My wife shaved off all her hair.

Actually, I did. At her request. She just alway wanted to try it. So she did. A couple of weeks ago. And we did not think anything off it. Except that she looks cool. And sexy.

It wasn't until this morning that I realized the amount of shock this has had in the outer circle we move in. Not my friends, mind you. We seem to attract friends that go "cool doo" or "whatever". I don't think any of them where shocked. Or even perplexed. This is more like the people whose name you actually remember and you just meet every now and then. For example, we went contradancing the other night (yes, really, I kid you not). And we met our midwife. On the middle of the dancefloor. And when she saw the hair, or the lack of it, she just blurted out "Oh my god! Are you OK? Do you have cancer??"

I did not really give this another thought. There was some funky stuff going on at that dance, anyway. Until this morning. I went to the gym. With my daughter. And one of the women who usually takes care of her was obviously dying to ask me something. So, after a little dancing around the subject she said that they, i.e. the babysitting crew presumably, just wanted to know if my wife was all right. I did not get it right away, and just told her, matter-of-factly, that I was alone this morning because she had taken a trip back home to be with her mother on her big birthday. "No no," said the woman, "I mean, is she ill?" Then I got it, why she was asking, and after talking with her a little while, I finally really realized that people around here are generally really lost when confronted with something like this. Why would a woman do that, if she was not forced to? Never mind all the fat, clean-shaven male heads you see bobbing about all around here. No, she is a woman, for Pete's sake, and women just don't go around shaving their heads for no good reason!

I ask you, what could possibly constitute a more educating experience than living in a community that is fundamentally different from where you come from?