I'm currently living in North Carolina at a the moment. I enjoy it here, the people are warm and welcoming. However, there are moments that I am reminded how unaware some in this country are towards the rest of the world.
Take for example a recent trip to the grocery store. We loaded up on all sorts of things, since we will be here for a long time, and ended up with more than we could carry home (since we don't drive). We called a taxi to shuttle our many bags back home and he arrived in his own time.
Like most taxi drivers he felt compelled to make small talk on the ride home. As he picked us up I mentioned that I was not familiar with the the roads to take home as we had just moved to the area (simpler than telling him that I was only here on a long term, but temporary assignment). With this tidbit of info he asked where we were from, to which I replied simply 'France'.
There was a noticeable pause on his part before he responded. His response was a confounding 'oh, where's that?'.
Normally I'm fairly quick witted, but I wasn't sure how best to respond to s inquiry. I shot back 'Well, in Europe. You know, England... France'.
Again another pause on the part of the driver before he perked up and said 'Oh! England!'. He proceed to ask me about England, and I didn't bother to attempt to redirect him.
It's certainly not the first time these sorts of conversations have taken place while I've been here, I've had many like it on previous trips, but it's always a little mind blowing when they happen.
:S
ReplyDelete