parlours and Pad Thai stalls. A way for tourist weary Thais to determine which menu and price list to give you.
In Paris we were suddenly identified as Canadians. Whether this was due to dress or accent or some social nicety to avoid the embarrassment of mistakenly calling someone an American we don’t know but suddenly the fair haired, blue eyed could be something other than European and clearly distinguishable as settlers from our ancestral roots.
As we traveled through Morocco the assumption was we are French or at least spoke French and when the conversation didn’t flow as smoothly as it should or we (meaning Michael) used an odd phrase we were asked what if we are from Montreal or Quebec. When we explained we are from Western Canada and there are probably more Mandarin, Somali or Arabic speakers in our province then French folks are both surprised and a little disappointed as they have a friend or distant relative living in the country that is “tres froid”.
What assumptions or connections will I make when I return to Canada and how might they be perceived by tourists and newcomers?