"NI HOW MA!!!!"

Every day, except when I'm too busy or lazy, I go for a brisk walk through the park near my house - my daily constitutional, as my neighbour calls it - whether it's raining or not. Okay, I'll confess that I actually prefer it when it's raining a bit, because then, there are fewer people around and I can tune out and think about stuff in my tuned-out kind of way. When there are others in the park, I have to be aware, like a hostess, at the ready to greet some of these strangers. This is what I mean: as I see someone approach, I study the way she is walking (tuned out, alert, happy, friendly, anti-social?) and as she gets closer, I watch her face, and wait and wait, then she looks at me, and then it's "hello", "hello" and that's it, we pass each other. Actually, I don't mind saying "hello" because it's a harmless, polite thing to do in a park in Vancouver. It's the wondering whether the approaching stranger is going to say hello or not that is a bit distracting. Because not everyone says hello. Maybe the ones that don't say hello are like me and never lead with the "hello", but wait for others to say hello first, as a classic introvert would. But I do always say hello back. If they don't say anything, I just smile. And they usually smile back.

Honestly, I usually don't think this much about it, and it really doesn't interfere with my daily constitutional, but today, it was on the front page of my brain, after I came across two people on my walk.

It was a sunny day. I was tuned out when I came up to a lady standing beside her dog. She caught me a bit off guard with her loud "GOOD MORNING!" but I quickly responded with "good morning" and looked at her, however, she was already looking away and power-walking her dog ahead. Then I saw the elderly Sikh guy who marches through the park every day and who always greets me with a "hello!" and flashes his palm at me. When the lady with the dog saw him, she shouted, "HELLO THERE! BEYOOOTIFUL DAY, EH?... SEE YOU TOMORROW!" The Sikh gave her a quick hello and wave and changed paths, which made me wonder, did he change paths to avoid her?

What makes us greet each other in the park? Is the civil acknowledgement between strangers simply by virtue of being in the same place, sharing the park's amenities and the warm sun? Or, is this a cultural thing? I have to say that on my walks, the Chinese usually don't say hello, although they do smile, sometimes. And so I partly wonder if most Chinese people are introverts or if this is a Canadian (N. American) custom. And then I realize that even if it isn't my ready nature to greet people in the park, I do like it, including the lady who shouted it out at me. I would definitely miss it if my walks didn't have that bit of tension and surprise. After saying hello to a few strangers, I do feel odd passing someone and not exchanging hellos or even a smile. Well, when I go to Taiwan, I'll be sure to check out what happens over there - maybe I'll even lead with a few Ni how? and see what happens.