If you haven’t already noticed with the layout change, I changed my hair to a nice aqua/teal colour last week, from a previous blonde (which lasted a week), and purple before that. Since I have gone green, I’ve had a greater than normal number of strangers approach me, for numerous reasons, and I can’t help but wonder if having green hair has made me appear more approachable.
On my way back to Kuala Lumpur from Perth, I was approached by two different people at separate times, so I thought I’d talk about those. The first was at Perth airport, waiting in the passport check point. The woman was probably about my age, and was seriously freaking out because she had never flown overseas before and thus never experienced this part of the process. She asked me if I had, to which I explained that it was a very simple process, and tried to calm her down a bit. We certainly talked a lot more than I normally would with a stranger waiting in a line!
The second incident was just after I got off the Sky Bus at KL Sentral, and an English woman helped me collect one of my bags. After that she asked me if I knew if she could catch a train to [insert random name of some hotel here that I can’t even remember]. I said I didn’t know, and she explained she asked me because she thought I lived her. I told her I do, but I don’t know where that hotel is. I actually found it incredibly interesting that she assumed I live in KL right off the bat. What about my looks or actions could have made her assume such a thing? I’m white, for starters. Not too many white people live here compared to Chinese, Malay and Indians! Certainly I think it would be odd even to think a white person with green hair would live here. The only thing I can think is perhaps I looked like I was confident and knew what I was doing when I got off the bus, and I wasn’t confused as to where to go next.
Anyway, that was my adventure in travelling home to Malaysia, and enjoyment of seeming more approachable with green hair.
Dominica May 