Bonjour
It strikes me every time I am in Belgium. I have been in the country for less than 24 hours and there I see it again. I make an effort to run the stiffness of the night flight out of my legs. It is still fairly cool and I enjoy the greenery, the exuberant summer vegetation. There are others out and about: joggers, walkers, cyclists. I greet ‘good morning!’ Sometimes there is a response, a greeting back or a smile. But very often there is surprise on the face of the recipient of the greeting, sometimes the greeting is ignored and sometimes I even notice a hint of fear, ‘help, what does this one want from me?’ It surprises me. In South Africa -and many other countries I have lived in- people greet each other. You greet a casual passer-by or the lady at the cash register. And if you know the person, like a colleague, that greeting is extended with ‘how are you?’. You do the same if you start a conversation with someone, want to make an appointment or ask in a shop where you can fi...