You’re walking down a side street and you lock eyes with what has to be a centennial woman with the softest eyes you’ve ever locked with before. You don’t speak a lick of Chinese nor did she learn a single word of English in all her one hundred years on this planet. You communicated the only way you knew how: you nodded.
Every country has this nod. It is a worldwide symbol of greeting. It’s that I-see-you-and-you-see-me glance. It’s the split-second translation of I swear I’m a decent human being. It’s not shocking to learn that every country has this nod; what is more interesting is the subtle differences between them.
In New York City, the nod is quick and aggressive, much like most of the people who live there. It is a brief bend of the neck where one’s chin points upward like many rappers in the background of their music videos. New Yorkers are always on-the-go so they wouldn’t dare spend more than half a second on this salutation. While the nod can often be friendly, it more frequently translated as, “I see you; don’t dare get in my way.”
The Balinese nod is different. It is slow and kind, almost the opposite of the New York nod. This is symbolic of the contrast of lifestyle in Indonesia. Being an archipelago, Indonesia exudes the vibe of an island lifestyle. Everyone moves slowly because they can. They don’t have to run to catch the train to make it to their music video on time; instead, locals ride horse drawn carriages and arrive to events hours late with smiles on their faces and tropical drinks in their hands. They walk in with nods that say, “I am happy to be alive and I am even happier to be alive here with you.” These nods point heads downwards, aiming at the floor for a full second and a half. Eyes shut while pointed at the floor, making the nod seem almost like a bow or a curtsey. It somehow feels warm and respectful.
The Taiwanese nod is almost a mixture of the two. While it points down as the Indonesians do, it is swift and efficient. This is not to say that it is aggressive like NYC, but much more neutral. It is simply an acknowledgement of existence, neither positive nor negative. While heads point downwards, there is no likeness of a bow. It is more that heads seem to check off the box that they’ve seen you that day. It’s that I-see-you-and-you-see-me glance that makes you feel included. It’s an embrace of a sort that suggests, “You’re here; you’re one of us now.” You may find yourself wondering, as I have, if we can communicate so much through the flick of a neck in half a second, what else could we say to each other?
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