I barely got to sleep one decent night’s sleep, before it was time to get going again. Frida had a lecture at noon, so after breakfast she walked with me to the campus, where she showed me around a little before going to class.
I strolled a little, bought a bagel just because I’m in America now, and while walking and eating got a live example of the Canadian niceness that Frida has been praising so much. I was walking out of a door, thinking of all the new things that I was seeing and didn’t realise until too late that there was someone behind me. I had let go of the door, and if the guy coming after hadn’t taken the last few steps at a run, the door would have smacked him right in the face.
But now, he got out just in time to say: “Thankyou”. Not at all ironically. Just as if he was really thankful that I had almost held up the door for him, as if it was enough to make his day that I almost managed to be polite.
And as the day continued, I got more examples of this niceness, all the hello’s and thankyou’s and sorry’s in situations where a regular Swede wouldn’t even bother you with a glance. And it felt nice and welcoming. I’m not saying that the Canadian way in general is any better than the Swedish. I’m not one of all those Swedes who dislikes everything Swedish, and really, I know nothing about Canadians yet. I’m just saying that this particular part of Canadians, the niceness to strangers, made me feel really good despite jetlag and a general feeling of being lost.
Katja Malmborg 