An older man just followed me on his bike.

I wasn’t making haste, I had plenty of time to get where I was going so I was meandering. I sensed that there was a bike moving slowly behind me and stopped to admire a building, partly because I wanted to admire the building and partly because I wanted to see if the bike would keep going.

It didn’t.

The man stopped and asked if I was looking for something, I sad no, he then he asked if I had some time. I said ‘nein leider nicht’ (no, unfortunately not) rather curtly. He got the message. Wished me a nice evening, to which I replied, ‘and to you, bye.’

He rode off ahead at the proper speed.

The reason I am sharing this is because it is a little achievement for me. Slowly I’m learning to not let these random strangers scare me. I’m learning to stand my ground politely but firmly.

I will keep practicing, politely but firmly won’t always work. When that happens I would like to try out Jose’s method. For that though I will need a little more confidence. I’l tell you more about that later.