Wait…you really just want to say hi??

Having lived in New York City for the past 9 years, I got used to certain things. Don’t smile at strangers—it may give them the wrong idea. Definitely don’t wave at strangers. A car honking means that you need to move. And finally, if a stranger wants to talk to you, it’s probably not just to say hey.

In Samoa, all of those things are pretty much not true. It took me the past 9 months to really get used to this idea.

First, if you don’t smile at a Samoan, they assume that you are rude and may not really like you. They all smile, practically all the time. As such, smiling at people you don’t know is perfectly normal.

Along those same lines, Samoans love to wave to people who they don’t know. I constantly have people saying hello or goodbye to me with a wave and I have no idea who they are. The best thing to do? Just wave back.

Car honking is like a wave in Samoa. It is not to be rude, it is not to get the next car to go or for a person to get out of the way. It is like a hello. This was definitely the biggest thing for me to remember as I walked down the street. Even just the other day I was walking and had about 10 cars and a bus honk at me to say hi (the driver also waved).

As far as a stranger talking to you as you walk down the street, it could mean that it is a guy hitting on you, but more likely in Samoa, that isn’t the case. People will regularly ask passersby where they are going. This isn’t because they really want to know though; it’s just small talk in Samoa. People just want to be friendly and talk to anyone, even if they don’t know him or her.

 Now, I am not saying that people in New York City are rude, I actually think true New Yorkers can be quite friendly, but Samoans are just extra friendly and nice.