Perpetual Change

When you meet a foreigner...

If you were to meet a foreigner - in a class, at a bus stop, on public transportation, if you were a taxi driver - what would you ask? These are the questions that I am always asked, no matter how fresh the introduction.

In Ukraine the questions are (usually in this order):
Have you found yourself a Ukrainian girl? (or if I am in class, one of the girls asks if I am married)
Do you like the food?
What do you do?
What is your education?
I know someone that went to the USA.
Does the USA take Ukrainian volunteers?
Do you have the tradition of (insert seasonal example)?

Even with backroads, we ask each other a lot of questions upon first introductions, but they run more:
Where are you coming from?
Where are you scheduled?
And the ever popular: Where are you from?
To which the answer is inevitably: "well, that's a good question," or "where am I not from," or "I grew up in ________ but I haven't lived there for a long time."

posted by jjs @ 2:41 AM