I’ve got fifteen minutes until my friend Gurpreet comes over and we go for our three-monthly coffee. Gurpreet is one my best friends from high school. She’s a dynamo of energy, gushing and girliness. Sometimes it’s tiring being around her but mostly, it’s fun. We don’t get to see each other much anymore, even though we’re at the same uni but we make the time to go out for coffee and cake every couple of months and catch up on life.

She’s quite an odd combination. She’s Indian and acts like a bimbo but it’s all an act. She’s very clever and will deny it, even when you’re standing in front of her in the biomedical lab as she does her honours project, wearing a lab coat. Dumb biomedical researcher? Hmm…!

She is very flirty and has had her share of secret affairs, yet she will obediently marry the man her parents will suggest in the next few years. She comes from a culture of arranged marriages. I’d be kicking and screaming, would even elope rather than endure an arranged marriage but Gurpreet is well-adjusted to the idea.

Oh, and she has hair like Rapunzal! She’s never had a haircut in her life for religious reasons. For me, that’s a fantastic conversation starter.

It’s funny how we find every culture but our own, exotic. Chinese food, *yawn*. Chinese horoscopes, *yawn*. Chinese folktales, *yawn*. Serbian music? Cool!

WINK 😉