A Simple Hello

From Bula to Aloha. Sometimes it's harder to get used to your own culture than someone else's...

I arrived home from a year abroad, but really, it was more like i was back from being away for 5 years with a yearly visit to check on my loved ones. I was feeling the travel vibe, feeling good, eager to share my new experiences and catch up with everyone.

Flags on beach - Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

Walking down the streets, I would almost say Hey! or How u doin'? to passerbys, forgetting that I was now back in frenchie land... so I went in for a cheerful Bonjour instead. It came out all wrong and the stranger looked confused, obviously wondering if we knew each other, and then annoyed with my pointless intrusion. If saying Bonjour didn't sound so odd all of a sudden, I might have tried it on someone else, but I decided to stick to smiling, hopefully saving me sore embarassment. Even that tured in a "hit or miss" game. I'd either get a hesitant smile or a What's so funny? look.

I found myself wishing everyone would just say Hey, like I had gotten used to whilst away from home!

In England, they seemed to believe in some sort of shallow politeness. They'd say Hey, how's it going? but really not caring or even listening to the answer. Still, it was nice. You never felt like a complete stranger alone in a crowd. 

My next move was to Australia. Influenced by the English on many levels, Aussies would also verbally acknowledge each other on the street. The only difference is, they'd expect an answer... So when you're not used to replying to How's it goin'? ... it can be a little bit confusing and you end up blurping out a Good, thanks! that makes you sound overexcited by all the attention. Once you're used to the "attention" though, it becomes a habit and you can enjoy people's salutations on a daily basis.

Fijian man - Yasawas, Fiji

From the land down under, I moved on to the land of warm and inviting Bula! And it's so fun to say, it actually is contagious... It might even be one of my favorite words! After Bula, I was greeted with Aloha, also very addictive, especially with the cool, laidback attitude you need to adopt before using the word yourself.

And then back to Hey! land. But the one with no How u doin'?, just a nice Hey... Maybe they don't ask how anyone is doing because they usually prefer to say the proper form How are you? and it's a very hard phrase to say in a quick yet non-chalent and easy way, without performing all sorts of jawbreaking stretches... Either way, it makes it a friendly place.

With Hawaiian men - Ohau, Hawaii

So you can't blame me for wanting to attack everyone with Hey's turned into Bonjours since I've been back home. I'm sure even our many migrating Québécois come back with the urge to say Hola to everyone at the grocery store or gaz station...