Internasjonal utveksling vs. dørselger.

Jeg satt i hotellbaren i går kveld og var opptatt med å skrive blogginnlegg og lese blogger. Musikken på anlegget var av typen 80- og 90-talls, og rimelig cheezy. En liten gruppe voksne som hadde fått i seg litt å drikke satt ved bordet noen meter unna der jeg satt, og etter hvert hørte jeg at de lot det gå sport i å gjette artistene og sangtitlene anlegget hadde å by på. Men så kjørte de seg fast på en rimelig kjent åttitallssang, og han ene mannen som satt der spurte meg om jeg visste hvem sangersken var. Det gjorde jeg egentlig.. Men jeg huska det ikke der og da, og tilbød meg å finne svaret på Google. Jeg så gjorde, og mannen blei nesten litt imponert over at det bare tok meg max 5 sekunder før jeg kunne fortelle dem svaret. (Det var Tiffany med "I Think We're Alone Now", hvis noen skulle være veldig nysgjerrig.)

Hotellet vi bor på et et typisk kurs- og konferansehotell, ergo er vi flere kurs her samtidig. De voksne hadde tydeligvis også registrert dette, og lurte nå på om jeg var med Fredskorpset. Jeg svarte ja, og så begynte fyren som hadde spurt meg om sangen å spørre i vei om hva dette var for noe og hvor jeg skulle. Vi hadde en liten samtale om det mest overfladiske, til jeg høflig sa at jeg helst ville legge meg. De mente at det jeg skulle (altså dra til Bangladesh) hørtes veldig spennende ut, og ønska meg alt vel. Vi sa god natt, men da jeg var på vei ut slo det meg plutselig at jeg ikke hadde spurt hvorfor de var der - og man er da ikke blotta for manerer, så jeg stilte spørsmålet.

Jeg: Hva driver dere med, forresten?

Fyren: Vi er dørselgere, vi.

Jeg: ..

Jeg: Åja..!

(Jeg skjønte plutselig at den lille stillheten som oppstod før responsen min kom var litt for megetsigende, men det var for seint.)

De: *latter* Ja, det er veldig spennende, det..

Jeg: Eh, ja.. God natt, da.

De: *mer latter*

Det var ikke så mye annet å si.

--

I was sitting in the hotel bar last night busy writing blog entries and reading other blogs. The CD-player was playing music from the 80's and 90's, and the songs were quite cheezy. A small group of adults, who apparently had been drinking a little bit, were sitting at a table a couple of meters away from me. After a while, I registered that they were eager to guess what artists and song titles they heard from the CD-player. When suddenly they struggled to remember a female singer, one of the guys asked me if I knew who it was. I could not remember her either, and offered to Google it. Well, I did, and the guy was actually really impressed because it only took me a maximum of 5 seconds. (It was Tiffany singing "I Think We're Alone Now", I anyone should be extremely curious.)

The hotel we are staying at is a typical conference hotel, which means that they have multiple courses here at once. The adults had obviously taken notice to this as well, and were now wondering if I was with Fredskorpset. I told him yes, and then this guy that asked me about the song begun to ask me what it was that we were doing and where I was going on exchange. We had a short conversation about the superficial stuff, until I politely said that I'd like to og to bed. They thought that my going on exchange to Bangladesh sounded very exciting, and wished me all the best. We said good night, but as I was walking out of the bar it hit me that I had not asked anything about why they were there - and one is of course supposed to be polite, hence I asked the question.

Me: What are you doing here, by the way?

The guy: We are door-to-door salesmen.

Me: ..

Me: ..Oh, OK!

(Suddenly, I realised that the short silence that occurred before I responded was a bit too meaning, but it was too late.)

They: *laughter* Yes, most exciting..

Me: Ehm, yes.. Well, good night, then.

They: *more laughter*

There was really not much else to say.