I enjoy freaking people out. And this isn't hard, especially since I am 45 and staying with a lot of people in their 20's. Girls from the US are particularly easy to freak out. Perhaps because people from other countries (men and women) are more used to travelling abroad and meeting different people of various cultures.
In my hostel room, right now, are three of us who all checked in on the same day. We we're all in the room unpacking, etc. One girl is Korean-we didn't talk much because her English is limited. The second is a young 20'ish girl from Ohio. Our conversation went like this:
Me: (to the others in the room) We are going to all be best friends!
Me: Where are you from?
Her: uhhh. (nerviously), Ohio. Why? Where are you from?
Me: Florida
She just continued sitting in her bed, looking straight ahead, with her headphones on connected to her phone (probably texting about the creepy old guy in the Hawaiian shirt freaking her out). She sort of looked like she was either scared or sad-or both.
She probably was looking forward to her after-college Europe trip sharing rooms with people her own age from all around the world-and look who she was stuck with-someone from her own country 25 years older!
From now on, I have to use the line "We are going to be Besties!"
