Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Stranger Danger

As promised, I'm actually writing an entry when I said I would, even though my body would love nothing more than to pass out.  Today was a long day.  But despite the missed train(s), wrong bus stops, and copious amounts of land I had to trek through, I actually had a lot of fun.  Australians are very friendly and quite willing to help out a poor, lost American it seems.

On my journey over here though, I had a conversation with a woman from Washington D.C.  Interested in my violin, she inquired about it, mistaking it for a saxophone (hah).  I told her I was headed to Australia to study.  She assumed I was studying music and got really excited because she's a professional singer.  Since I would probably never see her ever again in my life, I just let it be.  Explaining would be such an unnecessary hassle.

Now on trips like this, where I am by myself, I really don't mind conversing with strangers.  But sometimes I don't particularly want to think of anything engaging to say or ask especially when my medication is kicking in and all I want to do is zone out with my ipod.  So how do you transition from the awkward post-q&a session to the complete confirmation that the conversation is over?  Wait it out I suppose.  But this lady here had a friend that she would chat with so I was forced to sit awkwardly twirling my ipod headphones until she turned around and addressed me again.  I was at the mercy of her curiosity.  But no complaints really.  I'm usually too shy to strike up a conversation and most people are so absorbed in their own lives to be interested in mine anyway.  Unless there's some sort of catalyst (e.g. my violin/saxaphone), silence seems to be the optimal path.

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