Well blow me down!  Back in Blighty people really do keep themselves to themselves.  British reserve is alive and well. 

So what a surprise it was to discover that Americans really are the most incredibly open and friendly people I have yet come across. 

This morning my phone rang and a very cheery voice said:

Hello, it's Joan from next door. How's it going? Is there anything you need?

How lovely to hear from you.  Well, yes actually.  There are all sorts of things!  Mostly information, such as - where is the nearest medical practice and who do you recommend?

And so we chatted away, me asking for as much advice as I could think of and she only too willing to give it.  She couldn't have been kinder!  She wondered if I had started looking for a job yet.  Well I haven't quite, because I have so many things to sort out - the house, my banking, getting a driver's licence...the list just goes on and on.   She wondered whether I would be free tomorrow night because she was going on a river cruise with all the local movers and shakers and it would be a great way for me to meet the people who count around here.  How kind. How thoughtful.  Sadly I can't go because I've signed up to join the local Oxford alumni group and tomorrow they've invited me to a gathering. I do hope Joan will invite me out another time.

Maybe this kind of friendliness is the norm in the USA - it certainly isn't in London. 

The telephone conversation I had today with my new neighbour Joan was longer than any I ever had during the many years I lived next door to my previous neighbour.  In all that time I probably exchanged no more than ten sentences with him.  I never for the life of me understood why he was so unfriendly.  Perhaps I was simply not important enough, or sufficiently well connected.  

Give me Joan every time!