As an international student, from Norway, I had my first encounter with translink about 18 months ago. What I found interesting about using its services was not the translink system itself, but the people I encountered while using it. I remember my first trip with the sky train and how shocked I was when a stranger came up and spoke to me. I know that this might sound strange to all you Canadians, but for me this was something new. In Norway you mind your own business when taking public transportation. I know this might sound cold, but that’s just how it is. I don’t think Norwegians necessarily are colder than Canadians, but we’re not good at that kind of small talk. So when this total stranger came up to me and asked me how I was doing, I was not expecting it at all. Therefore I just answered fine and kept on minding my own business. I have, however, realized that this is very common in Canada and started to enjoy these small and often meaningless conversations. One of the better conversations I have had was on the 135 bus going down Hastings. My Norwegian friend and I were going downtown. So we were sitting there talking amongst ourselves in Norwegian when an old lady sat down next to us. Suddenly she started talking to us in Norwegian. This was quite shocking to us as Norway is such a small country that you rarely meet anyone that knows the language. It turned out that this sweet old lady had Norwegian ancestries and had learned Norwegian form her parents. She started telling us stories form when she had visited Norway, talking in a combination of Norwegian and English. I found this experience extremely interesting and it made me become more open to enjoying such small talk. Given the vast amount of characters you can find using the translink system there are endless opportunities for interesting conversations.
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