I don't know any of my neighbours in my building, but I didn't know any of my neighbours back in london and I lived on my street for at least twenty years. It didn't bother me and it didn't bother them. Here, in Japan, I like felt the needed to try. There was something about the alien surroundings that made me want to try harder, but old habits die hard. I'd said hello to neighbours in passing but that was it.
I was heading out to do some much needed snack shopping. I'd just closed my door when I heard my neighbour's door open. I turned to look and out popped a salt and pepper head that stood at 4'11''. She was wearing trousers and a simple pink top. I said Ohayou gaozaimasu. She stared at me blankly and my smiled widened. I looked like the cat from Alice in Wonderland. Just as I was about to leave she said that normally people introduce themselves when the move into a new place. I told her that that was one of the Japanese customs I was unfamiliar with and thanked her for telling me. She seemed crabby, but all old people are crabby for various reasons. I know this because my mother was a geriatric nurse, so I left it at that. I wouldn't normally write such a short post about a non-event but I realised that I didn't much care whether she liked me or not. It would have bothered me a few years ago but not now...
