Where Are You From?






That's the most asked question I get. Sometimes, people don't even bother to ask, they tell me where I'm from: mostly it's "You from Nigeria?" I got South Africa once and was a little surprised. Today I even got Gujarat! It's very rare that someone guesses the US.

Most of the time people are genuinely curious and then I'll entertain the conversation. Even when I'm in the US and I meet someone from another state or country, I will ask where they're from, what made them travel to wherever the location may be. In India, people are even more excited when they find out I speak Hindi and it gives me a chance to have a good conversation and improve my Hindi.

Other times, especially at touristy spots, I feel like they want to know where you're from so they can upcharge and make you pay the tourist tax. In that case, it's not worthy of a response. Or maybe a snarky one like "Earth".

Photo by Brett Zeck on Unsplash

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