July 05, 2005

Don't read this if you're allergic to nonsense :-)

"Surreal" is the correct term to describe the way this day has felt. No unusual events have taken place though, except perhaps in my mind.
At around 19:30 during the evening I was feeling very tired at work. I was standing by the counter quietly, watching how three Chinese people placed three stuffed puffins on the table in front of me. They talked excitedly in a loud tone of voice in Chinese, while gently stroking the birds and turning them back and forth. I did not understand a single word, and they didn't speak any English, let alone Icelandic. They tried speaking to me in Chinese, without much luck. I had had several other customers from China that same day, the day before, and many other day, so that's hardly newsworthy. But as they stood there for about 15 minutes discussing (I assume) the puffins, it occured to me how surreal this whole situation was. While they communicated with each other so easily, none of their sounds made any sense to me, not one bit. And yet there they were, right in front of me, all the way from the land of noodles and little feet.
I contemplated this as I walked towards the busstop. At the busstop I saw a beautiful little blond girl with bright gray/blue eyes. She looked just like most other little girls in Iceland. Her daddy told her to let "them" (French tourists) with backpacks enter the bus first, because that would be the polite thing to do. An elderly Arab looked at the little girl and smiled, and sat next to what was probably his blond wife. A Chinese girl stood around reading a book about Iceland in Chinese. She wore a "North Face" jacket like the Americans do.

When I was a child I once had the following conversation with my mother:
-Mom, am I weird?
-No you're not. Nothing under the sun is weird.
I guess she was right. But sometimes, things just feel.. so surreal.

Posted by Maria at July 5, 2005 12:17 AM | TrackBacks
Comments & Trackbacks

Funny, I had similar thoughts when I heard a Filipino boy in the grocery store ask his mother, in perfect Israeli Hebrew, for a chocolate milk.

Re. being weird: it's a good thing, trust me. Much more interesting than "normal."

Posted by: Lisa at July 5, 2005 01:28 AM Permalink

That was very pleasant nonsense :)

Posted by: Fluffster at July 5, 2005 10:47 AM Permalink

Trust me, if you are wierd then wierd is a good thing. I wish more people were as wierd as you!

Enjoyed your 'nonesense'

Posted by: Yael at July 6, 2005 08:36 AM Permalink

Lisa: that's exactly what I mean. Especially the fact that he should ask for chocolate milk!

Fluffster, Katie: Thanks :-)

Posted by: Maria at July 7, 2005 12:06 AM Permalink