By Soultari Amin Farid
As I left my room to heat my packed food at the common kitchen, I was greeted by a rotund aged man outside my door. Apparently he is my neighbour's dad. I smiled and I said "Bonjour" and he responded.
And he continued talking in French - very fast. Poor old me, had to say, "Je parle Francais un petit peu". He was kind enough to speak to me in English soon after and he introduced himself. They were Kazakh and he gave me quite a lengthy explanation where Kazakhstan was - I kept quiet, smiled and nodded intently even when I know where it was located.
He asked me where I was from and what I do. The moment he heard Singapore, he shared - at length - about Kazakhstan's desire to be just like Singapore, a developed Asian country (which I personally would like to argue that it is done in expense of so many things. But that's another story).
And when he heard I was a dancer, it took him sometime to gather his thoughts. A huge laughter ensued and he said, "You are an artist! I have great respect for artists..."
He asked me for my name and gathered from my name soon after I was Muslim and he greeted "Salam Alaikum" and hugged me like one of his own. The rest is history...
Such interesting experiences and how we try to relate to a complete stranger through our experiences, nationality and religion.
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