Of course, sometimes, our individual personalities may be stronger than the cultures, and what we perceive from somebody may not be the cultural in general, but the individual in a special case. So, I have to constant remind myself: It could be the cultural, but find more evidences...
I have the honor the meet the following individuals in the library during my stay. I love them so much that at the end, the cultural/individual distinctions did not make sense any more. They are just my precious friends who happen to come from different corners of the world.
This is Ihsan (I always misspelled his name as Ishan). He was the one who took me to the library on my first day. In fact, he took every new girl to the library from our shared house. He is such a gentleman that he accompanies girls home when the time is late.
He is agreeable, too. "yes, yes" is how he responds to your comments, and "absolutely" means he couldn't agree more. The only time when he said only one "yes" was when he was given a sour plum (I spit it out immediately). He didn't even frown, and when being asked, "do you like it?" He said, "Yes!" At that time, we know, there is no "No" in Ihsan's dictionary.
Right? Ihsan?
This is Reina who gave Ihsan the sour plum. She is from Japan and calls herself "children's literature geek" (and she didn't know what C.L.G stands for in the picture). She broke the stereotype of Japanese people, who are supposed to be shy and not funny. Reina is not shy at all. Although her accent is a little hard for us to understand, she would try her best to make us understand (she even made a Polish couple to understand her on the train).
And, she is extremely funny. She talked to her food, she misunderstood people's talk and came up with her own interpretations, she acted out the characters from the books, and she always raised her hand high for us to follow her like a professional guide.
And, she is extremely polite, and this is no doubt very Japanese.
Ah, our Junko, the leader of this international group and the information center, too. She knows where to get the best ice-cream in town, all the cultural activities, and is the best trip-planner ever.
We followed her from ice-cream shop, to Frankfurt, Cologne, and Kassel. She took all the memorable pictures that made people jealous of us.
But, this generous and inclusive spirit cannot tolerate chemicals. No one wears perfume when she is around, and guess what, we didn't smell at all! Well, happy spirits always smell good, I guess.
Roya, our delicate lady, Roya. She is so sophisticated in one way, but in another, she is so free-spirited like a child. She would take off her shoes to walk on the sand or grass, or suddenly lie down on a marble seat of a museum to take a photo of herself, or she would do this sexy dance which is absolutely not her normal style.
Sometimes, I wonder she is surrounded by all the elves, and they have secret talks or codes to do happy things together.
Teresa, our shopping and fashion queen from Mexico. She was always fashionably dressed, and she had no problem biking in mini skirt.
She was such a good hunter in shopping that I think no one can compete. She can step in a store and within 5 minutes, she got this 5-Euro scarf and another fancy bag for 5 Euros, too.
I always think that shopping is a therapy; the thrill you have when hunting the things you desire with the best prices is indeed very satisfying. And I think Teresa knows about it, too.
Well, these are the fellows that I have encountered. I feel grateful for meeting them. I believe that our friendship will last because for us who study children's literature, we are always children in some ways, and children never forget their friends.
Cheers, my friends.
