It’s been over 10 months now that we live in Singapore,
surely the cultural shock should have been over by now but I am still surprised
by the inappropriateness of certain questions and comments from people.
It happened again last Friday.
I arrive at the office with my beautiful Maldivian tan and someone cannot help themselves and has to comment. The usual ‘mmmmmmhhhhh’
followed by a word, in this case it was ‘mmmmmmmmhhhhhh tan’, followed by
something I did not get (to be brutally honest, I was not even that interested
in it), followed by the word cancer and the fact that Hugh Jackman
(Australian!) has a melanoma.
Immediately I think, WHAT THE FUCK and I want to touch wood,
my left boob, (my testicles if I were a man) to avoid the bad luck.
How un-needed was that?
Especially as I am a well-known hypochondriac, and all of a
sudden I start thinking about the fact that maybe we did get too much sun and
in fact even burnt ourselves a bit and what I am left with is an unpleasant
feeling of uneasiness and annoyance.
Nice welcome back after holidays!
Another time on the way to lunch I was asked with the most
innocent expression ever whether I am "an alcoholic person". Ta dam! How can I
explain to someone who drinks only water and sugarcane, that of course I am not.
But of course I do like drinking wine, beer, prosecco, digestives, limoncello
and all sorts of alcohols and that of course I do have days when I go home and
want a drink. BUT of course I AM NOT "an alcoholic person". I should be outraged. What
sort of question is this? Is it due to the sarcastic comment Marco put on
Facebook months ago? UNBELIEVABLE (it does make me smile though ;) ).
Another time, I was asked how much I paid for my wedding,
how much I paid for the hotel during holidays, how much I pay for my flat,
whether I want kids, whether I pray to have kids. Whether based on my
‘achievements’ (still need to understand what achievements they mean) I consider myself a
genius.
This is real life in Asia, cheers!
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