I grew up watching my father chatting with anyone, anywhere!
Seriously, who would think of chatting to a bunch of big-biceped and be-tattooed American bikers and expect to live to tell the tale? Yes, we lived through that and there’s even a photo of my then-scrawny and nerdy younger brother looking like he was photoshop-ped on a bike double his size.
So I have a little of this ability of being able to make small talks and it doesn’t really daunt me to be in a room full of strangers.
Of course it helps to be introduced around but once a handshake is made, I can start chatting or make the other person chat about anything – from weather to food to music to gossip to books to step stool to even diving spots – which is funny because I don’t dive and my last trip to anywhere dive-able was more than 10 years ago!
But my favorite (a little lame but never fails to work) small talk subject especially when I am talking to foreigners is – how do you like Brunei.
